Eight Network's Journey in User Acquisition and Retention With CleverTap | Let's Talk Retention
Summary
TLDRIn this podcast, Abin Jen interviews Moit Palal, co-founder of 8 Network, a live decentralized broadcasting platform aimed at helping audio content creators build communities and gain influence. Moit shares insights on the startup's journey, the challenges faced, and their approach to product-market fit. The discussion highlights the importance of data tracking from the outset and the need for a great user experience to retain listeners. Moit emphasizes the platform's focus on personalization and content discovery to ensure listener retention and the long-term success of the startup.
Takeaways
- 🎙️ Moit Palal, from 8 Network, discusses the startup journey and the evolution of their platform, which began as a live decentralized broadcasting platform and expanded to include various audio content formats.
- 🚀 The initial vision was to address the lack of social interaction and network effects in audio content compared to other media types, aiming to help audio creators grow their audience.
- 🤝 Moit and his co-founders, all MBA students, started with a simple idea and iterated based on user feedback, focusing on product-market fit for creators, listeners, and content.
- 🛠️ The platform initially focused on live audio streaming but evolved to include storytelling, podcasts, and immersive audio productions, emphasizing the diversity of audio content beyond music.
- 👥 The team behind 8 Network consists of three co-founders with diverse backgrounds, including a musician, which influenced the platform's direction and features.
- 📈 They used a manual approach to attract the first 100 creators to the platform, leveraging social media and a shareable live broadcast feature to grow their user base.
- 📊 Data tracking and user feedback were crucial in shaping the product, with a focus on user interactions and time spent on the platform as key performance indicators.
- 🔄 The company had to make tough decisions about prioritizing long-term value over short-term growth, such as shelving a community feature that didn't align with their vision.
- 🎧 Challenges in the audio space include competition, user adoption, and monetization, with a particular focus on helping creators gain influence and build communities.
- 💡 For aspiring entrepreneurs, Moit emphasizes the importance of data tracking from the start, as it informs decision-making and helps avoid relying on bias.
Q & A
What is the primary focus of Eight Network?
-Eight Network is focused on helping audio content creators get discovered, build large communities, and become influencers by providing a platform for various audio formats such as live broadcasting, stories, podcasting, audio dramas, and immersive productions.
How did the idea for Eight Network originate?
-The idea for Eight Network originated during the founders' time at IIM Bangalore, where they noticed the lack of a social layer and network effects in audio platforms compared to other media like video and text.
Who are the co-founders of Eight Network?
-The co-founders of Eight Network are Moit, Yugul, and another Moit (referred to as 'Goo' to avoid confusion). They all met during their MBA program at IIM Bangalore.
What was the initial challenge Eight Network faced in attracting creators to their platform?
-The initial challenge was to activate the platform with creators without significant funds for marketing. They overcame this by reaching out to aspiring RJs on LinkedIn and manually engaging with them to onboard the first 100 creators.
How does Eight Network differentiate itself from other audio platforms?
-Eight Network differentiates itself by focusing on content creation and discovery, aiming to build communities around creators and their content, and offering real-time interaction between creators and listeners.
What are some of the key features that Eight Network has iterated on based on user feedback?
-Eight Network has iterated on features such as adding BGMs, SFX, fade in/out controls, and moderation tools based on feedback from creators to enhance the live audio streaming experience.
What is the significance of tracking and data analysis for Eight Network's product development?
-Tracking and data analysis are crucial for Eight Network as they provide insights into user behavior and help the team make informed decisions about product development, ensuring they build features that align with user needs and improve the overall user experience.
What are the key performance indicators (KPIs) that Eight Network monitors to measure success?
-Eight Network monitors KPIs such as per-user time spent, user interactions, and retention rates (D1, D30, and beyond) to gauge user engagement and ensure they are delivering a product that meets the needs of their audience.
How does Eight Network plan to tackle the challenge of content discovery and personalization for listeners?
-Eight Network is focusing on improving personalization and recommendation algorithms to showcase the right content to the right user, aiming to solve the challenge of content discovery and enhance listener retention.
What advice does Moit have for fellow entrepreneurs or early-stage founders?
