The New and Noteworthy Window
Don't compete with Joe Rogan — compete with everyone who started this week.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 85%
Doug had read about iTunes' new and noteworthy category before Mind Pump launched: for a podcast's first eight weeks, it competes only against other podcasts in their first eight weeks, with a shot at front-screen placement. The founders saw it as a huge advantage — they weren't competing against Joe Rogan, they were competing against people starting right now, and they believed in their work ethic and their information. They hit number one in new and noteworthy and held it for several weeks. Critically, Schafer paired it with a channel he controlled: on the ground at Orange Theory building community in person, because he knew he couldn't control the iTunes ranking or social virality, but he knew he could convert a few hundred people face to face into listeners. The combination gave them their first few hundred to thousand listeners, and it snowballed from there.
Origin
Doug, the producer with a digital marketing hobby, had read about the iTunes new and noteworthy mechanic and brought it to the group going into launch. Schafer independently ran the in-person community play out of Orange Theory because it was the lever he knew he could control.
Core principles
- 01Find the bracket where you compete against peers, not incumbents.
- 02Platform mechanics create temporary windows — research them before you launch, not after.
- 03Pair the uncontrollable channel with a channel you can control.
- 04A few hundred people you convert in person is a real audience floor.
- 05Once the window closes, ranking compounds — the initial wave seeds the snowball.
How to run it
- 1
Research the mechanic before launching
Learn how the platform surfaces new entrants and what the qualifying window is. Doug knew about new and noteworthy going in.
Watch out Specific platform mechanics change. The transferable move is finding the current new-entrant bracket, not the 2013 iTunes rule.
- 2
Reframe who you're competing against
Inside the window you're not competing against the incumbent who's been there forever. You're competing against other people starting right now.
- 3
Front-load volume into the window
Mind Pump's strategy was to drop podcasts every day and keep reinventing based on feedback — the window rewards output.
- 4
Run a controllable channel in parallel
Schafer couldn't control the ranking, so he simultaneously built community in person at Orange Theory — a lever he knew he was good at.
Pro tip A few hundred people in an in-person community becomes a few hundred listeners. That's a real floor.
- 5
Combine the waves and let it snowball
The window gives the initial catapult; the controllable channel gives the floor. Together they produce the first few hundred to thousand listeners that compound.
In the wild
Within their first eight weeks, competing only against other brand-new podcasts rather than established incumbents, Mind Pump reached number one in iTunes' new and noteworthy category and held it for several weeks of that window.
→ It catapulted the first initial wave of listeners and got them onto the front screen of iTunes with zero ad spend.
While the podcast ran, Schafer was building community in person at Orange Theory. His logic: he didn't know if he could control the new and noteworthy outcome or social media popularity, but he knew he was good at what he did and could build community face to face. A few hundred people in his community meant a couple hundred listeners.
→ The combination of the ranking wave and the in-person community produced Mind Pump's first few hundred to thousand listeners — and then it snowballed for ten years.
Common mistakes
Launching without knowing the mechanics
The window is time-boxed and non-renewable. Mind Pump only caught it because Doug had researched it before episode one.
Betting everything on the uncontrollable channel
Schafer explicitly hedged: he couldn't control the ranking, so he built the in-person community he could control alongside it.
Dismissing a few hundred listeners
Mind Pump's first product launch sold a couple hundred programs and Schafer calls it really good. Small committed audiences are the seed, not a failure.
Is it for you?
Best for
New podcasters and creators launching on a platform with discoverability mechanics, who also have some in-person or offline audience they can convert.
Not ideal for
Platforms without a new-entrant bracket, or creators with no controllable audience source to pair against the uncontrollable one.
From the transcript
“In the first eight weeks you are only competing against other people that are in their first eight weeks.”
“We're not competing against the Joe Rogan who's been there forever. We're competing against other people are starting right now.”
“I didn't know if I could control the new and noteworthy thing and get popular on social media, but I knew I was good at…”
From the episode
Adam Schafer: Mind Pump Co-Founder on The Mindset That Separates Entrepreneurs Who Win
Adam Schafer