Episode two of building VNYL in public. It's been two weeks since the first episode, and I've shipped a bunch of features, built some free tools, and gone down several rabbit holes researching podcast production workflows.
First, I upgraded the text-to-speech model for this podcast. Still using ElevenLabs, but experimenting with better quality voices and trying to make this sound as natural as possible. It's part of a larger research project into podcast production because if I'm building hosting, I should understand how people actually make podcasts.
I've been looking at tools like Descript and Riverside, specifically their text-based editing and transcription features. Apple Podcasts just announced automated transcription and chapters, which signals where the industry is going. This might influence what VNYL builds in the future.
Feature-wise, I shipped the automated podcast import tool. You paste your current RSS feed URL, choose how many episodes to import, and we handle everything in the background. This removes migration anxiety, which is the number one barrier keeping people stuck with hosts they've outgrown.
On the marketing side, I built three free tools: RSS Feed Validator, Hosting Cost Comparison calculator, and Growth Cost Simulator. All designed to provide value first, promote VNYL second.
We're getting real users now, which is exciting. I'm also doing backend optimization work on the API and database queries to make the dashboard faster.
VNYL is still in free beta: vnyl.fm
