One Take with Jack Hobbs

Jack Hobbs went from Major League Baseball pitcher to a starring role pitching Univision –before it was even Univision!—to now pitching engaging stories through Revolver, his podcast company and the leading podcaster in the U.S. Hispanic market.

Two decisive moments: First, after getting out of baseball and trying to figure out what I was going to do Jack interviewed for SIN (NB: the predecessor of modern-day Univision), so he went from Major League Baseball into a media business that he knew nothing about.

The second one came with the integration of Univision and Univision Radio. Jack “couldn’t even spell ‘Radio’”, but that didn’t stop him for taking Univision Radio through the roof from zero revenues.

A change he could have never foreseen: Two changes. First, a “degradation” of the sales process, which has turned very programmatic. Second, the digital side of the radio industry, which has not been very developed.

And what Jack did about it: Created Revolver, a podcast company. The most important podcast company in the US Hispanic Market, with big stars and along the way, created the largest “terrestrial digital broadcast group” in the country.

His advice to a CEO or CMO on hiring older workers: You get what you pay for in terms of experience, that they know the business, that they know the routes. You know, there's a competitive advantage to having experienced people out there. I know that HR departments are happy when somebody is a little older, a little bit more experienced. I would rather have an experienced person in my organization knowing that they know the right place to go.