Podcasts are a great source of easily digestible content. Whether you are looking for some positive inspiration on the airwaves, a blueprint on how to build a business or just something to pass the time on the way down to the coast this festive season.
Here are our top 3 podcasts to listen to for some business-related inspiration, general insights into the journeys traveled and entertaining anecdotes on how they managed to get where they are today.
How I Built This
Hosted by Guy Raz
Average length: 50 min
If you are looking for some great stories about individuals growing multi-million and billion-dollar companies from the ground up, this podcast is certainly for you. Spanning multiple industries from the tech giants such as Airbnb and Instagram to lifestyle brands like Patagonia and Burton snowboards, there are also great episodes with Richard Branson and Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines, to provide some constant entertainment and amazing examples of persistence, timing, and good old luck. Something I thoroughly enjoy in almost every episode, Guy’s closing question is around whether the founders thought that their success was down to hard work and intelligence, or luck. Take a listen to see what the answers are.
Favorite episodes:
The Hustle – My first million
Hosted by Shaan Puri
Average length: 45 min
Join Shaan Puri as he chats with business leaders who grew their businesses from the ground up. Ranging from tech founders to real estate tycoons who have made their wealth span into the billions. His approach is quite direct and he probes the guests with tough questions so that no details of their success are spared. The variety of guests is great but I sometimes feel that Shaan himself has a slight chip on his shoulder. He also throws in a Million Dollar Brainstorm episode once a month where he sits down with The Hustle CEO Sam Parr and they shoot the breeze and discuss concepts that they think could become the next big business ideas or major trends in industries.
Favorite Episodes:
- Blogging His Way To $9M in Cash – Ramon Van Meer
- He Made Millions From…Blankets, Beanbags & Candles?
- Making Millions of an Email Newsletter? Sam Parr from the Hustle Tells All
Startups for the rest of us
Hosted by Rob Walling and Mike Taber
Average length: 35 min
Personally, my favorite podcast at the moment and has been for a couple of months now. These guy’s MO is all about building real businesses and not only focus on the Silicon Valley Unicorns that the majority of people will never achieve. These businesses also have no relevance to those of us that are starting out and trying our best to bootstrap (use our own money) to build and grow a sustainable business that suits our lifestyles. The majority of the guests and conversations focus on SaaS (software as a service) companies that might not be relevant to all businesses but there are some great insights, challenges, and strategies that they cover that are applicable to most businesses out there regardless of the industry.
Favorite episodes:
- Two-Sided Marketplaces, How Much Testing is Too Much
- Should You Take on a Co-founder?
- Defining Product/Market Fit, Using Inexpensive Developers, When to Quit, and More Listener Questions
Have any suggestions for us?
Are you a podcast junkie? We are always on the lookout for new content to listen to, if you have any great podcasts that you think should make the list, let us know in the comments below.
Looking for more inspiration, advice, tips and tools? Be sure to check out our new series “Life in the Trenches”
