The Top 10 Podcasts for Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders

Published in

alicorn.blog

7 min readDec 2, 2019

This is the most extensive curation of podcasts featuring Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Jack Dorsey, Mark Zuckerberg, Brian Chesky and other successful entrepreneurs.

As I co-founded a startup in 2019, I switched from reading books to mostly listening to audiobooks and podcasts. Being always on the go, it was a great way to stay up to date and get invaluable advice from the stories of today’s most successful founders.

When I recently reflected on what content I really enjoyed, I found that with podcasts especially it is much more about listening to the person than listening to the content.
Naturally I tried to seek out more content and sometimes even looked for specific episodes featuring that one person.

Doing that not only took a lot of time, but as I discovered last week it is sometimes not even possible to find an episode just by putting terms in the search bar (on Apple Podcasts) and you’d have to look up the show and then scan through all the episodes.

Thinking it would be a nice and overseeable list, I planned to curate a list of all the podcasts featuring only the most successful entrepreneurs with a net worth of over $1 billion.

I was wrong. I found over 400 episodes.

Hence, here’s the Top 10. You can find the full list here.

#1 Masters of Scale with Reid Hoffman

The best startup advice from Silicon Valley & beyond. Iconic CEOs — from Nike to Netflix, Starbucks to Slack — share the stories & strategies that helped them grow from startups into global brands.

On each episode, host Reid Hoffman — LinkedIn cofounder, Greylock partner and legendary Silicon Valley investor — proves an unconventional theory about how businesses scale, while his guests share the story of how I built this company. Reid and guests talk entrepreneurship, leadership, strategy, management, fundraising. But they also talk about the human journey — with all its failures and setbacks.

Guests on Masters of Scale have included the billionaire entrepreneurs Aneel Bhusri, Ben Chestnut, Bill Gates, Brian Chesky, Daniel Ek, Drew Houston, Eric Schmidt, Ev Williams, Howard Schultz, Kevin Systrom, Mark Pincus, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, Ray Dalio, Reed Hastings, Reid Hoffman and Sheryl Sandberg.

My favorite episodes:
- Brian Chesky in Handcrafted
- Mark Zuckerberg in Imperfect is Perfect
- Bill Gates — How to accelerate history

See the all the Masters of Scale episodes here.

#2 The Tim Ferriss Show

Tim Ferriss is a self-experimenter and bestselling author, best known for The 4-Hour Workweek, which has been translated into 40+ languages. Newsweek calls him “the world’s best human guinea pig,” and The New York Times calls him “a cross between Jack Welch and a Buddhist monk.” In this show, he deconstructs world-class performers from eclectic areas (investing, chess, pro sports, etc.), digging deep to find the tools, tactics, and tricks that listeners can use.

Guests on The Tim Ferriss Show have included the billionaire entrepreneurs Chris Sacca, Drew Houston, Eric Schmidt, Joe Gebbia, Kevin Systrom, Marc Andreessen, Patrick Collison, Peter Thiel, Ray Dalio, Reid Hoffman and Richard Branson.

My favorite episodes:
- Patrick Collison
- Marc Andreessen
- Drew Houston.

See the all the Tim Ferriss Show episodes here.

#3 How I Built This with Guy Raz

Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world’s best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists — and the movements they built.

Guests on How I Built This have included the billionaire entrepreneurs Herb Kelleher, Howard Schultz, Joe Gebbia, , Kevin Systrom, Mark Cuban, Patrick Collison, John Collison, Reid Hoffman, Richard Branson, Steve Case and Tobias Lütke.

My favorite episodes:
- Airbnb: Joe Gebbia
- Instagram: Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger

See the all the How I Built This episodes here.

#4 Recode Decode with Kara Swisher

Kara Swisher, Silicon Valley’s most revered journalist, hosts candid interviews with tech execs, politicians, celebrities and more about their big ideas and how they’re changing our world. Produced by Recode and the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Guests on Recode Decode have included the billionaire entrepreneurs Brian Chesky, Chris Sacca, Craig Newmark, Elon Musk, Ev Williams, Evan Spiegel, John Chambers, John Doerr, Kevin Systrom, Marc Andreessen, Marc Benioff, Mark Cuban, Mark Zuckerberg, Michael Moritz, Mike Cannon-Brookes, Patrick Collison, Ray Dalio, Reid Hoffman, Sheryl Sandberg.

