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
Chart trend
Position in the Entrepreneurship chart (US), last 90 days.
#1#17#33JunJulAugSep
#3
all-time peak
1
day in the top 3 since Nov 2024
Latest episodes
Showing 20 · updated from the feed
#432 The Mind of Napoleon
#36 trending · Business
What I learned from reading The Mind of Napoleon by Napoleon.
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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.
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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)
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R
Jul 10 53 min
#423 Soichiro Honda
What I learned from reading Honda: The Man and His Machines by Sol Sanders.
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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.
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Jun 20 52 min
#421 Jony Ive
What I learned from reading Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple's Greatest Products by Leander Kahney.
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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.
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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.
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May 7 1 h 03 min
#417 Arnold Schwarzenegger
What I learned from reading Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
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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
#415 How Elon Thinks
My friend Eric Jorgenson spent years—and thousands of hours—studying Elon Musk. Eric read everything Elon has written, read everything written about Elon, and watched eve
Mar 24 51 min
#414 How SpaceX Works
SpaceX is one of the most dominant companies on the planet and their performance gap just keeps getting bigger. In 2025, SpaceX launched more mass to orbit than every oth
Mar 8 41 min
#413 How To Run Down A Dream
Running Down A Dream: How to Succeed and Thrive in a Career You Love by Bill Gurley has been one of the most valuable talks I've heard. For years I have been using ideas
Mar 3 31 min
Chart positions
Where Founders ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Sep 8, 2026).
A curated, balanced selection of Apple Podcasts reviews.
Ever since I stumbled across Founders Podcast I feel as if have enrolled in a university course entitled Entrepreneurial History 101. I’m inspired by every single episode I listen to for I have ambitions of founding my own company as well. The information David shares is priceless and his authentic enthusiasm for what he’s doing is felt with every paragraph he reads. I’m forever endebted to this podcast and I hope to one day repay him in person for for diligent and noble service.
Ceenior · Dec 2024
I’m a bookworm and I’m so glad I came across this podcast. If you are looking to expand your understanding of famous influential people this is a must listen ! David is a brilliant mind that uses his love of reading to enhance the understanding of many larger than life people and their biographies . Thank you for your great dedication to enriching the reader of these stories!
EVE247365 · Dec 2024
I’ve listened to 113 episodes so far and learned so many amazing lessons. Thank you for all the hard work you put in making this podcast. It feels like we’re just chatting together about our favorite ideas and ways that people have used those ideas well. Keep it up!
jeremyhubert · Nov 2024
As a 4x founder, it’s deeply inspiring to learn the lessons of those who’ve walked before me. And what giants they were. I’ve learned a multitude of new concepts and strategies to guide my own business. And I’ve only listened to a dozen or so. Imagine what YOU might learn, too.
From Edwin Land and Steve Jobs, Oct 20, 2024:
“…I get a lot of book recommendations: ‘Hey, cover the Ubers or the Airbnb's.’
I'm not doing that.
I only want to focus on people that are either at the very end of their career.. they're retired, or they're dead.
Primarily, I like to, as much as I can, just study dead entrepreneurs.”
That may sound morbid but the voices of those who’ve proven themselves, and the words and actions they left behind, are often the best teachers.
OGGOMATiC · Nov 2024
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Popular shows in Entrepreneurship, for your next listen.
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.
