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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.