podcasts
(14)
Wondermind Sold Mental Fitness for Everyone - Then the Startup Couldn't Make Its Own Numbers Work
Wondermind made mental health feel less like homework and more like a daily habit. Its free media reached millions - but a celebrity-sized launch could not protect a fragile business model from missed payroll, layoffs and an unresolved investor lawsuit.
Goldcast
Goldcast is an AI-first B2B video content platform that helps marketing teams host webinars and virtual events, then automatically turn those recordings into clips, blogs, social posts, and on-demand video that drive pipeline. Founded in 2020 by three Harvard Business School classmates during the pandemic shift to virtual events, the Boston-based company grew past $10M ARR serving 300+ B2B customers before being acquired by events giant Cvent in December 2025.
Meadowlark Media
Meadowlark Media is a New York and Miami based sports content studio and creator network founded in 2021 by former ESPN president John Skipper and longtime on-air host Dan Le Batard. It develops and produces premium, personality-driven sports storytelling across podcasts, radio, streaming video, and documentary film for third-party buyers such as Netflix, Apple TV+, and DraftKings. Anchored by The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz and a roster that includes Pablo Torre Finds Out and Nothing Personal with David Samson, Meadowlark blends daily audio programming with prestige documentary work like Good Rivals and The Comeback: 2004 Boston Red Sox.
John Skipper
John Skipper is an American media executive who co-founded Meadowlark Media in 2021 with broadcaster Dan Le Batard, building a sports-focused content studio around podcasts, documentaries and the 'Sports Explains the World' franchise. Best known as president of ESPN from 2012 to 2017, where he greenlit 30 for 30, Grantland, FiveThirtyEight and The Undefeated and negotiated multibillion-dollar rights deals, Skipper began his career in magazines at Rolling Stone before spending two decades at Disney. He later served as executive chairman of the streaming service DAZN and stepped back from day-to-day leadership at Meadowlark in 2025 while remaining on its board.
DIVE Studios
DIVE Studios is a Los Angeles-based digital media company built around Korean entertainment and global K-pop fandom. Founded in 2019 by brothers Brian, Eric, and Eddie Nam, it produces artist-led podcasts and video shows - including the flagship Daebak Show with Eric Nam - plus original talk, game, and travel series. The company reaches tens of millions of monthly viewers worldwide, runs the DIVE X creator and influencer agency for brands, and spun out Mindset, a celebrity-narrated mental-health audio platform.
Just Women's Sports
Just Women's Sports is a Los Angeles-based digital media company built entirely around covering, celebrating and growing women's sports. Founded in 2020 by former pro soccer player Haley Rosen, JWS produces editorial coverage, athlete-hosted podcasts, video highlights, a newsletter and merchandise across web and social - reaching tens of millions of fans and treating women's sports as the real, growing business it is rather than a charity case.
Spiegel & Grau
Spiegel & Grau is a New York independent, multi-platform publisher founded by veteran editors Celina 'Cindy' Spiegel and Julie Grau. After Penguin Random House shuttered their acclaimed imprint in 2019, the pair relaunched as an indie house in 2021, deliberately capping their list at 15-20 books a year so each title gets full editorial care across print, audio, podcast, and screen. The house treats a story as an asset to be developed across formats rather than a single book to be printed, and its very first independent release, Catherine Raven's 'Fox and I,' hit the New York Times bestseller list out of the gate.
The Ankler
The Ankler (Ankler Media) is an independent, subscription-driven media company covering the business of Hollywood and the collision of entertainment, media and technology. Founded as a one-man newsletter by Richard Rushfield in 2017 and expanded into a full media company with former Hollywood Reporter/Billboard chief Janice Min as CEO in 2022, it has grown into a multi-platform operation of roughly 15 newsletters, podcasts, video and live events - read by studio chiefs and moguls it covers, raised $1.5M at a $20M valuation via Y Combinator, and reportedly aiming for $10M in annual revenue in 2026.
Brian Nam
Brian Nam is the co-founder and CEO of DIVE Studios, a Gen Z media company born from K-pop and built for global fandoms. A former Division I soccer recruit and finance-track Columbia grad, he walked away from an elite private equity offer to build a podcast network with his brother, the K-pop star Eric Nam. DIVE has grown into a multi-platform media company spanning Seoul and Los Angeles, with hit shows like The Daebak Show, hundreds of millions of views, and a wellness app, Mindset. He is a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree.
Celina "Cindy" Spiegel
Celina "Cindy" Spiegel is the co-founder and co-CEO of Spiegel & Grau, the independent New York publishing house she runs with her longtime partner Julie Grau. Over a 30-plus year editing career she helped launch the literary careers of James McBride, Khaled Hosseini, Bryan Stevenson, Chang-rae Lee and Gary Shteyngart, and edited bestsellers by Yuval Noah Harari, Yann Martel and Dan Pink. After Penguin Random House shut down their acclaimed imprint in 2019, Spiegel and Grau rebuilt it from scratch in 2020 as an independent house publishing 15 to 20 books a year alongside original audiobooks and podcasts.
Cindy Spiegel
Cindy Spiegel (born Celina Spiegel) is a New York book publisher and co-founder, with Julie Grau, of the independent press Spiegel & Grau. Over three decades she helped build Riverhead Books and the original Spiegel & Grau imprint, editing and launching authors including Khaled Hosseini, James McBride, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Bryan Stevenson, Trevor Noah and Piper Kerman. After Penguin Random House shut their imprint in 2019, the two partners rebuilt the company from scratch in 2020 as an independent house that pairs books with audio, podcasts and a first-look film and television deal.
mindbodygreen
mindbodygreen is an independent lifestyle media and wellness company that pairs science-backed editorial content - articles, newsletters, podcasts and certification courses - with a direct-to-consumer line of supplements and personal care products. Founded in 2009 after a back injury pushed Jason Wachob toward yoga, the company has grown into one of the largest independent health-and-wellness platforms, reaching millions of monthly readers with a 360-degree approach that weaves together the mental, physical, spiritual, emotional and environmental sides of well-being.
Puck
Puck is a New York-based digital media company founded in 2021 that covers the four centers of American power - Silicon Valley, Hollywood, Washington, and Wall Street. It treats journalists like founders, giving its writers equity and a cut of the subscription revenue their newsletters generate, and reaches readers through email newsletters, podcasts, and live events.
Substack
Substack is a subscription publishing platform that lets writers, podcasters, and video creators run paid newsletters and own the direct relationship with their readers. Founded in 2017, the company hosts thousands of paid publications, processes hundreds of millions in subscription revenue annually, and has become the default home for independent media on the internet.