FUTURES: Bootstrapping a Tech Startup and Podcast

Oscar “Santana” Zeballos, EMBA ’16, was a successful talk show host, but a 2009 format change left him at a crossroads in his broadcasting career. So Zeballos co-founded Washington, D.C.-based MORE Broadcasting to independently distribute and produce radio and podcast content.

Initial successes include “The Mike O’Meara Show,” which commands a sizeable audience with more than 30 million downloads.

Since May, Zeballos has also been working with the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business to produce “Bootstrapped,” a podcast featuring founders, investors and serial entrepreneurs.

Fittingly, Bootstrapped is hosted by Zeballos’ executive MBA Action Learning Project course instructors: Elana Fine ’97, Dingman’s managing director, and Joe Bailey, associate research professor.

“I wanted to develop a show that would share the entrepreneurial concepts and strategies taught in the classroom with listeners who either did not have access to this type of program or those in the community interested in the subject matter,” Zeballos says. “When I was in class with Elana and Joe, I thought what they were teaching needed to be heard by more than just the 43 people in that room.”

Fine says entrepreneurship is in the DNA of Smith School alumni. “For people who know startups, this is interesting, tactical information,” she says. “Listeners not in the startup realm find it fascinating to learn what it means to start a company.”

Zeballos is also working on a tech startup, creating a platform for content producers to distribute podcasts through individually branded apps.

FreeAppCompany allows content creators to control the way their content is served and monetized. “Podcasters are not typically software engineers, and frankly they deserve more control on how they distribute their content,” he says.

FreeApp also streamlines the process for listeners. Smith’s executive MBA program helped Zeballos fine-tune his company, allowing him to “take a deeper dive into what features customers really want,” Zeballos says.

Now he and co-founder Todd Moore are working on the evolution of the platform to serve downloads to IOS and Android devices and offer streaming support. /CH/

Listen to episodes of Dingman Bootstrapped.