In the very busy world of startups, learning can often fall to the bottom of the priority list. However, the speed of learning and adapting are some of the main advantages a startup can have in this highly competitive world. So how do you manage your business and grow as a founder when your time is spread so thin? A good solution we found are podcasts. And the great news is that there are many podcasts for startup founders out there that tackle all aspects of startup life, from the first idea to scaling your business.
Podcasts are one of the best ways you can keep up to date with the latest trends, strategies, and tactics. They are also a great way to get to know how investors think and how other startups approach challenges.
Here are some of the podcasts for podcasts for startup founders that we listen to on a regular basis:
1. Masters of Scale
Masters of Scale is a great source of information, valuable insights, and success and failure stories. This is one of the great podcasts for startup founders and it has some serious production behind. The host, Reid Hoffman, shares his theories about scaling and debates them with his guests. As both an entrepreneur and an investor, he is one of the most qualified people to shed a light on the stories of famous founders. Reid Hoffman is a partner at Greylock Partners and Co-Founder of LinkedIn. He serves on the boards of Airbnb, Convoy, Edmodo, and Microsoft.
Good episode to start with: Handcrafted with Brian Chesky, Co-founder & CEO of Airbnb
2. This much I know
Listen on Soundcloud or YouTube
This much I know is the podcast of Seedcamp, Europe’s seed fund. It is hosted by Carlos Espinal and in it you will discover the stories of founders, investors, and tech greats. While data may not be always the focus, both founders and investors can extract valuable information from the discussions. Founders can learn how other founders think, how they approach their business and their market, and get advice from the people who have already been through it all. Investors can learn about today’s generations of founders, how they manage their businesses, and find out what’s new with investments in Europe. This much I know is one of the most valuable podcasts for startup founders today.
Good episode to start with: Patrick Campbell, CEO at Price Intelligently, on buyer personas and knowing your customers
3. The Pitch
Gimlet Media has produced a gem for the startup world and a great addition to our podcasts for startup founders list. They created a podcast where each episode features a startup founder who delivers a pitch to investors in order to get funded. For first time entrepreneurs, this podcast can offer insight into how other founders approach investors, how they sell their idea and make others believe in it. But the most valuable insights to take away are what investors look for in a business and what is an absolute deal breaker. If you are preparing to pitch for the first time, binge on this podcast before your big day.
Good episode to start with: When Less Is Not More: Hyde Closet
4. This Week in Startups
Not surprisingly, This Week in Startups is a mix of startups news and stories. Like many podcast hosts, Jason Calacanis has focused on interviews with startups and investing personalities. The episodes are filled with valuable insights, especially if you look beyond the surface of what is being said. Eight years of interviews have resulted in a lot of material neatly organized into categories. You will find podcasts on healthcare, transportation, startup basics, and many more, so you can choose just the subjects that interest you most.
Good episode to start with: Pitching to avoid being pigeonholed, expanding in slow markets, scaling past grass-roots beginnings, marketing beyond traditional channels & more
5. Equity Podcast
TechCrunch has a podcast. We are fans of their articles and their insights, but this podcast is pure gold among the podcasts for startup founders. It is venture capital-focused and it is a great resource for anyone who wants to be up to date with the latest business headlines and what they mean. For aspiring VCs and for first time founders, it can be a good place to get familiarized with the business world in general.
Good episode to start with: Raising in a recession with Unshackled VC’s Manan Mehta
6. ChartMogul SaaS Open Mic
ChartMogul, a data-curation company, launched a podcast that hosts SaaS founders and leaders debating everything SaaS related. From how to price your SaaS product and how to choose the right metrics to scaling customer feedback and going global, the podcast is filled with valuable commentary and actionable advice.
Good episode to start with: Alex Delivet on single-handedly founding the B2B Rocks conference
7. Data Stories
While it is not a startups specific podcast, Data Stories features talks between Enrico Bertini and Moritz Stefaner and their guests about the latest developments in data analytics, data visualization and related topics. Data Stories is great if you want to understand why data is important in general and how you can use it to serve your purposes. For startups and investors, looking at data is a must. Data gives you the health chart of a business. But spreadsheets can become difficult to follow especially when reviewing large numbers of them.
Good episode to start with: Future Data Interfaces with David Sheldon-Hicks
8. a16z
The podcast of Andreessen Horowitz, one of the biggest and most successful VC firms, is a mandatory addition for anyone interested in startups and investment. They tackle subjects ranging from investments, startups, and new tech, but they cross well over the Silicon Valley boundaries. Each episode offers great information, entertaining conversations and features big names. As far as podcasts for startup founders go, this one is great for founders who want to be up to date with everything new in the world of startups and investments.
Good episode to start with: The Truth about 1000 True Fans + Pricing Our Attention
9. Traction
Jay Acunzo and Tim Devane are the hosts of Traction, a podcast dealing mostly with how startups start. NextView Ventures, the seed-stage VC behind the podcast, has made a great decision to educate future founders in the many methods of getting their startups off the ground. However, this is not one of the usual podcasts for startup founders as it features rather unconventional approaches to startup success. The podcast features some delightful stories from founders, execs, journalists, and investors.
Good episode to start with: Data Science & Inventing the Future (Hilary Mason, Fast Forward Labs)
10. The Early Stage Podcast
This podcast is all about startup launches, raising funds and growing their teams. The host is John Valentine, Manager of Technology Identification and Communications at Thales, a worldwide leader in aerospace, space, defense, transportation, and security. He mostly interviews entrepreneurs at the Seed and Series A stages of their startups and founders can learn a great deal from their stories.
Good episode to start with: Maher Damak @ Infinite Cooling
11. Startup School from Y Combinator and Bonus: Y Combinator Podcast
Listen to Startup School lectures here
Listen to Y Combinator Podcast here
The Startup School lectures have been made available as a podcast and you can listen to it any time you want. It is one of the best one you can find out there, and while it has not been recently updated, it offers great, to the point, actionable advice.
The Y Combinator Podcast features entertaining talks with the people who are shaping the future. The accelerator that provides seed funding for startups has created a show about technology, business, research, and art. Definitely a great way to end our podcasts for startup founders list.
Good Startup School episode to start with: Modern Startup Financing by Carolynn Levy
Good Y Combinator Podcast episode to start with: Jessica Livingston on How to Build the Future
We hope you will find some good insights and even solutions to some of your challenges in the podcasts we recommend. Most hurdles have been already faced by others before you, even if their business differs from yours. There is always something new to learn in the world of startups and investing.
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Hey Marius,
Thanks a lot for sharing this article.
I am a founder of A Travel business based in Vietnam. Could you suggest me which podcast is good for a founder not based in US? I want to learn and create backlinks for my business.
I really appreciate for your help.
Have a great day.