-Moit advises early-stage founders to prioritize data tracking from the very beginning, as it is essential for making unbiased decisions and understanding user behavior, which in turn guides product development.
What is the target demographic for Eight Network's platform?
-The primary target demographic for Eight Network is young individuals, with 58% of their base being between 16 to 24 years old, typically students and young professionals.
Outlines
🎙️ Podcast Introduction and Moit's Background
The podcast begins with host Abin Jen introducing himself as the Director of Product Le,growth at CLA for startups. He welcomes Moit Palal from 8 Network to discuss early-stage startups, Moit's journey, and insights into 8 Network's challenges and solutions. Moit expresses his pleasure at being on the podcast, mentioning it's his first time as a guest. Abin and Moit share a history of working together and Abin expresses excitement about Moit's current venture. Moit is an alumnus of IIT KGP and has experience with multiple startups. The conversation shifts to learning about 8 Network directly from Moit, the founder.
🚀 Founding 8 Network and Its Vision
Moit explains that 8 Network began as a live, decentralized broadcasting platform aimed at addressing the lack of social interaction in audio content. He notes that while visual media platforms have social layers that help content creators grow their audience, audio platforms lack this, making it difficult to become influential. The idea was to create a peer-to-peer streaming service for audio creators to invite their audience and stream live, similar to an audio show. Over time, 8 Network evolved to include various audio content formats beyond live streaming, such as stories, podcasts, audio dramas, and immersive productions, aiming to help audio content creators get discovered and build communities.
🤝 The 8 Network Team and Early Challenges
The team behind 8 Network initially consisted of three MBA students, including Moit and his co-founders, Goo and Yugul. Moit and Goo have known each other for 13 years, and Goo joined the MBA program when his travel business was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Yugul, a musician and the third co-founder, brought the idea of peer-to-peer streaming due to his struggles with audio content distribution. The team faced the challenge of activating the platform with short-lived content and attracting the first 100 creators. They manually reached out to aspiring RJs and provided demos, leading to the platform's initial user base. Feedback from these early creators was crucial for the platform's迭代 and development.
📊 Iterations and Learnings from Creator Feedback
In 2022, 8 Network focused on iterations and user feedback to refine the product. The team aimed to achieve product-market fit for creators, listeners, and content. They prioritized creator-side feedback and learned that creators needed tools like adding BGMs, SFX, and voice control. The platform also emphasized moderation and integrated with platforms like Leap to track user journeys and build the product roadmap. Moit shares that they had to shelf a community feature early on due to its impact on UI and lack of usage, highlighting the importance of focusing on long-term value rather than short-term traction.
🎧 Listener Retention and Future Challenges
Moit discusses the challenges of ensuring listener retention, emphasizing the importance of delivering a great user experience through the app's design and content personalization. He mentions that 8 Network's primary focus is on per-user time spend and engagement, tracking user interactions within the app. Retention is considered a hygiene factor, and the team continuously works to improve it. Moit shares his belief that tracking data from the start is crucial for making informed decisions and understanding user behavior. He advises fellow entrepreneurs to prioritize data tracking to avoid decision-making based on bias.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Decentralized
💡Content Creators
💡Peer-to-Peer Streaming
💡Product-Market Fit (PMF)
💡User Experience (UX)
💡Monetization
💡Moderation
💡Data Tracking
💡Influencer
💡User Retention
💡Recommendation Algorithms
Highlights
Introduction of Moit Palal from 8 Network and discussion on early startups.
Moit's background as an IIT KGP alumni and his experience with multiple startups.
The founding story of 8 Network and its initial concept as a live decentralized broadcasting platform.
The evolution of 8 Network's vision to help audio content creators build communities and influence.
The team behind 8 Network, including the co-founders and their diverse backgrounds.
The strategy to attract the first 100 creators to the platform using LinkedIn and manual outreach.
The importance of tracking user data and events for product development and decision-making.
Challenges faced in the audio content space, including discovery, community building, and monetization.
The decision to focus on content-led audio shows rather than conversation-based streams.
The emphasis on user experience (UX) and content curation for listener retention.
The use of personalization and recommendations to improve content discovery for listeners.
Key performance indicators (KPIs) that 8 Network focuses on, such as per-user time spend and engagement.
