Podcast Awesome

Would you take a shot at something you cared about if your odds of success were 1.4%? Font Awesome founders Dave Gandy and Travis Chase did exactly that when they applied to Y Combinator back in 2014. And in the years since, Font Awesome has racked up plenty of failures right alongside the wins. 'Cos that's just what happens when you're building something awesome.
In this episode, we go digging through Font Awesome's own flops (a product name that confused customers, a CDN experiment that converted exactly ONE person in three months) and line them up next to the real-life Museum of Failure. Which is hilariously an actual museum, started in Sweden in 2017, dedicated entirely to products that didn't make it. Expect Colgate's short-lived frozen dinners, a cologne no biker asked for, and the Nintendo Power Glove.
We also go back to a 2023 conversation with Dave Gandy about flunking out of MIT (twice), what it means to have the freedom to fail, and how a completely unprepped first Y Combinator interview turned into a second shot years later. And the second shot at YC was built on meticulous prep, a childhood friend's help at the Mountain View Public Library, and an unexpected connection with a YC partner.
The through-line: none of this looks like a success story on its own. But it's basically the only way Font Awesome got built.

What We Cover
Font Awesome's own quarterly product failures: Fort Awesome and the Font Awesome CDN
How a "failed" CDN experiment quietly built the email list that powered a record-breaking Kickstarter
Dave Gandy on flunking out of MIT, twice
A tour through the real-life Museum of Failure: Colgate Kitchen (and the lasagna that probably never existed), Harley-Davidson Cologne, and the Nintendo Power Glove
Dave's first Y Combinator interview (zero prep) versus his second (a lot of prep, a library, and some serious spreadsheet work)
Why humility, not confidence, is the trait Font Awesome hires for

Timestamps
00:00 — Would you take a 1.4% shot? Font Awesome's Y Combinator odds
00:03 — A quick tease: meet "Fort Awesome"
00:03 — Clip: Dave Gandy on startups, believing the lie, and finding your real limits
00:04 — The Fort Awesome experiment — and the name confusion that helped sink it
00:04 — Font Awesome CDN: a full quarter of work for one signup
00:05 — The quiet payoff: how that "failed" CDN built the email list behind the Kickstarter
00:06 — Dave on flunking out of MIT — twice
00:07 — Inside the Museum of Failure: Colgate Kitchen (and the lasagna that almost certainly never existed)
00:09 — Harley-Davidson Cologne: bikers said no thanks
00:10 — The Nintendo Power Glove — so bad it inspired a movie line, and still helped shape the Wii Remote
00:13 — Dave's first Y Combinator interview: no plan, no prep
00:13 — Round two: Ryan, the Mountain View Public Library, and the Adobe Typekit comps
00:15 — The Kevin Hale interview and finally clicking
00:17 — The real lesson: humility over hype
00:19 — Go make something awesome

Credits
Produced, hosted, and edited by Matt Johnson
Featuring Dave Gandy and Travis Chase
Theme song by Ronnie Martin
Music interstitials by Zach Malm
Video editing by Isaac Chase
Links
Font Awesome: https://fontawesome.com
Podcast Awesome: https://www.podcastawesome.com
When Failure Isn't Failure: Hard Lessons in Business and Life with Dave Gandy — Podcast Awesome (June 2023)

Museum of Failure
Museum of Failure — official site
Colgate Kitchen Entrees — exhibit page
Harley-Davidson Perfume — exhibit page
Nintendo Power Glove — exhibit page
Museum of Failure — Wikipedia (background, Samuel West, tour history)

The "Colgate Lasagna" myth
Ripley's Believe It or Not: The Truth Behind the "Failure" of Colgate Beef Lasagna
Food Republic: Did Colgate Really Sell Frozen Lasagna in the '60s?

