Podcast Hosting Giant Libsyn Announces New President & Chief Product Officer

 Libsyn, one of the podcast industry’s leading podcast hosting platform and advertising marketplace, has announced that it has hired John W. Gibbons as President & Chief Product Officer. Mr. Gibbons will be responsible for overseeing the product and innovation team and working closely with the CEO and Board to further Libsyn’s market expansion strategy. 

Libsyn President & Chief Product Officer John Gibbons

 Why is that announcement to a podcast listener? First, because Libsyn is one of the largest podcast hosting companies in the world, so podcasts don't get released with a company like Libsyn.

Second, Gibbons has an interesting career resume -- Amazon, Pocket Casts, IMDB -- that offers listeners hope that he will innovate in the podcasting space. That's especially important now with podcasting in a "quantity over quality" mode right now.

Mr. Gibbons has been at the forefront of the podcast and digital media industries throughout his career. He most recently served as CEO of Pocket Casts, an industry-revered podcast app that was backed by a consortium of investors, including NPR, WNYC, WBEZ, and the BBC, and was acquired by Automattic, the parent company of WordPress.com, in 2021. Prior to Pocket Casts, Mr. Gibbons spent over a decade with Amazon.com and its subsidiary, The Internet Movie Database (IMDb.com); following his tenure at Amazon.com, he served as VP of International for Sizmek, a global ad server, preceding its acquisition by Amazon.com.   A VC-backed Founder and CEO of a digital-first video company, Mr. Gibbons also helped launch and grow Atom Tickets, an award-winning movie ticket e-commerce app, and has served as an advisor to Podchaser, an industry-leading podcast-discovery database, since its inception.

“We are thrilled to welcome John to the Libsyn team,” said Libsyn’s CEO Brad Tirpak. “John’s background and areas of expertise fit squarely with Libsyn’s mission to deliver the best podcasting platform to our customers. John has a proven track-record of leading businesses in the development of consumer-direct products and creating product-centric organizations. John will be a great asset to the Libsyn team as we continue to innovate, expand our Advertisecast marketplace, and develop monetization offerings for our customers.”

Mr. Gibbons’ career has focused on creating products that empower creators and customers to thrive on growing platforms. Mr. Gibbons spent 13 years at Amazon.com and The Internet Movie Database (IMDb.com), an Amazon.com company, where he established and launched both the global advertising business and its related products, launched the platform for third-party sales on Amazon, and built strategic partnerships with well-known global brands and Fortune 100 clients. 

Mr. Gibbons commented, “There isn’t a more exciting story in the podcast industry today than what is happening at Libsyn. I am excited to join the team to help continue Libsyn’s track-record of growth and product innovation. My professional skill set, and personal passions are perfectly aligned with Libsyn’s vision. I look forward to playing a role in Libsyn’s continued leadership of the podcasting market with the evolution of its platform strategy and extraordinary customer experience.”

It's always a positive sign when a large company in any industry brings on a top executive whose background is in product innovation and customer experience instead of financial strategies and earnings maximization.