Best Business Podcasts - Leadership, Startups & Entrepreneurship

On today’s episode Lindsay Moran shares how her time as a CIA spy taught her to assess, strategize, and embrace challenges in order to succeed. Listen in as Lindsay and I discuss the advantages to compartmentalizing aspects of life, being able to read people, understanding vulnerability, and how her role as an operative impacted her views of motherhood. Lindsay also explores the impact of human trafficking on women and children and why she’s teaming up with DeliverFund to make a difference.

Stop trying to control everything. Most leaders believe their job is to control outcomes, manage every detail, and have all the answers. But what if that mindset is actually making leadership harder? In this episode, Yining Wang joins me to discuss why the best leaders stop trying to control everything and instead focus on developing inner clarity, self-awareness, and purpose. Drawing on his experience advising leaders around the world, Yining explains how fear, uncertainty, and the need for control can cloud judgment and create unnecessary stress. We also explore resilience, entrepreneurship, the future of leadership in an AI-driven world, and why leaders who stay grounded in their values are better equipped to navigate change and uncertainty. If you're feeling overwhelmed by constant demands, rapid change, or the pressure to have all the answers, this conversation will challenge the way you think about leadership and decision-making. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why the need for control can undermine leadership effectiveness How inner clarity leads to better decisions under pressure The connection between purpose, resilience, and long-term success Why entrepreneurs must learn to embrace uncertainty How AI is changing the future of leadership and work Practical ways to stay grounded in a noisy and rapidly changing world Yining Wang’s Resources: Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://sincerealignmentgroup.com/ Subscribe to Deep Leadership: If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe and share it with someone who wants to become a better leader. Sponsors: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Cadre of Men⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Farrow Skin Care⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Salty Sailor Coffee Company⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Leader Connect⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Qualified Leadership Series⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ____ Get all of Jon Rennie's bestselling leadership books for 15% off the regular price today! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today's episode of "Founder & CEO," Mike and Patrick welcome Sandra O' Sullivan, Chief People & Operations Officer at Curriculum Associates, to break down the true impact of a Chief People Officer. They cover when to hire one, what great CPOs actually do day-to-day, how they partner with CEOs and CFOs, and why people issues dominate 60 to 80 percent of a founder’s time. If you’re scaling beyond 60 to 100 employees, this episode is your playbook for turning HR into a true strategic advantage.

We have all worked at a place where we felt like just another number in a spreadsheet. It is incredibly frustrating when you offer feedback that seems to vanish into a black hole of corporate bureaucracy. But what if your company actually treated your voice like a strategic roadmap for the future? In this episode, DJ Casto, the EVP and Chief Human Resources Officer at Synchrony, joins us to explore how his team transformed their culture to become the number one best place to work in 2026. DJ shares the secrets behind their decade-long journey of separation from GE Capital and how they climbed the rankings by anchoring their identity in the concept of trust. We dive deep into their philosophy of co-creation, where active listening through quarterly pulse surveys and roundtables allows employees to directly design the culture they want to inhabit. Discover how Synchrony applies agile software principles to HR by launching minimal viable products for benefits like personalized wellness coaches and on-site therapists to see what truly resonates with the workforce. We also tackle the modern challenge of AI, moving past the doom and gloom to discuss how technology can actually unlock human creativity and fulfill more enriched roles. You'll learn how to foster employee accountability through a focus on critical experiences rather than rigid job paths. This episode unpacks how you can build a high-trust organization where continuous improvement is a lifestyle rather than a one-time goal. Watch the full video on YouTube ---------- Start your day with the world's top leaders by joining thousands of others at Great Leadership on Substack. Just enter your email: ⁠⁠https://greatleadership.substack.com/ Quick heads-up: my new book, The 8 Laws of Employee Experience, is a practical playbook for building an environment where people do their best work—order a copy here: https://bit.ly/8exlaws

Great software companies often come from understanding pain points at a very deep level.On Grit, Aman Narang shares how Toast built trust with 171,000+ restaurant operators by helping restaurants manage everything from payments and online orders to staff scheduling and daily operations.He also reflects on lessons around product-market fit and scaling a company before it’s fully ready.Guest: Aman Narang, co-founder and CEO, ToastConnect with Aman NarangLinkedInConnect with ToastLinkedInInstagramXConnect with Joubin:XLinkedInEmail: grit@kleinerperkins.comFollow on LinkedInFollow on X​Learn more about Kleiner Perkins

