Questions in.
Answers out.
The 26 questions we hear before anyone applies, answered with day markers, prices and targets instead of adjectives. Filter by keyword below, or jump straight to a group.
Two hours a week. Live on day 18.
Speed, volume, host time, ownership and approvals: what founders ask before they commit a host's calendar.
How fast will we see results?
Invitations go live on day 18, after twelve days of mailbox warm-up. First pre-interviews are scored and first episodes recorded around day 25. Many guests turn into conversations before their episode is published, because the follow-up starts when the recording ends, not when the episode airs.
The first pipeline review runs on day 60, on real acceptance, qualification and opportunity data. By day 90 the monthly recorded-guest target is being met and past guests start referring peers. Day-by-day timeline
How many guests will we record per month?
The tier sets it. Pilot targets 4–6 recorded guests a month, Engine 8–10, Network 12–16 and Multi-Show 25+. Targets apply from month 2; month 1 is mostly warm-up and first recordings.
For scale: a sample Engine season invited 1,240 people, recorded 96 of them (about 8 a month) and produced 32 opportunities.Sample data The season planner works backwards from your pipeline target to the guests you need.
What do I actually have to do?
Host, approve, follow up. That comes to about two hours a week: 30 minutes per recording, a one-page brief read beforehand, sign-off on invitation copy and clips, and the follow-up calls with guests who want to keep talking.
Guest research, invitations, pre-interviews, scheduling, editing, clips and CRM notes run without you. The one heavier stretch is days 1–5: an ICP workshop and a host prep session.
Do we need an existing audience?
No. The guest is the audience. The show exists to get a buyer you picked into a 30-minute recorded conversation with your host, so zero subscribers on day 1 is normal and downloads never appear in the weekly report.
Reach still grows as a side effect: every guest gets clips and quote cards to share, and their network meets your show through them. Engine and Network add a LinkedIn distribution kit.
Who owns the show, domains and recordings?
You do, from day one: the invitation domains and mailboxes, the show name and feed, every episode and raw recording, clips and quote cards, the guest list, pre-interview notes and CRM records. We operate the infrastructure; it is registered to you.
If you stop after the initial term, give 30 days notice and we hand over every login and file. The system keeps running without us.
Can I review invitations before they go out?
Yes, and nothing sends without it. We write the invitation sequences during days 6–17 and the host approves each one before go-live on day 18. Later changes to copy, targeting or volume go through the same approval.
You can also strike any name from the guest list before it is invited, and hand us an exclusion list on day 1.
We already publish a show. Can you plug into it?
Yes, two ways. We run the guest engine into your existing show, or we launch a second, buyer-focused format beside it and leave the original alone.
The deciding question is who your guests are today. If they are already buyers, plug in. If they are peers, investors or well-known names, a second format keeps both shows clean. Teams that want to run it themselves can pair an existing show with Host Coaching.
- days 1–5 · brief
ICP workshop, guest criteria, show format, host prep.
- days 6–17 · warm
Mailboxes warm up, first 300 guests researched, you approve the invitations.
- day 18 · go live
Invitations start under the host's name, low volume, then ramp.
- day 25 · first recording
First pre-interviews scored, first episodes recorded.
- day 60 · first review
Pipeline review on real data; targeting adjusted.
- day 90 · steady state
Monthly target met; past guests start referring peers.
Who gets invited, and how.
Where the names come from, whose name is on the invitation, and what happens when an accepted guest turns out not to be a buyer.
How do you find guests?
From your ICP, not from a guest-booking marketplace. In the days 1–5 workshop we lock the criteria: title, company stage, funding, niche, and trigger events such as a new role, a fresh round or an expansion.
The research team builds the first 300 guests during warm-up and tops the list up as the season runs. Each name carries a reason for the invitation, and that reason becomes its first line.
Whose name do invitations go out under?
The host's. Invitations go out under the host's name and in the host's voice, from separate domains we set up for the show. Producers handle scheduling replies and flag anything that needs the host, with context.
