Saddle up, Lock, & Load,
Welcome to Dog Whistle Branding, the official newsletter of IRONBOUND Media, brought to you by me, "IRON" Mike Steadman, Founder of IRONBOUND and The Godfather of Dog Whistle Branding.
Dear Friend, Subscriber, and Aspiring Dog Whistle Brand Owner,
Dear Subscribers,
Last week, I attended the 2nd Annual Military Veteran Startup Conference in San Francisco, hosted by Tim Hsia and his firm Context Ventures, an early-stage venture firm with a passion for military led-startups.
Tim and his team put on a phenomenal event, bringing together more than 400 + entrepreneurs and investors all under one roof. Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of hosting many of the attendees on my various different podcasts, including the Transition, Dog Whistle Branding, and Those Who Dare.
When I first began podcasting, I didn’t have much of an audience. I was just a guy talking into a microphone. Gradually, people began to take notice and after more than two years, I’ve built quite the network through podcasting.
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the underlying theme of our original content, i.e. the shows we produce in-house.
Entrepreneurial education for military veterans and underrepresented founders keeps repeating itself. Not only am I passionate about it, I also believe that’s where we can make the most impact. All throughout the conference, countless veterans pulled me aside to let me know how thankful and appreciative they are of our content. We’re the voice of the community.
Behind the scenes, my team and I are thinking through how we can position our network of original shows.
We’re building a mini-publishing company, only instead of books, we leverage audio. I’m studying other leading podcasts networks like Gimlet Media, Pineapple Street Studios, and Wondery, each of whom have their own style of production and original content. I’m also taking cues from independent book publishers, since I believe that the future of publishing is audio (that’s for another newsletter).
Read my first book, “Black Veteran Entrepreneur”
Order your copy here. I’d greatly appreciate it if you left me a review on Amazon!
What did you think of today’s newsletter? We want to hear from you! Leave a comment below or message me on LinkedIn.
