17 of the Best Podcasts for Entrepreneurs
There is something communal about podcasts.
In an ever-competitive marketplace, entrepreneurship podcasts (like the ones below) bring individuals together and create a community of people pursuing their dreams.
This list of the best podcasts for entrepreneurs is chalk full of people who have walked through the early days of starting up, made it through to the other side, and are willing to guide the rest of us to the promised land.
So pull out your iPhone, open your podcast app of choice, and get ready to tap "Subscribe" 17 times...
1) The Tim Ferriss Show
Tim Ferriss is known for not doing things by the book.
On top of being the host of The Tim Ferriss Show, he is the author of the 4-Hour Work Week, a step-by-step guide to designing the life you desire.
Tim started the podcast intending to only produce six episodes with the basic goal of improving his interviewing skills. Fast forward to today, 100 shows deep, and the show is ranking in the top 15 business podcasts on iTunes.
Tim interviews industry leaders and harvests tactics and tools they have practiced and used to lead them to a successful career. The show is unconventional with titles ranging from “The Scariest Navy Seal I Ever Met...And What He Taught Me” to “Bryan Callen on Eating Corgis (Yes, The Dogs) And Improving Creativity”.
What sets it apart: He doesn’t only focus on startup culture; he interviews leaders from a wide range of industries from sports to philosophy.
2) Ask Gary Vee Show
Gary Vaynerchuk is one of the most audacious entrepreneurs we've ever seen, and he shares that honest audacity in his podcast, the Ask Gary Vee Show.
He typically hosts the show by himself and focuses on marketing, social media, and entrepreneurship.
Gary doesn’t shy away from hard questions. He dives straight into the tough topics and gives his unfiltered opinion.
[Tweet "I don’t know what a world would like like with a timid @garyvee"]
To get a feel for Gary Vee’s awesomeness, check out our blog post on 12 Gary Vaynerchuk Quotes To Inspire You Towards Greatness.
What sets it apart: He answers questions from his Twitter followers in the show.
3) Mixergy
Andrew Warner, the founder of Mixergy, titles his company “the home of the ambitious upstart”. In this podcast, veteran entrepreneurs share the lessons they have learned that they believe will benefit up-and-coming business leaders.
In one of their episodes, Andrew interviews real estate mogul and business expert, Barbara Corcoran. You may know her from the popular TV show Shark Tank. Corcoran shares monumental stories from her career like her decision to teach a night class to overcome a fear of public speaking and selling 88 New York apartments in a matter of two hours.
They basically talk about what being a boss looks like. Full access to unlimited interviews and courses is a low $25/month. With over 1,100 interviews and courses, the subscription is worth the investment.
What sets it apart: Andrew is an incredible listener and asks probing questions. This makes for detailed and candid conversation with the interviewees.
4) Startups For The Rest of Us
With almost 300 5-star reviews, Startups For The Rest of Us is a must-listen for developers, designers, and entrepreneurs building software products.
It's geared towards early-stage entrepreneurs that either have launched their first product or simply have an idea for one. The format of this podcast is practical tips as opposed to the story-based format of Mixergy.
Mike Taber and Rob Walling aim to help entrepreneurs avoid the mistakes they made when starting out. They want to stop you from reinventing the wheel! Check out the podcast's greatest hits here.
What sets it apart: They have a list of success stories of people who have listened to their podcast, launched a product, and were able to quit their 9 to 5.
5) Tick Tock Podcast
We couldn't write a blog post about the best podcasts for entrepreneurs and leave out our own show...so forgive us for the blatant self promotion. :)
With all the research you need to do when starting and operating your business, taking hours to scour the internet for time-saving tools is counter intuitive.
In the words of some famous Youtube star: "Ain’t nobody got time for that!"
The Tick Tock podcast shares time-saving tools for busy entrepreneurs and marketers that don’t have time to hunt for the tools themselves.
What sets it apart: Each episode is only 3-7 minutes, covers a specific tool, and gives practical examples for how an entrepreneur or marketer can use the tool in their business.
6) Starve the Doubts
Starve the Doubts is a perfect title for this podcast.
Jared Easley and Kimanzi Constable speak honestly about navigating through struggles and difficult seasons when building a business. In one of their popular episodes, Jared describes success as “persistence through failure”, something that every entrepreneur can relate to.
This podcast brings to light the importance of emotional health and personal relations when building a company.
Entrepreneurs are expected to be dedicated to “the grind” and leave everything on the line for their company. However, the personal side of startup culture is rarely mentioned. Sometimes it feels like keeping healthy relationships, vacation, or work-life balance are curse words in the startup world.
What sets it apart: They are accepting of the fact that your business and personal lives need to coexist and blend together. A perfect example of this is when one of their guests, Erin Chase, was able to bring her two year old child into the studio while she recorded the podcast. Awesome!
7) ZenFounder
Zen Founder brings an honest perspective about life as an entrepreneur.
Rob and Sherry Walling are a husband and wife duo who speak from experience as they talk about how to mix a startup lifestyle with a healthy family life. They add a fresh perspective and don’t regurgitate startup advice you’ve heard over and over.
What sets it apart: Sherry is not a startup junky, she’s a psychologist with an expertise in trauma work. Rob is a serial entrepreneur. The diverse perspectives bring a dynamic outlook to life in the startup world.
8) PNR: The Old Marketing
PNR: The Old Marketing is hosted by Joe Pulizzi & Robert Rose. This show is basically your news feed for content marketing trends.
The show is produced by the Content Marketing Institute and focuses on building content strategy based on current trends.
