[Unedited Transcript]
Paul Ford: Richard, welcome to the 850, 000th episode of Ziade and Ford Advisors.
Rich Ziade: Yes, the audience is growing and it’s wonderful to see.
Paul Ford: it’s millions, millions, and, uh, you know, we’re just a cherished entertainment brand out there in the world. Good for us, good for us.
Rich Ziade: Yeah, and, uh, you know, every so often your sponsor swallows you whole.
Paul Ford: Oh, our sponsor’s called Aboard. It’s a, it’s an amazing piece of, uh, web software and coming on mobile where you can, uh, you can organize anything and collaborate with your friends, collect links from all over the internet. It’s pretty great as a sponsor. You and I are also the co owners. We’re the co founders.
Rich Ziade: Yes, we are. Um, yes, [00:01:00] we are. And, and, uh… And so we’re going to make some changes, um, and you know, well, I want to get into the why, so what are the changes with the, the, the Ziade and Ford podcast is going to be called the Aboard podcast. No, we’re not going to talk about Aboard for 30 minutes every time we record the podcast.
That’s not, it’s, in fact, the spirit of the podcast is unchanged. It’s going to
Paul Ford: We already do that for like six hours a day in the office, and we don’t need to share that.
Rich Ziade: we don’t need to. I will say this, I think. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun to track because we are cool with being somewhat transparent about the journey we’re on as a startup in a, in a. strange time, uh, to have a startup.
Um, uh, and, uh, I think we’re gonna, you know, I think we’ve built something that isn’t just a piece of tech, but it’s something that I think can amplify cultural pockets in the world, uh, [00:02:00] in weird ways. And I want to, and I think we’re going to use this same platform to visit those places. Um, uh, I love, love, Learning about weird, detailed worlds that have very specific opinions and emotions about certain things, like transistors or like,
Paul Ford: Stereo headphones, um, fan fiction, people who collect, you know, bottles. I love
Rich Ziade: passion. Passion for anything, right, is worth exploring and talking about. Um, and so this podcast is going to change. There’s another thing that’s changing, Paul. Which is, you’re gonna find us on YouTube and you get to see our faces.
Paul Ford: we decide that?
Rich Ziade: Did we just lose 30 percent of our audience
Paul Ford: Yeah, it’s, it’s pretty, it’s pretty rough. No, look, I think, I want to take everybody on a step back, right? We, so we started Ziade Fort Advisors. We had run an agency together and we realized we really liked working together. [00:03:00] And we wanted to build this new thing, but we wanted to have like a little voice of our own.
And I think there was a point with the agency as it got bigger, we didn’t feel that we could have that voice in quite the same way. Right. You just
Rich Ziade: Yeah, it became bigger than us.
Paul Ford: and that’s good. That was good. Sodi Ford Advisor is like, all right, we’ve moved on from that. We’re gonna advise, but I’m gonna tell you something. We’ve had this conversation. I don’t know if we have that much more advice to give.
Rich Ziade: What does that mean? Uh,
Paul Ford: Like, I think, like, you know, if you go back to, I was looking back, you know, getting nostalgic, looking at the yearbook of our, of our work together here on Ziade Ford. It kind of boils down to, like, two or three things. Like, organizations are complicated and dynamic and you have to take them a step at a time.
Don’t expect people to change because of what’s in your head. You know, it’s a lot of stuff like that.
Rich Ziade: don’t think people listen to us for advice.
Paul Ford: No, I think
Rich Ziade: think we, they happen to get some advice. I don’t think they, and I don’t think people… I think, and you know, I’ve been [00:04:00] observing, you know, as we wade into like the YouTube world and whatnot, I think people that, I think the subject matter is actually secondary and I think the connection with the personalities is what people connect to and and the more niche it is and we’re our niche like we’re not mainstream I think we’re gonna talk more openly about other things.
I’m gonna rant about some sports moment in the future podcast There’s no doubt about that
Paul Ford: Thank God. Well, that takes a lot of pressure off of me.
