We launched a podcast. It flopped. Here’s what every product leader should learn from it.
In the fall of 2015, we made a decision that felt bold at the time: start a podcast. Podcasts were having a moment. From Serial to 99% Invisible, it seemed like everyone was experimenting with audio. Brands were jumping in. Thought leaders were getting mics. Agencies like ours were told to “build an audience.”
We thought: why not?
We weren’t looking to go viral. We didn’t expect millions of downloads. But we did expect something. A spike in traffic. A bump in leads. Some kind of traction.
Instead, after 18 months of weekly episodes, what we found was something product leaders know all too well: not all experiments are worth scaling. Not all content is worth continuing. And sometimes, the best ROI comes not from success, but from the decision to stop.
This is the story of how we launched, ran, and ultimately retired the FRP Podcast — and what we learned along the way about measuring content ROI, managing creative burnout, and knowing when to pivot. These are content strategy lessons for product leaders who want to spend time on what truly works.
The origin story: A podcast was born
We launched the FRP (Function, Reason, and Purpose) Podcast in 2015 as a content experiment. At Standard Beagle, we’re all about solving complex user problems through research and design, but we’d never done anything quite like this before.
The idea was simple: sit down once a week, turn on a mic, and talk about what we were seeing in UX, development, design, and strategy. We weren’t trying to be perfect. We wanted to be real.
At first, it was just the two of us — Cindy and Sally — riffing on topics we were already discussing in the studio. Then we started bringing on guests: SEO strategist Carlos Crespo, Agile expert Dan Corbin, even a tango instructor who helped us connect dance with design thinking. We talked about cybersecurity, animation, grammar, creativity, and the odd frustrations of agency life.
In the beginning, it was fun. We felt like pioneers.
But behind the scenes, the work was piling up.
Content creation isn’t free
Each episode took hours to produce. We weren’t just recording. We were editing, writing show notes, booking guests, scheduling recordings, managing file storage, uploading audio, and creating graphics. None of it was automated. All of it was manual.
And we still had client work to do.
We weren’t a media company. We were a small UX agency trying to build something that would grow our business. And despite the time investment, the returns weren’t clear.
Sure, the podcast was a great networking tool. It gave us a reason to reach out to people we admired. We learned how to be better interviewers. We got more confident behind the mic. But we couldn’t draw a straight line from “episode published” to “lead generated.”
We weren’t seeing a meaningful increase in traffic to our site. Our email list didn’t spike. Prospects weren’t referencing the podcast in calls. When we looked at the metrics, it was a trickle — not a tide.
And after more than a year, we were tired.
The breaking point: Content fatigue is real
Toward the end, recording became a chore. We were scrambling for topics. Guests started dropping out. Episodes felt forced. The spark was gone.
So we hit pause.
We told ourselves we’d come back after a break. Refresh. Re-energize. Re-launch.
But when we finally sat down to talk about restarting, we asked a different question: Should we?
What would success look like? What were we hoping to achieve? Were we measuring the right things — or anything at all?
We realized we had no framework for evaluating whether the podcast was “working.” It had become a habit, not a strategy. That was our moment of clarity.
We decided to stop.
Measuring ROI when it’s not about money (but it should be)
This is where the story shifts from anecdote to analysis — the part product leaders will recognize instantly.
When you ship a new feature or launch a new product, you set metrics. You define success. You ask: How many people used it? Did it reduce churn? Did it increase revenue?
Content should be held to the same standard.
Looking back, here’s how the FRP Podcast stacked up:
- Production cost: Roughly 6–8 hours per episode, including prep, recording, editing, publishing, and promotion.
- Team resources: Two team members involved regularly, plus time from guests and collaborators.
- Audience metrics: Modest downloads. Occasional shares. Limited feedback.
- Business impact: Hard to quantify. No measurable lead gen. No notable SEO lift.
Did it help us learn? Yes.
Was it fun? Sometimes.
Did it deliver ROI in line with our investment? No.
That doesn’t make it a failure. It makes it a lesson.
Content strategy lessons for product leaders
For product leaders who are responsible for growth but strapped for time, content decisions can feel risky. What starts as a creative idea can quickly become a resource drain. These content strategy lessons for product leaders emerged from our experience, and they’re principles we now use to guide all of our own marketing efforts.
Content is a product — treat it like one
Looking back, we realized we didn’t treat the podcast like a product — and that’s a common mistake. These content strategy lessons for product leaders can help teams approach content with the same rigor they use in product development:
1. Define clear goals up front
Not just vague ideas like “build brand awareness.” Be specific. For example:
- Gain 100 newsletter subscribers per month
- Generate 3 qualified leads from podcast listeners per quarter
- Improve domain authority by 5 points in six months
2. Start as a time-boxed experiment
Instead of an open-ended launch, commit to a pilot season: 6–10 episodes. Set a check-in point. Evaluate success. Pivot or pause based on data.
3. Track the right metrics
Downloads are a vanity metric unless you connect them to outcomes. Look at email signups, click-throughs, contact form submissions — anything tied to business value.
4. Have an exit strategy
If it’s not working, stop. There’s no shame in saying, “We tried this, and it wasn’t the right fit.” In fact, that’s good product thinking.
What we gained — And what we gave up
We didn’t walk away empty-handed. The FRP helped us develop new skills. It strengthened our ability to interview and listen — which is crucial for UX research and sales conversations. It gave us content ideas we’re still repurposing today. And it helped us build relationships that extended far beyond the podcast itself.
But it also cost us time we could’ve spent improving our portfolio, writing targeted blog content, or engaging directly with prospects. It diverted energy from our core offering — UX design and strategy for complex digital products.
In the end, we realized something important: we don’t need to be everywhere. We just need to be effective.
Final takeaway: Know when to pivot
It’s tempting to think that more content = more traction. That if you just keep publishing, the results will come. But product leaders know better. Resources are finite. Focus matters.
At Standard Beagle, we believe in experimenting — but we also believe in choosing the experiments that align with our long-term goals. The FRP Podcast didn’t become the engine of growth we hoped for. But it taught us how to assess what’s worth doing, and how to walk away when it’s not.
That’s not failure. That’s strategy.
Real strategy means knowing when to double down and when to walk away — and that’s one of the most important content strategy lessons for product leaders to remember.
