So, you’ve decided to launch a startup – congratulations on choosing the most elaborate way possible to avoid a 9-to-5. While you’re busy burning through your savings, surviving on a diet of ramen and Celsius, and explaining to your parents that no, this isn’t “just a phase,” you might as well fill your precious few moments of downtime with some entrepreneurial wisdom.
Whether you’re pitching to investors who look suspiciously bored, trying to figure out why your revolutionary app has exactly three users (two of whom are your mom using different emails), or just seeking validation that other founders also cry in their car sometimes, these podcasts will be your virtual mentors in the chaos. Think of them as your personal advisory board, minus the equity and awkward board meetings – here are the best podcasts to keep you inspired while you’re busy turning your basement into the next totally-not-doomed-to-fail tech empire.
Masters of Scale
Want to hear how business bigwigs built their empires? Masters of Scale brings you candid chats with founders and CEOs who share their facepalms and victories, hosted by LinkedIn legend Reid Hoffman and friends. It’s like a startup masterclass, minus the boring bits.
Y Combinator Startup Podcast
Listen to Y Combinator Startup Podcast
Run by the infamous startup platform, this podcast features a wide variety of guests and founders trying to make things that people want.
Entrepreneurs On Fire
Listen to Entrepreneurs On Fire
Meet John Lee Dumas (JLD for short), the mastermind behind “Entrepreneurs On Fire” – a podcast that’s hotter than your mixtape. This audio wizard has churned out more episodes than your grandma has cookie recipes (we’re talking 3000+), and apparently 100 million people thought “yeah, this is worth my ear time.”
Startup Stories – Mixergy
Listen to Startup Stories – Mixergy
Andrew Warner asks the right questions of entrepreneurs and startup founders of all kinds. Check out this highly informative podcast with business tips for startups.
She Did It Her Way
The She Did It Her Way Podcast helps ambitious women ditch their 9-5 grind and build thriving businesses. Host Amanda Boleyn serves up weekly episodes packed with productivity tricks and entrepreneurial wisdom, while chatting with female powerhouses who’ve already made the leap. From side-hustle to success story, this multi-million download show proves that breaking free from the cubicle is totally possible – especially when you do it your way.
My First Million
Meet the dynamic duo of Sam Parr and Shaan Puri, two entrepreneurs who love playing business detective. They team up to sniff out hot market trends and turn them into million-dollar “what ifs.” Think of it as a startup think tank meets comedy club, where they occasionally invite big-shot guests to join their idea-spinning sessions. It’s kind of like Shark Tank meets late-night brainstorming, minus the suits and scary music.
The Twenty Minute VC Show (20VC)
Listen to The Twenty Minute VC Show (20VC)
The Twenty Minute Venture Capital Show (20VC) features conversations with elite investors in the venture capital industry, welcoming luminaries such as Sequoia Capital’s Doug Leone and Benchmark’s Bill Gurley to the program. The show’s presenter, Harry Stebbings, dedicates one episode weekly to discussions with groundbreaking entrepreneurs, having welcomed distinguished business leaders including Spotify’s founder Daniel Ek, LinkedIn’s creator Reid Hoffman, and Snowflake’s chief executive Frank Slootman.
Equity
In today’s world, the convergence of technological innovation, emerging companies, and investment capital permeates all sectors of society. This reality drives Equity, the premier audio program from TechCrunch, to delve deep into entrepreneurial endeavors for both business founders and industry followers. The show’s journalists deliver bi-weekly updates each Wednesday and Friday.
Code and Conquer – The Indie Hacker Podcast
The Code and Conquer Podcast, led by Ice Bear Labs founder Tobias Arweiler, showcases conversations with independent entrepreneurs. Each installment features in-depth discussions with successful indie hackers who share their paths from initial concepts to profitable ventures. Through these personal narratives, listeners gain valuable insights into the entrepreneurial journey and strategies for business growth.
HBR IdeaCast
A weekly podcast showcasing top experts in business and leadership.
Acquired
Every business has a unique journey. Discover the strategies behind the world’s most successful companies and learn how to apply them as a founder, executive, or investor.
