RAIN Notes: August 28

Executive Chairman of Hanging Around

We learn from Andrew Mason, Founder of video/podcast editor Descript, that he has become Executive Chairman of the company — “a title founders give themselves so they can still hang around he office and undermine their successor for a few years,” he capriciously says. To fill his previous role as CEO, VP of Product Laura Burkhauser steps up and in. She was Director of Product Management at Twitter for a few years, and held the same title at Rent The Runway before that. She has worked at Amazon and The Bridgespan Group. In his new role, Andrew Mason promises he won’t be making decisions, but will be a sounding board for Burkhauser, provide continuity, and “reflect on why no one actually wants to talk to me.”

 

“First-Years,” “Longtimers,” and video podcasts

Edison Research has publicly released a piece of research introduced at the recent Podcast Movement. “It’s no secret that video podcasts have significantly disrupted the podcast industry,”the company states. As par of larger research, Edison asked survey participants “Do you ever listen to…?” — with two choices: audio-only podcasts, and podcasts with video that the respondent actively watches. Responses divide the audience into “first-years” consumers and “longtimers.” The key takeaway is that longtimers — the more experienced audince, is less involved with video, sticking to audio-only. That said, the variances are fairly slim, as shown in the graph.

August 28, 2025

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