Random thoughts in no order-

- Have you put together a deck for investors that outline your desired growth goals, amount you are seeking to grow and how it will be used, current metrics on growth and retention, listening minutes, etc. everything an investor would be interested in

- cold outreach to acquire talent

- Acquiring a bigger talent to your platform (ex: Spotify is building out their podcast platform by acquiring larger podcasters, like Joe Rogan) Fans follow talent, what can your platform offer?

- visualize your product roadmap with key dates or timelines

- monetization roadmap

- while it is 2 years later and a lot can happen in 2 years, what did Pineapple Media do to get acquired? How were they positioned at the time of acquisition? Can you reach out to their founders to ask questions, seek guidance?

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The idea behind it is that you develop using their funding and using their customer base. The company wants to create a new product I don't see anything wrong with that, just that the wording is a bit off maybe. The company doesn't want to create a competitor, it wants to keep the idea and you as a programmer in house. Now whatever you decide to do is up to you, if you feel you can do this on your own and your life situation and life goals align to leave that job and start that specific startup, go at it, by all means. Just remember that you are replacable and that the company will probably go through with the plan with or without you, so you'll end up competing, who has more budget and more experience? Probably them. Won't I be bummed if they make a $1m cuz of the work I do? You have probably provided value for the company that is in the hundred thousandths or millions range, you are just unaware of it. More on reddit.com

Venice was hot for a second, but ran into inelastic demand for space and housing. Some of the companies that made names by moving into Venice a few years back had to relocate. Santa Monica has a similar issue. If your employees can afford housing in SaMo, it's a great place. Lots of opportunities for entertainment and a great lifestyle. The issue is that if your employees cannot afford to live there, getting in and out can be hellish. I've worked for several tech companies around Pasadena. It's a nice balance. The Ocean is nowhere near, of course. But there's good food, entertainment, and outdoors stuff. And there are areas nearby where people who cannot afford Pasadena housing can live for less. It's also on the Gold Line, with a connection to downtown and the SGV. Or you could think outside the box a bit... many young people have been moving to Koreatown. Great food and drink at all hours. Commutable. Less expensive apartments. There are subway stations at Wilshire/Western and Wilshire/Vermont. In two years, this line will open three new stations West, followed by two more in 2025 and two more in 2027-- at that point you have a direct 12 minute ride to UCLA. Always remember that downtown is "one jump" from anywhere. People can live in Pasadena or SaMo and work downtown. More on reddit.com

Halt and Catch Fire. It's a period drama set in Texas in the 80s, around the time of the inception of Texas Instruments, and what was colloquially referred to as "Silicon Prairie". I binged most of it on a flight from Mexico to the UK but never finished it cos I forever associated it with being tired as fuck. More on reddit.com