The SaaS Revolution Show
Listen to The SaaS Revolution Show
The SaaS Revolution Show, hosted by Alex Theuma, features top SaaS leaders sharing strategies on growth, scaling, and customer retention. Produced by SaaStock, it supports founders aiming for $10M ARR.
The Side Hustle Show
Listen to The Side Hustle Show
This award-winning podcast offers practical advice on entrepreneurship, covering innovative ways to earn both online and offline. Topics include blogging, freelancing, online business, marketing, sales funnels, investing, and more. With over 100,000 listeners, it delivers actionable strategies for starting and growing a side hustle—no fluff, just real insights.
The Rework Podcast
The REWORK podcast by 37signals explores smarter approaches to work and business. Hosted by Kimberly Rhodes, it features insights from 37signals co-founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, creators of Basecamp and HEY, sharing their unique take on entrepreneurship.
Bootstrapped Web
Brian Casel and Jordan Gal offer an unfiltered look at their entrepreneurial journeys. They discuss everything from bootstrapping and fundraising to scaling, exiting businesses, and navigating the highs and lows of startup life.
Product People
A podcast dedicated to outstanding products and the creators behind them.
Talking Shizzle
Talking Shizzle helps marketers, salespeople, and entrepreneurs think differently and grow. Featuring top entrepreneurs and changemakers, the show is powered by Creative Shizzle, helping businesses and innovators elevate their marketing.
Product Hunt Radio
Product Hunt Radio is a weekly podcast featuring conversations with those shaping the future. Hosts Ryan Hoover and Abadesi Osunsade chat with founders, investors, journalists, and creators about the latest in technology.
Elevating Founders
Elevating Founders is a podcast for early-stage entrepreneurs, showcasing the stories of innovators and disruptors in tech who are solving the world’s biggest challenges.
Founder Coffee – Intimate SaaS Chats
Listen to Founder Coffee – Intimate SaaS Chats
Every other week, I meet up with a different SaaS founder for coffee. In a candid and personal conversation, we explore their life, passions, lessons learned, and the person behind the business.
Startup Theory
The unfiltered truth about building startups, straight from the mouths of real Founders who have been through it all. Hosts Wil Schroter and Ryan Rutan openly discuss the harsh realities and personal challenges entrepreneurs face while trying to transform their ideas into world-changing ventures.
Scale or Die
In the tech industry, scaling is essential for survival. Join Dave Rogenmoser, co-founder of Proof, as he explores tried-and-true strategies from the growth specialists behind some of the globe’s most rapidly expanding software startups.
Rocketship.fm
Rocketship.FM delivers the latest and most impactful stories driving the tech world. From revolutionary breakthroughs to intense corporate rivalries, we dissect the news that truly matters, offering the insights you need to navigate the fast-changing tech scene. Whether it’s artificial intelligence, major tech industry moves, or the future of digital regulations, we decode the headlines for you.
CHURN FM
CHURN FM is the go-to podcast for professionals in the subscription economy. Each Wednesday, we explore how the globe’s fastest-growing companies are addressing churn and leveraging retention and engagement strategies to drive their expansion.
The Bootstrapped Founder
Listen to The Bootstrapped Founder
Arvid Kahl discusses launching and growing businesses through bootstrapping, strategies for building an audience, and the concept of building in public.
Founder’s Journal
Alex Lieberman, co-founder and Executive Chairman of Morning Brew, provides an inside perspective on building businesses. He delves into the founder’s path, tackling the tough hurdles of starting from scratch, the effective strategies for scaling to millions in revenue, and the emotional ups and downs that come with the journey.
Startup Savant
Introducing Ethan, the host of “Startup Savant”, a business podcast that dives into the stories, obstacles, and successes of rapidly growing startups and the visionary founders behind them.
Startup Grind
A podcast from a global network of founders, and entrepreneurs.
The How of Business – How to start, run & grow a small business
This weekly podcast is for aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners, offering practical advice on starting, running, and growing a business. Each episode explores business topics or features interviews with small business owners and service providers. Hosted by Henry Lopez, the show draws on his extensive corporate and entrepreneurial experience.