Advice for fellow entrepreneurs on the importance of data tracking from the start of a venture.
Reflections on the learnings from the journey of building 8 Network and the future of audio as a format.
Transcripts
[Music]
hi I'm abin Jen director of product Le
growth at CLA for startups today we have
moit palal from 8 Network and uh we are
going to talk about a lot of things
which is which are around early startups
how the startup Journey has been for
moit and also few insights on what
they're building what are the challenges
they are facing and how they are
tackling those challenges so uh with
without any Ado Let's uh let's start Hi
moit how are you
hi I'm I'm good actually and uh pleasure
to be here on this podcast actually it's
my first time being on a podcast so
thank you I have done a podcast actually
on our platform but this is first time
me being as coming as a guest yeah yeah
it's always fantastic to have this
conversation and mo it is this one is
special because we have worked together
earlier uh in one of the startups so we
know each other and it's it's always
good to see uh you know some colleagues
building something great and and it's
it's it's a pleasure talking to you uh
moit is an i kgp alumni he has worked
with multiple startups and eight network
is a startup that he's building as
always it's always good to hear the
startup right what is the startup about
from the founder himself right so M
would love to know what is eight Network
what are you trying to build and what is
the vision for company who's your who's
your customer right so just we'll start
what is a network in your own words sure
so eight network uh so we started as an
uh live decentralized decentralized
broadcasting uh you know platform uh
where the idea was pretty simple that uh
what we felt what we realized over the
time
uh and it was when we were pursuing our
MBA uh from Masters unit we were part of
the first batch over there so uh the
idea was that you know uh while we were
uh analyzing different different kinds
of mediums right where people consume
some kind of media so there are Prim
four channels that is audio video visual
text so uh and there's so much liking
sharing commenting retweeting uh in all
the three platforms apart from audio uh
that you can grow your network so if you
are a content creator and you keep
uploading new content um over the
platforms like LinkedIn or Instagram or
Facebook or YouTube uh people will like
share and there is a social layer
there's a there's you know in-depth
Network effects built in those platforms
that every time you upload something new
you will get exposed to a newer audience
and uh you grow in popularity but that
was not the case with audio and uh
primely because you know the consumption
itself happens in silos and uh you know
basically if you like something maybe
you you will not share it until unless
that person is a friend of yours or you
came across a great content piece right
so it was very difficult to become an
influencer in audio space and that's
where uh actually the idea was that you
know we wanted to build a peer-to-peer
streaming service like some guy you know
who has written a song or uh is doing
poetry or story telling that person can
invite his family and friends and they
can go live inside an audio show kind of
format and uh you know basically they
can stream real time so that was the
idea and overall in the due course of
our uh Journey uh we had lot of
iterations uh I think we are still
solving for the same problem that is
helping audio content creators uh to get
discovered to be able to build large
communities to be an influencer in true
ways uh uh but over the time we have
itated and it's not just live anymore so
we do
everything uh from you know stories
podcasting audio dramas immersive uh uh
you know Productions which will feel
like which will feel like movies in
audio space and uh uh we do a lot of
non-fictional content also so it's a
platform where you can find like we like
to say that you know audio is not
limited to music and there's a there's a
very vast World Outside Music in audio
so you can discover everything on our
app which is even parly related to audio
great so M uh I did get an idea about
the concept I did get the idea about
what you're trying to build uh may I
know the team who is behind it when did
you guys start who are the founders uh
how's the team currently
structured yeah so like I said uh
initially it was just three of us three
MBA students uh trying to make most out
of our MBA program and uh the idea was
that for me it was pretty clear uh I
can't speak for the other two
co-founders but for me it was like while
I'm in an MBA program yes we get to
learn a lot from you know uh classroom
experience but I wanted to ship a
product while I was in the college uh
that's where uh I in the MBA program I
was also joined by um one of my
batchmates from I kakur his name is also
actually coincidentally moit um so we
call him goo So to avoid confusion in
the team um so goo and me we know each
other since last 13 years and he was
running his travel company and it was
year
2020 that's when coid happened uh so and
it was the first way we didn't know that
you know world would be moving anywhere
and uh uh uh so I thought it's a good
time to upskill yourselves because
everyone was like you know you can't do
anything there was no transport nothing
correct so uh so I joined this program
and uh right before I was about to join
