If you want your podcast to drive revenue rather than sit in the “nice marketing” bucket, you need a clear process. The PBD (Podcast Business Development) Process turns your show into a repeatable way to start, deepen and convert relationships with ideal clients.
This guide walks through each stage; what you are trying to achieve, why it matters, what good looks like and how it could work for a founder led AI brand.
1. Get your foundations straight
Before you use a podcast for BD, you need to know what you stand for and who you serve; otherwise all that activity just creates noise. This step is about clarity; a clear offer, a defined audience and confidence in your sales process. Good looks like being able to explain in one or two lines who you help, how you help and what a successful engagement looks like.
Before you record anything, make sure:
- Your offer is clear
- Your ideal client is narrowly defined
- You can run a decent discovery call and pitch when the opportunity appears
For a founder led AI brand, that might look like:
- Niche: Seed to Series B AI product start ups in the UK and Europe
- Offer: Strategy, build and integration for practical AI products or internal AI tools
- Core promise: Ship usable AI features faster with fewer missteps and less wasted engineering time
When these are nailed, the podcast becomes a magnet for exactly the people you want to speak to and gives your business development conversations a solid backbone.
2. Build your Dream 30 BD list
This step is about turning your podcast from a vague content idea into a targeted BD engine. You decide who you actually want relationships with and give your show a clear commercial focus. Good looks like a list of 30 specific people or companies where you know, “If we built trust here, it could lead to serious work.”
Create a list of 30 target guests who would be perfect prospects or strategic partners:
- Founders and CTOs of AI or tech start ups
- Product and engineering leaders in your ideal customer profile
- Investors or advisors who specialise in your space
Start with:
- People already in your network
- 1st and 2nd degree LinkedIn connections
- People who regularly engage with your content
Actionable hint: Tag each target with one simple label;
- “Prospect”
- “Influencer”
- “Partner”
Your goal is to bring all three types into the show over time so your podcast business development for founder led brands hits both short term pipeline and long term brand.
3. Do qualitative research first
Here, the aim is to build a show around what the market actually cares about, not what you assume they care about. This step is important because it gives you language, themes and angles that land with your audience. Good looks like hearing the same challenges and phrases repeated; then being able to say, “Our podcast exists to answer these exact problems.”
Before you name the show or plan topics, talk to 5 to 10 people in your target market. Ask:
- What are your biggest challenges right now in building, selling or implementing your product
- Where do you think your market is trending over the next 12 to 24 months
- Anywhere you feel your sector lacks real, honest insight
- Do you listen to any industry podcasts; which ones and why
You are listening for patterns. These interviews give you:
- Podcast topic ideas
- Language your market actually uses
- Clues about gaps in existing content
Offer a “free question list” resource at the end of these calls. It positions you as helpful and lets you capture what people care about in one place.
Actionable hint: As soon as you hear the same challenge 3 or more times, make it a recurring segment in your podcast.
4. Outreach that feels human
This step is about opening doors in a way that feels like an opportunity for the guest, not a favour to you. It matters because the quality of your guests depends on whether your invite feels credible, easy and relevant. Good looks like high reply rates, guests saying yes quickly and people arriving at the pre call already positive about the show.
When you reach out to potential guests:
- Send a short DM or email explaining:
- The purpose of the podcast
- Who listens
- Why you thought of them
- Attach or link to a simple one page podcast info PDF:
- Show name and theme
- Typical audience
- Format and recording time
- A few sample episode titles
- Use voice notes where appropriate; they cut through the noise and feel more personal.
Example outreach line:
“We feature founders building practical AI products and dig into what is really working in shipping features, winning customers and scaling teams. I would love to have you on to share your story and lessons.”
If this step works, your Dream 30 list turns into a steady stream of accepted invitations and warm conversations.
5. Use a structured pre call
The goal here is to make sure every episode has a clear angle and every guest feels prepared, while quietly qualifying them as a potential client or partner. It is important because a strong pre call leads to better conversations, better content and more natural sales opportunities later. Good looks like a short, focused call where the guest leaves saying, “That feels clear, I am looking forward to it,” and you leave with a sense of their needs and buying signals.
Aim to get every guest to book a 15 minute pre call using Calendly or similar. In that call:
- Build rapport
- Clarify the angle for the episode
- Ask what is exciting them, what they are building and where they are struggling
- Confirm the run time, tech setup and rough questions
You are doing two things at once; preparing a great episode and qualifying a commercial relationship.
Actionable hint: End the pre call by booking the recording time while you still have their attention.
