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How I Built This (npr.org)
162 points by plessthanpt05 on Oct 10, 2016 | hide | past | favorite | 19 comments


I've been listening to "How I Built This" on my commutes over the last week. I find the stories very interesting and engaging, sometimes even inspiring.

But I am also aware that these are Founder's stories told from the Founder's perspective, and correspondingly I sometimes wonder about the line between fact and self-hero-worship.

But I like it enough to continue to listen.


I liked the Kevin Systrom interview, because he has always seemed down to earth and very candid. His acknowledgment that luck was a huge factor in Instagram's success is a rarity among highly successful founders, many of whom truly believe that they are successful because they are smarter than everyone else.


Plus he told this story thousands of times so he perfected the story.


Excellent podcast so far. If you're just getting started, here are the ones I'd recommend checking out first:

1) Instagram - probably of the most interest to this community

2) Clif Bar - this one is really interesting to understand

3) Spanx - particularly relevant to those of us pursuing things as a side hustle.

Well, that pretty much covers all of the stories. :)


Eh.. there are 4 of them. Were you just not interested in the Radio One podcast, or you just forgot it existed?


Spanx is definitely not what i would have considered interesting until that episode. I heard it on my local NPR affiliate. Was blown away by the story, didn't realize it was part of this series! Going to start listening now.


Radio one episode was good one as well. So far I liked every episode of this show. If you like this one then also check out the host's other podcast series : TED Radio Hour: http://www.npr.org/podcasts/510298/ted-radio-hour


This looks promising. They started quite recently, in September 12. I like the diversity of the founders they have already already talked to. Includes everything from panty makers to Instagram founders to media moghuls.


Have listened to the first four episodes (I think a fifth one is out today). This is on my list of favorite podcasts. Each one is quite inspiring.


I love this podcast. I am always torn with so many startup podcasts coming out. On one hand, they are kind of inspirational and entertaining. On the other they are kind of startup porn, only showing successes, and only from the successful founders pov. It's sort of mind candy I save for doing the books or cleaning up.


Someone should start a podcast or blog series where each entry starts with the question, "Where did everything go wrong?" Businesses, relationships, misadventures, etc.


I really enjoyed the Instagram episode. It seemed very honest and raw. They talked about things they got right and wrong, and inspiration for major parts of the app that helped make it a success.

I encourage everyone to listen to it.


The title is a not-so-subtle dig at the phrase, "You didn't build that."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_didn%27t_build_that


How do you know?


I've listened to Clif Bar's story, really interesting, inspiring, and... enchanting.


This is what the startup podcast series from gimlet should look like. But I suggest you guys listening to their podcast about Twitch. There are two episodes for that. It goes along the same line as Instagram episode by NPR


How I Built This is also available on the NPR One app, where I discovered it. (Guy Raz also hosts the TED Radio Hour, which I don't think is as good.) NPR One is like Pandora for public radio and it's awesome. They really did a fantastic job with the app and the service. More people need to know about it.


Really wanted to love it, but I'm used to listening to podcasts at 1.5x speed. If they manage to do some download/buffering magic I would re-download in a heartbeat.


Nice thanks




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