Every episode talks about a marketing example from the past that we can learn from today. It’s a cool dynamic to understand what worked decades ago and how it can be applied to today’s technologically-driven world.
What sets this apart: The “rants and raves” segment of the show is where the hosts either rant about something they feel is unsettling in the industry or they rave about something awesome for one minute.
9) StartUp Podcast
According to the founders (, the idea for the Startup Podcast was to have “conversations about something you think would be boring but turned out to be fascinating.”
They discuss what it’s really like to start a business including headlines like “How to Name Your Company”, “How Not to Pitch to a Billionaire”, and “Burnout”. It’s kind of a catch all for startup topics.
The 2015 Koffman Index showed that 530,000 new businesses were started every month in the U.S. With the number of entrepreneurs on the up and up, Startup Podcast is an incredible resource!
What sets it apart: Gimlet Media’s entire business is producing high quality narrative podcasts (like This American Life & Serial). Along with the Startup Podcast, they also host 4 other shows.
10) The WOW Small Business
The WOW Small Business podcast commits to only publishing content that the founder, Bryan Orr, himself would listen to. The podcast includes interesting conversations about leadership, HR, time hacking, efficiency, finance, process creation, and a number of other useful topics.
What sets it apart: The content is well-rounded and covers macro and micro-level topics while always focusing on practical application.
11) The Fizzle Show
If we had to describe The Fizzle Show in one word, we’d use "fun"!
They call themselves “The Indie Business Talk Show”, and we see why. It's honest, funny, and insightful. I guess we can dub it the Garden State of podcasts.
They recognize the grit it takes to create and run a business, but they also recognize the big reason why entrepreneurs decide to start something on their own -- freedom.
[Tweet ".@Fizzle understands why entrepreneurs decide to start something on their own--freedom."] Entrepreneurs want to be their own bosses and create something of value that they believe in and can stand behind. They do an incredible job at bringing people back to that truth.
Check out their most popular podcasts here.
What sets it apart: The tone of the podcast is really upbeat and positive while still providing juicy content. The show has 3 co-hosts (Corbett Barr, Chase Reeves, and Barrett Brooks), and the combination of the three personalities creates an incredibly fun dynamic.
12) Startup Chat
The Startup Chat podcast is perfect for quick tips for building your business.
Each episode is only about 20-30 minutes, so they cut straight to the point. For example, two of their most recent podcasts are “How To Negotiate With Friendly Strength” and “Founder Self Awareness: The Weight of Your Words”.
Both topics sound like broad ideas, but the hosts have a way of being blunt in their communication to get to the root answer.
What sets it apart: No sugar coated content in this podcast. Plus, Hiten & Steli are both running extremely successful software companies...so their wisdom comes straight from the trenches.
13) The Top with Nathan Latka
Sitting pretty as the iTunes #1 startup podcast, Nathan Latka rocks it with The Top podcast.
Nathan interviews entrepreneurs that are either #1 or #2 in their industry, so the title “The Top” is extremely fitting. He talks about dramatic success stories, much like his own.
What sets it apart: Nathan is incredibly talented at getting straight to the point with each of his guests. His interviews are packed with proven tactics and strategies that his guests are implementing in their own businesses.
14) Zero to Scale
Zero to Scale is built on a more specific concept than the others in this list.
This show is hosted by two entrepreneurs and brings listeners behind the scenes on what it looks like to build a business from zero to $20K in revenue per month and beyond.
On Mondays, the co-hosts (Justin McGill and Greg Hickman) give an update of their journey. On Thursdays, they share two strategies they implemented that week.
What sets it apart: This podcast is a report of the direct application of the principles being talked about in real time. Both founders are running productized service businesses (Justin is pivoting his model to SaaS), so this is a must-listen if you're in the productized service space.
15) The Smart Passive Income
If you want to get out of the rat race, you’ve got to listen to The Smart Passive Income podcast from Pat Flynn.
Finance guru Dave Ramsey says that passive income is “money you set aside that makes you money”.
This podcast talks about how to create passive income streams so you can live with financial freedom and pursue what you love. Following your dream can sometimes be masked with the “that won’t pay the bills” attitude, and money can end up shaping your dream in a way you wished it wouldn’t.
[Tweet "Money can end up shaping your dream in a way you wished it wouldn’t."]
What sets it apart: It speaks into a concept that can revolutionize people’s lives as a whole, not just in business.
16) ConversionCast
The ConversionCast podcast (hosted by Tim Paige) talks hard numbers.
They say it’s the only podcast that gets to the heart of the metrics. The show discusses measurable data that marketers have proven to give businesses a competitive advantage.
Each show reviews a real-life case study and gives measurable tactics that will enable listeners to take action in their own companies.
What sets it apart: This podcast is not for overarching concepts, it’s meant to get nitty gritty with measurable data.
17) The Growth Show
The Growth Show thinks big picture.
This podcast is produced by HubSpot, a marketing software company that pretty much wrote the book on inbound marketing.
HubSpot is an incredible resource for information. Through their podcast and multiple blogs, they create content focused on explosive growth. They host a guest on each episode that has driven expansive growth in their company, then dive into the high-level strategies that led to that growth.
What sets it apart: It focuses on the big ideas like movements and industries of the future. It is a great addition to this list, because it gets your mind out of the day-to-day processes of building a company, and gives you a wider vision.
Conclusion
Well there ya have it...this is our humble opinion on the best podcasts for entrepreneurs.
We like to think of this list as a well-rounded podcast curriculum for. Each have their different pieces of flair, but all are great resources across the board.
Subscribe to the Tick Tock podcast and let us know what you think in the iTunes reviews. We’d love to hear your feedback and any tools you’d like us to cover!