I recently polled our team at The Pitch and asked, “What podcasts are you listening to that feed your inner founder?”. And yes, your inner founder is a thing. It’s the little voice inside that says ‘Do It’ far too often. But I digress.
So the team got back to me with their favorite podcasts. All 1,700 of them. The first thing I realized is that there are a LOT of really good podcasts out there, so we decided to start a series of posts on the best podcasts to help people find those hidden gems. 💎 Here’s the criteria for today’s collection of podcasts…
  1. We only include shows that are publishing new episodes.
  2. Only podcasts that cater to startup founders. We’ve omitted podcasts about ‘self help’ or ‘how to make money online’.
Note: Marketing podcasts have been omitted from this list. We’ve saved them for a future collection.
So here we go! If you make it all the way through this list and you don’t see a new podcast, then you can have your money back. Or you can yell at Sheel (my cofounder) about it.
We think all of these startup podcasts are excellent. Hit play to hear the latest episode of each podcast or use the links below to subscribe.
Bookmark this for new episodes each week. New episodes appear automagically. 💫

Traction

What I love about Traction is that it teaches you how to be a better startup founder. But what sets the show apart from the rest is how the host, Jay Acunzo, turn his interviews into narrative form. Even so far as to add background music to help bring attention to pivotal truths or twists in the story.

Question of the Day

Podcast hosts James Altucher and Stephen Dubner are curiously funny. In each episode they tackle a random question about life, business, culture or pretty much anything they find on Quora. Episodes are short, clean, and come at a fast pace of three episodes a week to keep things fresh.

Converge

I love listening to Dane Sanders as he interviews creative people who have discovered ways to make money from their craft. It’s a different approach that I find refreshing in a podcast. You can tell that Dane pays attention to the details and the creativity of his own work.

Reboot

How you handle emotional and psychological issues in your life can be the difference between success or failure as a founder. On the reboot podcast you’ll hear as coach and founder Jerry Colonna talks with founders and leaders about their journeys through failure and success. The feel of each show is relaxed and candid. It’ll change the way you view yourself and your startup.

Startup School Radio

Y Combinator partner Aaron Harris is the host of this high quality, interview style podcast. He interviews founders and investors from in and around the Y Combinator family to talk shop about startups. Aaron likes to dig deep and understand the stories behind the startups we’ve all come to know and love.

Dorm Room Tycoon

William Channer does an excellent job of interviewing founders, investors and leaders on his show. There are plenty of interview style podcasts out there but Dorm Room Tycoon (DRT) is one of the best. If you’re looking for a quick listen, this isn’t the show for you. Each episode is a deep dive into a topic that the guest is considered an expert in.

a16z

The a16z podcast from Andreessen Horowitz was created to help founders. I’ve noticed that the advice shared is surprisingly practical. But I appreciate that the length of each episode is reasonable. Personally I prefer not to sift through an hour long podcast just to find one nugget of truth. 😏 As a legendary VC firm, their breadth of knowledge and large network of founders pairs well to create interesting content that you won’t find anywhere else.

Unmistakable Creative

Srini Rao, the show host and ‘Chief Creative Instigator’ has some very odd guests on his show; including a bank robber, an olympic coach, and a guy who rode his bike from Germany to India. His guests are obviously unique, but what I’ve found to be most useful is how Srini gets straight to the heart and passion that drives each of his guests to success. This is not a tips and tricks podcast, it’s all about telling the stories behind interesting people and what drives them to do what they do.

Rocketship

This interview style podcast has 3 hosts (Michael Sacca, Joelle Steiniger, and Matt Goldman). And perhaps that’s what’s unique about the show! They interview makers, bootstrappers and startup founders about what they’re building and what they’ve learned throughout the journey. New episodes drop every Tuesday and Thursday and their lineup of guests is one of the best.

This Is Product Management

If you’re a founder—particularly of a self-funded startup—then you understand that in addition to all your other roles as a founder, you are actually a product manager as well. The show’s host, Mike Fishbein, created this podcast to help listeners understand the many facets of product management and how to successfully run a product team.

Product Hunt Radio

Product Hunt Radio started out as a regular ‘ol interview style podcast. But then suddenly—queue dramatic music —Erik Torenberg decided to launch a new version of the show, called Maker Stories. It gets real. And I couldn’t describe it any better than Erik, who says; “We explore what makes the makers, what drives them, what scares them, how they make sense of the world and everything in-between”.

Conversations with Tyler

Conversations with Tyler is a simple interview format show. What I love about it is how the host, Tyler Cowen, comes at the interviewee from an economics standpoint. They discuss some of the most critical challenges our world faces as well as the future of the economy. He has incredible, world class thought leaders on as guests.

Seedcamp

This new podcast is from the Seedcamp first round fund in London. Not only will you get a feel for the European startup scene, but you’ll also hear what European angel investors and VC’s are looking for when they invest. It’s definitely worth mentioning in the same sentence as Startup School Radio and the a16z podcast.

The Pitch

This is shameless self-promotion since I am the host of this show. 😊 But like I said before, if you don’t like it you can yell at Sheel. TheNextWeb described The Pitch as, “The podcast version of ‘Shark Tank’ for startups”, so there’s a chance you might like it.
Want more startup founder podcasts? These podcasts made it into our list, but their recent episodes aren’t on SoundCloud. Definitely check these out and subscribe to your favorites!
What other startup related podcasts are you listening to? Let us know in the comments and we’ll consider them for an upcoming best podcasts collection!
[update 9/24] Let’s add a few more (community curated) podcasts to the list!

https://thepitch.vc/b/the-most-epic-collection-of-podcasts-for-startup-founders/