The mission is to create effective ways for listeners to support and connect with podcast creators.

With that in mind we worked backwards from the outcome of mutual benefit to what we’re progressively building.

The first part is ready now, the rest we’ll make incrementally as we find out what everyone wants.

Get in contact — hi@lenny.fm

Be ready to receive support from listeners via Lenny.fm - Join here!

General 🌐

Why “Lenny”?

  • Because of Lenny Bruce. A US comedian and satirist.
  • Lenny Bruce paved the way for outspoken counterculture-era comedians, and his trial for obscenity is seen as a landmark for freedom of speech in the United States.

Why build it?

  • We made it to be another way Listeners can support Creators. Current options don’t do the job for all the Listeners and other services will be better for some Listeners or podcast Creators. Like Musicians having options we wanted to give podcast creators another one too.

Is Lenny.fm a business?

  • Yes. We’re a mission driven business to build efficient products that work for creators and audiences.
  • 90% goes to creators, 10% fee. That’s for us to cover costs and keep developing so more people can support creators efficiently.
  • Ad agencies charge ~50%, other subscription platforms are between 8 and 30%.
  • Creators are notified when they start receiving contributions and are paid on request. We use Stripe mostly to handle the transactions.

What’s ahead?

  • Thanks for asking! Plenty ahead, especially as things are new and we’re getting started. More features, better product.

What about privacy?

  • Private. We’re only interested in helping people support and contribute to creators. In the future we’re planning some opt-in features. But for now it’s all clean lines.

Who makes it?

  • About page
  • Four people in Melbourne, Australia. One podcast producer and three developers. One just moved to London.

So it’s like Patreon or BuyMeACoffee?

  • Yes and no. Lenny.fm, Patreon and BuyMeACoffee are all great ways to support creators.
  • Lenny.fm is the only one that allows listeners to create a custom bundle of creators to support.

🎤 Creators

What do I have to do?

  • Join the creator portal so we know you're ok with people supporting your show through Lenny.fm.
  • Let your listeners know they can support your show via Lenny.fm or the other ways your show makes money.

What don't I have to do?

  • You don't have to make bonus episodes, start a paid newsletter, run a paid private group, ask your listeners to get a new app, sell someone else's product or anything else like that.

How much money can I make from listener support through Lenny.fm?

  • A rough guide at the moment is US 90c per listener per month that supports your show. 100 supporters = about US$90 a month, 1000 supporters = about US$900 per month, depending on where in the world you are.
  • When you're ready to collect the accumulated total, you can! We let it accumulate so you don't get hit with transaction fees each time a supporter transaction occurs.

Can I listeners pay more to support our show?

  • Not yet. That's another update coming soon. We're planning to have listeners able to select how much they'd like to contribute each month and creators setting a minimum. It all takes time to build.

Does Lenny.fm help me grow my show?

  • It can! Supporters may choose to share their email address with you. You can use that to say thanks, send them info about your show, add them to a mailing list. You choose.
  • You can find out which other shows your supporters support. Knowing this you can contact them for collaborations or promote your show in crossover spaces.

More questions? Contact us!

🎧 Listeners

Why contribute to podcast creators?

  • It make a big difference to creators, every show has costs.
  • You’re investing in future episodes from the people you enjoy listening to.
  • Be part of what we’re building for listener and creators. This is the first iteration.

Is this a new podcast app?

  • No. Listen where you listen now. Lenny is a web app that connects the diverse podcast ecosystem but with a different function to a podcast player app.

Prefer ads?

  • Most podcasts don’t have the option to make money from ads. If the shows you listen to run ads then they’re doing better than the rest.
  • Lenny helps you support your favourite podcasts who can’t make revenue form ads.

What do I get for contributing?

  • Now, appreciation from the creators and us. You’re an early adopter and we haven’t turned on all the features yet.