Founders artwork

Entrepreneurship · David Senra

Founders

by David Senra

Learn from history's greatest entrepreneurs. Every week I read a biography of an entrepreneur and find ideas you can use in your work. This quote explains why: "There are thousands of years of history in which lots and lots of very smart people worked very hard and ran all types of experiments on how to create new businesses, invent new technology, new ways to manage etc. They ran these experiments throughout their entire lives. At some point, somebody put these lessons down in a book. For very little money and a few hours of time, you can learn from someone’s accumulated experience. There is so much more to learn from the past than we often realize. You could productively spend your time reading experiences of great people who have come before and you learn every time." —Marc Andreessen

Latest episodes

Showing 20 · updated from the feed

#435 Mark Zuckerberg's Empire

#24 trending · Business

What I learned from reading Mark: A journey to the heart of history's largest nonterritorial empire by Jeremy Stern. Made possible by: Ramp: ⁠https://ramp.com⁠ Applo

Sep 28
41 min

#434 Sam Walton

#28 trending · Entrepreneurship

What I learned from reading Sam Walton: The Inside Story of America's Richest Man by Vance Trimble. Made possible by: Ramp: https://ramp.com Applovin: https://applov

Sep 21
49 min

#433 How Michael Bloomberg Works

What I learned from reading Bloomberg by Michael Bloomberg. Made possible by: Ramp: ⁠⁠⁠https://ramp.com⁠⁠⁠ AppLovin: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.applovin.com⁠ Vanta: ⁠⁠⁠https://v

Sep 14
48 min

#432 The Mind of Napoleon

What I learned from reading The Mind of Napoleon by Napoleon. Made possible by: Ramp: ⁠⁠https://ramp.com⁠⁠ AppLovin: ⁠⁠https://www.applovin.com Vanta: ⁠⁠https://vant

Sep 5
55 min

#431 How Henry Singleton Worked

What I learned from reading Distant Force: A Memoir of the Teledyne Corporation and The Man Who Created It by George Roberts and The Outsiders by William Thorndike. Mad

Aug 31
49 min

#430 How to Write Ads That Sell

Claude Hopkins was the greatest copywriter of all time. His ideas were so valuable that when he wrote them down in a book the founder of his advertising firm locked the m

Aug 23
1 h 03 min

#429 Bob Dylan's Autobiography

What I learned from rereading Bob Dylan's autobiography. Made possible by: Ramp: ⁠⁠https://ramp.com⁠⁠ Applovin: ⁠⁠https://www.applovin.com Vanta: ⁠⁠https://vanta.co

Aug 16
1 h 00 min

#428 How Claude Shannon Worked

Claude Shannon changed your life and you probably don't even know it. Claude is the father of information theory. He transformed information into bits and created the int

Aug 9
51 min

#427 How Raymond Plank Built a $50 Billion Oil Company

Raymond Plank founded Apache Corporation with just $250,000 in 1954. 50 years later his company was worth $50 billion. This episode examines the life and entrepreneuria

Aug 1
38 min

#426 How Obsession Built Christopher Nolan

Obsession is the engine of Nolan’s career. This episode examines Christopher Nolan’s life, working methods, and philosophy through The Nolan Variations by Tom Shone. Ma

Jul 26
51 min

#425 The Merchant Bankers

This episode discusses Joseph Wechsberg’s 1966 book, The Merchant Bankers. Rather than recounting the histories of families like the Rothschilds, Barings, Hambros, Warbur

Jul 19
46 min

#424 Peter Thiel on How to Build a Creative Monopoly

What I learned from reading Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel and Blake Masters (for the 3rd or 4th time) Made possible by:  R

Jul 10
53 min

#423 Soichiro Honda

What I learned from reading Honda: The Man and His Machines by Sol Sanders. Made possible by: Ramp: ⁠https://ramp.com⁠  Applovin: ⁠https://www.applovin.com/⁠  Va

Jun 28
48 min

#422 Joseph Pulitzer

What I learned from reading Pulitzer: A Life in Politics, Print, and Power by James McGrath Morris. Made possible by: Ramp: ⁠https://ramp.com⁠ Applovin: ⁠https://www.

