This article briefly introduces my experience working in podcasting under Business Development at Firstory, Inc. I’ll be talking about my internship experience, company culture, team dynamics, business development, and career progression.
To put everything in a nutshell, I enjoy connecting with our podcasters, hearing about their stories, and offering up Firstory solutions that can actually make a difference. Easing every podcaster’s pain point one at a time is an incredible feeling.
A big step from Accountancy to Business Development
I wasn’t born into the Business Development role; I majored in Accountancy for my Bachelor’s degree and International Business for my masters. I didn’t have much practical experience in sales and marketing; but the Firstory team had so much faith in me. Everyone’s been so patient and kind in guiding me through even the concepts outside my scope of work, such as the SaaS business model, platform management, building a startup, and so on.
During my stay at Firstory, I gained a number of skillsets on digital marketing: SEO, Email marketing, newsletter management, blog management, and the like. I was also able to contribute in brand management, lead generation, user support, and other sales/ development roles. Most importantly, I honed my soft skills in communicating, collaborating, and working with people from various countries, with different needs.
Thanks to Firstory, I was able to branch outside of Accountancy and take on several responsibilities that I would otherwise not have been able to experience.
The opportunity of being many podcasters' first experience with Firstory
To me, being the first point of contact is one exciting part of this role. Not only do I get the chance to witness podcasters’ first moments with Firstory, I also get the honor of introducing Firstory’s powerful, game-changing platform. It’s really a phenomenal tool, especially for indie podcasters; and I can only wish that more people would know about it and give it a shot.
Because of this position, I get to know most of our users, even get to talk to some of them through a video call. It’s awesome- connecting with people, being there for them as they grow. It gives me so much pride when I see podcasters learning, growing, and accomplishing milestones with Firstory.
The best part about Business Development
We get to come up with ideas, launch new programs, meet new people, and try everything. There’s a high level of uncertainty with regards to some aspects, but we also get a lot of delightful surprises along the way. When things don’t work out, we’re quick to reflect, move on, and try new stuff. Whenever we succeed, we celebrate- we celebrate big and small achievements.
It feels great to find these unexpected surprises and know that we’re making a difference for our podcasters. We’re not just helping Firstory grow and expand as a business; we’re also helping our podcasters grow. We’re growing together as a unique community, and that’s what makes it so fun.
My works and the work culture at Firstory
Apart from maintaining the blog site, talking to prospective & existing podcasters, and addressing user concerns, I also get to contribute in marketing plans, designs, social media management, campaign and strategy planning/ execution.
Firstory has a very flexible work environment that allows me to work remotely and freely order my tasks in accordance to my schedule. This allowed me to take my International MBA degree while working; and I was able to merge the two through my research and projects on digital platform business internationalization.
We have a very open culture and maintain quick daily meetings to keep everybody informed on company endeavors. Even when working remotely, everyone’s kept well-informed and on the loop of new developments, changes, ideas, issues, opportunities, and accomplishments.
The people and team dynamics at Firstory
I’ve been entrusted with great responsibility at a young and fresh stage. Thanks to the faith and trust the team has in me and my abilities, I was able to accelerate my growth and learning in a very agile way.
I remember my very first day of work when I accidentally deleted a Help Center article. Instead of restoring the article themselves (which would have been much safer and faster to do), the team instead taught me how to retrieve deleted articles. Through this little action, I was able to feel their patience, trust, and support on my learning & personal development.
My first day at the office, I remember Kirk teaching me about the differences among computer languages like JavaScript, Python, C++ , and HTML. It was not part of my responsibilities, but it was a nice added bonus that contributed to my knowledge of how platform companies are developed. I was amazed at the huge amount of detail and patience I was taught with.
What I REALLY think about Firstory as a podcast hosting platform
Firstory is a really powerful platform, and the company’s exceedingly generous for providing unlimited storage and bandwidth for free. These are usually placed behind a paywall (or tier) for most hosting providers like Buzzsprout, Captivate, and Podbean. They empower beginner podcasters to have the tools they need to start, manage, and grow a podcast.
The Company and team members are well-loved by Taiwan podcasters, which makes me so proud to see Firstory literally on almost every Taiwanese podcast. It’s an incredible experience; and it is even more exciting to see the Company grow and expand outside of Taiwan. More and more worldwide users are learning about Firstory and falling in love with the platform.
Best of all, the team is extremely close to each and every podcaster. It’s not just a transaction for us. Rather, we build a relationship with our users, understanding their backgrounds, pain points, and needs in order to develop and provide the best solutions. Whenever podcasters face any problem or have any ideas, we’re more than happy to help out and develop what they need to improve their podcasting experience. I think this is the coolest part of Firstory.