Mark Cuban is getting in on the audio and podcasting hype. Alongside co-founder Falon Fatemi, he’s planning to launch Fireside, a “next-gen podcast platform” that facilitates live conversation, according to an email sent to possible creator partners seen by The Verge. The app idea is similar to the buzzy live audio startup Clubhouse, except with the ability to natively record conversations. A source close to Fireside says the app plans to launch publicly this year.
Fatemi, who co-founded and sold the AI customer relations service Node, promises a platform where creators will be able to broadcast, record, and monetize conversations while using Fireside’s built-in analytics tools to figure out what content performs best. The app, according to a now-expired engineer job posting, has raised a “multi-million dollar” seed round to get started. The source close to the company says creators will be offered various deals and ways to monetize, and the app won’t let just anyone speak publicly. It’ll be a highly curated experience.
The startup is still seemingly in stealth mode. It’s unclear when it was founded, but job postings went live as early as September. Fatemi left Node in August, saying at the time that she would be moving on to a “new venture.” She hasn’t listed Fireside on her LinkedIn yet. Cuban and Fatemi previously collaborated on Node, with Cuban investing in the product. His co-founder status on Fireside brings him back into the audio space. He and Todd Wagner famously sold internet radio company Broadcast.com for $5.7 billion in 1999 to Yahoo.
Source: The Verge
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