On the recording, the guest meets the host peer to peer. No SDR sits in between.
How do you protect deliverability?
Separate infrastructure and a slow start. Invitations never send from your main domain. We register invitation domains, set up the mailboxes (40 on Pilot, 80 on Engine, 150 on Network) and warm them from day 6 to day 17.
On day 18, sending starts at low daily volume and ramps as acceptance data comes in. Each invitation is short and written to one person, and a deliverability lead checks placement and bounces every week.
What if a guest isn't a buyer?
The producer pre-interview catches most of them. Every accepted guest gets a 15-minute call first, and fit is scored before the host's time is spent. Guests below the threshold are flagged before anything is booked. They reach the host's calendar only if you choose, and never count toward your recorded-guest target.
In a sample Engine season, 171 of 418 accepted guests qualified (41%).Sample data The rest still help: a guest who doesn't qualify often points the producer to someone who does.
Can we invite existing prospects or accounts?
Yes. Stalled deals and target accounts your reps can't reach are often the best first invitations. Send the list and we invite them like any other guest: for their view, with no reference to an open deal.
It works in reverse too. Your exclusion list keeps current customers, live opportunities and competitors out of the invitations unless you add them back.
What about guests outside our ICP (referrals, partners)?
Leave room for them. A channel partner, an analyst or an investor can make a strong episode and open doors to buyers, and past guests referring peers is how the program compounds after day 90.
We tag these as non-ICP episodes, cap them at a share of the calendar you set, and keep them out of the opportunity numbers so the report stays honest.
Won't guests feel baited into a sales process?
Nothing gets sold on the record. Guests are invited because their view is worth publishing, they get real exposure, and they decide whether to keep talking afterwards.
The only follow-up is one specific offer tied to something they said, sent after the recording. When both sides don't come out ahead the channel stops working, so every step is designed for both. The manifesto has the long version.
pipeline.math · defaults
Want these numbers for your market? Eight recorded guests a month at a $40,000 ACV models to about 2.6 opportunities and $105,600 of pipeline a month. Model assumptions
Prices, terms and one commission.
Flat monthly fees, a 3-month initial term, a guarantee from month 2, and commission in exactly one place.
What does it cost?
Podcast Pipeline runs $3,900 a month on Pilot, $6,900 on Engine and $11,500 on Network. Paying for 3 or 6 months at a time takes 10% or 15% off the monthly fee.Proposed pricing
Outside the core program: Launch Sprint is $4,500 one-time, Host Coaching $1,800 a month, the Closing Desk $2,500 a month plus 8% on deals it closes, and Multi-Show starts at $18,000 a month. Every line compared
Is there a contract?
A 3-month initial term, then month to month with 30 days notice. The term matches the ramp: warm-up runs days 6–17, invitations go live on day 18 and the first pipeline review lands on day 60. Anything shorter ends before there is data to judge.
Launch Sprint is a fixed 14-day project with no ongoing contract with us. You run the system after it and pay the software directly, about $180 a month.
What's the Guest Guarantee?
From month 2, if we record fewer guests than your tier's target (4 on Pilot, 8 on Engine, 12 on Network), we keep booking at no charge until the shortfall is recorded. Month 1 is excluded because it is mostly warm-up.
It counts recorded guests who passed the pre-interview, not accepted invitations, so it can't be met with filler. Guarantee terms
What's included vs. extra?
Included in every tier: domains, mailboxes, warm-up, the recording stack, guest research, pre-interviews, the edit, clips and the weekly report from send to signed. Setup is included on Engine and Network; Pilot carries a $1,500 setup fee, credited if you upgrade within 90 days.
Extra: the Closing Desk (Engine and Network only) and Multi-Show for several hosts. After a Launch Sprint you pay the ongoing software directly, about $180 a month. Add-ons
Do you work on commission?
Only on the Closing Desk. There, a senior closer takes qualified guest conversations from handoff to signed, for $2,500 a month plus 8% of first-year contract value on deals the desk closes.
