New app features: listening history, continue listening, and transcript exports + navigating LLM-induced team drama.

Chapters:

• [00:00] Welcome and business update
• [02:13] Metacast v1.25 Overview
• [02:50] New Feature: Listening History
• [08:08] New Feature: Continue Listening
• [12:41] New Feature: Exporting Transcripts
• [20:24] Website outage
• [22:21] The Pro Tier in v1.26
• [23:06] Team conflict: LLM miscommunication
• [31:21] LLM Etiquette in Teams
• [35:50] Podcast & book recommendations
• [45:34] P.S. We're YouTube stars (FWIW)

Links

• Metacast v1.25 blog post

Podcasts:

• Tech Brew Ride Home Oct 16
• Scott & Mark: The AI productivity trap
• American Gods
• The Sandman

Download the Metacast podcast app for free:

• iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536
• Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player

We celebrate Metacast's one-year "survivalversary" with a special $10/year sale and share what we're working on.

Chapters:

• [00:28] - State of the business
• [05:20] - The Survaviversary
• [09:16] - New creator transcript feature
• [16:04] - Upcoming playlist and history features
• [21:25] - Podcast recommendations

Links

• Survaviversary blog post
• Creator transcripts blog post
• Tip Jar for supporters: Buy Me A Coffee

Podcasts:

• The Panel
• Big Think
• Endless: A Sandman Podcast

Download the Metacast podcast app for free:

• iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536
• Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player

What we've been up to in the second half of the summer + update on the just released Metacast v1.24.

Chapters

• [00:00] Summer hiatus and personal reflections
• [02:16] User growth and trials
• [03:44] Website traffic and SEO success
• [08:14] Managing website costs and bots
• [12:38] Metacast v1.24: New features
• [16:14] Web app development & podcaster tools
• [22:50] Data analytics and privacy
• [25:16] Anniversary sale
• [27:44] Upcoming app features and goals
• [31:50] Recommendations: The Sandman
• [36:25] Recommendations: The Birkin Bag Story

Show notes

• Birkin: The Handbag That Costs More Than Your House on The Best Idea Yet
• The Sandman: Netflix, Comics, Audio

Download the Metacast podcast app for free:

• iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536
• Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player

We've GA-ed private podcasts! In this episode, we talk about the feature, the extra perks for Premium users and celebrate completion of the table stakes features. We end the episode with a banter about Claude Code and a few German phrases.

Show notes

• Michelin Guide: The Tire Company That Accidentally Conquered Food on The Best Idea Yet
• Falling In Reverse - "Watch The World Burn" (live)

Download the Metacast podcast app for free:

• iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536
• Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player

We're on the finishing line to launch private podcasts in GA, but it takes a while because we've wasted a lot of time dealing with ops post-Google billing incident.

Show notes

• Back To The Future... And Back - 40 Years of Marty, Doc, & Mayor Goldie Wilson on Talk Is Jericho

Download the Metacast podcast app for free:

• iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536
• Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player

Preparing to launch private podcasts, marketing projects, ops stuff, and a huge (with a capital "H") bill from Google

Show notes

• The Side Hustle King: “I’m making $8K/DAY from easy businesses” on My First Million
• The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance by Josh Waitzkin
• Flybot by Dennis E. Taylor
• Dennis E. Taylor, author of best-selling sci-fi series Bobiverse on Builders Gonna Build

Download the Metacast podcast app for free:

• iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536
• Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player

Every week, we meet for a standup. We summarize our progress in short weekly updates that we record right after our meetings.

In this update, we discuss launching private feeds, the new podcast search feature on the web app, and making money.

Show notes

• Bobbi Althof's The Really Good Podcast
• Andre Agassi on Served
• News in Slow Spanish
• The Game with Alex Hormozi

Download the Metacast podcast app for free:

• iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536
• Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player

Every week, we meet for a standup. We summarize our progress in short weekly updates that we record right after our meetings.