My favorite episodes:
- Elon Musk on Tesla’s crazy year, dying on Mars and taking Saudi money
- Did Instagram copy Snapchat? with Kevin Systrom

See the all the Recode Decode episodes here.

#5 Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders

Podcast Cover of Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders

Each week, experienced entrepreneurs and innovators come to Stanford University to candidly share lessons they’ve learned while developing, launching and scaling disruptive ideas. The Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Series is produced by Stanford eCorner during fall, winter and spring quarters.

Guests on Recode Decode have included the billionaire entrepreneurs Daniel Ek, Drew Houston, Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey, John Collison, Kevin Systrom, Marc Andreessen, Mark Pincus, Meg Whitman, Michael Moritz, Reid Hoffman, Ron Conway, Scott Cook, Sheryl Sandberg, Steve Ballmer, Steve Case and Vinod Khosla.

My favorite episodes:
- Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn) - Live Life in Permanent Beta
- Elon Musk’s Vision for the Future

See the all the Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders episodes here.

#6 Danny In The Valley

After many years in London, Danny Fortson returns to Silicon Valley to meet the new wave of tech entrepreneurs hoping to disrupt our lives.

Guests on Danny in the Valley have included the billionaire entrepreneurs Brian Chesky, Ev Williams, Marc Andreessen, Patrick Collison, Richard Branson and Steve Ballmer.

My favorite episodes:
- Brian Chesky: "We're the David to the hotel industry Goliath"
- Ev Williams: “You’re selling attention”.

See the all the Danny in the Valley episodes here.

#7 Greymatter

Greymatter offers perspectives and stories from some of the world’s top technology entrepreneurs and business leaders. The featured company builders share personal and insightful lessons while shedding light on common, relatable challenges in the entrepreneurial journey. Greymatter is produced by Greylock Partners.

Guests on Danny in the Valley have included the billionaire entrepreneurs Ben Silbermann, Brian Chesky, Eric Schmidt, Joe Gebbia, Patrick Collison and Reed Hastings

My favorite episodes:
- Eric Schmidt on Structuring Teams and Scaling Google
- Patrick Collison on Hiring at Stripe and the Role of a Product-Focused CEO

See the all the Greymatter episodes here.

#8 Studio 1.0

Emily Chang sits down with the biggest influencers in technology and media, from Mark Zuckerberg to Marc Andreessen to Aaron Sorkin, to find out who they are, how they got there, and where they’re going. Studio 1.0 is a series of in-depth conversations with the very people shaping the future of business, illuminating their vision for what comes next.

Guests on Studio 1.0 have included the billionaire entrepreneurs Chris Sacca, Drew Houston, Jack Ma, John Chambers, John Doerr, Kevin Systrom, Meg Whitman, Michael Moritz, Patrick Collison, John Collison, Peter Thiel, Sean Parker, Sheryl Sandberg, Steve Ballmer and Vinod Khosla.

My favorite episodes:
- Kevin Systrom
- Peter Thiel

See the all the Studio 1.0 episodes here.

#9 This Is Success

Revealing conversations with today’s most inspiring business, sports, entertainment, and government leaders. Candid interviews with the likes of Sheryl Sandberg, LeBron James, and the founders of companies like Lyft and Tinder. Insightful stories and useful advice about how to get to the top.

Guests on This Is Success have included the billionaire entrepreneurs Ben Silbermann, Craig Newmark, Drew Houston, Jeff Bezos, Ray Dalio, Reid Hoffman, Sheryl Sandberg, Stephen Schwarzman, Steve Ballmer and Steve Case.

My favorite episodes:
- Amazon founder Jeff Bezos
- Dropbox CEO: How I built a $10 billion company in my 20s

See the all the This Is Success episodes here.

#10 Y Combinator and Y Combinator Startup School

Y Combinator talks with people who are shaping the future. A show about technology in business, research, and art.

Guests on Y Combinator have included the billionaire entrepreneurs Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey, Mark Zuckerberg, Reid Hoffman, Vinod Khosla and Patrick Collison.

My favorite episodes:
- Jack Dorsey on the books that helped him succeed
- Mark Zuckerberg on How to Build the Future
- Patrick Collison.

See the all the Y Combinator episodes here.
See all the Y Combinator Startup School episodes here.