Twenty years ago, we all thought that starting a startup required a special and rare kind of talent. It was something you either had or you didn't. Today, founding and running a startup is considered more of a learnable skill. It has its own best practices,  industry standards, and common knowledge.

And, in both startups and enterprises, I find it refreshing to talk to people who have succeeded by going against those industry standards.

Peter Galante started what would become the wildly successful Japanese Pod 101 with no clear idea how to monetize and no clear business plan. He did, however, have a firm conviction that what he wanted to build had value and the people would flock to it.

And he was right.

Peter and I talk about how his unconventional business plan and his rejection of VC advice and standard best practices, actually resulted in a rapidly growing startup in a market protected from even his best-funded competitors.

It's an interesting conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it.

Show Notes
Who is really studying Japanese online
Why most Japanese language learners fail
What you need to know about turning a hobby into a business
What happens when your startup start changing for free content
Why podcasting is dying [Noooo!!!!] and video is rising
How content creators can get paid when so much content is free
How to defend your business against better-funded startups