Case file
MSN.006
Signalcast
A podcast hosting platform with obsessive audio tooling — chapter markers, transcript search, and embeds that don't weigh a megabyte.
Year
2023
Role
Founding Engineer
Client
Media startup
Links
Classified
The brief
A media startup wanted podcast hosting that treated audio as a first-class citizen instead of a file upload. Chapters, transcripts, clean RSS, and an embeddable player that wouldn't tank a host site's Lighthouse score.
The build
- Upload pipeline: FFmpeg workers normalise loudness (EBU R128), generate waveform peaks, and produce multi-bitrate renditions.
- Transcript search across an entire back-catalogue, deep-linking to the exact second a phrase is spoken.
- Spec-compliant RSS with chapters and transcript tags; validated against every major directory.
- The embed player ships as 28 KB of vanilla JS — no framework, full keyboard support.
Transmission log
- 40+ shows migrated in from legacy hosts via an automated importer.
- The embed player outscored the incumbent's by 34 Lighthouse points.
- Transcript deep-links became the platform's most-shared URL type.
Debrief
Need results like this on your project?
Same process, your problem: scope it honestly, build it fast, debrief with numbers.