Building a startup is challenging. Founders are faced with hiring a talented team, building a strong product, financing their business, and more — oftentimes with limited experience in many areas. For many founders, it helps to learn from their peers, investors, and operators that have done it before.
A great starting point for many founders is turning to a podcast with experts in different aspects of startup building and venture capital. Check out our list of different venture capital podcasts below:
1. Founders Forward
The Founders Forward Podcast is our podcast at Visible. At Visible, our mission is to give founders a better chance of success. In order to help founders do so, we try to pull data, information, stories, tactics, etc. from other founders and investors.
With the Founders Forward Podcast, we regularly interview different startup founders and venture capital investors. We try to find guests that are experts in different fields — from anything to building a pitch deck to understanding SEO for first-time founders. Episodes are typically between 30 and 60 minutes.
Related Resource: Our 7 Favorite Quotes from the Founders Forward Podcast
Why We Like It
Our goal with the Founders Forward Podcast is to strap founders with resources and knowledge to help them tackle problems at their own businesses. We might be partial but a few reasons we like the Founders Forward Podcast:
- Our guests are experts in a dedicated space or field
- We interview founders or VCs who are just “one step ahead” of where you might be
- We cover everything from raising venture capital to running a PLG playbook to sleep science
Related Resource: 5 Takeaways From Our CEO On The Stride 2 Freedom Podcast
2. The Twenty-Minute VC
As put by the team at The Twenty Minute VC, “The Twenty Minute VC (20VC) interviews the world's greatest venture capitalists with prior guests including Sequoia's Doug Leone and Benchmark's Bill Gurley. Once per week, 20VC Host, Harry Stebbings is also joined by one of the great founders of our time with prior founder episodes from Spotify's Daniel Ek, Linkedin's Reid Hoffman, and Snowflake's Frank Slootman.”
Why We Like It
The Twenty Minute VC is one of the most tenured podcasts in the VC space. This has led to a large following. A few reasons we like it:
- Guests — Big-name guests that play an integral part in the VC space
- Digestible Format — Most episodes are between 30 and 60 minutes. While not 20 minutes like the names suggest, they are still approachable in length and format.
- Topical — As the podcast is published regularly, many episodes and guests cover current events and relevant topics in the space.
3. Venture Unlocked
As put by their team, “The Venture Capital community is no longer the monolithic asset category that it once was. Over the last decade, new forms of capital providers have emerged to drive the innovation economy.
Venture Unlocked is the newsletter and podcast playbook designed to educate and assist emerging managers and aspiring investors with the information and tools necessary to drive smart, diverse, and informed capital to entrepreneurs.”
Why We Like It
Venture Unlocked goes beyond a podcast with a newsletter that is regularly sent. A few reasons why we like the Venture Unlocked community:
- Data & Trends — The Venture Unlocked podcasts and newsletter is full of venture data and trends that can be applied by founders, VCs, and LPs
- All Aspects of VCs — The Venture Unlocked community not only focuses on VCs <> Founders but LPs as well
- Regular Cadence — New episodes and newsletters are consistently published so you know things are up-to-date and relevant.
4. Masters of Scale
As put by their team, “Since its launch in 2017, Masters of Scale with Reid Hoffman has grown into a vital listen for business leaders, thanks to its groundbreaking format. In each episode, LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock partner Reid Hoffman demonstrates how companies grow from zero to a gazillion, testing his theories with legendary guests.”
Why We Like It
Check out a few of the reasons why we like the Masters of Scale podcast below:
- Successful Host — Reid Hoffman is the founder of LinkedIn and offers countless tips from his own experience.
- High Product Value — The Masters of Scale Podcast offers great production value
- Storytelling — Reid uses great storytelling strategies and stories from real-world examples to make a point.
5. The Neon Podcast (fka 100x Entrepreneur)
As put by the host, “Hi, I am your host Siddhartha! I have been an entrepreneur from 2012-2017 building two products AddoDoc and Babygogo. After selling my company to SHEROES, I and my partner Nansi decided to start up again. But we felt unequipped in our skillset in 2018 to build a large company. We had known 0-1 journey from our startups but lacked the experience of building 1-10 journeys.
Hence was born the Neon Show (Earlier 100x Entrepreneur) to learn from founders and investors, the mindset to scale yourself and your company. This quest still keeps us excited even after 5 years and doing 200+ episodes.”
Why We Like It
Check out a few reasons why people like The Neon Podcast below:
- Hosts — Siddhartha has experience as a founder and has gone through the journey of starting, scaling, and selling a startup.
