In our latest episode of Curve Ahead, I had the pleasure of speaking with Bryan Petro, CEO of Get My Boat, the world’s largest boat rental and yacht charter marketplace. Bryan joined the company as its first employee 13 years ago and has navigated its growth into a global operation spanning 184 countries.
As a podcast production agency helping brands amplify their voice, we’ve found that marketplace businesses present some of the most fascinating stories to share through the audio medium. The complexities, challenges, and triumphs of building a two-sided platform create compelling narratives that resonate with listeners across industries.
From Employee #1 to CEO: The Journey of Leading Through Growth
Bryan’s journey from being the first employee to becoming CEO offers valuable insights for any business leader. “When you’re employee number one, you’re kind of doing a little bit of everything,” Bryan shared during our conversation. This experience of wearing multiple hats and understanding every aspect of the business provided him with a unique perspective that has proven invaluable in his leadership role.
What struck me most about Bryan’s story was his observation about the evolution of leadership responsibilities: “You’re just operating at a different level,” he explained when comparing his current role to his early days. “Looking around corners, thinking more strategically, taking inquiries at a much higher level and not so much in the day-to-day into the nitty-gritty of details.”
This evolution from tactical execution to strategic leadership is something many founders and early employees experience, and podcasting offers the perfect medium to explore these nuanced transitions. Through long-form conversations, leaders can articulate these subtle shifts in ways that written content often cannot capture with the same authenticity and depth.
The Universal Challenges of Marketplace Businesses
One of the most valuable segments of our conversation focused on the universal truths of building marketplace businesses. Bryan didn’t shy away from the difficulties: “I don’t want to over-romanticize marketplaces because they are absolutely brutal in the early days,” he candidly shared.
Bryan outlined key considerations for marketplace entrepreneurs:
- Solve a genuine pain point beyond just aggregating supply
- Understand your unit economics, particularly the relationship between customer lifetime value and acquisition costs
- Recognize whether you’re building a high-frequency/low-value or low-frequency/high-value marketplace
- Be prepared to serve multiple customer types simultaneously
This last point particularly resonated as Bryan explained that Get My Boat actually serves three distinct customer groups: boat renters, boat owners/operators, and captains—plus the internal team that needs tools to manage everything.
Why Podcast Interviews Reveal the Hidden Complexities of Business Models
As a podcast production agency, we’ve found that these types of business model complexities are perfectly suited for exploration through the podcast medium. Written content often simplifies business models for clarity, but through conversation, leaders can unpack the interdependencies, tensions, and balancing acts that define their day-to-day reality.
Bryan’s explanation of how Get My Boat had to change industry norms is a perfect example. The marine charter industry traditionally preferred week-long bookings, but American consumers wanted shorter, “bite-sized” experiences. Through the podcast conversation, Bryan was able to explain not just the market tension, but the psychology behind it, the resistance they faced, and the strategies they used to drive industry evolution.
This level of nuance is where podcasts truly shine as a content medium, allowing business leaders to share the “why” behind strategic decisions in a way that builds both understanding and trust with audiences.
Going Global from Day One: A Counterintuitive Approach
Perhaps the most surprising insight from our conversation was Get My Boat’s decision to go global from day one, countering the typical marketplace wisdom of “nail it, then scale it.” Bryan explained their rationale: “We know with boating, we have seasonality… how do you protect against that downside? Well, you have to be in other markets to sustain the business.”
This counterintuitive approach—going wide instead of deep—carried significant challenges, including covering multiple time zones and stretching the team thin. However, it also accelerated their learning about different regional needs and preferences, from pontoon boats on American lakes to canal boats in the Netherlands to catamarans in the Caribbean.
Through our podcast conversation, Bryan was able to explain not just what they did, but the strategic thinking behind the decision and the tradeoffs involved—something that would be difficult to capture with the same nuance in a blog post or case study.
The Power of Podcasting for Complex Business Stories
For businesses like Get My Boat with complex models, unique challenges, and counterintuitive strategies, podcasting offers several distinct advantages as a communication medium:
- Depth of explanation: Long-form conversations allow leaders to fully explain complex concepts and the reasoning behind key decisions.
- Authentic voice: Hearing directly from leaders creates trust and connection that written content often cannot match.
- Natural storytelling: The conversational format encourages narrative-driven explanations that are both engaging and memorable.
- Valuable context: In-the-moment questions and follow-ups reveal insights that might not emerge in more structured content formats.
- Personality and passion: The human elements of business leadership—the persistence, the passion, the challenges—come through clearly in audio conversations.
Amplifying Your Business Story Through Podcasting
Whether you’re running a marketplace business like Get My Boat or any complex operation with a story to tell, podcasting offers an unparalleled medium for sharing your journey, insights, and expertise.
At Autozy, we specialize in helping businesses like yours transform conversations into compelling content that builds authority, creates connection, and drives growth. Our comprehensive podcast production services ensure your unique story reaches the right audience with professional quality and strategic distribution.
Ready to amplify your brand’s voice and share your business journey with the world? Contact us today to discuss how we can help you leverage the power of podcasting to tell your story.
Looking to launch or improve your podcast? Contact us to learn how our podcast production services can help you create engaging content consistently while building direct connections with your audience.
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