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Get a business education 90% faster for free

帖子发表于 : 周五 2月 26, 2016 3:53 pm
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I didn’t start listening to podcasts until I began to have a real commute. If you’ve had a conversation with me in the past year, you’ve probably heard me say, “I heard on a podcast…” embarrassingly similar to the Did you read? skit from Portlandia.

That’s because in addition to listening to other people’s stories, I have learned a lot about how to ask the right questions (and the tough questions) and how to weave an engaging story. Like in any content business, there is the 80% and the 20% — 80% of podcasts are an absolute waste of time. I’m sure the creators have good intentions and speak to an audience that is just not me, but I get frustrated when I listen to a show and it feels like a waste of mental RAM.
This is why I put together a list of the other 20% high impact, business-focused podcasts that have given me a wealth of knowledge without having to do a traditional business school program. To me, there are three essential areas to focus on for business (and I would argue for succeeding in life): pitching, psychology and economics. Each podcast below falls into one of these three topics.
My core queue:
This Week in Startups with Jason Calacanis (1 hr ish) — Jason is an incredible interviewer — the Terry Gross of startups — if you will. Being an interviewer is an art and Jason nails it every time, keeping the interviewee on their toes with tough questions. He has a knack for critiquing pitches, getting people to share more than they might have initially promised themselves, and delivering the harsh realities. He also has a fair number of female voices on the show (+1). Episodes I had to slow to 1x speed:
Episode 548 Jared Fliesler (Matrix Partners, Square)
Episode 564 Julie Fredrickson (Stowaway Cosmetics)
Episode 580 Daniel Ek (Spotify)
Episode 584 Jeffery Pfeffer (Stanford)
Episode 587 David Sacks (Paypal, Yammer, Zenefits)
Episode 602 Roger Dickey (Gigster)
a16z (20 min) — From the venture capital firm, Andreessen-Horowitz, this interview-style podcast explores macro cultural and technological trends related to business with experts in each vertical. You can’t go wrong with an episode that includes Benedict Evans— he’s got an exceptional perspective! Episodes I had to slow to 1x speed:
Messaging is the Medium
Why SaaS Revenue is Worth More Than Traditional Software Sales
For Google, Android is a Tactic and Cloud is a Strategy
When Software Eats Cars
Startup (30 min) — I know, i know, this one has been around for a while. If you haven’t jumped on the bandwagon yet, jump on it. I have to say that after working at a startup, we have faced almost all of the same crossroads, wins and challenges that Alex reveals in this tell-all ‘documentary’ podcast about a startup (his own). The podcast also echoes some of the great learnings about pitching and hiring that have surfaced on This Week In Startups. This is a series told as a story, so I would listen to all of them, in order.
Re/code Decode (30 min) — This is the newest addition to my list. Re/code is a great publisher on tech news and they don’t fail to disappoint with their podcast. They have high quality guests from top companies and the interviewer asks great questions. Episode I had to slow to 1x speed:
John Zimmer — Lyft President
Hidden Brain (25 min) — This podcast was born out of a short social science segment on NPR. Shankar now hosts a dedicated show exploring a new theme in social science weekly. This podcast is a great source of inspiration on how to apply social science learnings to a multitude of other areas: branding, ux, product management, business development and relationships. Episode I had to slow to 1x speed:
Stereotype Threat — Fascinating story about the first female winner of the World Series of Poker. Great material in here about acknowledging conventions and leveraging that awareness to challenge them.
Planet Money (15 min) — This is a classic economics podcast. If you haven’t listened to them before, I recommend starting because they’ve logged 600+ episodes so far. They explore subtle connections that have a major impact on economics. Episodes I had to slow to 1x speed:
Bagging The Birkin
Auditing ISIS
Why The Price Of Coke Didn’t Change For 70 Years
Junk Food that’s still good for you (like Kale Chips)
All business all the time makes for a pretty one-dimensional point of view, so I make a point to sprinkle in a few top of the line more niche podcasts.

ReplyAll (30 min)— Quirky and engaging stories made possible by the internet, from all corners of the internet. A good place to start:
YikYak Returns
99% Invisible (15 min)— Interesting podcast that exposes unseen or overlooked elements in design, architecture, and daily life. This one can be hit or miss. Luckily, they are short episodes, where if it isn’t a gem, you haven’t really burned much time on listening to it. A good place to start:
Best Enjoyed By
Song Exploder (15 min) — I love music, especially the lyrics, and hearing ‘the story behind’ shows. I am not as versed in instrumental arrangements or layering sounds, which is why I love this podcast — because you get both sides, from the artists’ perspective. A good place to start would be an episode with your favorite artist or song.
These are great, but I don’t have time
Make time for what is important to you, which is personally what I like to do with my work and increasing my knowledge base. In my mind, the more you equip yourself with knowledge, the better off you will be to make connections and develop your creative ideas, but it’s not for everyone.
Personally, I listen to podcasts while I commute, shop the grocery store, and even cook. After a grueling day, sometimes I just have to listen to music but most days, it’s podcasts. Find pockets of time to listen while you’re doing something repetitive or monotonous. You will be amazed how much time you actually have during the day to fit in 10 or 15 minutes of listening.
Overall, these 6 podcasts amount to 3 hours of listening per week. If you value your time at say $20/hour, that’s $3000 per year, 94% less than a year of your average MBA program. Similarly, at just 3 hours per week compared to say 40 per week, it’s 90% less time investment.
Another trick I use is listening to them at 1.5x speed. I know, the first time I heard it, I thought it was crazy. Occasionally, I can push to 2x. I often take notes while I listen so if I repeatedly press ‘back 15 seconds’ too often, I know it’s too fast. There are some super listeners that can listen at 3x speed, but I tend to lose too much of the quality at that point, but go forth and experiment. Start small, try different paces and explore lots of the past content for these podcasts, they didn’t become golden overnight :)
If you have personal recommendations to add to this list, please drop a line in the comments below so that I can keep a solid list going. If you enjoyed this article, kindly recommend or share it with a friend.