Landing an industry giant as your first client sounds like an entrepreneur’s dream, but for our guest today, that dream turned into a crisis when that single client – representing eighty percent of his total revenue – was acquired and paused all spending overnight.
Faced with a massive burn rate and employees to pay, he chose to remove the emotion from the situation and use that very experience to land his next major victory. He eventually pivoted his entire operation by purposely “feeling the pain” of his new target market himself.
Today, he reveals his “sell first, build second” philosophy that allowed him to build the largest podcast marketing company in the country.
Welcome to today’s episode of Your Business Growth Podcast. I’m your host, Jeremy Shapiro, author of Your Business Growth Playbook, and my guest today is Mike Wiston.
About Mike Wiston
Mike Wiston is the CEO and founder of mowPod and mowMedia, where he leads the largest podcast marketing company across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. With a professional background spanning over 17 years, Mike has held leadership roles at various firms including Crowded.com, Outbound.ai, and AllCountyJobs.com. He is a seasoned entrepreneur who has successfully pioneered audience growth and community building in the digital media and marketing space.
In the podcasting world, Mike is the creator and co-host of Friday Night Karaoke, a negativity-free community and podcast with more than 51,000 members. He used this project to deeply understand the organic growth challenges podcasters face, transforming it into a chart-topping platform. His professional philosophy is centered on building genuine human connections and fostering engagement through high-quality marketing solutions.
Mike possesses extensive experience in business development, sales leadership, and product management. Throughout his career, he has been a major driver of growth for prominent brands, having previously helped secure over one million subscribers for major U.S. newsletters like Morning Brew and The Hustle. His expertise now focuses on specialized podcast growth strategies and developing valuable free tools for the broader podcasting industry.
An American living in Japan, Mike resides in Ebina-shi, Kanagawa, with his wife and two bilingual children. Outside of his professional life, he is a lifelong board-sport enthusiast with a deep passion for snowboarding and skateboarding. He is also a massive film buff and music lifer who believes that the best conversations happen when people stop trying to be cool and embrace their authentic selves.
Connect with Mike Wiston
Speed Round Answers:
- All In Lead Source: Crunchbase
- Books: Nope!
- Unlikeliest Mentor: David Lewis (owner of Operations Inc) and Ethan Bloomfield (early ZipRecruiter leader)
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Mike Wiston Episode Transcript
Coming Soon!
Like This Episode? There’s More!
Subscribe!
Your Business Growth Podcast is available on all major podcast platforms. Subscribe today!
Get the Book!
Pickup the #1 Best Seller, Your Business Growth Playbook today online or at your local bookseller!
Meet Jeremy!
Book your Blueprint Discovery Call with Jeremy today and get back to the growth you deserve!