6 Must-Listen Podcasts for Startups
Podcast recommendations from some of the best and brightest founders and investors in Australia’s tech startup ecosystem.
With the endless and growing supply of podcasts out there, it’s hard to know where to start. On our podcast, Open the Pod Bay Doors, we always ask our guests, stars from the Aussie startup ecosystem, for recommendations about what to listen to, read, and watch. Below are some of their top picks for podcasts.
1. “BUILD Podcast”
Recommended by Grant McCarthy (Tidal Ventures)
The “BUILD Podcast” is produced by OpenView, a US expansion stage venture capital firm, and interviews founders from the world of SaaS. Each season of the podcast focuses on a specific topic; the latest season is all about product led growth. Guests from prominent product led growth companies share what they’ve done to build and grow their businesses.
Episode highlights:
- How Calendly Serves 5,000,000 People on a Monthly Basis
- The Road to 7,000,000+ Users with Postman
- Deputy’s Journey to Serving 160,000+ Businesses
2. “How I Work”
Recommended by Lucy Liu (Airwallex)
Dr Amantha Imber, CEO of innovation consultancy Inventium, hosts “How I Work”, a podcast that breaks down the working days of some of the world’s leading innovators. She interviews guests about how they structure their day and the hacks and habits that bring them success.
Episode highlights:
- Happiness Professor Elizabeth Dunn on how to buy happiness
- Adam Grant on how to turbo-charge productivity and motivation
- CommBank board director Wendy Stops on the biggest challenges of sitting on high profile boards
3. “After Hours” by Harvard Business Review
Recommended by Dylan Lawrence (NZTE)
“After Hours” is the podcast brainchild of three Harvard Business School professors, Youngme Moon, Mihir Desai, and Felix Oberholzer-Gee. They chat about recent headlines from the crossroads of business and culture, sharing their unique perspectives.
Episode highlights:
- The Launch of Disney+, the War on Billionaires, and the 4-Day Work Week
- Biggest Money Mistakes People Make, and the Rise of the Micro-Influencer
- Under-the-Radar Companies, including OYO Hotels, Carbon Engineering, Whim, and more!
4. “How I Built This” by Guy Raz
Recommended by Paul Bassat (Square Peg Capital)
On “How I Built This”, Guy Raz digs deep into the origin stories behind some of the world’s biggest companies. Guy has intimate chats with his guests about the early days of the businesses they founded and the whirlwind of scaling up.
Episode highlights:
5. “Masters of Scale” by Reid Hoffman
Recommended by Paul Bassat (Square Peg Capital), Geoff McQueen (Accelo), & Ashik Ahmed (Deputy)
Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn co-founder and Silicon Valley investor, interviews iconic CEOs from giants like Netflix, Google, Facebook, Spotify, and more. Reid’s enthusiasm, cinematic music, and honest stories make “Masters of Scale” an incredibly entertaining and enriching podcast.
Episode highlights:
- Bill Gates — How to accelerate history
- LinkedIn’s Jeff Weiner — How to set the drumbeat
- Small Changes for Big Impact w/Bumble’s Whitney Wolfe Herd
6. “A16z” by Andreessen Horowitz
Recommended by Ashik Ahmed, Deputy
Andreessen Horowitz, the Silicon Valley VC firm, produces the “a16z Podcast”. As “software eats the world”, a16z features industry experts, business leaders, and other interesting thinkers from around the world. Multiple episodes are released each week, so there’s lots of fresh content at hand.
Episode highlights: