Founders
About this creator
Founders is a podcast built around lessons from the biographies, decisions, and operating principles of exceptional entrepreneurs.
Why they're in the library
Included for clear, credible perspective as podcast built around lessons from the biographies, decisions, and operating principles of exceptional entrepreneurs.
Showing 412 digests for Founders.
Founder interviews
Podcast
Phil Knight's path to building Nike from a crazy idea
Founders
May 7, 2026
Founder interviews
10
Business models
7
Bootstrapping
6
Knight funded Nike by repeatedly emptying bank accounts and doubling orders
Co-founder Bowerman's obsession with shoe weight shaped Nike's entire product philosophy
Knight's deepest regret: building Nike cost him his children's childhoods
Identity & self-belief
Podcast
Arnold Schwarzenegger's principles for building any kind of empire
Founders
April 19, 2026
Identity & self-belief
9
Resilience & grit
8
Origin stories
6
The body was just a proof of concept for everything else.
He brainwashed himself with affirmations — and it worked.
Concentration during training was his real edge over elite competitors.
Demis Hassabis: the missionary building AGI at DeepMind
Founders
April 1, 2026
Origin stories
10
Vision & mission
6
Why Demis sold DeepMind to Google for $650m — and never regretted it.
AlphaGo Zero beat humans by abandoning all human knowledge entirely.
There is no 50% mode in Demis — only 100%, always.
Business operating systems
Podcast
Elon Musk's core principles for building companies and technology
Founders
March 24, 2026
Business operating systems
9
Resilience & grit
8
Management
7
Why physics — not optimism — is the only valid judge of your work
The five-step algorithm Elon runs at every company, in strict order
Speed is offense and defense: a 2x faster factory equals two factories
How SpaceX built the world's most dominant launch company
Founders
March 8, 2026
Business models
9
Case studies
7
Culture building
5
98% of rocket cost was process waste, not materials
Vertical integration, standardisation, and reusability form an unbreakable flywheel
The culture is the real moat — tactics alone can't be copied
Productivity & habits
Podcast
How to build a career you love: Bill Gurley's five principles
Founders
March 3, 2026
Productivity & habits
9
Identity & self-belief
8
Communication
5
You cannot fake passion — someone who truly loves the field will outrun you.
Bobby Knight, Bob Dylan, and Danny Meyer all won through obsessive self-directed study.
The five-step blueprint: passion, craft, mentors, peers, pay it forward.
Identity & self-belief
Podcast
Roger Federer's principles for a long, high-performance career
Founders
February 19, 2026
Identity & self-belief
9
Delegation
8
Long-term planning
7
Winning 80% of matches while winning only 54% of points
Emotional control, not talent, separates good from truly great
Optimising for the long game compounded into a $300M business win
Identity & self-belief
Podcast
Andre Agassi: Hating tennis while becoming the best in the world
Founders
February 4, 2026
Identity & self-belief
10
Resilience & grit
9
Case studies
7
Forced into tennis at age four, Agassi genuinely hated it his entire career.
Reaching number one felt empty — he'd been chasing someone else's goals.
Crystal meth, ranked 141st, then fought all the way back to win the French Open.
Productivity & habits
Podcast
Kevin Kelly's 450 principles for a well-lived and productive life
Founders
January 25, 2026
Productivity & habits
10
Deep work & focus
9
Goal setting
8
Habit beats inspiration every time — build systems, not motivation
Don't be the best. Be the only.
Your golden ticket: seeing the world through other people's eyes
Deep work & focus
Podcast
Rick Rubin's philosophy: simplicity, obsession, and doing great work
Founders
January 16, 2026
Deep work & focus
9
Delegation
6
Do more to get to less — write 1,000 songs to find 10 great ones
Strip everything to its essence; adding layers can make a song smaller
Rubin transfers his own confidence to artists who've lost belief in themselves
Identity & self-belief
Podcast
Rick Rubin's principles for making great creative work
Founders
January 8, 2026
Identity & self-belief
9
Deep work & focus
8
Productivity & habits
7
Great art is made for an audience of one — yourself.
Self-doubt never disappears; accepting it reduces its power.
Patience and speed aren't opposites — master both simultaneously.
Brad Jacobs on raising capital, integrating acquisitions, and mastering your mind
Founders
December 29, 2025
Fundraising & VC
9
Resilience & grit
8
Business operating systems
8
Why your fuel source for drive determines how long it lasts
Hedge funds lie about patience — negotiate access before close
Five daily mental frameworks used to run eight billion-dollar companies
Founder interviews
Podcast
Bruce Springsteen's life and work: obsession, depression, and what actually matters
Founders
December 14, 2025
Founder interviews
9
Work-life balance
8
Resilience & grit
7
Getting everything you want professionally can still leave you empty
Unresolved childhood trauma will follow you until you stop running
Life trumps art — Springsteen learned this only after decades of work
How Christian von Koenigsegg built the world's most extreme supercar
Founders
December 3, 2025
Origin story
10
Resilience & grit
7
Long-term planning
6
Starting with no engineering background is a structural competitive advantage.
"The show must go on" — Koenigsegg's operating philosophy for inevitable failure.
Entire production runs sold out sight unseen through masterful product storytelling.
Founder interviews
Podcast
Dietrich Mateschitz: how Red Bull built a marketing empire from one idea
Founders
November 25, 2025
Founder interviews
10
Branding
8
Business models
7
Red Bull outsources production entirely — it's a marketing machine
Banning and rumors drove demand more than any ad campaign
No debt, no IPO, no dividends for 15 years — total independence