6 podcasts all startup entrepreneurs (and teams) should listen to
There has been an astronomic uptick in podcast streams over the past few years, and the numbers continue to rise. Technology has made it virtually effortless to stream and produce quality audio content, making podcasts the go-to way of keeping up with the latest trends in tech and business.
With a gazillion podcasts out there, picking the right one can often be quite tricky. Luckily, we tasked our team to suggest their favourite shows to stay updated and that every tech enthusiast, entrepreneur, and business owner should subscribe to in 2021! We did our best to provide a transatlantic, yet balanced list.
Here we go!
Acquired
Acquired is the podcast equivalent of a documentary film. It’s a truly unique experience with episodes packed full of new information. The hosts really make an effort to go behind the scenes of the biggest tech IPOs and acquisitions.
The show is hosted by two experienced members of the startup world, Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal, who combine statistics, humour, and punditry, weaving it together into a gripping narrative that is guaranteed to inform and entertain.
Tech giants like WhatsApp, Netflix, Shopify, Instagram, and GitHub – are just some examples of acquired (and unacquired) companies covered in the show. Their stories are as in-depth as a David Attenborough documentary – which is a lot to say, given there’s only audio.
Aside from focusing on episodes looking at a single company at a time, the hosts have a selection of episodes centred around a particular theme. A great example is the Acquired episode on the emergence of venture capital and the rise of its key figures like Don Valentine of Sequoia Capital. And, very contemporary, there’s an episode on bitcoin that came out recently.
For those who are already part of the startup world, venture investing, or just generally curious about entrepreneurship, this is a podcast you can’t afford to not know.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/acquiredfm
Website: https://www.acquired.fm/
Equity
Produced by the startup outlet par-excellence TechCrunch, tuning into Equity is a complete no-brainer and should be a regular destination when it comes to podcasts every entrepreneur-minded person should subscribe to.
Hosted by the seriously caffeinated and dangerously sleep-deprived startup journalists Alex Wilhelm, Natasha Mascarenhas, and Danny Crichton, the show provides a front-row view into startup land. Their infectious passion for all things startups coupled with a healthy shot of dad jokes makes the show perfect for a short drive, walk or run (and once the pandemic is over, also commute).
As the name of the show suggests, the podcast revolves around the topic of venture capital and the stories behind how it’s deployed and what startups do (or plan to) with these cash injections. The hosts cover the news in an informative yet entertaining and accessible way, so that even beginners to startups can use it to learn macro and micro about startups. They go to lengths to unpack numbers, discuss relevant and irrelevant facts, and provide lots of their own opinion to also keep us wondering about what could be possible in the future. So good for a rich diet in food for thought. Although it’s US-focused, bigger European stories regularly make it to the show. Having said that, for us in Europe it’s always interesting to see what’s happening across the pond and in the birthplace of the startup game.
The show drops twice a week. In the episodes the guys at TechCrunch pick a handful of the week’s hottest stories and cover those in detail. So all in all an easy-to-digest dose of tech, business, and startup news certain to keep startup FOMO away. Also, the guys are very active on the recently exploded social media (?) app Clubhouse and are worth following there.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EquityPod
Website: https://techcrunch.com/pages/podcasts/
Tech.eu podcast
Usually hosted by known euro tech journalist Andrii Degeler, the podcast provides weekly news reports, industry overviews, and analyses, and includes interviews with guests from the European startup world. With its impressive sound and coverage quality, it’s easy to confuse Tech.eu with BBC World Service radio until you realise it’s all tech startups (OK, and also no British accent).
Andrii keeps track of startup fundraising, acquisitions and other big news, helping us get familiar with the hottest startups in the region. Where something a bit more major happens, or when a startup is becoming more deserving of the spotlight, we’ll also probably find them interviewed here. So for us news junkies we can relax knowing that if there’s something notable happening in the world of European tech startups – the production team won’t miss it.
Tech.eu itself is a growing tech startup outlet worthy of our attention. Started by ex-TechCrunch and The Next Web journalist Robin Wauters, Tech.eu tracks the stories of early-stage to IPO, and together with Sifted and TechCrunch is one of the top tech outlets in Europe. As well as articles there are exclusive monthly financial reports, and other European data and insights. A recent example is the State of Fintech European Report with a focus on how the European fintech sector has coped with COVID-19.
Back to the podcast. Summarising – its impeccable production quality, the broad scope of coverage, and the professional research team make Tech.eu probably the best one-stop-shop resource when it comes to tech news in Europe.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tech_eu
Website: https://tech.eu/
11FS: Fintech Insider
Although not a media brand officially, the consultancy and banking-as-a-service 11:FS is behind one of the most popular podcasts in fintech (and therefore, startups).
11:FS Fintech Insider is a bi-weekly show dedicated to all things fintech, banking, technology, and financial services. It’s usual format: a roundtable discussion that involves journalists and representatives coming from the fields of fintech and finance. That’s kind of what makes 11:FS so successful and unique. The balance of guests representing the different areas (startup, traditional finance, media).
