2014 → 2018
A festival introduction became a company
He met Jon Buda at XOXO in 2014. Their podcast-hosting partnership came years later, rather than from a co-founder matching sprint. [6] ↗
The bets, detours & strange details
50 / 50
Equal ownership before the big numbers
The pair formed their partnership in February 2018 and publicly launched that August. Jackson handled marketing; Buda brought the product. [5] ↗
$33
First revenue was almost comically small
Transistor’s first paid revenue arrived in February 2018. Jackson later compared the slow opening with the much faster climb after launch. [6] ↗
60 → 11.5 months
The five-year forecast was wrong
He had expected reaching $20k MRR to take 60 months. His retrospective says it took 11.5 months after the public launch. [6] ↗
6 people
The business grew without a huge payroll
His 2024 review reports six full-time team members, over 30,000 hosted podcasts and 32% annual growth. It does not disclose a current MRR figure. [4] ↗
8 years
A partnership that outlasted launch hype
In his 2025 review, published in January 2026, Jackson describes eight years working with Buda and stable revenue. [8] ↗