In this update, we discuss episode summaries, chapters, and performance improvements. We also cover ongoing backend work, in-person meeting experience (!), planning for upcoming features like private feeds, and share podcast recommendations.

Show notes

• Asterix and Obelix on Netflix
• Everything Everywhere Daily

Download the Metacast podcast app for free:

• iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536
• Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player

In this episode we discuss why and how we built the new sharing experience (see blog post for v1.19).

Download the Metacast podcast app for free:

• iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536
• Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player

Segments

• [00:20] Opening
• [00:57] New weekly update episodes
• [05:22] New podcast sharing experience in Metacast
• [06:52] Why we are working on sharing?
• [09:32] The new sharing experience
• [14:35] QR codes
• [16:51] Optimized image loading
• [17:53] Problems with the old URL sharing
• [23:04] The technical solution for consistently working app links
• [24:43] The complexity of the change
• [28:45] Preview of the next episode about rebranding
• [33:26] Recommendations

Show notes

• New sharing experience announcement blog
• Latest weekly update episode: Weekly Update (May 6, 2025): New sharing experience, new logo & branding
• 67. Attack of LLM bots (podcast) + blog
• Episode with Jennie: 42. Equity compensation at a pre-revenue bootstrapped startup with Jennie Buechner
• Voices in my head by Falling in Reverse

Get in touch

• 🚀 Get the Metacast podcast app: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://metacast.app⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• 👥 Join our subreddit: ⁠⁠https://www.reddit.com/r/metacastapp/⁠⁠
• ✉️ Subscribe to Metacast newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.metacastpodcast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• 👋 Send feedback or say hi: ⁠⁠hello@metacastpodcast.com⁠⁠

Every Tuesday, we meet for a weekly standup. We summarize our progress in short weekly updates that we record right after our meetings.

Show notes

• 311: The Long Term on Under the Radar
• When Exactly Did the Roman Empire Fall? on Everything Everywhere Daily

Download the Metacast podcast app for free:

• iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536
• Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player

Every Tuesday, we meet for a weekly standup. We summarize our progress in short weekly updates that we record right after our meetings.

Show notes

• Calendar Reform on Everything Everywhere Daily
• 10 growth tactics that never work | Elena Verna on Lenny's Podcast
• 317: Optimizing for Battery Life on Under the Radar

Download the Metacast podcast app for free:

• iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536
• Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player

Every Tuesday, we meet for a weekly standup. We'll summarize our progress in short weekly updates that we record right after our meetings.

Show notes

• Attack of the LLM bots (blog post)
• Big Takeaways From Podcast Movement Evolutions 2025 on Buzzcast
• Episode 2 - “Through the Valley” on HBO's The Last of Us Podcast

Download the Metacast podcast app for free:

• iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536
• Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player

In this episode we recap our Q1: what we shipped, distribution challenges, siloing engineering workstreams + a bunch of tangential topics.

Download the Metacast podcast app for free:

• iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536
• Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player

Segments

• [00:00] Opening
• [02:09] New feature: Chapters
• [05:27] New feature: Following a.k.a. Podcast Inbox
• [06:17] Feedback from Grumpy Old Geeks
• [08:10] Ilya turning into full-time engineer
• [12:02] We don't vibe code!
• [14:49] AI summaries in the web app
• [16:52] Full transcripts in the web app
• [18:39] Web is the innovation platform
• [19:45] Better sharing images
• [21:01] New blogging framework
• [24:08] Restarting marketing
• [26:05] The distribution challenge
• [27:13] Discoverability on App Store
• [28:34] The cold start problem
• [30:04] 1000 fans
• [30:56] Distractions in Q1
• [31:15] Spiking GCP costs
• [33:52] LLM bots update
• [34:28] Taxes
• [37:55] Siloing
• [39:20] Working in person again!
• [40:11] What we're listening to
• [48:20] Where people can find us

Show notes

Blog posts

• Metacast: Q1 2025 Retrospective
• Our biggest struggle — distribution
• Episode chapters now available in Metacast podcast app
• Podcast Inbox now available in Metacast podcast app
• LLM bots + Next.js image optimization = recipe for bankruptcy (post-mortem)
• DIY Delaware C-Corp taxes for a new startup with no funding, no payroll and no assets

