SIE prep, on the go
Two hosts work through SIE concepts conversationally, with a recurring cast (Frank the Founder, Day Trader Dan, Institution Ingrid) and analogies that actually stick. Funny enough to listen to on a walk, exam-focused enough to count as studying.
Think of it as a free SIE audiobook, except instead of one narrator reading a textbook you get two hosts working through each unit conversationally. Twenty-one episodes, one for every unit in the CertFuel SIE course. The 21 units roll up into FINRA's four exam sections (Knowledge of Capital Markets, Products & Their Risks, Trading & Customer Accounts, and the Regulatory Framework), so the show covers every weighted topic on the test. Two hosts work through each unit the way you'd want a friend to explain it (conversationally, with analogies, with enough repetition that ideas actually stick) and trace it through a recurring cast of characters. The series is complete, so you can binge straight through without waiting on new releases.
The format is built for active studying, not passive background listening. Hosts toss direct questions back to you and pause so you can think before they reveal the answer. Exam traps get called out the moment they show up ("this is where the exam tries to trick you"), similar concepts get compared side by side, and every episode wraps with a rapid-fire recap of the most testable takeaways.
Frank the Founder
Mid-cap biotech CEO who needs capital. Shows up wherever the primary market lives: IPOs, follow-ons, underwriters, prospectuses, and the whole 1933-act apparatus.
Day Trader Dan
Six monitors, third energy drink, doesn't care what the company does. Operates entirely in the secondary market and gets called in whenever liquidity, price discovery, or the 1934 act come up.
Institution Ingrid
CIO of a $100B sovereign wealth fund. Her trades move markets, so she appears whenever scale, block trading, dark pools, and execution risk matter to the exam.
Apple Podcasts
Built into every iPhone and Mac.
Subscribe in the native Podcasts app and new episodes show up automatically. Works offline once downloaded, plays through CarPlay, and syncs your spot across devices via iCloud.
Open in Apple Podcasts →Spotify
Same app, music and podcasts.
Follow the show and Spotify will mix new episodes into the "Your Episodes" queue. Best pick if you already use Spotify for music, since you don't need a second app on your phone or in the car.
Open in Spotify →YouTube
Skip the second app.
Same episodes as Apple and Spotify, hosted as a YouTube playlist so you can listen without installing a podcast app. Plays on a TV, Chromecast, or any browser, and the algorithm will start suggesting related episodes once you subscribe.
Open YouTube Playlist →The SIE rewards repeated exposure to the same handful of ideas (products, regs, customer rules) more than it rewards memorizing a giant list. Audio is the cheapest way to get that repetition: you hear the same concept explained two or three different ways across episodes without sitting down with a textbook each time. The result is the kind of casual familiarity that makes the wrong answer choices on the real exam look obviously wrong.
Pair the podcast with the active practice in the CertFuel SIE app and you get both halves of effective studying: passive review while you're doing other things, plus active recall when you're actually sitting down to study. Neither one alone is enough; together they cover the gap most candidates fall into.
Is the podcast free?
Yes. Every episode is free to stream on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. No subscription, no premium tier, no ads sold to study-guide competitors. It's a companion to the free CertFuel SIE app, which is also free forever.
What's the format like?
Think of it as an SIE audiobook with two hosts instead of one narrator. Each episode picks one SIE topic and walks through it conversationally, using a recurring cast of characters (Frank the Founder, Day Trader Dan, Institution Ingrid). Expect analogies, direct questions thrown back at the listener, exam-trap callouts ("this is where the exam tries to trick you"), and a rapid-fire recap of the testable takeaways at the end.
Who are the recurring characters?
Frank the Founder runs a biotech company that needs capital, so he shows up wherever the primary market does (IPOs, underwriters, prospectuses). Day Trader Dan is a retail speculator with six monitors and an energy-drink habit, and he lives in the secondary market. Institution Ingrid is the CIO of a $100B sovereign wealth fund whose trades move markets, so she appears whenever scale and execution risk matter.
Is the series complete?
Yes. The show is a finite 21-episode series, with one episode per unit in the CertFuel SIE course. (The 21 units roll up into FINRA's four exam sections: Capital Markets, Products & Their Risks, Trading & Customer Accounts, and the Regulatory Framework.) The full series is already published, so you can binge it front-to-back without waiting on new episodes. The audio stays online indefinitely on all three platforms.
Do I need to listen in order?
No, but you can if you want. Each episode is self-contained, so you can dive straight into the unit you're studying right now. If you're brand new to the SIE, working through the playlist in order tracks the CertFuel SIE course (and FINRA's exam outline), so the foundational units land before the ones that build on them.
Can the podcast replace a study app?
No, and we don't want it to. The podcast is great for learning concepts during a commute or at the gym, but you still need to practice answering exam-style questions before test day. Pair it with the free CertFuel SIE app (4,000+ practice questions, adaptive flashcards, readiness score) for full coverage.
Will the podcast cover Series 6, 7, 63, 65, or 66?
This show is SIE-only. The SIE is the foundation every securities license builds on, so even if you're targeting a top-off exam later, the SIE concepts here still apply.
Don't see your question answered here? We'd love to help. Get in touch with us.