6. Treat the recording as a consult, not just content
This step is about using the recording to understand your guest’s world in detail while making them feel like the star. It matters because the depth of insight you get here directly feeds your later BD conversations. Good looks like a relaxed, flowing conversation where the guest shares real challenges and stories; you come away with notes that make a follow up call obvious.
On recording day:
- Spend 5 to 10 minutes warming up, chatting and relaxing the guest
- Ask a mix of story, strategy and pain point questions
- Dig gently into challenges you might later help solve
Examples of BD friendly questions:
- “What has been the hardest part of building or scaling your AI product this year”
- “Where have external partners really helped, and where have they made things harder”
- “If you had a magic wand for your go to market or delivery process, what would you fix first”
You are not pitching on the recording; you are gathering insight and showing you understand their world, which sets up the next step.
7. Design the natural follow up
Here, the aim is to turn a nice conversation into a commercial opportunity without it feeling forced. This step is crucial because most of the revenue comes from what happens after the episode, not from the recording itself. Good looks like guests happily booking follow up calls because the conversation feels like a continuation of something valuable they already started with you.
After recording, you have an easy reason to reconnect. Use it well.
Good follow up lines:
“We have been reviewing the episode and your point about the complexity of shipping AI features really stood out. We are seeing similar things with other product teams. Would you be open to a quick call to share what we are seeing and hear how it matches your experience”
“For a few podcast guests we are offering a complimentary product or strategy audit. Would you like to schedule a short session to explore some potential improvements”
In that follow up call:
- Share 2 or 3 specific insights
- Ask about their roadmap and priorities
- Offer a clear next step if there is a fit
Actionable hint: Always bring a simple one page “challenge menu” they can pick from; for example “feature velocity”, “customer adoption”, “data and infrastructure”, “go to market”.
8. Turn each episode into an asset pack
This step is about squeezing maximum value out of every conversation you have. It matters because each episode can do multiple jobs; deepen the guest relationship, build your brand and educate the wider market. Good looks like a system where every episode automatically becomes clips, posts and insights that keep you visible in front of the right people.
After the episode goes live, send your guest:
- Video clips
- Quote graphics
- A short write up or blog version
- Suggested post copy they can paste straight into LinkedIn
Make it easy for them to share. Their posting extends your reach and reinforces the relationship.
You can also repurpose episodes into:
- Newsletter features
- Insight reports, for example “What 20 AI founders say about getting models into production”
- Roundtables and webinars
- Ebooks and guides
When you run podcast business development for founder led brands this way, each episode becomes weeks of relevant marketing fuel.
9. Nurture over time
The purpose of this step is to turn one off episodes into long term relationships. It is important because the biggest deals often come months after the first conversation, when timing finally lines up. Good looks like a light but consistent rhythm of touchpoints where you stay helpful, relevant and top of mind, without spamming anyone.
Use your podcast CRM or a simple spreadsheet to track:
- Episode date
- Company milestones (funding, launches, anniversaries)
- Personal dates (promotions, birthdays if you know them)
Reasons to re engage:
- Invite only roundtables for founders in your niche
- Sharing new market data, benchmarks or playbooks
- Inviting them into a private WhatsApp group or “Operators Club”
Over time, some guests become:
- Clients
- Referral partners
- Sources for market intel
This is where the compounding effect kicks in; your podcast turns into a network asset, not just a content series.
Mini case study: Applied AI Studio
This case study is here to show what “good” looks like when everything comes together. It shows how consistent use of this process can turn conversations into revenue, rather than just a nice content project. Good looks like a clear link between episodes, follow ups, proposals and closed deals that you can actually track.
Imagine “Applied AI Studio”, a founder led consultancy that helps early stage AI product companies ship and commercialise features.
They launch “The Applied AI Scale Up Show”, a podcast for founders and CTOs building practical AI products.
In year one:
- They invite 30 guests from their Dream 30 and wider network
- 24 say yes, 20 episodes go live
- From those 20 guests:
- 6 become paying clients for projects or retainers
- 3 become warm referrers who introduce them to other founders
Their average project is worth £30k.
If 6 guests become clients over the year, that is:
- 6 clients × £30k ≈ £180k revenue
- Add on two smaller advisory or workshop engagements from referrals, worth another £20k
Total influenced revenue; £200k+.
The podcast does not replace classic BD; it makes it easier to start, deepen and convert high value relationships, while producing content that builds brand in the AI product space.
Conclusion
Used properly, a podcast is not just a channel for brand awareness; it is a structured way to do business development at scale. You identify who you want to work with, invite them onto a platform they value, run great conversations, then follow up in a way that feels natural and useful.
For founder led brands, especially in specialist markets like AI, this approach lets you sit at the centre of the conversation your buyers already care about while seeding commercial opportunities all year round.