Podcasts

• 661: The Nightmare Before Overcast on Grumpy Old Geeks
• Everything Everywhere Daily
• Do trade deficits matter? on Planet Money
• Josh Waitzkin on The Joe Rogan Experience
• #792: Seth Godin on Playing the Right Game and Strategy as a Superpower

Books

• The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin

Get in touch

• 🚀 Get the Metacast podcast app: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://metacast.app⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• 👥 Join our subreddit: ⁠⁠https://www.reddit.com/r/metacastapp/⁠⁠
• ✉️ Subscribe to Metacast newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.metacastpodcast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• 👋 Send feedback or say hi: ⁠⁠hello@metacastpodcast.com⁠⁠

Our website got slammed by LLM bots from Amazon and Anthropic, which could've cost us $7k in Vercel image optimization costs!

Get Metacast podcast app for Android and iOS at https://⁠⁠⁠metacast.app⁠⁠⁠.
Join the ⁠⁠r/metacastapp⁠⁠ subreddit.

Segments

• [00:20] Introduction and episode overview
• [01:31] New features and updates
• [03:02] Why do we keep applying to YC?
• [08:53] The LLM bot invasion incident
• [21:26] We re-allowed LLM bots to crawl the site
• [28:22] Book & podcast recommendations

Show notes

Posts

• LLM bots + Next.js image optimization = recipe for bankruptcy (post-mortem)

Books

• Red Rising by Pierce Brown
• Little Golden America by Ilya Ilf and Eugene Petrov

Get in touch

• 🚀 Get the Metacast podcast app: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://metacast.app⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• 👥 Join our subreddit: ⁠⁠https://www.reddit.com/r/metacastapp/⁠⁠
• ✉️ Subscribe to Metacast newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.metacastpodcast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• 👋 Send feedback or say hi: ⁠⁠hello@metacastpodcast.com⁠⁠
• 📕 Get our book! The Pragmatic Podcaster: a step-by-step guide to starting an amazing podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFPMT8WW⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• 👚 Metacast merch: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://merch.metacastpodcast.com

In the first episode of 2025, we discuss the lowlights of last year and sharing our high-level plans for 2025.

Get Metacast podcast app for Android and iOS at https://⁠⁠⁠metacast.app⁠⁠⁠.
Join the ⁠⁠r/metacastapp⁠⁠ subreddit.

Segments

• [02:23] User feedback
• [06:48] Fixing the leaky bucket of the intro screen
• [11:00] New feature: Episode inbox
• [15:11] Investing in the web app
• [18:24] The hard parts of 2024
• [23:25] We have to make it work, or else...
• [30:38] Why we're putting energy in SEO
• [33:28] Becoming more pragmatic
• [35:57] Podcast & book recommendations

Show notes

Podcasts

• Bootstrapped Web
• The Panel

Posts

• What's happening with founders over 40 by Justin Jackson

Books

• Red Rising by Pierce Brown
• The Pragmatic Programmer by Dave Thomas & Andrew Hunt
• Little Golden America by Ilya Ilf and Eugene Petrov

Get in touch

• 🚀 Get the Metacast podcast app: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://metacast.app⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• 👥 Join our subreddit: ⁠⁠https://www.reddit.com/r/metacastapp/⁠⁠
• ✉️ Subscribe to Metacast newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.metacastpodcast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• 👋 Send feedback or say hi: ⁠⁠hello@metacastpodcast.com⁠⁠
• 📕 Get our book! The Pragmatic Podcaster: a step-by-step guide to starting an amazing podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFPMT8WW⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• 👚 Metacast merch: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://merch.metacastpodcast.com

In this holiday edition episode, we discuss the past year's highlights, a recent outage, and the rapid emergence of Bluesky as a social media platform.

