What do you get when you cross a world-shaking pandemic with the greatest degree of connectedness in human history?
Well, a lot. But with Zoom calls, teleconferencing, increased online presence, and voice-driven content becoming the norm, you get an opportunity for a new social platform. It’s called Racket and it’s growing fast.
Racket lets users record, upload, and edit audio clips up to 9 minutes long. The result? Focussed clips and highly targeted audiences for creators.
Check out some highlighted users from founder Austin Petersmith:
Voice is very in
Clubhouse is $3B more valuable than when I started writing six weeks ago and it’s being copied by the biggest names in tech.
Dozens of big-name authors are going with an audiobook first approach and anecdotally, most people in my book club prefer to listen rather than read.
Podcasts in particular have taken off with over 80% of Americans claiming they listen to one on a consistent basis (mines Robinhood Snacks) but from the creator perspective, it can take an excess of energy to get one out the door.
Kushaan Shah put it well in his recent post on the Racket
It’s a way for the lonely creator to compete with multi-million dollar production powerhouses that can string together podcast networks at ease.
Racket gets rid of the tech hurdles presented by making a podcast. Cutting audio, making it sound natural, helping the recording flow - all the tools are right there in the platform and simple to use. Now you just have to talk about what you know best - your company
Who needs to jump in?
If there’s anything the surge in TikTok has taught us is that all you need is a phone and a creative idea to get some buzz.
Right now the creators on there are limited to Twitter stars, VC guys, aspiring authors & speakers but I think there is a ton of room for others trying to put themselves out there in a simple way.
Comedians trying to grow their brand, high schoolers looking to break into media, and entreprenuers who think voice is their best outlet over writing or video.
Like most strong platforms, it’s currently invite-only (still waiting on mine) but check out my favorite recording so far by Steve Schlafman on getting sober.
If you want to read more about Racket, check out this post from Kushaan Shah.
Thanks Tyler for editing this week’s Growth Berries.