this program I'm it was my birthday and
goo called me that you know uh Happy
Birthday to fish me happy birthday and
he came to know that I'm joining this
program so he was like I'm me he was
running a adventure travel startup um
okay and for him also all the bookings
got cancelled and for Trans for anything
which was related to travel everything
was stopped right so uh so I told him
about this program he thought okay let
me also join so he also joined the
program uh and that's where we met yugul
uh yugul is my third co-founder so
there's there are three co-founders me
Other M and uh yugul yugul had this
great idea and somehow you know we
developed a great bonding in the first
month itself and he had this great idea
that uh and he was by the way he was uh
you know basically a musician he was
part of a band still an active Creator
on Soundcloud um so so so basically from
his experience basically what he
suffered throughout his uh you know
musical Journey was that distribution
was very very difficult right uh even
let's say you are a music musician you
you have created some great uh you know
concept or song or album uh you can't
spend too much money to create a video
visual elements right because it takes a
lot of money different kinds of skill
set infrastructure so by just being
purely in audio uh it's very very very
difficult to get discovered so best what
people do is they will upload it and
then they will share it with their
friends but those friends M we also get
a lot of links from our friends right we
don't
necessarily leave the sharing part we
sometimes even delay you know opening
that link and you know going through it
so uh so that's where he struggled that
distribution is very very difficult and
that's where the peer to-peer streaming
idea came uh through him and we
immediately jumped uh we knew that it
will require some kind of research maybe
the final product will not look like
that and that is when we started
researching so uh who leads the tech
part so yeah so the my third co-founder
yugul he's the product and the entire
Tech Team reports for him awesome nice
very nice so that's a good start now uh
let's come to what happens right what is
the typical journey of a Creator did you
when you when you started launching
right I mean you would have done your V1
V2 V3 right the feedback that we get
from the Clos network of first 100 130
what to say known Circle right that's
slightly different from the what that
when we go out in a market right so when
you went to Market what are the few
things if you can probably list on
couple of things about the creators that
you discovered maybe through data Maybe
through some experiments maybe through
some some you know uh discussions you
had with them but is there something
that you discovered about creators that
help you shape the product if you can
share that that would be great sure so
entire
2022 the year was about iterations you
know receiving user feedback bags uh we
were not looking to acquire users
whatever organically we were growing
what we were very happy with that
because we knew that uh there's no point
growing the company un unless we have
found at least we are there uh in terms
of pmf right so and the first what we
wanted to solve was because we we see uh
our on our platform we have to find
three kinds of Market fits one is the
creator side uh Market fit uh you know
uh the second is listener Side Market
fit and then basically content Market
fit right so first Focus was purely on
uh you know Creator s side uh product
Market fit uh and uh earlier so
basically we did a small you know hag so
basically what we did was we needed lot
of creators to go live on the platform
uh first to even receive feedbacks right
and we didn't have much money to uh get
so many to hire a lot of folks and
because it was a live platform
shortlived content how to activate the
platform right how to get those first
100 creators so what we did was uh we uh
reached out to we actually put up a post
on LinkedIn looking for rjs like
randomly and Linkedin was if I look back
right LinkedIn was I think the worst
place to put up post for uh you know
arges uh but you'll be surprised there
were close to 500 people 500 aspiring or
professional arges who applied and we
started speaking to them and then we
started giving demo to M ultimately we
were able to speak to close to 7075 it
happened throughout the week uh but we
were able to demo to them lot of those
people uh you know lot of those are uh
creators they like the platform they
started using it so it was more of an
manual approach and uh we had this small
share button like you know when you are
going live you you can and and it was
templatized so that the creator doesn't
have to work more for building the
template uh so you could click on the
share button and you can broadcast on
your Instagram story and uh you know or
Facebook story or put it on Twitter that
you are live right now and uh people
could join and this team will only stay
for like some specific time so so that's
how we started it uh there were lot of
feedbacks like you know uh initially
when users were creators were life they
needed a lot of tools like you know
adding bgms sfx's fade in Fade Out you
know while there's some music playing
they wanted to uh you know control their
voice so all those kind of stuff uh then
moderation like you know because it's an
ugc platform so a lot of time you know
basically moderation needs to happen