Get Metacast podcast app for Android and iOS at https://⁠⁠⁠metacast.app⁠⁠⁠.
Join the ⁠⁠r/metacastapp⁠⁠ subreddit.

Segments

• [00:20] Welcome to the holiday edition
• [01:24] Year in review: launches and growth
• [04:06] Challenges and user feedback
• [07:12] The big outage and serendipitous solution
• [10:16] Switching to a new transcription service
• [18:39] App updates
• [21:37] The journey of implementing timestamps
• [24:58] The rise of Bluesky
• [37:55] Podcast recommendations

Show notes

Podcasts

• The Joe Rogan Experience

Get in touch

• 🚀 Get the Metacast podcast app: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://metacast.app⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• 👥 Join our subreddit: ⁠⁠https://www.reddit.com/r/metacastapp/⁠⁠
• ✉️ Subscribe to Metacast newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.metacastpodcast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• 👋 Send feedback or say hi: ⁠⁠hello@metacastpodcast.com⁠⁠
• 📕 Get our book! The Pragmatic Podcaster: a step-by-step guide to starting an amazing podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFPMT8WW⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• 👚 Metacast merch: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://merch.metacastpodcast.com

We've chatted with a VC-backed founder who is on the brink of closing shop. Listen to our reflections on this. Plus, a breakdown of latest Metacast features!

Get Metacast podcast app for Android and iOS at https://⁠⁠⁠metacast.app⁠⁠⁠.
Join the ⁠⁠r/metacastapp⁠⁠ subreddit.

Segments

• [01:26] New features in Metacast
• [01:42] Sleep timer
• [06:21] Speed control
• [12:32] Grid view in playlists
• [15:37] Goals for the next month
• [17:07] Our chat with a VC-backed startup founder
• [28:56] Podcast and books recommendations

Show notes

Podcasts

• Get Sleepy: Sleep meditation and stories
• Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond
• 7. Jason Fried on building products, calm companies and the Jeff Bezos investment - Builders Gonna Build
• My Dad Wrote A Porno
• The Big Porn Debate (3 Experts Debate): The Unseen Dangers Of Nofap, The Adult Industry Is Exploiting Our Brains, How Porn Will Change Your Brain! - The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett

Books

• Obviously Awesome by April Dunford

Other

• LinkedIn post about speed control in audio by Ilya

Get in touch

• 🚀 Get the Metacast podcast app: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://metacast.app⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• 👥 Join our subreddit: ⁠⁠https://www.reddit.com/r/metacastapp/⁠⁠
• ✉️ Subscribe to Metacast newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.metacastpodcast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• 👋 Send feedback or say hi: ⁠⁠hello@metacastpodcast.com⁠⁠
• 📕 Get our book! The Pragmatic Podcaster: a step-by-step guide to starting an amazing podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFPMT8WW⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• 👚 Metacast merch: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://merch.metacastpodcast.com

We've launched with a price of $49.99/year, but we realized it's too high. We're lowering it to $19.99/year or $1.99/month.

Get Metacast podcast app for Android and iOS at https://⁠⁠⁠metacast.app⁠⁠⁠.
Join the ⁠⁠r/metacastapp⁠⁠ subreddit.

Segments

• [01:14] How we decided to lower the price for Metacast
• [03:03] Initially we had three plans
• [04:48] Pulling the andon cord
• [06:40] One password app's reference point
• [08:21] Why we're not adding ads
• [11:35] Enshittification of consumer apps
• [14:21] Our costs for running the app
• [17:52] Rolling out the pricing change
• [20:05] Podcast and book recommendations

Show notes

Podcasts

• Previous episodes with Jennie: 42. Equity compensation at a pre-revenue bootstrapped startup, 17. From Teacher to Software Engineer at Amazon
• Handsome
• The Mark Zuckerberg Interview - Acquired
• Meta’s Race for Your Face + Google’s Hit A.I. Notebook + HatGPT - Hard Fork
• #446 – Ed Barnhart: Maya, Aztec, Inca, and Lost Civilizations of South America - Lex Fridman Podcast
• #369 – Paul Rosolie: Amazon Jungle, Uncontacted Tribes, Anacondas, and Ayahuasca - Lex Fridman Podcast
• #429 – Paul Rosolie: Jungle, Apex Predators, Aliens, Uncontacted Tribes, and God - Lex Fridman Podcast

