Justin is the co-founder of Transistor FM, a very successful podcast hosting SaaS. He is very open about how his life has improved since making recurring revenue with Transistor. He joined High Signal for an exclusive interview about his experience building and growing Transistor, why life is better with more money and his tips for finding a great co-founder.
Can you tell us what you’ve achieved with TransistorFM?
As of 2025, Transistor now powers over 30,000 RSS feeds, making it the world's 13th-largest podcast hosting platform.¹ Last year, new podcasts on Transistor grew by 31.8%.
We have about 7,500 paying accounts and serve about 49,000 users in total. Our team consists of six full-time people: Jon and I (co-founders), Jason (engineer), Josh (marketing engineer), Helen and Michael (customer success).
Why did you create TransistorFM?
Jon Buda and I met at XOXO Fest in Portland back in 2014. We were both into podcasting: Jon had built an early podcast hosting tool, and I had been podcasting since 2012. We kept in touch and even built a few small projects together.
In 2017, Jon was working at Cards Against Humanity. They were launching a new podcast, and he was building a tool (what would become Transistor) for them to use. We started talking about teaming up and launching it to the public together.
What really convinced me was seeing the rising wave of interest in podcasting from businesses and media companies. Having been in the space since 2012, I could see there was a real opportunity to build something better. We signed the partnership documents in February 2018, and that's when it all began.
What’s your top tip for finding a good co-founder?
First, you have to meet people. Go to events, conferences, and meetups. Get out of your house! Interact with folks on social media, comment on their blogs, and reply to their email newsletters. Be helpful. Collaborate with folks on smaller projects. I did this myself! Over the years, I’ve collaborated on 5-6 SaaS ideas before Jon and I teamed up on Transistor.
Once you're meeting people, my advice is to get to know them slowly, over time, before you commit to anything big. It's like dating: you want to spend enough time with someone to know if you're compatible.
That’s how it happened with Jon, we met at XOXO and then hung out a bunch of times and built a few small projects together. This helped us learn each other's working styles and built trust.
The other important piece is you should have different but complementary skill sets. As a lone wolf, I was pretty effective as a marketer and product person, but once I teamed up with Jon, I felt like our combined abilities became 10x more powerful.
Are you happier now that you make more money?
Having more money has contributed to more happiness for me. Money provides security and margin, which is a big part of being content.
In 2017 (before Transistor), I had a really bad bout of depression, and it nearly destroyed me financially. Not having enough money creates enormous stress, affecting everything else: your health, relationships, and ability to think clearly.
I made less than before in the first year of Transistor, but revenue predictability gave me enormous peace. For the first time in years, I felt calm. I didn't have to look for new ways to earn money every month frantically.
Now that the business is doing well, I have the freedom to:
