Depending on how old you are ask yourself, “Who do I know more than 10 years?” How about 20 years? If you’re 50, do you still talk to people who you’ve known for 30 years? Good friends are hard to come by, and should be embraced.
Many times these good friends are the people we want to start a podcast with. You have built in chemistry that has been created over years. If you start a podcast with a friend, I would advise you to put in writing all expectations. You need to define the responsibilities of each person. Answer the question, “What happens if someone wants to quit?” After all, if it is the Ernie and Bert show and Bert quits, what happens?
The other thing you need to make sure of is if there is ANY money involved you write down how it will be divided. You may or may not need to get a lawyer involved, but you need to get everyone on the same piece of paper. Then have everyone sign off on it it (so you are all on the same page). You need to do this before money is involved.
Why?
Because money changes everything.
According to an article by ABC channel 12, Donny Misraje is someone who has been a friend of Adam Carolla for 30 YEARS. This friendship is going up in flames. Why?
Misraje claims he pushed his friend into podcasting when CBS canceled Carolla’s morning radio show in February 2009. The podcast was an instant hit. Within a month, he says, Carolla agreed to make him a partner and promised him a 30% stake in his company, Ace Broadcasting Network. Misraje’s 30% payday never came. He contends Carolla cut him, his wife and cousin loose as soon as the cash started rolling in. He even changed the name of the company, Ace Broadcasting Network, to Carolla Digital. (full details)
In a recent interview Misraje stated, “We’re definitely not friends. It’s, it’s wrenching,” he said. “We were like brothers for 30 years. The relationship was extremely close and tight, and it came to an abrupt end.” This is not the first (or last) time people will argue over a podcast partnership. Cali Lewis once hosted geekbrief.tv with her now ex-husband (which is why her show is now geekbeat.tv). If we go back to the early days of podcasting, Rocketboom fired their original host as she found out she owned 49% of the podcast.
By putting together a document that states who is responsible for the name, the podcast, etc you can map out what happens under all the “Worst case scenarios.” By knowing what is expected moving forward, you can put all the uncomfortable discussions behind you and get back to creating great content that will impact your audience.
Dave Jackson is the founder of the School of Podcasting and produces The School of Podcasting’s Morning Announcements podcast and is the author of the Book More Podcast Money.