Gustav Söderström

We also betted a lot on celebrities and they are celebrities, but they're not always good podcast hosts. And the podcast hosts that were really good, they grew up through this organic system. So there are two ways to always be right. One is to always guess right. The other is to just change your mind whenever you're wrong.

We also betted a lot on celebrities and they are celebrities, but they're not always good podcast hosts. And the podcast hosts that were really good, they grew up through this organic system. So there are two ways to always be right. One is to always guess right. The other is to just change your mind whenever you're wrong.

So we decided to change our mind and say, this looks like the age of syndication. Creators actually want to be everywhere. They create a video or they create music. They want to be everywhere. Okay. Let's embrace that. In music, we were always a platform. We never played with exclusivity. We said we want the maximum catalog. Books, we're doing maximum catalog.

So we decided to change our mind and say, this looks like the age of syndication. Creators actually want to be everywhere. They create a video or they create music. They want to be everywhere. Okay. Let's embrace that. In music, we were always a platform. We never played with exclusivity. We said we want the maximum catalog. Books, we're doing maximum catalog.

Let's just embrace that in podcasts as well. So we pivoted strategy, saved us a lot of cost, which is part of why we're doing well. And it's also improved the catalog greatly. And now we're on a really good track. trajectory with our podcast viewing. So it was an example of bad strategy. And I think the important thing is to admit it and change your mind.

Let's just embrace that in podcasts as well. So we pivoted strategy, saved us a lot of cost, which is part of why we're doing well. And it's also improved the catalog greatly. And now we're on a really good track. trajectory with our podcast viewing. So it was an example of bad strategy. And I think the important thing is to admit it and change your mind.

The real cost is when you try to defend your past decisions.

The real cost is when you try to defend your past decisions.

What things do you do outside of Spotify in your life that most prepare you or make you capable to do the best job that you can in Spotify?

What things do you do outside of Spotify in your life that most prepare you or make you capable to do the best job that you can in Spotify?

I think the world is moving very fast. So a lot of my time is just trying to keep up with what is happening. I was on a vacation in Lisbon with my family recently, and I spent a lot of time with them, seeing Lisbon, which is a beautiful city. But then I asked them for one day off from work and off from the family to just indulge myself.

I think the world is moving very fast. So a lot of my time is just trying to keep up with what is happening. I was on a vacation in Lisbon with my family recently, and I spent a lot of time with them, seeing Lisbon, which is a beautiful city. But then I asked them for one day off from work and off from the family to just indulge myself.

This time I was going back to trying to code a bit, use all these new tools, stay on top of what's happening. Sometimes it's reading physics or math or something. It's a combination of keeping up with what is happening, which is hard. because it's moving so fast, but also stimulate myself mentally. I have to have something that I'm excited about at any point in time.

This time I was going back to trying to code a bit, use all these new tools, stay on top of what's happening. Sometimes it's reading physics or math or something. It's a combination of keeping up with what is happening, which is hard. because it's moving so fast, but also stimulate myself mentally. I have to have something that I'm excited about at any point in time.

And it can be new things like AI and what it would mean, but it can be age-old things that I just didn't know, like learning more about physics or math or something. I've read a lot of philosophy for a while because it's just an interesting area. You think through all the big questions of intelligence and consciousness and all of those things.

And it can be new things like AI and what it would mean, but it can be age-old things that I just didn't know, like learning more about physics or math or something. I've read a lot of philosophy for a while because it's just an interesting area. You think through all the big questions of intelligence and consciousness and all of those things.

And you can spend 10 years there just reading all of that. And now I feel capped out a little bit. When you start reading, you're like, yeah, I'm going to crack this. And then it turns out I didn't crack it. People have been trying to crack consciousness for a while. But it's so deeply interesting. It kept me excited about life for a very long time. I was never a big math person in school.

And you can spend 10 years there just reading all of that. And now I feel capped out a little bit. When you start reading, you're like, yeah, I'm going to crack this. And then it turns out I didn't crack it. People have been trying to crack consciousness for a while. But it's so deeply interesting. It kept me excited about life for a very long time. I was never a big math person in school.

I was okay, but not great. But I found myself getting very... Excited about math the older I got. As you start reading a bit of philosophy, you get into things like Goethe's incompleteness theorem and constructive mathematics and these things that they're loosely related to work. But they keep you energized. But they keep me energized.

I was okay, but not great. But I found myself getting very... Excited about math the older I got. As you start reading a bit of philosophy, you get into things like Goethe's incompleteness theorem and constructive mathematics and these things that they're loosely related to work. But they keep you energized. But they keep me energized.