Everything Has a Lifecycle with Ethan Banks (1/2‪)‬ Nerd Journey: Career Advice for the Technology Professional

We often talk about lifecycle management in technology, but every job and personal or professional project has a lifecycle that needs managing from beginning to end. When we start a job or a career, we don’t know when the end of that lifecycle will come.

This week in episode 276 we’re joined by Packet Pushers co-founder Ethan Banks. As we talk through the lifecycle and evolution of podcasts on the Packet Pushers Podcast Network, we relate that to technology projects and personal experiences. Ethan will also share details on the new Packet Pushers Job Board and how it can be a helpful resource that pairs up the job seeker with companies needing specific technical talent.

Original Recording Date: 04-19-2024

Topics – Ethan Banks Returns, Pandemic Impact on Packet Pushers, Staying Broad and Going Deep, Longevity and the Lifecycle of Everything, The Packet Pushers Job Board

2:35 – Ethan Banks Returns



* Ethan Banks is a network engineer, business owner, and one of the founders of Packet Pushers. It’s been 5 years since we shared Ethan’s career story on the show. You can find our earlier discussions here:



* Episode 42 – Ethan Banks and the Journey to Career Self-Awareness

* Episode 43 – Ethan Banks on Podcasting and Turning a Hobby into the Packet Pushers







3:25 – Pandemic Impact on Packet Pushers



* In the past couple of years, John’s podcast listening has been pretty sparse. But how has Packet Pushers changed before and after the pandemic?



* The business model at Packet Pushers is monetization through sponsorships. Packet Pushers creates and provides podcasts for technical people, and often times technology vendors will want to sponsor a discussion or an ad to air on one of the shows on Packet Pushers.

* During the pandemic, technology vendors could not longer attend Cisco Live or VMware Explore because these kinds of events were cancelled, removing a major marketing channel for vendors. Packet Pushers became one of the outlets used for marketing during this time, and there was an influx of incoming sponsorships for probably a solid 2 years.



* “We went through a two-and-a-half year period of just absolute insanity trying to keep up with demand.” – Ethan Banks, on the influx of Packet Pushers sponsors during the pandemic

* As the pandemic died down, Packet Pushers went back to a more normal state, acting as one of many different marketing channels a technology vendor might use.





* As a result of this, Ethan and team realized there wasn’t enough inventory (in terms of different podcasts airing) on Packet Pushers Network.



* For example, if a podcast releases weekly, that is one show released per week that could be sponsored (i.e. one episode per week considered inventory).

* Some shows were being booked for sponsorship weeks, months, and close to years in advance during the pandemic. It did not make sense to increase the release cadence of any existing show, so they worked to add new shows to provide more sponsorship opportunities.

* “We’ve been trying to grow by adding more shows to the network so that there is availability for sponsors that want to work with us.” – Ethan Banks









* Did the flood of potential sponsors change the vetting process for sponsors in any way?



* Ethan says the vetting process for sponsors has been pretty standard since the very beginning.