You wouldn’t turn down the chance to pick the brain of a startup superstar, would you?
Sure, you’re doing what others haven’t: reinventing a product or disrupting an industry from the ground up. But you can still learn from experienced entrepreneurs. Listening to podcasts is brilliant because these shows are usually conversations. Where else can you hear candid, unrehearsed insights and anecdotes shared between startup superstars?
There are so many startup-focused podcasts out there but—like online writing—most are aimed at founders. While any founder interview will offer gems of strategy and tactics, these five podcasts are particularly relevant to employees.
StartUp by Gimlet Media
Gimlet, produced by This American Life veterans, took the podcast world by storm in 2014 with StartUp. Its first season followed Gimlet’s founders and their own trials and tribulations as a startup. Very meta. Subsequent seasons are also instructive, as the show generally follows one company’s journey per season.
This Week in Startups
We like this one because host Jason Calacanis is highly opinionated and not shy about sharing in his freewheeling podcast. He offers insight both as a founder and as an angel investor. In most episodes he interviews a founder, but there’s also a smattering of AMAs with Calacanis and presentations from events such as Launch.
Masters of Scale
This highly produced podcast sometimes leans towards dorky with its sound effects and scripted storytelling style. However, few have more respected startup experience than host Reid Hoffman, one of the original “PayPal Mafia” and founder of LinkedIn (now a partner at VC firm Greylock). The focus is generally on how relatively mature companies have found scale, or the factors that have led to their success.
Startups for the Rest of Us
“For the rest of us” in this case is a focus on bootstrapped small companies. The content, though, is far-reaching and widely applicable. The pair of hosts, Mike Taber and Rob Walling, are highly experienced entrepreneurs, and shows include both interviews and ruminations between the two.
Mixergy
Host Andrew Warren is much like Jason Calacanis in style, not afraid of the hard questions. Yes, this interview show is somewhat founder oriented, but there’s plenty for everyone else. Especially helpful is the category search function on the interviews section of Mixergy’s website, which includes many areas of focus for non-founders such as marketing and sales.
While few podcasts deal specifically with the employment issues of non-founders, shows like these give plenty of insights into how other companies have dealt with the very same issues you and your small company face. It’s like having coffee with someone who’s been where you are and found success, so pull out the headphones and listen up! Subscribe to these via Apple Podcasts, Google Play or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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