Books

• Fast Second: How Smart Companies Bypass Radical Innovation to Enter and Dominate New Markets by Constantinos C. Markides, Paul A. Geroski

Get in touch

• 🚀 Get the Metacast podcast app: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://metacast.app⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• 👥 Join our subreddit: ⁠⁠https://www.reddit.com/r/metacastapp/⁠⁠
• ✉️ Subscribe to Metacast newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.metacastpodcast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• 👋 Send feedback or say hi: ⁠⁠hello@metacastpodcast.com⁠⁠
• 📕 Get our book! The Pragmatic Podcaster: a step-by-step guide to starting an amazing podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFPMT8WW⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• 👚 Metacast merch: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://merch.metacastpodcast.com

We've launched Metacast in Apple App Store. In this episode, we talk about the process and Apple's feedback.

Get Metacast podcast app for Android and iOS at https://⁠⁠⁠metacast.app⁠⁠⁠.
Join the ⁠⁠r/metacastapp⁠⁠ subreddit.

Segments

• [00:51] Big milestone!
• [02:38] Apple requires screenshots for older phones
• [05:23] iPad screenshots
• [07:17] Apple's responses
• [12:11] The rejection we couldn't figure out
• [16:14] Apple vs. Google review feedback
• [20:26] Marketing the app
• [25:13] Podcast and book recommendations

Show notes

Podcasts

• #2190 - Peter Thiel - The Joe Rogan Experience
• #442 – Donald Trump Interview - Lex Fridman Podcast

Books

• Not Till We Are Lost: Bobiverse, Book 5 by Dennis E. Taylor

Get in touch

• 🚀 Get the Metacast podcast app: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://metacast.app⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• 👥 Join our subreddit: ⁠⁠https://www.reddit.com/r/metacastapp/⁠⁠
• ✉️ Subscribe to Metacast newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.metacastpodcast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• 👋 Send feedback or say hi: ⁠⁠hello@metacastpodcast.com⁠⁠
• 📕 Get our book! The Pragmatic Podcaster: a step-by-step guide to starting an amazing podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFPMT8WW⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• 👚 Metacast merch: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://merch.metacastpodcast.com

In this episode we discuss a couple of weeks when our Slack went silent, a slow grind to launch on iOS, and talk about the word we want Metacast to be known for.

Get Metacast podcast app for Android and iOS at https://⁠⁠⁠metacast.app⁠⁠⁠.
Join the ⁠⁠r/metacastapp⁠⁠ subreddit.

Segments

• [02:12] Confessions of a lonely founder
• [07:12] iOS and Flutter woes
• [18:33] The Wizard of Oz feature for OPML import
• [23:30] What is the word you want to be known for?
• [29:38] Podcast and book recommendations

Show notes

Podcasts

• 596: A New Foundation for Progress - Accidental Tech Podcast
• 300: The Aftermath - Under the Radar
• I like to Read My Podcasts - Comfort Zone

Books

• The Storyteller by Dave Grohl
• The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding by Al Ries & Laura Ries
• Night Watch: Book One by Sergei Lukyanenko

Get in touch

• 🚀 Get the Metacast podcast app: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://metacast.app⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• 👥 Join our subreddit: ⁠⁠https://www.reddit.com/r/metacastapp/⁠⁠
• ✉️ Subscribe to Metacast newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.metacastpodcast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• 👋 Send feedback or say hi: ⁠⁠hello@metacastpodcast.com⁠⁠
• 📕 Get our book! The Pragmatic Podcaster: a step-by-step guide to starting an amazing podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFPMT8WW⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• 👚 Metacast merch: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://merch.metacastpodcast.com