(Photo Credit: David Yellen)
Paul English, who shook up the travel industry as co-founder and CTO of Kayak, is back with a new startup.
Moonbeam.fm is a podcast player and discovery app with a TikTok-like interface, allowing listeners to swipe through clips and find new podcasts they might not find themselves.
The Hustle’s Rob Litterst recently caught up with English to hear more about Moonbeam and his thoughts on the podcast landscape.
What excites you about the opportunity in podcasting?
I’ve been an avid podcast listener for many years, but have had a difficult time finding new ones.
I’ve found that in most players, such as Apple and Spotify, you have to scroll through a lot of text and read a lot, and you’re often getting the same recommendations over and over again.
How does Moonbeam help?
We’ve aimed to create a TikTok-like experience for podcast discovery. The app has a feature called Beam, which serves listeners with curated clips from shows that are specific to their own interests — if they don’t like a clip, they can keep swiping.
How are the clips selected?
Our clips are created using a combination of machine learning and human curation. Also, hosts have the ability to create clips from their show using the Moonbeam Console.
As listeners use Moonbeam more, the algorithm gets better and better and can help find podcasts suited to your exact tastes.