Business podcasts, especially financial-focused podcasts, have been on the rise in the last 18 or so months as audiences are hungry for continuing education audio. With this rise, it comes as no surprise a podcast like Investing with the Buyside — a podcast about individual investing — has risen to prominence.

Investing with the Buyside (IwtB) delivers insightful tips, tricks, and best practices for investors of all levels by analyzing trends, earning reports, and the latest news. Their goal is to cut through the noise and provide an easily-digestible helpful podcast.

We were fortunate to catch up with IwtB creator and host, Nate Abercrombie, and discussed the podcast, investor tips, and the challenges indie podcasters face. See below for our full Q&A.

Listen: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher

Discover Pods: How’d you get into podcasting?

ABERCROMBIE: It’s actually a really long story. The short version is that I used to work with a guy who talked a lot about the podcasts he listened to. I subscribed to a few and found them to be super convenient, especially on long road trips through rural parts of the US with limited cell phone service. It was also about that time that I realized I needed to do something else with my life. I love researching stocks and talking to management teams, but the stress that’s on equity analysts is enormous. Most importantly though, I saw an opportunity to provide a resource to all investors, something they never had access to before.

DP: In your own words, why should listeners tune in to IwtB?

ABERCROMBIE: The IwtB Podcast is most helpful to those people who have an interest in investing in stocks, but I think that anyone who has an interest in learning more about a business, an industry or even the political/regulatory framework could learn something from the interviews. The IwtB Podcast delivers investing insights and perspectives directly from c-suite executives of publicly traded companies – something that isn’t readily available to the broader investment community and it’s also something that institutional money managers pay millions of dollars for every year. I’ve often been asked – “What’s the difference between your podcast and a quarterly earnings call?” Earnings calls and even analyst days are rarely consistent with the messaging and quarterly earnings calls can oftentimes be too focused on the granular aspects of the business and do not effectively capture the big picture aspects of an investment story. The IwtB Podcast gives management teams the opportunity to talk about their business, industry outlook, investment risks, and management’s perspective on valuation. Another goal of the IwtB Podcast is highlight stocks that appear undervalued. The future is never certain and it’s extremely difficult to say that a stock is cheap without absolute certainty, but I also believe that it is fundamentally important in picking stocks to at least hear management’s perspective as to why THEY think their stock is a good investment. But when it comes right down to it, I think the most important reason why listeners should tune is to learn something new.

DP: What are some common areas new individual investors get wrong when they first start out?

ABERCROMBIE: Boy, there are so many angles to approach that question. One could focus on emotional intelligence, behavioral economics, the ‘herd-mentality,’ and our natural decision-making tendencies or psychology. If an individual investor has all of the ideal emotional and psychological attributes of a good investor, I think most important thing is to know more about what you’re investing in, which is one of the main reasons why I decided to start Investing with the Buyside.

DP: How do you source your interviews?

ABERCROMBIE: Pre-existing relationships and a lot of ‘cold-calling.’ Fortunately, I developed some really great relationships while I was working in the institutional money management business. Investor Relations Officers, who are the gatekeepers to management, don’t get the respect and credit they deserve. I’ve always believed it is extremely important to treat everyone in the industry with the utmost respect and these folks deserve it, but don’t always get it. I also have some close friends who are still in the industry who help make introductions, which is key. Lastly, and maybe least successfully, it’s ‘cold-calling’ or sending emails to management teams I’ve never met before. That’s where it get’s really tough and the odds of successfully securing an interview are much lower.

DP: For a new listener, what are the 3 episodes you’d recommend to get started?

ABERCROMBIE: The first is the Podcast Intro because it will give listeners a good idea as to the ‘why’ and ‘what’ of Investing with the Buyside. The second is the interview with Summit Midstream’s Steve Newby, mainly because Steve was so very comfortable doing the interview and because the content and cadence are what I’m aiming for. The third episode I’d recommend is the interview with a former professor of mine, Josh Landis, because it’s a super fascinating discussion on a super fascinating subject (the Middle East) with someone for whom I personally have enormous respect and admiration.

DP: What’s the biggest challenge you face as an indie podcaster?

ABERCROMBIE: So many! I hate to harp on the hurdles, but I listened to a lot of established podcasters say it’s a cheap and easy form of media. My experience has been that neither is true. Due to the conflicts of interest, I couldn’t work as an equity researcher AND do the podcasting thing at the same time, so this is now my full-time job. I thought attracting advertisers would be easy, but it’s not – I was told by podcast advertisers that podcasters looking to monetize need at least 10,000 downloads per episode before they’ll start seeing advertising dollars. However, the biggest challenge has been attracting guests, or getting management teams to sign up. Some of the reasons for this are: 1) IwtB is an unknown entity and management teams don’t want to spend time on something that may seem to add zero value; 2) the chicken and egg problem – public companies want to reach as many people as possible, but to grow the number of downloads a podcast needs interviews; and 3) a lot of companies probably think they have a sufficient amount of access to potential investors.

DP: Where do you want to take your podcast?

ABERCROMBIE: I’d love to make a career out of this. I can’t say how much I enjoy learning about new businesses and industries and hearing a management team’s perspective on everything that’s going on with a sector. More than anything, I’d like to turn the podcast into a low-stress, revenue producing vocation for myself so that I can spend time with my family and doing things outside of investing that I really enjoy.

DP: What other podcasts are you listening to now?

ABERCROMBIE: I listen to several other investing podcasts like Invest Like the Best, Capital Allocators, The Investor’s Podcast, and recently I’ve picked up The Ticker from IR Magazine and one from the Financial Times called Behind the Money. Outside of finance, I listen to Hardcore History, This Past Weekend, Myths and Legends (with the kids), Joe Rogan, and the Art Of Manliness.

DP: Anything else you’d like to add?

ABERCROMBIE: Only that if there are any suggestions, let’m rip. I’d be more than happy to hear ways that I can make the program better.

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