Today we’d like to introduce you to Hard Factor News. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Hard Factor began as a sketch comedy group called Who Do You Know Here? in Herndon, Virginia. Following college we all moved to Charlottesville, VA to concentrate on making sketch comedy and short films. After some success in online sketch comedy, our egos grew too big and we eventually we all moved to Austin, TX to be part of a larger film scene and up and coming city. After drinking our way out of comedy and into real jobs, (mostly on Dirty Sixth as we were in our 20s and Rainey St was just two bars and east Austin didn’t exist) the dream was temporarily over. That is until one of our members, Eric (PFT Commenter), eventually landed a job at Barstool Sports and it wasn’t long after that he presented us with an opportunity to start our own news podcast, which is now ‘Hard Factor.’ Following two years with Barstool Sports, we went independent and have seen continuous growth since the departure. We deliver a daily comedy news podcast that can be viewed or listened to on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Youtube and wherever else podcasts are podcasted.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
There are of course plenty of challenges we face but that’s what keeps you on your toes right? Right? Probably one of the biggest obstacles or challenges is trying to focus on our work and that is delivering daily news in a funny way. Often times the news includes political stories. It seems like these days and maybe it’s always been this way, but in order to have a successful news show, you need to lean toward one side and just dominate that listener base. We don’t do that, by design, and sometimes that pisses people off because they will be big fans and then all of a sudden will say, “you guys are too liberal” or “you guys are too conservative.” That’s definitely a challenge but it also means we are doing what we are setting out to do. Deliver the news in a funny way without an agenda other than to make people laugh and be slightly informed.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
What sets Hard Factor apart is that we present the news with a non bias and comedic tone. We make fun of everyone, including ourselves, and try to stay in the middle as best we can. We have a very loyal fan base and community we have grown using tools like Discord and live streaming events like monthly trivia nights. Our fans love that they feel like they are part of the conversation as they help us select stories to cover on the daily podcast and leave voice mails we play on every Friday show. Often times our show is described by listeners as four friends shooting the shit and talking about daily news and current events, which reminds them of their group of friends.
Shameless plug: We also do two extra shows besides the free daily news show on Apple/Spotify/etc which can be found on Patreon at Patreon.com/hardfactor. Those shows are a weekly Florida Man show talking about the best Florida man stories of the week and another weekly show where we have an informal conversation for an hour. Patreon is also the way to get into our community and join our Discord.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
When you start your own business, there is always a risk as you are betting on yourself and don’t have a safety net. It was probably especially risky starting a new business during covid, but when is a good time? Taking risks is a good thing though and being able to do it with your lifelong best friends as business partners made it an easy decision.
Pricing:
- Daily Podcast is free
Contact Info:
- Email: hardfactornews@gmail.com
- Website: www.hardfactor.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hardfactornews/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HardFactorNews/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/HardFactorNews
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC64xvoylxNRlsNHL8OBciAQ
- Other: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hard-factor/id1396058631