Jun 20
52 min

#421 Jony Ive

What I learned from reading Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple's Greatest Products by  Leander Kahney. Made possible by: Ramp: https://ramp.com Axon by Applovin: https

Jun 10
52 min

#420 Steve Jobs In Exile

What I learned from reading Steve Jobs in Exile: The Untold Story of NeXT and the Remaking of an American Visionary by Geoffrey Cain. Made possible by: Ramp: https://

Jun 4
53 min

#419 Kelly Johnson: Skunk Works

Kelly Johnson’s “14 Points” read like a SpaceX operations manual — 60 years before SpaceX was founded. Kelly Johnson created Skunk Works, which he defined as: “A concentr

May 16
49 min

#418 Phil Knight: Founder of Nike

What I learned from rereading Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike for the 3rd or 4th time. Made possible by: Ramp:⁠ https://ramp.com⁠ Axon by Applovin: ⁠https:

May 7
1 h 03 min

#417 Arnold Schwarzenegger

What I learned from reading Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Made possible by: Ramp: https://ramp.com Axon by Applovin: https://axon.

Apr 19
43 min

#416 The Relentless Missionary Creating AGI: Demis Hassabis

This episode is about a once-in-a-generation mind working on what may be the most important problem in history. Based on the new book The Infinity Machine: Demis Hassabis

Apr 1
54 min

Chart trend

Position in the Entrepreneurship chart (US), last 90 days.

#3
all-time peak
1
day in the top 3 since Nov 2024

Chart positions

Where Founders ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Sep 29, 2026).

#68 — Business US
#29 ▲ 1 Entrepreneurship US

What listeners say

A curated, balanced selection of Apple Podcasts reviews.

Over the last year, I've become obsessed with reading autobiographies of entrepreneurs, engineers, and thinkers who I admire. I accidentally stumbled across this podcast when I was recommended an episode on Jensen Huang in my Spotify feed. I can't believe this gem has been hiding from me for so long. Since discovering this, all I want to do is tell all of my friends about this treasure trove of knowledge, wisdom and inspiration.

Theelementgreen · Aug 2026

This is the single highest value podcast on apple.David has an unmatched skill in creating informative and inspiring content and jampacks so much information into a no nonsense life changing podcast. If I had to pick one podcast to listen to for the rest of my life it is Founders. Listening to this podcast will absolutely change your perspective on life. After listening you will feel more capable more i spired and more optimistic about life. David has a unique gift and skill and life calling. This podcast is for all, it’s accessible to normal people as well as valuable yo deep thinkers and entrepreneurs. I wish i could rate it higher than 5 stars.

orchestra groupee · Aug 2026

’m so grateful I stumbled upon this podcast. I’ve always had a burning ambition to create a real impact, but I lacked the insight into how great people actually figure out their path, leverage their skills, or build the ones they lack. Listening to David break down these biographies has provided all the answers I was looking for. It’s still early days for me, but this podcast has completely shifted my mindset. As David says, "books are the original hyperlinks" and because of him, I now have an incredible library of history to learn from. I absolutely love what David is doing and how he’s empowering the next generation of ambitious builders. Thank you, David!

Aneesh Deshpande · Jul 2026

Highly Recommend! Are you an entrepreneur or aspiring one? This podcast covers books and more about great entrepreneurs in history. The author makes it engaging and filters the books to the meat and potatoes.

DennyT16 · Jul 2026

I really like the concept of Founders and loved some early episodes I first listened to. However, in recent months, David has been making an unacceptably high number of errors while reading - forcing his audience to listen to him stutter, figure out pronunciation, and repeat himself throughout the podcast. It feels like a host who is resting on laurels rather than continuing to put in the work to edit his content or at least prepare for the podcast rather than wing it on the fly. Very disappointing.

Andrea Fola · Jul 2026

We strive to present a balanced view by showing a diverse range of reviews from Apple Podcasts.

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About Founders on Reason.fm

Here you find the Apple Podcasts chart positions of Founders, its latest episodes to listen to directly, and reviews from listeners. Rankings are updated daily for the United States.

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