Am I the only one that doesn't like Mixergy?
Since you don't reveal your identity in your HN bio, we could use a disposable skype name to maintain your anonymity.
It seems to me that the charges of fluffiness come not necessarily from "softball" questions, but from the impression that the questions are strictly softball.
Seeing you interview, it's very obvious that you're a genuinely nice guy. You couldn't hide that without changing yourself for the worse. But you don't have to, because it's an asset.
Part of this interview focused on the question of how do you make interviewees comfortable? Comfortable enough to do the interview in the first place, and comfortable enough to answer the questions openly, without fearing that the interviewer is about to spring some trap on them.
I've also noticed you tend to apologize when asking someone a question you think is tough, but it's interesting to see the reaction, almost a "No, no, I'll answer it."
For questions that are particularly salient but awkward to ask, you should continue to use that same technique to push just a bit further, both to stretch your comfort zone, and to get a feel for the real boundaries of what people are willing or even glad to answer.
With that said, I am also looking for content that addresses more tactical operational issues, but I don't know if Mixergy is the podcast for this. There are valuable insights provided in Mixergy's format of walking through the entrepreneur's story. Going too deep (low level) on specific tactical issues might muddy the waters and dilute the value that Mixergy already provides. I do think that Andrew's Fenwick episode did venture into this area though, so maybe there is room for it.
If anybody has recommendations of podcasts that do go into detailed operational issues, please share.
I would pay for access to professionally edited versions that cut each interview down to, say, half an hour with the fluff cut out.
The Chris MacAskill interview is a good example:
I don't like watching long videos, so I usually read Andrew's transcription instead. I've found some really great advice in there, its worth another look.
Some episodes I don't like but I've found that's because of the guest, so I think that speaks well of andrew. If you hear 'This Week in Startups' you know it's all about Jason Calacanis, but in Mixergy it's really about the guest ad their stories.
Speaking of the stories, I like that a lot. I was really tired of hearing Jason Fried and DHH tell the exact same pitch on every podcast (yes, I'm suscribed to too many) but I quite enjoyed Jason F on Mixergy. That's because of the story.
I don't like video, though, and the audio feed only work sometimes. I know I could pay for a reliable audio feed :)
If it doesn't work, let me know (via email). We've been having some trouble with the iTunes link, but I think it's fixed now.