Startup Podcasts
Starting a company means you’ve less time to do many things in life. For me, sitting down to read for a couple of hours feels guilty – even if it’s on a relevant subject I can learn from. Having travelled a lot over the last year, I have found podcasts to be a great guilt free medium to consume rich content - especially during time that would be otherwise wasted such as commuting etc. Here’s a list of our 10 best startup focused podcasts we listen to and would recommend to those who want to get into the ‘startup mindset’- keep going! Recode Decode: Hosted by Kara Swisher who interviews key players in tech & media (usually from Silicon Valley). Her episodes with Scott Galloway, NYU professor and founder of L2 are some of my favorites. Also check out her interview with Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook and the one with Chamath Palihapitiya of Social Capital who changed my thinking on the VC industry. Tim Ferriss Show: It’s one of the most popular podcasts out there. Tim interviews world class performers regardless of their field or industry to tease out similarities and hacks everyone can use. I like the episode with Chris Sacca and there are often many inspiring stories of people making it which you otherwise might not hear such as Derek Sivers. How I built this: Easily consumed 45 min – 1 hour episodes with founders who have built the companies we recognize every day. This is one of my favorite podcasts at the moment. Two episodes that stick out are the ones with Starbucks and Flickr. Masters of Scale: With Reid Hoffman (Founder of LinkedIn and investor at Greylock). Reid interviews top founders on different topics related to scaling. Each episode you can learn from what they did and apply the lessons to whatever you’re building or your day job. It’s an easy listen and gets great guests like Brian Chesky of Airbnb and Zuckerberg of FB. Startup by Gimlet Media: The podcast that started it all for me. It’s running a few seasons now. Go back to season 1 if you haven’t heard of it before. Founder of Gimlet Media Alex documents the highs and lows of starting a startup. It’s all access and provides a great insight into what someone goes through when starting out. A16Z podcast: Produced by one of the top VC companies out there, Andreessen Horowitz, they discuss the hottest topics and emerging trends in tech. It can get quite detailed at times but great if you want deeper knowledge on a certain subject in tech. Chances are they have talked about it.Freakonomics: For alternative views on random subjects. Often enlightening, frequently funny and always entertaining.How to start a startup: This podcast is by renowned accelerator Y Combinator & provides access to a class they ran at Stanford on the fundamentals of starting a startup. Similar to Master of Scale in many ways and a great insight.Master’s in Business with Bloomberg: This podcast is more finance & markets orientated but great for big picture discussions. Markets are often the end goal for startup founders and the topic of IPO’s and venture financing often arises.HBR IdeaCast: Short episodes from Harvard business school on relevant topics in the business world. Sometimes I feel it can be a bit biased to Harvard professors promoting their new book, but still a free way to access the key lessons of Harvard professors which Is rare. Hope you enjoy! Let us know if there’s any you think should be on the list