Y Combinator
Y Combinator — official site
Apply to YC

Adobe Typekit / Adobe Fonts
Adobe Fonts — Wikipedia
Typekit Blog: "Time for a change: Typekit has become Adobe Fonts"

Power Glove background
Power Glove — Wikipedia
Smithsonian/Lemelson: "Success Born of Failure: The Nintendo Power Glove"

#FontAwesome #PodcastAwesome #FailureIsData #StartupLessons #YCombinator #DesignAndDev #WebDesign #BuildInPublic
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Pretty much every website has one, you know, those three little lines, usually tucked in a corner, hiding a whole menu behind them. It's become what's known as the hamburger icon. And if you've ever visited fontawesome.com, you may have noticed ours isn't three lines. It's an actual burger, sesame seed bun and all.
On this episode of Podcast Awesome, we trace the icon back to a 1981 Xerox Star screen-space problem, through a 20-year disappearance, a comeback on the first iPhone, and a decade of top UX researchers telling designers to knock it off. And you could probably have guessed it, but the sandwich won anyway. Then we get to why Font Awesome designer Brian Talbot looked at the safe, conventional three-line icon, asked "where's the beef?!" and used the FA-burger icon in the most delicious way possible.
What We Cover
How a 1981 screen-space problem at Xerox PARC turned into three stacked lines
Norm Cox, the designer behind the original icon, and how he didn't even know it was called "hamburger" until a reporter called him decades later
The icon's 20-year disappearance and its comeback on the first iPhone
The Nielsen Norman Group research showing how hidden menus cut discoverability almost in half
Why the same research group came back a decade later and declared the icon a win anyway
Why Font Awesome's own menu icon isn't three lines but an illustrated burger, courtesy of Brian Talbot
Timestamps 00:00 – A burger on our own website 
00:01 – Welcome to Podcast Awesome 00:02 – Norm Cox and the Xerox Star 00:03 – "Road sign simple": Cox's design philosophy 
00:04 – The hamburger menu resurfaces on the first iPhone 
00:05 – Apple, Google, and a name nobody planned 
00:06 – The UX community picks a fight 
00:07 – Nielsen Norman Group's discoverability research 
00:08 – "Like a cheap fast food chain..." 
00:09 – A decade later: the hamburger icon wins anyway 
00:10 – Norm Cox on symbols that improve with time 
00:11 – Font Awesome's actual burger icon, courtesy of Brian Talbot 
00:13 – Wrap-up and credits
Links
Get the burger icon: 
Act 1 — The Origin
 A Conversation with Norm Cox, Creator of the Hamburger Menu — Tri Vo, Mic Product Blog
Act 3 — The Controversy
 Hamburger Menus and Hidden Navigation Hurt UX Metrics — Nielsen Norman Group
Hamburger Menu and UX Design — UXPin
Act 4 — The Verdict
 Hamburger Menu Icon Recognizability — Nielsen Norman Group, 2026
Background / Research Reading
 The History of the Hamburger Icon — Eternity Marketing
Credits 
Hosted, produced, and edited by Matt Johnson 
Theme song by Ronnie Martin 
Music interstitials by Zach Malm 
Video editing by Isaac Chase

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Font Awesome's Icon Wizard just got a serious upgrade, and it's now powerful enough to make genuinely great icons (or, per Mike's own admission, genuinely terrible ones, if that's more your speed).
In this episode of Podcast Awesome, host Matt Johnson sits down with Mike, Ed, and Jory (a rare full-team appearance) to talk about the launch of Icon Wizard 2.0. But it's not just a new coat of paint. You can now mix and match icons across styles, layer up to 20 elements at once with full control over size and position, build custom "user" characters by blending heads and bodies, and for the first time run Power Transforms in web fonts, not just SVG.
The crew traces the whole story: how the original Wizard grew out of an internal project once nicknamed F.A.R.Ts (Font Awesome Reusable Tidbits and Shapes, obviously), why this version was almost called the "Icon Genie," and how a customer's offhand feature request turned into a real, shippable icon built live in the tool.
There's also a real-time demo (a thumbs-up icon that grows a seedling), a debate over the correct number of poop-icon swirls, and a very serious 1-to-10 disappointment scale about the road not taken with "Icon F.A.R.Ts." The team is also running an Icon Wizard Contest through September 7, so if you want your creation featured in the gallery, this is your excuse to go play.

