How Harry Stebbings Created 20VC, a podcast with 100M+ downloads at 18

Hi everyone!

(Not affiliated with 20VC at all)

I recently came across the story of how Harry Stebbings created Twenty Minute VC, a 20-minute podcast dedicated to interviewing the world's best VCs. He started this when he was only 18 years old, and I figured there are some cool lessons we can learn from him:

How did he come up with the idea?

• 84% of commutes in London are under 30 minutes
• 78% of podcast listeners churn to new episodes if the previous one isn't finished

This means a 20-minute podcast that releases 3 times a week can maximize readers finishing an episode before their commute ends, and picking up a new episode later in the week.

How did he get guests?

Harry was 18. No background, no connections, no reputation. He could only find VCs one way. Through cold emailing (linked in this post). His cold email was respectful and genuine, and he targeted a VC who he assumed would be "likely" to answer and agree to an interview.

Afterward, he asked the VC for 3 recommendations on future guests. This was key because it 1) allowed Harry to get future guests and 2) if a previous guest sees their recommendation in a future episode, they're likely to share it.

What about viewers?

VCs often shared their experience, and podcasts attracting big names like Jason Calacanis or Ryan Hoover will definitely get noticed. The biggest thing I think is how many of these VCs are willing to promote their own episode, especially on forums like Medium.

Harry also did a ton of his own cross-promotion. He authored for TechCrunch and posted many of his interviews there. This allowed the TechCrunch audience to discover his podcast.

Most Important Part

Harry has been podcasting for over 8 years and has consistently put up 3 episodes a week. They're over 3,000 episodes. Persistency is key, and you shouldn't expect success in less than 12 months.

Hope all of this helps!