The usual flow of the show involves guests commenting on a selection of news considered the biggest news of the week. Increasingly the podcast is also focusing on ‘insights’. These are episodes dedicated to specific topics like open banking, fintech for children, VC investment and specific regions from around the world.
As for the hosts of the show, they are usually none other than the actual founders of 11FS! Yes, the guys that lead the entire company, business development, product, etc dedicate their time to the podcast (and lots of other fun marketing activities). They do an incredible job of being ‘neutral hosts’ and leading conversations that cover a huge breadth of topics. It’s all about the ins and outs of successfully navigating the ever-changing banking landscape.
The quality of the guests, of the conversations and the depth the show goes into makes it one not to be missed! And as they say, every startup is a fintech startup to some extent.
The guys at 11:FS also have loads more content worth checking out including the insurtech podcast Insurtech Insider.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/11FS
Website: https://11fs.com/podcasts
The Tim Ferriss Show
Introspective and personal are two words that describe the Tim Ferriss Show well. Exposing his own vulnerability is a strategy he recommends to other podcast hosts to help them win the trust of their interviewees. Thanks to his approach, Tim Ferris is able to have much more personal and profound conversations than most other podcast hosts.
Gently yet deliberately breaking through the superficial, a common thread in the Tim Ferriss show is introspection. Tim helps his guests to reveal and narrate breathtaking first-hand accounts of the most defining moments of their lives. It’s the incredible personal stories and experiences, often of overcoming hardship, that accounts for the show’s substantially large and extremely loyal following.
The show also dedicates a lot of attention to the practical aspect of success. Tim is very much interested in the habits, rituals, and practices that his guests picked along the way. Whether it’s a specific form of exercise, meditation or a way to stay sharp when navigating stressful business decisions – Tim makes it a priority to make it accessible to his listeners. As he himself describes, part of his life work is being a ‘human guinea pig’ in order to understand what works and what doesn’t to not only be more successful in life, but also happier. Many of his conversations with others attempt to extract similar insights from guests.
There’s probably no other podcast that can help us jump into the shoes of the world’s most renowned entrepreneurs, athletes, and other top performers in such a way. Lots to learn on the business and productivity side, but also on a more humans level.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tferriss
Website: https://tim.blog/podcast/
Masters of Scale
Hosted by Reid Hoffman, one of the most prominent tech entrepreneurs and legendary founder of LinkedIn. Reid had a great influence on the way we talk about tech startups, funding, and scaling. He came up with the term ‘blitzscaling’, which he defines as “prioritizing speed over efficiency in the face of uncertainty”. In Masters of Scale, Reid interviews a number of business leaders from startups and beyond, and with each episode attempts to turn the lessons of their stories into ingredients for his blitzscaling (or at least, scaling) formula.
Whether it’s desirable or not, blitzscaling is certainly possible and that is exactly what Hoffman is here to prove. And time has proven him right. During the early stages of the pandemic there was nothing but uncertainty. And a number of European startups took advantage of the change. Cazoo and Hopin are two examples of startups that have truly blitzscaled recently in Europe, reaching unicorn status in record time.
Masters of Scale gives us direct access to some of the most exciting startup founders but also leaders of the most iconic brands. Phil Knight, the co-founder of Nike, and Brian Chesky of Airbnb are some notable mentions among a long list of business gamechangers. There is also a fascinating episode on Stewart Butterfield’s incredible pivot moment before Slack’s success. Reid Hoffman has also written a book about it, unsurprisingly called Blitzscaling.
We cannot recommend the podcast highly enough. The show is a celebration of incredible experiences in the business world that every startup entrepreneur should be aware of.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mastersofscale
Website: https://mastersofscale.com/
The Twenty Minute VC
The entire concept of the Twenty Minute VC is, as you might have guessed, to have action-packed, not too long podcast episodes about venture investing. As the name suggests, episodes used to be 20 minutes long, but not anymore. Nowadays episodes are longer but no less intense.
Harry has hosted many of the world’s top VCs and startup entrepreneurs, guests who run, ran or invested in the likes of Evernote, Intercom, Etsy, Twitter, Robinhood and many, many more. This combination of having these guests that count with the most incredible insight, and the very structured approach to how they are interviewed, mean the amount of value and the ROI of investing time into listening this is ridiculously high.
The story behind the podcast is also bit unusual and interesting. Harry Stebbings was going to study law, but then changed his mind and started a podcast about venture investing. He hoped to monetise and support his mother with multiple sclerosis. His first guest was none other than Guy Kawasaki, and the rest was history. Now, he’s actually joined the world of investing, on the investing side. He launched 20VC and is a partner at Stride.vc.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/twentyminutevc
Website: https://thetwentyminutevc.com/
