01
The podcast
Weekly, later fortnightly conversations with CEOs, board members, supervisory directors, regulators and professors. The 100th episode: Klaas Knot, President of the Dutch central bank.
Customer story · Finance
From one podcast to three businesses
Jeroen Broekema had no experience as an interviewer, journalist or podcaster. What he did have was a conviction: the financial sector needs to talk, really talk. A hundred-plus episodes later, Leaders in Finance is the place where the top of finance dares to be vulnerable, and the engine behind three companies.
The show
"It just looked like enormous fun. That's the number-one reason I started, and why I still do it today with so much pleasure."Jeroen Broekema, host of Leaders in Finance
100+
episodes since 2019
3
businesses grown from one podcast
4
standing partners fund the show
The case in one view
- Who
- Jeroen Broekema, host and founder
- Show
- Leaders in Finance, conversations with the person behind the success in financial services
- Sector
- Financial services
- Started
- 2019
- First guests
- Martijn Rozemuller (VanEck) and Ali Niknam (bunq)
- Milestone
- 100th episode with Klaas Knot, President of De Nederlandsche Bank (Dutch central bank)
- Cadence
- First ~2 years weekly (52/yr), now fortnightly (26+/yr)
- With Springcast
- Educational podcast series via an in-house app built with Springcast; internal podcasts
01, The challenge
A sector that preferred to stay quiet
For years, the financial world sat behind a veil. People didn't really know what happened behind the façades, and in the Netherlands, talking about money isn't exactly a national pastime. After the 2008 crisis, the sector had also taken a serious hit to its credibility.
That's exactly where Jeroen Broekema saw an opening. Not to talk even more about numbers and products, but about the people, the most senior level, the C-suite, and about their drives, their doubts, their vulnerability. His conviction: trust is the foundation of every financial transaction, and you only earn trust by giving something of yourself.
The problem? He was an outsider to podcasting. No experience as an interviewer or journalist. He found the technical side "terrifying". And the big names don't just say yes to a seat at the table. On top of that, he was locked into a demanding role leading 65 people, never the right moment.
"If you think you have to do this because everyone says you should do 'something with podcasts', that's not a good reason. You have to do it out of genuine conviction that you can add value."
Jeroen Broekema
02, The approach
Just start, and stay serious
When Jeroen decided to leave his employer after twelve years in the sector, the pieces fell into place. A career break, time, and a long-held ambition. He'd run out of excuses.
So he started reading and learning. Took podcasting courses and editing courses. Asked an agency to think along. He wrote a single document spelling out exactly what the podcast would be about and for whom. And he invited the first guests, an advantage, since his role had already put him in touch with plenty of C-level people.
The first episode, recorded in Den Bosch, was nerve-racking from start to finish: would the tech hold up, would the guest enjoy it, was he asking the right questions? He edited roughly the first forty episodes himself. Only once the show gained real traction, and businesses began to grow around it, did he hand editing to a professional.
Through it all, two things held firm. One: it's about the person and the substance, not the listener numbers. Two: trust. Guests get the space and respect to open up, knowing they'll never be cornered.
One of my core words is trust. I genuinely give people the respect and the room to record this podcast with me.
Jeroen Broekema
03, The result
From passion project to platform
What began as a personal project grew into a recognisable brand across Dutch financial services, and into three connected businesses, all born out of that one podcast.
02
The Academy
An in-house app, built with Springcast, hosting educational podcast series. Around a sub-topic, anti-money-laundering, for example, the editorial team interviews the whole chain and bundles it into a six-episode series.
03
The events
Events for the financial sector, where people and substance come together. The third arm, like the others, born out of the podcast.
The revenue model is deliberately simple. Four organisations partner with the podcast each year and fund everything around it; in return they become part of the Leaders in Finance network and help shape topics and guests. The Academy sells access to its educational series; Events runs on tickets and partners. Enough, in Jeroen's words, to keep building the businesses and to make a living from it.
And the growth engine runs on its own: roughly 90% of guests arrive through existing guests who suggest new names. One big name opens the door to the next. Other memorable guests: Janine Vos (executive board, Rabobank), Chantal Vergauw (CEO, Interpolis), Jos Baten (CEO, ASR) and a Dutch board member of the European Central Bank, recorded on the 39th floor in Frankfurt.
"Once I landed the somewhat bigger names, even bigger names followed."
Jeroen Broekema
04, Where Springcast fits in
Education and internal podcasts
Leaders in Finance and Springcast work together on several fronts. The Leaders in Finance Academy app was built with Springcast: the home for the educational podcast series offered to professionals in the sector. On top of that, Jeroen increasingly uses podcasting internally, something he says he already does "a lot with Springcast".
That maps directly onto where he sees the biggest growth for the business podcast: education and internal communication. You can listen anywhere, no screen, no Wi-Fi needed, in the car, on the train, out on a run. For a sector that already spends all day behind a screen, that's precisely the appeal.
05, Lessons
What organisations can take from this
Jeroen gets the question a lot: isn't a podcast expensive, and does it really pay off? His answer comes down to four principles.
Do it out of conviction
A podcast made because "everyone should do something with podcasts" goes nowhere. You have to believe you're adding value.
Know who it's for
What's the goal, and who's the listener? Without a sharp picture of your audience, it stays a hobby project.
Hire the makers
For 99.9% of organisations, podcasting isn't core business. You bring the substance, the why and the audience; the makers make it professional. That's also what keeps the process from turning sluggish.
Keep doing it
The hardest part is the discipline to publish consistently. Once a quarter is fine, but then do it every quarter.
Not every podcast has to generate directly measurable revenue, he stresses. Sometimes it's about building awareness, thought leadership or genuine social contribution. And as far as he's concerned, the podcast is here to stay, in the US it's been a serious channel for twenty years, with billions flowing into it.
"Don't try to figure it all out yourself. It won't make you more professional or any better, hire a specialist. Then it won't be sluggish at all."
Jeroen Broekema
For organizations
Your sector has stories worth telling too
Whether you want to establish thought leadership, share knowledge internally or build an educational series, Springcast provides the platform, hosted in the EU and built for the demands of financial services. You bring the substance. We make it possible.
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