Thread by @smc90

this is my philosophy, strategy, tactic in a nutshell -- I always tell people, most of the work in the a16z Podcast is in the pre- (topic, brainstorm, episode lineup, angle/diff, packaging, etc.) and post- (editing:)

https://twitter.com/jayacunzo/status/1151934254844170244

furthermore -- because of course the talent and experts are everything, but it's all audio only (which has multiple dimensionsvs. text) -- you have 5 levers to pull:
*content
*energy/chemistry/warmth
*charisma/personality/voice
*differentiation/angle/POV/freshness
*timing
so,

obvs the ideal is to have all those levers up; but most non-scripted episodes just won't have all strong

so, I always tell folks (and train new pod editors re this) that you can *pull* -- that is, shape through edits -- one or more levers up/down based on what want more/less of

oops I put "timing" instead of "narrative/arc", which should be in that list of 5 levers; but timing is always the magic X factor and I could write a book on that alone!

... but back to the editing. Obviously not all levers are equal, and depend also on the goals, topic, and *context* (competition for attention matters here!)

for instance, is the topic overexposed or obscure?

For latter, energy might not matter as much (self-selected, niche, longtail, 1000 true fans type audiences);

For an overexposed topic, however, energy and depth and differentiation will matter a lot

Edits help achieve all of this:) You can literally shape the raw material.

(I have a whole taxonomy for different flavors of editing and types of editors, and one type is what I call "shaping editor" vs "take what you got" editors -- of course, I'm very partial to the former:)

And finally, you have to know what kind of show you are -- a "cult of personality" show (hint: they often have eponymous titles:) can afford to be less edited bc people are following the person/host most (more buyin, patience with chit- chat, etc.)

Whereas other shows need higher "insights per minute" -- with payoffs sooner and such -- and ofc still color too but interspersed throughout vs solipsistic

(I shared the IPM edit measure in the below pod and it's been fun to hear it played back to me w several pod co founders:)

more on that, and some of my other views re above, in here
a16z.com/2019/04/02/pod…

I also have a few fave quotes re editing & IPM, this one from Daredevil stunt coordinator Philip Silvera is my go to: "If it doesn’t push the story forward, it’s just punches and kicks."

context for it in image below -- it's from the so well done hallway fight scene in season 1:

my other favorite quote -- which applies to all things content strategy beyond medium -- is this one, from Gilmore Girls;)

"When you think I'll zig, I'll zag. Then when you think I'm gonna zag, I do zag, just to mess you up for the next time, when I might zig"