3 Podcasts I’ve been Listening to

Podcasts have been around for a long time, but I’ve only started listening to podcasts around the end of 2021/early 2022.

I don’t know why I had a bad image of them in my mind and resisted giving them a try. Turns out I was wrong, and podcasts have a variety of formats that aren’t just two guys talking to each other. I could’ve learned a lot while doing chores / driving around instead of listening to the same songs over and over again.

Here are 3 podcasts that I am listening to that I enjoy and find valuable.

I Will Teach you To Be Rich (Money)

I’m a big fan of Ramit’s book which taught me to be more confident and worry less about money, and enjoy spending it.

When I heard about his new podcast where he talks with couples about their financial situations and stressors, I was very curious. After a few episodes, I loved the podcast since it:

  • Gives you a glimpse into other people’s lives
  • How your money mindset and behaviors are inherited from parents
  • Sometimes no number in the bank account will ever make the person feel safe, or have enough, or comfortable spending money.

And many other insights. This is an easy podcast to listen to for me since it’s less cognitively demanding. Unlike the other two podcast which I’m actively trying to learn from.

Startups for The Rest of Us (Bootstrapped Business)

This is the first podcast that I ever listened to.

It is one of the original podcasts on bootstrapping a software business. Which is an approach to build a business with minimal to no funding and using profits to fund its growth. The podcast has been around since 2010, probably before the term SaaS was coined.

It’s currently hosted by Rob Walling and the episode formats differ:

  • Question and Answers: He’ll answer a set of listener submitted questions. I love these episodes the most because they’re packed with a lot of tactical tips and nuance that depends on the asker’s situation.
  • Rob’s Solo Adventures: These episodes usually involve Rob talking about a variety of topics ranging from his thoughts on what’s currently going in the SaaS works, frameworks/mental models that he’s refined over the years, to his personal situation and mental state. The 5 P.M framework is a great example.
  • Founder interviews: Interviews with other founders about their business. It covers topics like: what challenges they overcame, how they think about certain aspects of the business, how they grew the business, etc… I like this format since it provides insights into what other successful businesses are doing and how their founders think. But it’s not one of my favorites.

I’ve learned a ton from this podcast in area’s that I’m not exposed to in my day job like:

  • Marketing
  • Sales
  • Managing risk
  • Customer service / satisfaction
  • How to build a good product
  • How to create a sustainable business.

Diary of a CEO (Various)

I’ve only started listening to this the past few months. He features a variety of guests, but his most recent few guests have been focused on health and fitness. I find the topics timely since I’m in a phase of my life where I’m trying to improve and optimize my health. And the episodes have been valuable in increasing my confidence in my approach and as a source of things to experiment with to improve my system.