then we saw that uh we were very lucky
to integrate platforms like Leep very
early in our journey uh because it's
what and I actually wrote a post also
about this on LinkedIn so it's very very
important that uh you know basically
while you are figuring out your pmf you
are able to track data uh you know all
the events which you define and able to
track user Journeys on the app how users
are moving around and and that will
basically you know build your first road
map for product what needs to be focused
right uh instead of us putting our bias
that you know this should be the
sequence of things which you need to
build if you have proper tracking in
place uh which we had luckily uh we were
able to build out like you know I won't
say 100% right but we were 70 80% right
there you you know what should be the
sequence of the things which you need to
build to improve the user experience got
it very nice so in this I understand
right you did a good hack right I mean
it's always good getting the first 100
folks through some hacks and then you
know obviously it's not a scalable
solution but it's it's a solution that
works right and in your case I see the
challenge right there is already p pmf
is something right I mean it's very
tough for anyone to solve for and you
had to do it for creator for uh
listeners everyone right so that's a
tough challenge you had in front of you
um while doing all this right is there
any any incident or any particular thing
that you thought hey this is going to
work right uh maybe you thought yes you
or anyone in the team that this is going
to have work and did not work any
experience or any uh such stories that
comes to your mind uh which you would
like to share and some learnings there
yeah so so very early in our journey we
spend a lot of time building a
community uh feature uh like you know
you could see who all of your friends
are listening to what and it took a lot
of our bandwidth in the beginning itself
uh but we realized and we had to shelf
it now because it was taking a lot of
space on the
UI and uh nobody was using it for quite
a long time having been in this space
for some time right what do you think is
the challenge of this space that you
face is it too competitive is it uh is
it something like it is too kind of
early people are still adopting right
people are not used to audio as a format
or maybe third thing is monetization or
anything any of the challenge is there
something that you have you feel is
probably the biggest problem in this
space at this point when you are trying
to solve
no I think uh sometimes what happens is
that and it has happened with a lot of
companies which I feel and we have been
slightly head strong in that regard is
sometimes what happens is that a lot of
uh I would say vity metrics or you know
basically things which you are uh trying
to track might give you a different sign
right so uh just to give you an example
uh when we started live uh you know
uh uh we were getting a lot of traction
through people just doing
conversations okay and those were you
know basically they were streaming for
long hours getting stream minutes so if
you look that as a category like you
know building something for uh
conversation just people hanging out
over life uh uh it seemed like a you
know great idea that time but we were
very very sure from the beginning that
what we want to build as an audio show
where it's led by content not
conversations right uh and if we look
back you know what you know basically if
you look it from a different lens right
so maybe few people need conversations
to happen but over the time only content
will be let's say you know there are 20
25 people you know inside uh show who
are doing conversations but it will only
grow when they there is one single
people or couple of folks who are you
know doing something special for the
audience that is when that audio show
you know basically room size will be
thousand or one lakh right so so so so
that was like we had to keep our
distance then um when it is ugc
sometimes lot of platforms they allow
certain kind of stuff to gain traction
but we have been very very moderation
heavy from the beginning so this this is
somewhat sometimes it feels like a
challenge because you have to compromise
on certain growth elements uh to make
sure that you know you are working on
something which is longterm uh of course
creator monetization and all these kind
of stuff uh you know basically uh those
will be those are challenges and those
other challenges which we are not
solving for right now but we'll be
solving for it soon we we know that it
is like very very important uh you know
uh side of the entire ecosystem which we
need to solve for uh but more than that
uh abin actually uh you know basically
for audio content creators the first
thing you know which doesn't even exist
is the uh the uh following the kind of
influence uh you know basically uh they
can have in in general in community that
doesn't exist right so in audio most of
the podcasters even in India right now
those are celebrity podcasters right
there there will be very very few
stories who have grown from you know
basically they have taken a bottoms of
approach and they have grown to be a uh
celebrities so it's more of ranir aladas
of the world D ratis of the world who
are doing well in audio podcast so first
we want what we wanted to solve was for
Discovery and you know them able to
build communities around their content
