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Articles Listen to StartUp – A Podcast About Starting a Business
Alex Blumberg and Matt Leiber, the owners of Gimlet Media
Podcasts are on the rise. And the amount of high quality, informative series on every topic from film reviews to economics are growing with it.
Our core philosophy at Career Life College is the importance of life-long learning and we try to impart that philosophy on all of our students. Learning doesn’t end when you finish your degree or apprenticeship.
For those who aren’t aware podcasting is similar to radio, but it’s split into episodes available for streaming or download straight from the browser or apps such as the iOS podcast app, or an aggregator like Stitcher.
StartUp Podcast
StartUp is a podcast started by Alex Blumberg, a past producer of Peabody award winning This American Life, who wants to start his own podcast network of high quality, narrative shows.
The podcast starts with his idea and the first episode is focused on his first meeting with billionaire angel investor, Chris Sacca. Blumberg knows Chris from his previous podcasting history, but isn’t aware just how big this guy really is (early investor in Twitter, Uber, Instagram, and Kickastarter).
Plus Blumberg is a creative professional. Even though he’s covered many business subjects throughout his radio career, it was always from the storytelling perspective, not the practical live and breathe business perspective.
Basically the pitch is a disaster.
Blumberg stumbles and stutters, he cuts himself off mid sentence to change direction, and he uses boring jargon. Sacca noticeably becomes bored and disinterested. The most painful point is when Sacca hits reset and pretends he has ordered an Uber and Blumberg has 2 minutes to give him a better pitch. His response:
“So I’m making a network of digital podcasts… ah… that we will monitor… that… that will… that is gonna meet… sorry.”
I nearly crashed my car in a fit of toe curling listening to this.
But Sacca is a fan of Blumberg so he gives him what his pitch should’ve been (it’s pretty great) and gives Blumberg tonnes of other good advice. He doesn’t want to invest right now, but he says go home and do some more planning and master your pitch. When your ready, come back and pitch it to my business partner Matt Mazzeo.
All this is an example of the insight you gain into Blumberg’s journey. From the first episode of the pitch, to finding a business partner, splitting equity, deciding on a business name, managing employees and workplace culture etc. Even extremely personal and frank conversations between Blumberg and his wife are recorded to highlight the effects of how building a startup basically takes over your entire life.
What you can learn from this podcast is invaluable – you won’t find a similar exploration of starting a business with such depth and frankness anywhere else. As mentioned when we start out, Blumberg doesn’t have that keen business mind, but alongside him we learn the language, steps, and protocols of building a startup.
What Other Podcasts You Should be Listening to
Freakonomics
Originally a book (same title) by economist Steven Levitt and journalist Stephen Dubner that was expected to sell around 80 copies, but instead sold around 5.5 million in roughly 40 languages. Now a podcast hosted by Dubner with Levitt as a regular guest. Described as melding pop culture with economics, this podcast regularly has over 5 million downloads per month.
Recent episodes:
99% Invisible
A podcast on design and architecture. The name is taken from a Buckminster Fuller quote “Ninety-nine percent of who you are is invisible and untouchable”, the show seeks to uncover the unseen aspects of design, architecture, and human activity.
Stuff You Should Know
This podcast is run by howstuffworks.com and is one of my favourites. It’s hosted by two guys, Josh Clark and Charles Bryant, who educate listeners on a huge variety of topics all the while using references to popular culture and adding their own comedic touches. Released twice a week the podcast focuses on one subject every episode from historic events, science, urban legend, pop culture etc etc etc. I’ve listened to at least 50 of these episodes, my favourite being “How the Berlin Wall Worked“.
Recent episodes:
- Why Do Lefties Exist
- How the Scientific Method Works
- How Terraforming Will Work
- How Kickstarter Works
- How Patents Work
Good Job, Brain
The first podcast I started listening to was GJB which gives a highly entertaining twist on trivia and offbeat news. Each episode has a different theme except for every fifth episode which is an “all quiz bonanza”. The themes seem straight forward until you listen to the topics that each member brings forth to the discussion. For example, one episode is titled as “We’re Goin’ Under”. The topics of discussion are the birth of NYC subway, what exactly is underneath Disney World, and what’s up with these weirdo mysterious goblin caves in Bavaria.
Or just check out this article on the Top 100 Podcasts of 2014 with shows covering most topics including news, comedy, music, for your brain, stories, sports, technology, and arts and culture.
