In this episode:
- How Peter and Niklas met and why their previous podcast attempts didn't work out
- What Niklas is building with Phone.inc and why distribution is the biggest challenge right now
- Founder-led marketing and content strategy in the age of AI
- Why vlog-style video is probably the future but still feels super cringe
If you prefer video, subscribe to our channel on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz2TxxEkW9k
Peter and Niklas have been trying to start a podcast for years. They met back in 2019 when Niklas was listening to Peter's podcast Out of Beta and asked if he wanted to give feedback on his startup Legal Monster. Peter came by the office, they hit it off, and Peter literally ended up moving into Niklas' office. They've tried starting a podcast together multiple times since then — including a Danish-language show called "Store Planer" that produced a few genuinely great episodes before the production effort killed it.
This time around, Niklas is building Phone.inc, a modern business phone system for small businesses and startups. He's got a first paying customer (who basically wouldn't stop banging on the door until he got access) and over 120 companies on the waitlist. But unlike Peter's work with Tailwind Labs, where the team is sitting on massive built-in audiences, Phone.inc is starting from zero on distribution.
Peter is helping out as an advisor and small investor, and one of the things they agreed on pretty quickly is that founder-led marketing is the move right now. So part of Peter's role is helping Niklas figure out the content side — editing, promoting, keeping things moving week to week.
Every week they just talk about whatever's top of mind — Phone.inc, Tailwind, Peter's stuff with OG Kit, the startup journey in general. No heavy research, no rigid scripts. Just two founders checking in every week and figuring out the format as they go.
There's also an interesting tension around content strategy in the AI era. Phone.inc is still in semi-stealth mode — not ready for self-serve, carefully controlling who gets access. But a podcast generates thousands of words per episode, and those transcripts eventually get consumed by language models as they're trained. So it's a way to build awareness with both humans and AI simultaneously, without prematurely blasting out marketing copy on the website.
They also talk about vlog-style content and how that's probably what actually works for discovery on YouTube. Niklas had a recent day full of potential content (office tour, lawyer visit, VC skybox event at a football match) and he had his camera in his backpack the entire time. Never pulled it out once. The cringe barrier is real, but they're working on it.
Still Early is sponsored by Phone.inc: a business phone number, welcome greeting, call routing, and opening hours — all from an app on your personal phone.
