Callin Launches Social Podcasting App with $12M Series A

The Rise of Social Podcasting: Introducing Callin

The increasing popularity of live audio has spurred innovation in the space. David Sacks, formerly COO of PayPal and CEO of Yammer, alongside Axel Ericsson, envisioned a platform merging the immediacy of social audio with the permanence of podcasting. This vision has materialized in the form of Callin, a new application launching today on iOS.

Callin has secured $12 million in Series A funding, co-led by Sequoia, Goldcrest, and Craft Ventures, with Sacks himself being a founder and partner at Craft Ventures. This investment signals strong belief in the app’s potential.

Bridging the Gap Between Live Audio and Podcasts

Existing live audio platforms, such as Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces, typically lose audio content once a session concludes. Callin differentiates itself by enabling users to record and save their live audio, subsequently transforming it into a polished podcast episode.

Sacks highlighted the complexities of traditional podcasting, stating his own experience with “All In” required significant post-production effort and investment in equipment. Callin aims to simplify this process considerably.

Lowering the Barrier to Entry for Podcasters

For those aspiring to create podcasts, Callin offers a streamlined experience. Users can initiate a room – either public or private – and invite guests or record solo. The app also features an improved queue system for audience participation, facilitating easier crowd management for hosts.

Editing and Distribution Features

After recording, Callin automatically generates a transcript. Editing is then performed by tapping blocks of text to remove unwanted segments, including filler words. While currently lacking the ability to edit individual words within these blocks, Sacks confirmed ongoing development to enhance the editing capabilities.

The app also automatically eliminates periods of silence at the beginning and end of recordings. Finished episodes can be uploaded directly to Callin or exported for distribution on other podcast hosting platforms, with RSS feed syndication planned for the future.

A Unique Listening Experience

Sacks explained that consuming content on Callin differs from traditional podcast apps. The interactive playback allows listeners to see avatars of speakers and access their profiles, fostering a more engaging and social experience.

Accessibility and Future Development

Although currently lacking transcript publishing functionality, which is being actively developed, Callin aims to improve accessibility, addressing a gap present on platforms like Clubhouse. Live captioning is also on the roadmap, though it is not currently supported.

Sacks emphasized that Callin consolidates features found across various apps – live rooms, transcript editing, and social discovery – into a single, comprehensive platform.

Current Limitations and Future Vision

Currently, Callin doesn’t offer tools for audio quality enhancement, sound effect integration, or precise content editing. Recordings made on iPhones may not match the quality of professionally produced podcasts. However, the success of live audio demonstrates that listeners often prioritize conversation over pristine production value.

The app has already seen early adoption, with “thousands” of users creating over 100 shows during its beta phase, including content on topics like SaaS, NFL, startups, and cooking.

Content Moderation and Community Guidelines

Callin’s Community Guidelines prioritize free speech, with limitations only imposed by hosts, platform restrictions from Apple and Google, and content deemed “dangerous speech” not protected by the First Amendment.

Acknowledging the challenges of content moderation faced by platforms like Clubhouse, Callin aims to host user-generated content that complies with app store policies, learning from the experience of platforms like Parler.

Future Plans and Monetization

The $12 million Series A funding will support the development of Android and web versions of the app. While monetization strategies such as advertising and show subscriptions are being considered, the company’s initial focus is on scaling the platform.

Sacks expressed strong confidence in Callin, believing it surpasses his previous ventures, Yammer and PayPal, in terms of product quality and potential.