What We Cover
What's actually new in Icon Wizard 2.0: mixing icon styles, layering up to 20 elements, add/subtract/stroke operations, and letters and numbers you can punch out of badges
How Power Transforms — previously an SVG-only capability — now work in web fonts too, and the auto-generated cutouts that made it possible
The origin story: F.A.R.Ts, the original modifier-only Wizard, and "Snuggles," the team's space for proof-of-concept projects
Why the team loosened creative control in version 2, and what that trade-off means for good icons (and bad ones)
Real community creations from the gallery, including a Starry Night icon, a centaur, a potted cactus, and a live green-thumb demo
The near-miss name "Icon Genie" and how the team landed back on "Wizard"
How to enter the Icon Wizard Contest (running through September 7) and where to send feedback during the beta

Timestamps
00:00 — Cold open: bad icons, good icons, and Jory's grim optimism 
00:01 — Welcome to the show and episode overview 
00:02 — The Icon Wizard Contest, explained 
00:04 — Community favorites: Starry Night, the user blender, and more 
00:05 — Where this all started: FARTs and the original pitch 
00:07 — "Snuggles," the team's space for proof-of-concept projects 
00:08 — The real origin story: bringing Power Transforms to web fonts 
00:10 — What "gooder" actually means in Icon Wizard 2.0 
00:12 — Ed breaks down what's new: mixing styles, 20 layers, and more 00:14 — The real pain point Icon Wizard solves 
00:17 — Why the Starry Night icon is a different kind of creation 
00:18 — It's basically a full design tool now 
00:20 — A customer feature request, solved live with the Wizard 00:21 — How v2 actually started: automating the cutouts 
00:23 — Live demo: building a green thumb icon in real time 
00:26 — Wizard walkthrough: the four tabs (icons, modifiers, elements, user) 00:28 — Add, subtract, stroke: how the Boolean operations work 
00:31 — Where to send feedback, and how the gallery and sharing work 
00:33 — Speed round: favorite modifiers 
00:34 — The secret difference between the poop icon and the poop modifier 00:35 — The "Icon FARTs" disappointment scale 
00:37 — Almost-names: Icon Genie, Icon Deity, and (sadly, no) Icon Gandalf 
00:40 — Icon Wizard earns its spot in the main nav 
00:41 — Wrap-up and Mike's sign-off

Credits
Hosted by Matt Johnson
Featuring Mike, Ed, and Jory
Produced and edited by Matt Johnson
Theme song by Ronnie Martin
Music interstitials by Zach Malm
Video editing by Isaac Chase

Links
Icon Wizard: 
Icon Wizard gallery and contest
Feedback: feedback@fontawesome.com
Font Awesome: https://fontawesome.com
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You've seen it a thousand times: you're two minutes late for a video conference call, you throw on a shirt with buttons (It's okay that you're still wearing jammie pants. Don't worry, nobody can see), and right when you need your computer most, that colorful spinning ball shows up to ruin your day. It's called a lot of things, but most of us just call it a curse word.
Today we trace the beach ball of death back to its actual origin story, which involves a $10,000 computer that flopped commercially, Steve Jobs in exile, a forgotten storage format, and Susan Kare's sketchbook. Turns out the most hated icon in computing has a surprisingly great pedigree.
We also get into why the beach ball exists at all (psst: it's your OS parenting a misbehaving app), how it could've been a spinning slice of pizza, and why Apple Silicon might be quietly killing it off for good.

What We Cover
How much of life is spent waiting on machines, and why the frustration doesn't stop when you sit down at your computer
The Xerox PARC origins of the "wait" cursor and Susan Kare's contributions at Apple
Windows 95 and the golden age of customizable cursors (RIP, dancing banana)
The lineage from hourglass to wristwatch to spinning disk to beach ball to flat ring
How NeXT, the company Steve Jobs founded after leaving Apple, gave us the beach ball's true ancestor
Why Apple's 1996 acquisition of NeXT brought the spinning cursor along with it
How Aqua and Mac OS X turned a monochrome disk icon into a glossy rainbow ball
The many names for the beach ball, including the delightfully specific "bun of death"
Why the beach ball is becoming rarer on modern Macs, and what that means for a whole generation of users