Slow & Steady
This podcast offers a glimpse into the journey of building and launching a bootstrapped startup while working full-time for themselves. Benedikt is focused on growing Userlist, while Benedicte is carving out her niche as a Gatsby expert and developer advocate available for hire.
Permanent Podcast: Real Talk About Private Equity and Buying, Selling and Operating Small Businesses
Small businesses don’t stay small by choice, and the market for small to midsize businesses is chaotic. This podcast features discussions from the Permanent Equity team on private equity, investing, buying, selling, and running small businesses. The first 40 episodes form the *Messy Marketplace* audiobook, offering insights from analyzing over 10,000 companies to clarify the complexities of selling a business, including the emotional journey and key players involved.
Founders
Discover insights from the most influential entrepreneurs in history. Each week, a biography of an entrepreneur is explored to uncover practical ideas you can apply to your own work. Read our review of Founders.
SaaS Interviews with CEOs, Startups, Founders
Listen to SaaS Interviews with CEOs, Startups, Founders
What if someone had the cheat codes to the fastest-growing SaaS companies on the planet? Enter Nathan Latka, the guy who spends his mornings grilling SaaS founders like they’re on a breakfast talk show. Every day, he dedicates a whopping 15 minutes (because who has time for more?) to pick the brains of these entrepreneurial wizards. From scrappy bootstrappers to VC-darling money magnets, from “Hey, I just built this MVP in my garage” to “We’ve got 10,000 customers and counting,” Nathan covers it all.
CEO’s Library: The 1% Bookshelf
Listen to CEO’s Library: The 1% Bookshelf
Ever wonder what books the so-called “business geniuses” are pretending to read? Enter *CEO’s Library: The 1% Bookshelf*, where they cherry-pick the “most impactful” books (because apparently, the other 99% are just filler). It’s like a book club for people who are too busy running the world to actually read. Each episode promises to turn your commute into a “mini-MBA”.
Riding Unicorns
*Riding Unicorns* is the podcast where venture capitalists James Pringle and Hector Mason spill the tea on building billion-dollar startups. They chat with top founders and investors, digging into the nitty-gritty of scaling tech unicorns. Whether you’re a founder, investor, or just someone who likes to sound smart at parties, each episode dives into fresh topics in tech and venture capital. Enjoy the ride—and maybe learn something useful. Or at least pretend you did.
Tech Entrepreneur on a Mission
Listen to Tech Entrepreneur on a Mission
Hosted by Ton Dobbe, founder of Value Inspiration and author of *The Remarkable Effect*. Ton dreams of a world where every B2B SaaS business thrives by creating software their customers can’t live without. Why? Because 90% of startups fail, and worse, 75% of SaaS scaleups—supposedly past product-market fit—still flop. Ton’s on a mission to change that.
How I Built This with Guy Raz
Listen to How I Built This with Guy Raz
Guy Raz sits down with the biggest names in entrepreneurship to uncover the stories behind their legendary brands. Each episode dives into the messy, vulnerable moments—think crippling doubt and epic failures—before revealing how these founders clawed their way to success. *How I Built This* is basically a crash course in innovation, creativity, leadership, and surviving the chaos of building something extraordinary. It’s like therapy, but with billionaires. Read our review of How I Built This with Guy Raz
The Pitch
This is where startup founders score millions, and you, the listener, can actually get in on the action. Toss out all your assumptions about venture capital—host Josh Muccio pulls back the curtain and sneaks you into the high-stakes, backroom world where the real deals go down. It’s like *Shark Tank*, but without the TV drama and with way more insider secrets.
Indie Bites
Quick, snack-sized chats with indie hackers who’ve built small, money-making, bootstrapped businesses. Discover how they dream up ideas, test them, snag their first customers, and turn it all into a steady paycheck. It’s like a masterclass in hustling, minus the fluff.
Build Your SaaS
Thinking about launching your own SaaS business? Tag along with Transistor.fm as they bootstrap their way to building a podcast hosting platform from scratch. It’s like a startup reality show, but with fewer meltdowns and more actionable insights.
Do you know of another startup podcast that you think should be on this list? Let me know.
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