[tirwin]

Mike, congrats on starting the podcast. I listened to the first episode and will keep listening.

I think I saw on Instagram that you were at the Rolex 24. I couldn’t make it this year. I’ll be at Amelia in March and I’m signed up for Werks Reunion. Would like to say hi if you’re there.

If you don’t mind, I’d like to share with you some thoughts. I had this very same conversation with a guy who was a host of a TV car show or two and now has a YouTube show of his own.

Most of the your competition sucks, in my opinion. I’ve almost given up on car TV shows because they all basically follow the same formula. There’s a car. There’s some drama around the car. There’s a happy ending (no not that kind Rawknee). The End.

Basically, any corporate suit thinks that car shows have to be a soap opera for men. Almost without exception, any time they start to get good someone with a pocket square ruins it.

There is a huge gap in the market that is being underserved and I think you’re trying to step in and fill it. I guess what I’m saying is don’t try to follow a format for success that other people are using because I don’t think they get it right either. Do what you think is right in your gut. Do what you think we want to hear about because you have a better chance of getting it right.

This idea may be controversial because it could be construed as just being a product placement thing. But we have a lot of people on the forum that support our enthusiasm for Porsche with their products and they contribute here a good bit too. Chuck Moreland, Matt Monson, Charlie Griffith, Sherwood... there are many others. But I think it would be good to have them on to talk about what they do. Almost every time I’ve called someone to talk about my needs they have given me solid advice. They weren’t just trying to upsell me something I didn’t need. In fact in some cases they steered me away from things I didn’t need. Or they told me the cons of what i was thinking. Seems to me like something like that could be very informative. You’d have to avoid the pure product pitch but I think it could be tastefully done.

Some pet peeves of mine about the other shows out there...

One of the podcasts I listen to had Alois Ruf on. They asked him to tell his story of how he got started. It was freaking awesome. And then they started talking over him and it was so annoying. I could’ve listened to him talk for hours. My point is good interviewers don’t get in the way of the guest. Don’t make that mistake. Not saying you do. I’m just saying what I find annoying. There is an art to interviewing someone.

Everybody wants to talk to Jerry Seinfeld, Alois Ruf, Rod Emory, Magnus Walker, etc. And yes I want to hear from them. But there are a tremendous number of people on here that I also respect. Maye they don’t do Porsche stuff as a full-time business but that doesn’t mean they don’t have awesome stories to tell. I’d love to hear their stories too.

It’s a podcast format. I notice that in some podcasts the guys are looking at pictures of cars and talking about this or that visual difference. They forget that we listeners can’t see what they see. Be mindful of what you can accomplish within the bounds of the format.

Don’t be afraid of depth on a topic. I can only listen to people talk about whether the driving experience of a 991 GT3 is substantially different from a 997 GT3 so many times. That just doesn’t translate well to a podcast for me. Here’s a topic. Jack Olsen’s concept for his car is “one car to do it all.” One car for the track and street. Most people don’t have the luxury of a dedicated track car and a dedicated street car. How did he find the balance? What are the challenges? Can a guy like me pull off the same idea? What do I need to know? Maybe talk to some guys about the tribulations they had in doing EFI conversions. Stuff like that is what I’ll keep coming back for.

Good luck!