Timestamps
00:00 - Cold open: the dreaded beach ball 
01:00 - Welcome to Podcast Awesome 
01:15 - How much of our lives we spend waiting on machines 
02:00 - Xerox PARC and the first "please wait" cursor 
02:30 - Susan Kare's contributions to the original Mac 
03:30 - Windows 95 and the era of customizable cursors 
05:00 - The full lineage: hourglass to beach ball to flat ring 
05:30 - Enter NeXT, Steve Jobs's post-Apple company 
06:00 - The $10,000 computer nobody could afford 
07:00 - Apple acquires NeXT, and the spinning disk comes along 
08:00 - The beach ball as an OS parenting a misbehaving app 
09:30 - Aqua, Mac OS X, and the rainbow makeover 
11:30 - Every alias for the beach ball, including the "bun of death" 
13:00 - How Apple Silicon is making the beach ball appearance rarer
3:45 - Closing thoughts and credits

Credits
Hosted, produced, and edited by Matt Johnson
Theme song by Ronnie Martin
Music interstitials by Zach Malm
Video editing by Isaac Chase

Sources Referenced
Erin J. Rimmer's "The Utterly Obscure History of the Computer Cursor" on Obsolete Technology
Dan Vincent's "What's Inside a NeXT Computer Accessory Kit?" on Userlandia
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Picture this serious, sterile scene: scientists in lab coats, pocket protectors, carrying clipboards, and nobody’s making eye contact. Nobody would guess that this backdrop would produce some of the best internet lore.
In this episode, we dig into the myth that the 404 error page came from "Room 404" at CERN, track down what a co-creator of the web actually had to say about it, and land on the real, much more boring origin. Along the way we detour into the HTTP status code that was invented as an April Fools' joke, then defended by the developer community hard enough that it got its own RFC. We close it out with a tour of the internet's best 404 pages, including a deep dive into Font Awesome's own, with Jory Raphael.

What We Cover
The Room 404 myth: how it started, why it spread, and why Robert Cailliau, one of the actual creators of the web, wants nothing to do with it
The real, much less exciting origin of the 404 status code
Why HTTP works like a librarian with no short-term memory
Larry Masinter's HTCPCP proposal and the accidental birth of the 418 "I'm a teapot" code
How the dev community fought to save 418 when the IETF tried to reclaim it
A tour of the internet's best 404 pages: GitHub, Pixar, Lego, and Figma
Behind the scenes of Font Awesome's own 404 pages with Jory Raphael, including the Ghostbusters, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Star Wars, and Mario references hiding in them
The Easter egg hiding on the Font Awesome icons page (and another one on Blog Awesome)
Timestamps
00:00 – Cold open: if particle physics research is this serious, how did it produce such a goofy myth?
01:00 – Intro to the episode and the CERN backstory begins, where human "servers" fetched documents by hand
03:00 – How the Room 404 legend took hold, per Wired's reporting
04:00 – Robert Cailliau's one-word review of the myth: "Sigh"
05:00 – The actual, much more mundane origin of the 404 code, plus the DMV and librarian analogies
07:00 – Larry Masinter, RFC 2324, and the Hypertext Coffee Pot Control Protocol
08:00 – The community backlash when the IETF tried to reclaim status code 418
09:00 – Shane Brunswick's save418.com stand, then back to great 404 pages: GitHub's Octocat
10:00 – Pixar's Inside Out 2 tie-in 404
11:00 – Lego's "oh, bricks" 404 and Figma's interactive one
12:00 – Font Awesome's own 404 pages, including the Susan Kare bomb-icon origin story
13:00 – The Ghostbusters Easter egg
14:00 – The Planes, Trains and Automobiles reference and Brian's hidden hand-wave Easter egg
15:00 – Star Wars references and the FA-ndolorian
16:00 – The Mario reference, the icons page Easter egg, and the old Blog Awesome 404s, including "Where's my sandwich?"
17:00 – A shoutout to Brian, the mind behind Font Awesome's 404 copy, and the outro begins
18:00 – Closing credits and sign-off

Credits
Hosted by Matt Johnson
Featuring Jory Raphael
Produced and edited by Matt Johnson
Theme song by Ronnie Martin
Music interstitials by Zach Malm
Video editing by Isaac Chase
Links
SmarterMSP: Tech Time Warp — The 411 on the 404 Page
The History of the Web: Sorry Computer, You're Not a Teapot
RFC 2324: Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol (HTCPCP/1.0)
Save418.com
Font Awesome
#PodcastAwesome #404Error #WebHistory #InternetLore #TechTrivia #HTTPStatusCodes #FontAwesome #DesignPodcast
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