- Guest — The Neon Podcast offers a wide range of different guests offering different perspectives and insights.
6. LA Venture
As put by their team, “We talk to Southern California VCs to get to know them, their funds, and their advice for entrepreneurs.
Hosted by Minnie Ingersoll from TenOneTen, an LA-based seed fund investing in b2b software.”
Why We Like It
Check out a few of the reasons why people listen to LA Venture below:
- Focus — The LA Venture podcast is hyper focused on the VCs and startups in Southern California.
- Different Stages — The LA Venture podcast hosts VCs that specialize in all startup stages, from accelerators to late stage investors.
- Hosts — Minnis works at a LA-based seed fund so they know they ins and outs of what to asks their guests.
7. Distilling Venture Capital
As put by the team at Distilling Venture Capital, “Host Bill Griesinger brings an informed, unbiased and unique historical perspective to the venture capital and high-tech world. Drawing on over 20 years in venture finance, working with tech companies and venture capitalists, he offers an unfiltered and transparent view of the venture capital & high-tech universe.”
Why We Like It
Check out a few of the reasons why we like the Distilling Venture Capital Podcast below:
- Guests — Bill brings on a number of different guest, from angel investors to venture capitalists to startup CTOs and executives.
- Topics — The Distilling Venture Capital podcast covers everything from cap table management to hiring.
8. Equity
As put by their team, “The intersection of technology, startups, and venture capital touches everything now. That’s why Equity unpacks the numbers and nuance behind the headlines for entrepreneurs and enthusiasts alike. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, TechCrunch reporters Alex Wilhelm and Mary Ann Azevedo keep you up-to-date on the world of business, technology, and venture capital.”
Why We Like It
Check out a few reasons why we like the Equity podcast below:
- Consistent — The Equity podcast has 3 new episodes every week, rain or shine.
- Data points — As Equity is a TechCrunch podcast they are able to use relevant industry data points.
- Current events — With their consistent schedule, Equity is able to share current events in the startup world on a regular basis.
9. The Road Untraveled
The Road Untraveled is a podcast hosted by Brian Hollins, Founder and Managing Partner at Collide Capital. The podcast is shared sporadically and features prevalent guests in the VC and startup world.
Why We Like It
Check out a few reasons why we like The Road Untraveled below:
- Host — Brian is an active VC and offers a unique perspective and take as they are active in the space.
- Guests — The Road Untraveled offers a wide range of guests and offer insights.
- Digestible — Most episodes of The Road Untraveled are 30 minutes or less, leaving for an easy and quick listen.
10. The Full Ratchet
As put by The Full Ratchet host, “My name is Nick Moran and I launched the first Venture Capital podcast, The Full Ratchet, in May of 2014. I started angel investing in 2013 and found the startup fundraising/investing process to be confusing and opaque. The industry was a black-box with little transparency. Yet, I observed that venture drives significant value across both public and private markets. And the most inspiring, thought-provoking people that I had interacted with were startup entrepreneurs.
After a year of coffee chats with VCs and Angels, it became clear that I could learn the most from conversations with the experts. And why not record the conversations to help others in a similar situation?”
Why We Like It
The Full Ratchet has been around since 2014 and has formed a loyal following. Check out a few of the reasons we like The Full Ratchet below:
- Engaging Community — Nick allows community members to ask questions and helps them answer questions.
- Great Guests — Nick hosts a wide variety of guests that offer great insights into the VC world.
- Relevance — The podcast is regularly published and features topical and relevant subjects.
11. How I Built This
As put by the team at How I Built This, “Guy Raz interviews the world’s best-known entrepreneurs to learn how they built their iconic brands. In each episode, founders reveal deep, intimate moments of doubt and failure, and share insights on their eventual success. How I Built This is a master-class on innovation, creativity, leadership and how to navigate challenges of all kinds. New episodes on Mondays and Thursdays for free.”
Why We Like It
How I Built This is one of the biggest podcasts in the business world. The podcast is well-liked by startup founders and others for a few key reasons:
- Guests — Guy Raz interviews the biggest names in the business and startup world.
- Lessons — The guests are great at sharing a few key takeaways and lessons they learned from building their business.
- Engaging Host — Guy Raz has become one of the most popular podcast hosts due to his engaging and laid back approach to interviewing.
Learn More Through Podcasts and Connect with Visible Today
Learning from peers, investors, and operators is a great way to strap yourself with basic knowledge to tackle your different duties as a founder. At Visible, we use our own data, founder and investor interviews, and best practices from leaders to help founders improve their odds of success.
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