In 2004, German programmer Tobias Lütke was living in Ottawa with his girlfriend. An avid snowboarder, he wanted to launch an online snowboard shop, but found the e-commerce software available at the time to be clunky and expensive. So he decided to write his own e-commerce software. After he launched his online snowboard business, called Snowdevil, other online merchants were so impressed with what he built that they started asking to license Tobi's software to run their own stores. Tobi and his co-founder realized that software had more potential than snowboards, so they launched the e-commerce platform Shopify in 2006. Since then, it has grown into a publicly-traded company with over 7,000 employees and $11 billion in revenue. Timestamps: 07:20 - Tobi discovers snowboarding–and meets his future wife–on vacation in Canada11:25 - Building a new kind of snowboarding company29:35 - Pivot point: skateboards or software?34:25 - The night before Tobi’s wedding, Shopify switches business models45:25 - The 2008 financial crisis hits… revealing a huge opportunity 58:55 - After a decade, Shopify goes publicThis episode was produced by Casey Herman with music composed by Ramtin Arablouei. It was edited by Neva Grant. This archive episode was produced by Katherine Sypher. Follow How I Built This: Instagram → @howibuiltthis X → @HowIBuiltThis Facebook → How I Built This Follow Guy Raz: Instagram → @guy.raz Youtube → guy_raz X → @guyraz Substack → guyraz.substack.com Website → guyraz.com See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Tony Fadell created the iPod, co-created the iPhone, and founded Nest (which he sold to Google for $3.2 billion). He’s co-authored over 300 patents, was part of the legendary team at General Magic, and wrote one of the most important and inspiring books for builders, called Build.In our in-depth conversation, we discuss:1. The heated internal debates about whether the iPhone should have a physical keyboard2. Why opinion-based decisions are essential for v1 products3. Why marketing matters as much as the product itself, and how the iPod almost failed4. Why voice will eventually become the primary interface with AI5. Why cognitive surrender to AI is the biggest risk facing product builders today—Brought to you by:WorkOS—Make your app enterprise-ready, with SSO, SCIM, RBAC, and more: https://workos.com/lennyVanta—Automate compliance, manage risk, and accelerate trust with AI: https://vanta.com/lenny—Episode transcript: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/father-of-the-ipod-and-iphone-on—Archive of all Lenny's Podcast transcripts: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/yxi4s2w998p1gvtpu4193/AMdNPR8AOw0lMklwtnC0TrQ?rlkey=j06x0nipoti519e0xgm23zsn9&st=ahz0fj11&dl=0—Where to find Tony Fadell:• X: https://x.com/tfadell• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonyfadell• Website: https://www.buildc.com—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Introduction to Tony Fadell(02:23) The Blackberry vs. iPhone keyboard debate(07:50) Micromanaging vs. kind lies: what great products actually need(15:57) The Nest thermostat and smoke alarm story(21:22) How to decide what’s worth building: pain plus new technology(27:36) The three-generation rule: why nothing works the first time(34:20) The full customer journey: why marketing defines your product(40:53) The power of storytelling and the press-release-first approach(48:37) The evolution of product management and the builder role(50:27) Why AI-generated code creates brittle, unmaintainable products(58:00) Storytelling techniques(1:05:45) The next iPhone(1:13:15) Hardware is back(1:17:01) What Tony is most excited about(1:21:38) Working with Tony(1:25:36) Ethics, morals, and the responsibility of product builders(1:32:40) How to connect with Tony and Build Collective—References: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/father-of-the-ipod-and-iphone-on—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com

While legacy news outlets like The Washington Post stumble, The Guardian keeps growing — but how? Guardian Media Group CEO Anna Bateson joins Rapid Response to pull back the curtain on the company's unusual ownership structure and the multi-revenue model fueling its resilience. Bateson also weighs in on the threat and opportunity of AI chatbots, the Jeff Bezos effect on media, and what role she sees The Guardian playing as the future of news takes shape, even as the pressures of today demand her full attention. Visit the Rapid Response website here: https://www.rapidresponseshow.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Why is the economy collapsing? Nick Hanauer and Daniel Priestley debate the wealth divide, why wages should be double what they are, what AI is doing to your job, and whether capitalism can still fix itself! Nick Hanauer is a venture capitalist and serial entrepreneur, the first non-family investor in Amazon, and host of the Pitchfork Economics podcast. Daniel Priestley is an award-winning entrepreneur, business coach and best-selling author of 7 books, including ‘Lifestyle Business Playbook’. They explain: ◼ Why taxing the rich feels like the answer but misses the real problem ◼ Why AI is hitting every job at the same time, and what that means for your career ◼ Why you can't fix the economy without owning a home, a business or shares Chapters 00:00:00 Intro 00:02:07 Why Nick Hanauer's Economic Views Matter 00:06:07 Daniel Priestley's Different Take On Wealth 00:08:12 Is Taxing The Rich The Answer? 00:11:24 Do The Wealthy Already Pay Enough Tax? 00:14:47 Entrepreneurship Vs Policy: What Works Best? 00:19:45 The Policy Fix For Inequality 00:24:33 US Vs UK: Which Economy Wins? 00:26:46 Do Higher Wages Hurt Small Business? 00:28:18 Why Small Businesses Can't Match MegaCorp Pay 00:32:42 What Workers Need Right Now 00:35:39 Ownership Models That Build Wealth 00:39:51 The Real Impact Of Worker Rights 00:40:52 What Brexit Really Changed 00:44:23 The Hidden Lessons Of K-Shaped Economies 00:46:50 Will Companies Leave If Taxes Rise? 00:51:20 Should Global Corporations Pay More Tax? 00:53:22 How MegaCorps Block Entire Markets 00:54:20 Solutions To Economic Inequality 00:56:13 Ads 00:58:22 How Many Jobs Will AI Replace? 01:01:00 AI Agents Are Replacing Entry-Level Work 01:04:47 Will AI Reduce Hiring? 01:08:01 Is Universal Basic Income The Answer? 01:12:51 Why Governments Struggle To Deliver 01:14:10 The Best Fix For AI Job Loss 01:17:12 Are We Heading Towards An AI Utopia? 01:21:27 Would Higher AI Taxes Drive Companies Away? 01:23:30 Does Government Improve Lives? 01:29:54 Where They Fundamentally Disagree 01:32:31 Is Socialism The Answer? 01:36:50 How Policy Builds A Strong Middle Class 01:42:27 Ads 01:44:38 Which Economies Are Thriving Today? 01:48:00 What If You're Not Entrepreneurial? 01:51:08 Why Not Everyone Should Be An Entrepreneur 01:53:08 How To Help Small Businesses Thrive 01:55:39 Can Regulation Help Small Business Win? 01:57:03 Ending Taxes For Lower-Income Earners 02:01:02 The Global Economy's Biggest Problem 02:09:03 Radical Solutions To Inequality 02:14:53 How Do We Restore Hope? Enjoyed the episode? Share this link and earn points for every referral - redeem them for exclusive prizes: https://doac-perks.com Follow Daniel: Instagram - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/15J7ORb YouTube - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/3EqYLXT Website - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/AcymoLQ Scorecard - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/VrBLNa You can purchase Daniel’s book, ‘Lifestyle Business Playbook: How to Have Fun, Freedom and Fulfilment With Your Own Business’, here: https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/GpE0H2H Follow Nick: X - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/9vr0k0l Facebook - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/Fy2FPzc Website - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/3lzRChs You can download Nick’s book, ‘Corporate Bullsh*t: Exposing the Lies and Half-Truths That Protect Profit, Power, and Wealth in America’, here: https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/Eif7Ics The Diary Of A CEO: ◼ Join DOAC circle here - https://doaccircle.com/ ◼ Buy The Diary Of A CEO book here - https://smarturl.it/DOACbook ◼ The

