Regular readers would know that I overindex on podcasts as a format for media consumption. I try and consume 2-5 podcasts a week and post my learnings on this site and on Twitter / Linkedin. I thus get a lot of questions on my preferred podcasts and for podcast recommendations. Hence this piece. Please find a list of the podcasts I consume most frequently. I do consumer others outside this list as well (typically sourced through Twitter recos or word of mouth).
Is there a podcast you think I should listen to? Let me know here or via an email to sp@sajithpai.com
Global Startups / Tech / Biz
Covers a wide range of topics with business / tech as key anchor but not exclusively.
1/ Acquired – Hosts Dan Gilbert and Ben Rosenthal go behind the scenes of a business transition, or even an M&A or exit. Incredible depth and riveting discussions. Check out the epsiodes on Hermes and Costco.
2/ Founders – David Senra is a student of business biographies and autobiographies. This is a host-only rendition of his learnings from his readings. Intense and educative.
Global Startups / Tech / VC
These three have a sharp investor lens to them, with the last meant exclusively for investors.k
3/ Invest Like the Best – Outstanding podcast; part of the incredible Colossus platform. This is their flagship podcast show (status shared now with Founders Podcast!). ‘Invest Like the Best’ has well-curated top drawer guests from the finance and startup worlds, and a practiced + smart host in Patrick O’Shaughnessy. Colossus has multiple podcasts on the platform – apart from the flagship Invest Like the Best, it also has David Senra’s Founders (see above) as well as Business Breakdowns.
4/ 20VC – One of the OGs of the startup podcast scene. Host Harry Stebbings started this as a teenager and interviewed his way into becoming a VC through this. He is an enthusiastic questioner, and his passion for the space comes through. The podcast has multiple tracks like 20Growth, 20Sales etc., to cover different perspectives and topics
5/ Venture Unlocked – Host Samir Kaji ypically interviews VCs and asset managers (incl LPs). Consistently interesting especially if you are a venture nerd. Less so, if you are a founder or operator.
Global Startups / Tech
Relevant for founders / operators and less so for investors.
6/ Lenny’s Podcast – Given it is Lenny, skews product and growth a tad more, and less venture or founder. I particularly like his curation of guests, going beyond the usual big tech PMs to include specific subject gurus (SEO, UX), consultants, coaches etc., and thereby offering a lot of useful content for founders and operators.
7/ The Logan Bartlett Show – Interviews founders and the occasional VC. Good podcast to learn about company building.
Global Tech / NonTech / Diverse
Wideranging diverse stuff. Dwarkesh is a lot more tech-heavy though. Tyler less so. Both are mind-expanding however.
8/ Conversations with Tyler – One of the great podcasts out there. Incredibly eclectic series. Tyler Cowen is able to transition between a John Donne biographer such as Katherine Rundell and an investor-thinker like Peter Thiel with ease and grace.
9/ Dwarkesh Podcast – Like a younger Tyler. The range of topics and guests is equally incredible – does AI and military history equally well.
India / Diverse
10/ Ideas of India – Host Shruti Rajagopalan runs prolly the best Indian economics and policy podcast, but not exclusively economics; uses this lens to cover other interesting adjacencies as well.