Low capex means the profits can be enormous once a podcaster covers the costs of producing two pods a week (e.g., two or three producers and a part-time sound engineer). The Prof G podcast portfolio (Prof G, Prof G Markets, Raging Moderates) will register 2025 revenue of approximately $10m. We employ five producers, two analysts, and a technical director/sound engineer. Few businesses garner $1m+ per employee. Pivot, the podcast I co-host with Kara Swisher, does more revenue, with even fewer resources.

Put another way, to build a business in podcasting that pays people well and keeps the attention of a host with high opportunity cost(s), you likely need to be in the top 0.1% by listenership.

The Podcast Election – Scott Galloway.

With no staff, limited resources, and no local media industry to lean on, we’ve managed to reach the top 0.1% in our category. Yet, despite generating consistently high impressions over the past three years, advertising has shrunk, not grown. As we rethink our strategy, we’re reflecting on what’s next. We love sharing stories with children, but life is about more than spending every day, 7 days a week, in the studio.