The Podcast Accelerator: How to Grow Your Podcast · Mark Asquith

Gatekeeping the Podcast Industry, Monetization & A Decade In - An Interview with Mark Asquith

·1 hr 1 min·3 clips

Mark says he recorded a "This Is Finished Goodbye" episode, then buried it instead of ending the show.

1. The Podcast Accelerator episode with Mark Asquith and Danny Brown revisits ten years of podcasting and the show's relaunch. 2. Mark Asquith is the host of The Podcast Accelerator and the founder of Captivate, while Danny Brown is the interviewer and head of support and experience at Captivate. 3. The episode asks what podcasting has become after a decade and what an educational show should say without "hyperbole" or "BS." 4. Mark says the goal of every project, including Captivate, Podcast Websites, Spark Rebellion, and The Podcast Accelerator, is to have fun. 5. He contrasts that approach with "social media gurus," "NFT gurus," and "AI gurus" who, in his view, move from one trend to the next. 6. Mark says Podcast Accelerator was meant to give straight, practical advice without trying to sell listeners a course or silver bullet. 7. He describes the show as a way to share parts of his work life that listeners do not normally see. 8. Mark says he experimented with short-form and long-form formats, plus different publishing frequencies, across more than 300 episodes. 9. He links those format changes to the broader podcast market, where listeners can now find content on almost any topic. 10. Mark says the hiatus happened because he was burnt out, had a new child, and was dealing with major transition inside Captivate and Global. 11. He says he even recorded a "This Is Finished Goodbye" episode before deciding not to publish it. 12. Mark says people kept asking when the show would return and kept asking, "What do you think about this?" 13. He says that demand showed him the appetite for direct podcasting advice never disappeared. 14. Mark compares podcasting in 2013 and 2015 with the current environment of Wondery, Spotify originals, Global ownership, and podcast sponsorship budgets. 15. He says the independent community at events like NMX and Podcast Movement still matters, even as the industry has fractured. 16. Mark argues that podcasting has become a bona fide industry while still relying on the same RSS foundation. 17. He says open podcasting should remain, but rigid definitions can turn advocates into gatekeepers. 18. Danny Brown pushes the conversation toward listener benefits, and Mark answers in a direct, conversational style that fits his no-BS brand. 19. People building independent shows, hosting platforms, or podcast tools should get value from this. 20. People looking for entertainment-first storytelling or celebrity interviews may skip it.

As heard by us

A grounded look at how podcasting turned into an actual industry, with Danny Brown framing the business shift.

This episode looks at podcasting's past decade as a business story, not a nostalgia exercise. It follows the shift from hobbyist side lane to real industry, and the strongest material is where it connects that change to sponsorship budgets, programmatic monetization, and…

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Want the real backstory behind podcasting's shift from hobby to bonafide industry?

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