Rich Ziade: Yes, yes, and yes, exactly. I’ll explain all the rules of the
Paul Ford: Yeah,
Rich Ziade: Paul, as we go through it. But I don’t think it’s about advice, I think it’s about listening in. I do, I really think it’s about like, okay, they seem to be, the more open you are about your anxiety about something, or why you got something wrong, The more relatable you are and I think if you you go on YouTube and you could follow any influencer in any pocket It could be interior design.
It could be architecture. It could be anything And what you find is you’re getting to know the person like in a real [00:05:00] way. It’s not just Oh, I need an answer to something
Paul Ford: This is a funny thing with all this stuff, right? Because it’s like, are you kind of, when you make something like a podcast or, and I write and all this stuff, people are always eyeing you and going like, have you set yourself apart? Are you, a little better? And the lesson over and over is that you kind of have to communicate.
They’re like, no, and then you have to throw parties and then people come, they come to the parties and they’re like, this is weird. It’s like being on a podcast when I’m talking to you. And you’re like, yep, it is.
Rich Ziade: it’s because it’s us
Paul Ford: just, I’m, I am literally a random guy that you connected to. And, and so is Rich.
And then everybody kind of has appetizers and a couple of drinks and it’s, it’s normal, right? Like, I think where it, where it gets pathological is, um, a lot of people, you know. Like our audience knows us. They really do. They, they, they kind of get a kick out of us. They see that we’re once again headed down into the capitalist hurricane to see what comes out on the other side.
And, uh, [00:06:00] so we’ll, here’s the promise, right? The promise is where we can be transparent and vulnerable. We will like, I’ll, you know, if I go on super Manjaro and lose, you know, 9, 000 pounds and become a human praying mantis, I’ll tell you about it. And, uh, Rich is a little more private than I am, but you know, uh, we talk about,
Rich Ziade: no, I, but, but, I, I think we’ve
Paul Ford: Well, you also, you
Rich Ziade: surgery, dude. I mean,
Paul Ford: is true.
You also have, you also just have less drama than I do. I’m like a writer, right? Like it’s just, you don’t have,
Rich Ziade: you’re just, yeah, I mean, you’re, I mean, I, there’s drama and then there’s mellow drama.
Paul Ford: Yes, I have a little mellow drama. I have a little
Rich Ziade: you don’t actually. You’re, you’re, you’re, but you are a bit of an open book. I, I think I am too. I just don’t, I don’t know if I have a lot. I’m not, I’m not, I don’t find comfort in sharing my pain with others. I find comfort in, in, in administering pain.
That’s usually, it’s the difference between
Paul Ford: we just, we just had that meeting, you know, it was pretty great. The, uh,
[00:07:00] Let’s take a minute because our tendency is always to be like, to be a little ironic, a little detached. We should talk for a minute about, like, we’re actually not doing this lately.
We talked about this for a month more.
Rich Ziade: mm hmm,
Paul Ford: But the reality is, if we start the Aboard Podcast, which we need to do, so A, idea one was we should not be the face of our product in any way because we’re old and grumpy and nobody wants old grumpy people to be the face of the product. And that is true. But we’re also kind of the best ones for right now until it’s time to step back.
So we leaned in that way.
Rich Ziade: I, I, I, I think, uh, I think it’s us. Uh, I also think that, and I’ll share, I’ll share this here. I mean, we’ve built a product that I think can improve people’s lives. We’re seeing it, like people connect to it and they like it. And, but we have
Paul Ford: You know how I would put that? They’re already, they’re already forgetting that, like, we created it. That there’s a company. They’re just
Rich Ziade: That’s [00:08:00] good. That’s great,
Paul Ford: it for granted.
