Niches are Larger than You'd Think
“You speak to the core loud enough so everybody else can hear.”
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As a metrics wonk, the first of the month is like Christmas morning: time to unwrap the prior period’s podcast numbers.
This ritual is a nice little dopamine drip, but this April’s numbers hit different.
Despite having one less day, the podcast downloads made a step function leap.
I sent the chart to Sales Guy Matthew, who immediately replied:
It made me laugh out loud. Because the reality is it’s a sneeze compared to Joe Rogan or Alex Cooper... but still, Fenway Park just sold out.
And that’s the thing—it is a niche. A very specific, nerdy niche. One where I talk about things like net dollar retention, CAC payback periods, and secondary tender guardrails. It’s not going viral on TikTok. But it is deeply valuable to the right people (and advertisers).
Which is what makes it powerful.
Sitzfleisch
Podcasting is a linear game. You grind. You publish. You repeat. And if you’re lucky, you make a little more progress each month.
It’s not about rocket fuel. It’s about staying power. It’s more outlasting others than taking off into the stars.
In fact, it can’t be, because it takes time to earn a core group’s trust. You can’t write one viral post on ChatGPT prompts and instantly become a habit forming part of their life. The time you need to put into it is a feature, not a bug, as there’s a progression to becoming someone’s friend.
There’s a German word for this: Sitzfleisch. The act of staying put.
Winning by sticking your ass in the chair and not leaving until the job is done.
That’s the only reason this works. I’ve stayed true to one persona: The tech CFO. Everyone else just happened to show up later.
Earned Secrets > Trend Chasing
Earned secrets are the things you pick up by being in your reader’s shoes. The kind of insights you can’t Google—because you had to live them first.
By focusing narrowly, you unlock what I call “earned secrets”—those nuanced insights that come from having been in your audience’s situation.
Like knowing the guy who wears Merrill slip-ons to every board meeting probably hasn’t missed quarterly guidance since 2007—and still insists on printing his decks.
It’s oddly specific, but if you know, you know.
This specificity creates resonance. It creates trust. It also creates pricing power.
A mid-market SaaS CFO doesn’t need a generalist research report from a bulge bracket bank. They want benchmarking data from someone who understands their world. Someone who collects CAC payback periods for private companies with $25M–$75M in ARR. (Hi, that’s me.)
That’s a niche. And it’s a moat.
From Core to Community
Something funny happens when you speak to the core loudly enough: Everyone else starts to listen.
Pusha T raps about it. Strava builds community around it. Surfline monetizes it. The “If you know, you know” effect.
It’s about enthusiasts in search of other enthusiasts. When you speak to someone’s identity—not just their job title—you get higher engagement, better data, and higher LTV.
I started with CFOs. Then investors showed up. Then operators who geek out on business models. And they all enrich the ecosystem.
As Dustan Berg, VP of Finance at Surfline said, in reflecting on the sport’s popularity:
“You serve the small core first. Then the lifestyle and aspirational elements bring more people in. They might not be as sticky—but they lift all boats.”
It’s kinda like:
“Wait, wait, wait. What are they doing over there? That looks pretty cool.”
And I’m still speaking to my original ICP. Because if you’re a CFO, you want to hear from someone who’s invested in 50 vertical SaaS businesses. Or someone who wrote a book on network effects. It sharpens your edge.
And it’s a flywheel.
The Flywheel at Work
1. Focus on a specific persona
Get crystal clear on who you're serving. What do they read first thing when they wake up in the morning? How much do they make per year? Where did they go to college? What shows on TV do they think are funny? This is your North Star.
2. Consistently produce highly relevant, high-value content or product
Stuff that speaks directly to that persona’s needs—stuff only someone who’s been in their shoes would know.
3. Unite people through earned secrets
Create inside jokes, common pain points, and shared truths that spark word of mouth and community vibes.
4. Attract adjacent personas
Operators, investors, partners—people who want in on the smart, specific stuff you're creating.
5. Build even better content based on feedback
Now you’re getting smarter through feedback loops. Content and product get sharper.
6. Drive deeper engagement
Your audience returns more often, shares more freely, and contributes to the ecosystem.
➡️ Loop back to Step 2
Because deeper engagement gives you more fuel to create the next killer post, feature, or data drop.
I think this lesson is important for anyone running a business - whether it be a B2B enterprise sales model, a B2C mobile app, or a guy doing podcasts from his attic with his dog Walter.
Deeper Moats
Going niche means fewer competitors and a more durable moat. Most people skip it because it “seems small.”
But if you zoom in hard enough, you realize something counterintuitive:
Niches aren't small. They're just concentrated.
And that concentration? It creates value.
Niche stadiums still sell out.
CJ
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Run the Numbers
Apple | Spotify | YouTube
Surfline is a 40 year old startup that helps people connect with the ocean.
I had a blast going deep on Surfline’s business model with Dustan Berg, their VP of Finance.
How does a surf forecasting platform evolve into a multi-pronged company with B2C subscriptions, advertising, B2B SaaS, and even some hardware?
The role of data as a moat and how Surfline navigates retention and increasing wallet share in a business model that’s tied to user identity.
The frameworks he uses to maintain focus on strategy and what he learned about asking the right questions from his days as an equity analyst.
Looking for Leverage 👀
Most hiring frameworks sell you certainty. Scorecards, culture interviews, performance predictors — they all promise you can know who’s a fit before they join.
But here’s the uncomfortable truth, straight from operators who’ve done it across Google, Facebook, Quip, and PE-backed roll-ups:
Even great hiring processes are right only about 50% of the time.
Quote I’ve Been Pondering
“The Germans have a word for it: Sitzfleisch. Staying power. Winning by sticking your ass to the seat and not leaving until after it’s over.”
-Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is the Way