For investor and entrepreneur Matt Haycox, the resurgence of long-form conversations just isn’t a development to be marvelled at. It’s a lengthy overdue correction. After years of watching enterprise, celeb and media commentary shrink into punchlines and clipped opinions, Haycox believes audiences are actively pushing again.
Podcasting, he argues, has turn into the antidote to a short-attention tradition that rewards pace over substance. By way of his reveals, No Bollocks with Matt Haycox and Stripping Off with Matt Haycox, he has constructed a platform rooted in depth, persistence and uncomfortable honesty.
‘Folks haven’t instantly misplaced the flexibility to hear,’ Haycox says. ‘They’ve simply been fed an excessive amount of surface-level nonsense. When you give them one thing actual, they keep.’
The fatigue behind short-form tradition
The rise of short-form video and algorithm-driven content material has reshaped how info is consumed, however not essentially how it’s valued. Whereas clips dominate discovery, they typically fail to ship understanding. Haycox believes this has created a rising hole between consideration and belief.
Based on Ofcom, practically 25% of UK adults now hearken to podcasts weekly, a determine that has steadily elevated regardless of the explosion of short-form platforms. Edison Analysis has additionally reported year-on-year international progress in podcast listening, notably amongst audiences aged 25 to 44 who prioritise context, perception and credibility.
‘Folks scroll as a result of they’re bored,’ Haycox says. ‘They hear as a result of they’re . That’s an enormous distinction.’
Spotify information has echoed this shift, highlighting rising engagement with long-form spoken-word content material in comparison with many music and short-form codecs. Listeners will not be simply sampling episodes, they’re ending them.
From investor to interviewer
Haycox’s journey into podcasting was not pushed by media ambition. It got here from frustration. After many years in enterprise and funding, he had grown uninterested in seeing entrepreneurship offered as a spotlight reel.
‘Each success story sounds clear if you take away the mess,’ he explains. ‘However the mess is the place the training truly lives.’
That frustration grew to become the muse for No Bollocks with Matt Haycox, a business-focused podcast designed to strip away performative success and expose the realities of constructing corporations. The present options founders, buyers and operators discussing strain, errors, resilience and decision-making beneath stress.
Company corresponding to Daniel Priestley, Neil Patel and Rob Moore have spoken candidly about setbacks and near-misses, typically sharing insights hardly ever heard on convention phases or social feeds.
‘I don’t need rehearsed solutions,’ Haycox says. ‘I would like the model they let you know when the cameras are off.’
Why honesty scales higher than hype
There’s a business actuality behind this strategy. Nielsen analysis persistently reveals podcast hosts rank among the many most trusted media voices, outperforming many conventional promoting channels. Research additionally counsel podcast audiences show increased recall and stronger model affiliation in comparison with different digital codecs.
Haycox believes belief is constructed by means of time, not techniques. ‘You possibly can’t pretend consistency,’ he says. ‘For those who flip up each week and say what you truly assume, individuals resolve for themselves whether or not you’re price listening to.’
That is mirrored within the rising media consideration round his work. OK! Journal lately highlighted how Haycox’s podcast format cuts by means of curated success tales to reveal the truths of entrepreneurship, positioning his reveals as a part of a broader transfer in the direction of authenticity in media.
The Worldwide Enterprise Instances has additionally profiled Haycox as a podcaster keen to inform entrepreneurs what they actually need to listen to, reasonably than what sounds good in a quote graphic. That recognition reinforces his perception that audiences are now not impressed by polish alone.
Two reveals, one philosophy
Whereas each podcasts share Haycox’s direct model, they serve very totally different functions.
No Bollocks with Matt Haycox is unapologetically business-first. Conversations centre on management strain, scaling challenges, monetary actuality and the non-public value of ambition. It’s sensible, often uncomfortable and intentionally unsanitised.
‘If somebody’s by no means struggled, they’re both mendacity or they haven’t executed something tough but,’ Haycox says.
Stripping Off with Matt Haycox, against this, is constructed round private depth reasonably than skilled success. The long-form interview collection options celebrities, TV personalities and public figures, exploring life past public picture. The tone is slower, extra reflective and sometimes extra revealing.
‘Persons are used to seeing these figures in character,’ Haycox explains. ‘I’m extra enthusiastic about who they’re when that drops.’
Each reveals can be found by means of Matt Haycox’s podcast hub, the place listeners can discover full episode catalogues and upcoming releases.
The psychology of long-form listening
Haycox believes long-form works as a result of it mirrors how individuals truly talk. Actual conversations wander. They circle again. They permit for pauses and second ideas.
‘You don’t get fact in thirty seconds,’ he says. ‘You get efficiency.’
Analysis helps this. A number of research point out podcast listeners usually tend to really feel emotionally linked to hosts in comparison with different media codecs. That connection interprets into loyalty, repeat listening and a willingness to interact with complicated concepts.
For founders and buyers, that depth issues. Subjects corresponding to danger, failure and management trade-offs can’t be meaningfully explored in clipped soundbites with out dropping context.
‘Entrepreneurship is nuanced,’ Haycox says. ‘For those who take away the nuance, you mislead individuals.’
A platform constructed on consistency
Regardless of rising audiences and growing media protection, Haycox has resisted turning his podcasts into overt promotional automobiles. There aren’t any exhausting sells, no pressured calls to motion and no manufactured controversy.
‘I’ve at all times believed credibility compounds,’ he explains. ‘You both defend it otherwise you destroy it.’
That strategy mirrors his background as an investor. Belief, he notes, is the muse of any long-term relationship, whether or not in enterprise or media. As soon as misplaced, it’s virtually unattainable to regain.
Listeners seem to reply to that restraint. Engagement ranges stay excessive, with audiences typically following episodes throughout platforms reasonably than consuming remoted clips.
Why the comeback is simply starting
Haycox sees the return of long-form conversations as a part of a wider cultural recalibration. As algorithms speed up content material cycles, audiences have gotten extra selective about the place they make investments their consideration.
‘Persons are exhausted,’ he says. ‘They don’t need extra noise. They need readability.’
Spotify and Edison Analysis information each counsel that spoken-word content material is among the fastest-growing segments inside digital audio. As creators and audiences mature, depth is turning into a differentiator reasonably than a danger.
For Haycox, this shift validates a call he made early on. ‘I didn’t begin these reveals to chase numbers,’ he says. ‘I began them to have higher conversations.’
Trying forward
As platforms proceed to evolve, Haycox stays assured that long-form audio will maintain its place. He views podcasting not as a media development however as a communication medium that aligns with human behaviour.
‘We’ve talked for hours round tables for hundreds of years,’ he displays. ‘Podcasting simply moved that desk on-line.’
In a panorama dominated by pace, Matt Haycox is betting on persistence. The rising urge for food for long-form conversations suggests he’s not alone. For audiences searching for substance over spectacle, the comeback has already begun.
