How the head of Obsidian went from superfan to CEO

Decoder with Nilay Patel

Vox Media Podcast Network

Technology, Business

4.3 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 18 August 2025

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Obsidian is a note-taking and productivity app that occupies the same "second brain" space as competitors like Notion — but in a lot of ways, it's also startlingly different. Obsidian's files are Markdown-based, stored locally on your own devices, and completely free to use. Steph Ango, the CEO, is also different in a lot of ways: He's not an Obsidian founder, but instead came to the role from being basically a member of the fan development community. His take on software, productivity, and business is refreshingly old-fashioned in a lot of good ways, while he's also leading a very 21st century startup. Read the full transcript on The Verge. Links: I’m joining Obsidian as CEO | Obsidian Blog About Obsidian (Manifesto) | Obsidian Narvar acquires Lumi (2021) | Narvar After 15 years whipping the llama’s ass, Winamp shuts down | TechCrunch Notion’s Ivan Zhao wants you to demand better from your tools | Decoder Book Review: “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running” | National Geographic Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt; our editor is Ursa Wright. The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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1:38.2	Welcome to Decoder. This is Casey Newton, founder and editor of Platformer and co-host of the Hard Fork podcast. I've had a lot of fun guest hosting a few episodes of Decoder while Neli is out on parental leave this summer. And if you listen to either of the last couple of Monday shows, you know I've been doing a series with founders who are focused on productivity.
2:01.4	This is my third and sadly last time joining the show this time around, but I'm really
2:07.8	excited about this episode because today I'm talking with Steph Ango, who is the CEO of
2:13.8	Obsidian. Obsidian is a note-taking and productivity app that fits into a similar second brain space to
2:21.7	Notion, whose CEO I interviewed here on Decoder last week.
	...

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