The core program is a flat monthly fee. Deals your own team closes from guest conversations carry no commission, whatever their size. How the desk works
Could our own team run this instead?
Yes. The Launch Sprint ($4,500, 14 days) builds the show concept, the first 300-guest list, three invitation sequences, 30 mailboxes on domains you own (set up and warming), and the pre-interview script, then hands it all to your team.
Budget roughly 25 hours a week across research, invitations, producing and editing to run it well. Host Coaching adds two calls a month plus reviews of invitations, episodes and scoring for $1,800 a month.
Who this fits, and who it doesn't.
ACV, market and seniority, plus the teams we turn away, so you don't have to find out on a call.
Who is this not for?
B2C products. Offers under about $5k ACV: at $5,000 a deal, even Pilot needs more than 9 closed deals a year to break even. Teams whose goal is downloads or audience growth. And anyone unwilling to be on camera or on mic, because the host is the mechanism.
One more test: if you can't name your buyer by title and company type, the guest list can't be built yet. Start with the fit score.
Does it work for fundraising?
Yes, with investors as the guests. A founder hosts associates, principals and partners on a show about the market they fund, and the conversation does the work of a first pitch meeting without the pitch.
In the CF-05 example, a pre-seed AI founder hosted 27 investors in 7 weeks, filled the round and received 4 term sheets.Example data The usual setup is a Launch Sprint plus Host Coaching. Founders raising a round · CF-05
Does it work for agencies and consultancies?
Yes, when engagements clear the ACV line. Services firms get two extra effects: the episode doubles as a work sample, and past guests refer peers, which is how most services work gets won anyway.
In the CF-04 example, a 30-person consultancy booked $610k from 16 episodes, with 9 referrals from past guests and 2 retainers from one roundtable.Example data Agencies & consultancies · CF-04
What ACV makes sense?
$15,000 and up. A year of Engine costs $82,800, so at a $40,000 ACV about 2.1 closed deals cover it. At $15,000 that becomes 5.5 deals a year on Engine, or 3.1 on Pilot. Below about $5,000 the math stops working.Model assumptions
Put your own ACV, win rate and guest volume into the guest-to-pipeline calculator. Estimates, not guarantees. Your numbers will differ.
Our buyers are very senior. Will they say yes?
Senior buyers turn down pitches, not platforms. Being featured is one of the few asks executives accept: it costs them 30 minutes and gives them a published view with their name on it.
In the CF-02 example, 41% of invited CTOs accepted, including CTOs who had ignored the same company's sales emails.Example data CF-02
We're in a regulated industry. Will legal approve this?
Regulated-industry workflows are standard. Episodes are reviewed before publishing, guests approve their clips, and nothing airs without sign-off.
Share your review rules in the days 1–5 brief and we build the approval steps into the edit schedule. The fintech & infrastructure page walks through the compliance workflow.
- B2B, with an ACV of $15k+
- Buyers you can name by title: VP+, founders, partners
- A founder or exec who can host ~2 hrs / wk
- Pipeline is the goal, not downloads
disqualifiers · either one rules you out
- B2C, or an ACV under $5k
- Nobody willing to be on mic or camera
Still have a question?
Ask it where the answer comes with numbers. Raise it in your application and it gets answered on the fit call with your market in the model, or bring it to the monthly workshop and ask it live.
Ask it on the fit call
Send your ICP and ACV. The reply covers guest volume, expected acceptances and a pipeline range for your market. Free, and yours to keep whether or not you sign.
Start the engine → [02] workshop · live · 45 minAsk it live, with your ICP
Once a month, 45 minutes, questions taken live. Bring your ICP and the one question this page didn't answer.
Save a workshop seat [03] fit score · 6 questionsAnswer six, get a verdict
ACV, buyer seniority, host time and goals, scored in about two minutes, with the reason behind the result.
Check your fitYour questions. Your numbers.
The fit call answers the rest with your market in the model: how many buyers hold the titles, how many are likely to accept, and what that means for pipeline at your ACV.