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.
Estee Lauder: building an empire from obsession and relentless selling
Founders
November 18, 2021
Origin stories
10
B2C sales
7
Branding
5
She gave products away for decades before turning passion into empire.
Inventing gift-with-purchase beat advertising budgets every time.
Persistence over doubt: lawyers, family, and buyers all said no.
How Paul Van Doren built Vans by ignoring competitors and serving people
Founders
November 14, 2021
Origin stories
10
Business models
6
Niche selection
5
20 years on the factory floor gave Van Doren an unbeatable edge over rivals
Skateboarders adopted Vans uninvited — then became the brand's entire identity
Unfocused expansion by his brother drove Vans into bankruptcy within two years
Groves and Oppenheimer: leadership lessons from the Manhattan Project
Founders
November 9, 2021
Management
9
Hiring & recruitment
7
Case studies
7
Two opposites built the bomb — each filled the other's fatal weakness
Groves froze designs mid-project and forced months of decisions in one day
Oppenheimer's top lesson: every organisation needs one single leader
Steve Jobs: lessons from the Founders podcast biography deep-dive
Founders
November 3, 2021
Origin stories
10
Long-term planning
6
Hiring & recruitment
5
Delaying cancer surgery for nine months likely cost Jobs his life.
Jobs learned to build great companies only in his 40s, two decades after mastering products.
Taking a simple idea to an irrational extreme is the formula for a winning business.
Resilience & grit
Podcast
Michael Jordan's mindset, practice obsession, and building Brand Jordan
Founders
October 27, 2021
Resilience & grit
9
Identity & self-belief
7
Origin stories
6
Practice in private is what the public praises you for publicly
Work ethic eliminates fear — preparation removes anxiety before high-stakes moments
Jordan brand grew 7x by never interrupting the compounding over 20 years
Resilience & grit
Podcast
Michael Jordan: obsession, practice, and the making of a dynasty
Founders
October 23, 2021
Resilience & grit
9
Case studies
7
Identity & self-belief
6
False confidence used as fuel before real skill closes the gap
Jordan's greatest competitive weapon was his ability to be coached
One athlete's obsessive practice built a $180M-per-year brand empire
Aristotle Onassis: building a shipping empire from nothing
Founders
October 16, 2021
Origin stories
10
Prospecting & outreach
6
Niche selection
5
Survived the Smyrna massacre at 17, penniless refugee by 18
Became a millionaire at 23 by obsessively targeting one buyer
Bet everything on oil tankers before the world knew oil would dominate
Productivity & habits
Podcast
Stephen King on writing: craft, struggle, and showing up every day
Founders
October 10, 2021
Productivity & habits
8
Resilience & grit
7
Identity & self-belief
6
Self-doubt never goes away — even after 350 million books sold.
Writing is a daily job, not a waiting game for inspiration.
From maggot-infested laundry to a $200k payday: the years before Carrie.
Steven Spielberg: how monomaniacal focus built a filmmaking empire
Founders
October 6, 2021
Origin stories
10
Resilience & grit
7
Committing fully at age 12 — with no plan B — enabled 62 years of compounding.
Jaws was made without a working shark; his biggest win followed his worst failure.
A 2% theme park deal now pays ~$50–75M/year — passion unlocks unpredictable futures.
Founder interviews
Podcast
Lessons from tech founders on hiring, distribution, and belief
Founders
September 29, 2021
Founder interviews
9
Hiring & recruitment
7
Business models
6
Jobs: one A-player is worth 50–100 average ones — hire obsessively.
Dell built a $600M business in seven years by cutting out the dealer.
Belief comes before ability — self-conviction is a prerequisite, not a byproduct.
Claude Hopkins' Scientific Advertising: principles of salesmanship in print
Founders
September 26, 2021
Copywriting
10
Conversion rate optimisation
8
Pricing psychology
5
Advertising is salesmanship at scale — measure cost per customer ruthlessly
Specific claims always outperform superlatives; numbers make arguments credible
Sell the result people want, not the problem you solve
Albert Lasker and the invention of modern advertising
Founders
September 23, 2021
Case studies
9
Copywriting
7
Business models
6
Advertising agencies were brokers — Lasker made them into salesmen.
One copywriter with great copy could outperform 10,000 average ads.
Bipolar disorder, three breakdowns, and 44 years building a cash machine.
Founder interviews
Podcast
James Dyson on invention, manufacturing, and rethinking education
Founders
September 18, 2021
Founder interviews
10
Resilience & grit
7
MVP & prototyping
6
5,127 prototypes and 15 years of debt before any success
Experts kill new ideas by believing they have all the answers
Dyson University: no tuition, real salary, debt-free graduates
Steve Jobs: the principles behind Apple's remarkable comeback
Founders
September 14, 2021
Case studies
9
Business models
7
Hiring & recruitment
5
Cutting to four products let Jobs staff every team with A players
Magic is someone willing to embrace the grind others won't
Monopoly success reliably destroys the product culture that created it
Georges Doriot and the founding of the venture capital industry
Founders
September 8, 2021
Origin stories
10
Fundraising & VC
7
The riskiest early-stage bets proved more rewarding than safe ones
ARD's public structure crippled compensation and killed its best talent
A 70,000% return on DEC validated 25 years of patient, misunderstood investing