How I Built This: The Podcast for Entrepreneurs

I started listening to How I Built This from NPR earlier this year and have been amazed not only by the quality of the interviews, but by the stories themselves. By listening to this podcast I have been able to hear about the early days of Mark Cuban from the man himself. I heard the CEO of Lyft discuss the tribulations they have faced with legislation. I even heard how Atari and Chuck-e-cheese were created. And these are just a few examples, the list of amazing podcast goes on and on. In the spirit of #trypod, a campaign to share the podcasts you love with others, I thought I would pitch you all to listen to How I Built This.

So why listen to other people talk about their startups? First of all, you will realize all of these amazing founders have failures. They talk about having to live on ramen to make the rent, times when investors ran, among other tragedies. And hearing about them puts our own struggles as entrepreneurs into context. It is encouraging to hear how others fail as we have or will fail as well.

Another reason to give How I Built This a try is because you will probably get some great business ideas out of it. After listening to the founder of Kate Spade talk about how she filled a hole in the market, I started thinking about other areas of fashion that are not being accurately met. After listening to a podcast about Beyond Meat, I thought about other sustainable food choices that could be turned into a business. Also by listening to these podcasts, I find myself thinking more about business opportunities in general. At a baby shower I thought about how there should be a great cross platform registry (apparently it already exists). When I was stuck in a traffic jam, I thought about if there was need for a dedicated clean up crew for wrecks. While some of these ideas won’t go anywhere, being in the habit of ideation is a good one for entrepreneurs, and How I Built This helps me keep up with that habit.

If I still haven’t convinced you why How I Built This is a podcast you should listen to, you should also know it’s entertaining. It’s made me laugh, cry, and then laugh again. Hearing from these founders, you realize how human they truly are as well, and you realize you can be just like them too. If you haven’t already, give How I Built This a try, you won’t regret it.

-Kylie Moden