Jake Becraft is the CEO and co-founder of Strand Therapeutics, a company building one of the most advanced programmable genetic medicine platforms in biotechnology. Under his leadership, Strand is redefining what RNA medicines can do by enabling cell-selective targeting and therapeutic payload delivery inside the body, unlocking a new class of precision genetic therapies. This episode is brought to you by:Helix Sleep premium mattresses: HelixSleep.com/Tim (20% off any purchase) Incogni, which automatically removes your personal data from the web, helping shield you from fraud, scams, and identity theft: Incogni.com/Tim (use code TIM at checkout and get 60% off an annual plan)Timestamps:[00:00:00] Start.[00:06:07] What Strand does.[00:08:19] The Boston dinner.[00:11:05] The image of a body riddled with cancer.[00:15:05] What stuck for the muggles in the pitch deck.[00:17:14] A good drug vs. a good product.[00:19:40] Tricking cancer into snitching on itself.[00:27:38] The abscopal effect.[00:34:04] Potency, specificity, and delivery.[00:35:46] First principles thinking.[00:36:38] The precipice of a revolution.[00:41:14] The thousand people in the room.[00:48:38] Psychedelic medicine as a cautionary tale.[00:51:17] What actually catches a policymaker’s attention.[00:53:42] Breakthrough vs. incremental.[00:54:55] What’s in it for the policymakers?[00:58:08] The 80/20 wish list.[01:01:31] Australia’s CTN system.[01:03:51] Sheep, psychedelics, and red-tape arbitrage.[01:05:22] China’s clinical-trial flywheel vs. slow-motion American loss.[01:06:53] The bicoastal biotech ethos.[01:08:10] Can the FDA actually pull this off?[01:12:12] The Sophie’s Choice of pharma development.[01:14:16] Lost arts of founder mode.[01:15:23] Rockets for tumors, T-cells, and beyond.[01:19:16] Viral in policy circles.[01:23:09] The Washington Post headline and the PickFu split test.[01:27:56] Solution-first storytelling.[01:33:54] RNA medicine and platform therapeutics.[01:39:17] Moderna’s 62 days.[01:40:33] Uber Eats and the de-risked launch.[01:44:17] CEO blockers.[01:45:52] Where’s biotech’s SpaceX moment?[01:46:53] Elon Musk betting black on the wheel.[01:51:55] AWS and the post-conviction / pre-consensus window.[01:58:47] COVID politicization.[01:59:46] Insulin, growth hormone, and the original platform story.[02:01:35] Biotech as pharma’s little brother.[02:03:29] More recent role models, Apple edition.[02:04:50] Art Levinson, Steve Jobs, and the biotech-tech crossover.[02:06:25] The iPhone as a delivery platform.[02:08:25] Spotify’s problem and the future of bespoke medicine.[02:10:07] Baby KJ and the limits of liver-only solutions.[02:11:19] Parting thoughts.* For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast. For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsors Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (5-Bullet Friday) at tim.blog/friday. For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts. Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books. Follow Tim: Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss Instagram: instagram.com/timferriss YouTube: youtube.com/timferriss Facebook: facebook.com/timferriss LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timferriss See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.