Rich Ziade: yeah, they take it, right? And they run with it, right? And that’s a great thing. At the same time, look, we have, we like to go into pockets of the world that use software And tell them there’s a way better way, right? Like that’s actually it’s a nerdy It’s this it’s where business and software intersects for us And it’s it and we like it and we like to go into these traditional places like I mean five industries converge in New York City And we like to visit all of them.
We love the, we love you all, right? And so who is going to do that? We have big ambition. There’s big ambition behind this product. And so, yeah, can others tell the story about how this thing is just great for renovating your house better than us? Absolutely, because you don’t want me renovating your house actually at all,
Paul Ford: Actually, what’s odd is you want my wife renovating your house, but you don’t want me.
Rich Ziade: That’s right and [00:09:00] and but Do you want to solve a problem and save tons of money in your company? Then we are the ones to talk to, right? And we’ve built a tool that’s really the sort of the final distillation of a lot, everything we’ve learned throughout our careers, right? And I’m not pitching right now.
It’s just literally what, how we think about
Paul Ford: No, no, which is why, like, after a lot of conversation, we’re like, we shouldn’t try to have two, three media properties coming out of our little office here. We should focus on one thing and do it well.
Rich Ziade: Exactly. Will we sometimes hijack the podcast and talk about some ridiculous TV show or some, you know, the Superbowl? Yes, we will.
Paul Ford: No, no, no, don’t. It’s not going to be like, check out this feature. It’ll be like, all right, how’s it going?
Rich Ziade: Yeah. Yeah, it’s gonna be fun and you’re gonna get to see our faces and we’re gonna figure out YouTube
Paul Ford: that’ll
Rich Ziade: We have to have
Paul Ford: that alone will be seven hours of conversation on the podcast, is what the hell is
Rich Ziade: Just what is YouTube right? Yeah, look at YouTube is an incredible resource and there’s [00:10:00] a lot of good stuff in there Stay out of the
Paul Ford: a while, when the pandemic hit, did it take you a while to just get used to seeing your face on the screen all the time?
Rich Ziade: It did I don’t like it I don’t like my face I don’t like my face I think I think you know I have a large head. I can’t wear hats really My daughter came to me and she’s like, I love your big giant head, which was, it was nice, but it was like, are you, are you saying I’m flawed?
Paul Ford: Yeah, yeah. She’s not really your daughter anymore. The, um, I looked… When I realized… You know what I really hate? I’m used to it now. I’m looking at you as we’re talking. Because I’m home a little sick, and so we’re… I stayed at home today. And, uh, I’m looking at you, and I see my own head out of the corner of my eye.
Peripheral vision. And, uh, what the worst does though is when you record it and then you see that like that playback starts in the browser when somebody’s like, Hey, here’s the recording of the meeting and you see your [00:11:00] own face like that’s what I sound like to myself. Like a, like to do
Rich Ziade: Yeah, it’s rough. Um, yeah, but you know, We are not aiming for celebrity here.
Paul Ford: go. Let’s get out there. Let’s become influencers. It’s our time.
Rich Ziade: Yeah. Yeah, we’ve got it We’ve got a green screen. We got good microphones. It’s gonna be fun
Paul Ford: Yeah, it’s gonna be really exciting. All right, so let’s stop belaboring this. Uh, thank you everyone for paying attention to Ziade for it. We are not going to throw you many curveballs, but the cover is going to change and it’ll have an emoji on it. So just, you know, I
Rich Ziade: But until then sign up at Aboard. com Tell us what you think mobile is very close. If you are interested in the mobile app also reach out to us Sign up for the newsletter. It’s great. It’s written by Paul Ford who’s a very good writer
Paul Ford: well, we’re gonna, we’re gonna broaden it to other voices, but I will definitely be in there, uh, twice a month.
Rich Ziade: Yes. Okay, great. Um, uh, Paul, see you on the other side, my friend.
Paul Ford: Welcome to the Abort Podcast, Rich. Let’s make it [00:12:00] freaking amazing.
Rich Ziade: Okay, I’ll talk to you soon. Have a lovely week. Bye bye.