around them and making sure that there
is some real time interaction happening
between uh these two side of the
ecosystem it's a tough problem creators
come because they will get followers
right subscribers over time and
subscribers or followers ERS come
because they find good content right
it's always it's always a tough problem
most of the marketplaces whever it is in
a way when I say Marketplace not
actually Marketplace Marketplace but yes
uh a two-sided supply and demand is is
needed right in your case how do you
ensure
your listener retention what are the
challenges and what are the few things
you have done to ensure that listeners
stay hooked to your app they keep your
app they do not uninstall they're very
happy with your app if you can share a
few of the ideas something that you have
done that has worked that is that would
be great to correct so so for us
basically uh the first and foremost
priority is delivering a great
experience uh now one is like you know
the ux side of the uh the uh platform
the app the It studio right so we are
very consistent with our designs uh we
we 58% of my base is between you know 16
to 24 in age very young students right
followed by uh you know another 28% from
between 24 to 34 so 85% of the base is
like relatively young college going
students first job second job and these
this you know base they are like very
very choosy also right until unless you
deliver them something great uh they
won't stick to the platform so for me
for us basically it's two things one is
the app the platform experience terms of
ux uh so it's very zenzi it's very uh
you know
very upscale kind of product which we
have built the second side is the kind
of content we do now we are focusing a
lot more on personalization
recommendation it's a work in progress
it will take some time uh but uh we have
good enough depth in uh uh you know
basically Content Library right now and
the the the current challenge for us to
solve is that how can we uh showcase
right content to the right user uh so
that uh if you're able to solve that I
think we are there on the retention part
listeners will retain because there's no
other Indian platform which is able to
deliver such kind of content and user
experience right awesome there's one
question I generally asked earlier but I
forgot to ask you what are the key what
are the kpis right that is like you know
within your company everyone keeps
looking at that hey this is something
that we are focused on D1 retention D30
retention or time spent whatever it is
right what what are the few kpis that
that is like you know discussed day in
Day Out product IM shipping as looking
at it uh you know you are looking at it
everyone is kind of ensuring that this
is this is the not start that we have
and maybe some uh other kpis that you
focus on so our primary noar is per user
time spend how much M because that is a
proxy for a lot of factors right are we
able to serve right content to the right
user at the right time uh so per user
time spend uh or engagement you can say
uh how many events basically uh they're
able basically by event I mean basically
how many product user interactions are
happening uh for inside live inside
publish right uh uh so Prim on the
engagement side we track per user
interactions and the time spend uh but
of course
retention uh you know basically it's an
hygiene which uh you know everyone in
the team even if when they coming from
content background we first basically
tell them what retention is and how
important it is for us to keep a track
of it because as a consumer Media
company if you don't have a good
retention uh basically then you have not
achieved your pmf right so uh we keep
striving to improve our retention uh D1
as well as uh you know basically month
one month two month three before you we
let you go right uh if there is any
message that you would like to give to
fellow entrepreneurs or so just starting
up maybe somebody in campus who's
thinking right uh should I do this thing
or not or if there is some message that
you you would like to give to you know
other early stage Founders that would be
great I think uh it's like for me for us
one of the biggest enabler was that we
were able to track data track you know
basically the right events at the right
set of the time uh so so my one of even
in my network who whoever approaches me
that who wants to get started with a new
idea uh I tell them that get your
tracking in place so I feel it is like
very very important from the day one
itself otherwise uh you know you won't
be able to make any decisions it will be
primly out of bias right so and a lot of
times users also won't tell tell you the
right feedback you have to guess it uh
you know looking at their Journey how
they are interacting with the product so
for that tracking is like super super
super important right right awesome so
keep your data and Data Tracking ready
from day zero that's the message moit
ask uh it's it's a great conversation we
had moit I learned a lot of things audio
as a format is something I am not uh I'm
also exploring right there is so much to
learn there and I I can relate to few of
the insights that you have given right
what happens how to build a community
whether you should build a community at
the start or not so there are some great
learnings we had in this conversation
thank you so much for taking out time
and doing this according with
us
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