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Introduction: Why podcasts?

No true entrepreneur worth their salt can dismiss the importance of having a never-satiating appetite for intellectual growth. The underlying reason is simple — with more knowledge and exposure, you find yourself at a better position to further your career and entrepreneurial spirit.

Unfortunately, despite the craving for constantly learning and improving, most entrepreneurs simply can’t find enough time in their hectic schedule to study and further their education.

This is where podcasts can make a profound impact by empowering you to access information at any time and place of your choosing.

Whether you are enduring a long commute, working out, or just lazing around on the couch doing particularly nothing, a quality podcast can keep you entertained while simultaneously informing and inspiring you. No wonder that they are becoming so popular among business people and professionals — especially with the younger generations.

With growing demand, today there are hundreds of quality podcasts that offer deep and insightful knowledge of business and entrepreneurship.

But of course, you don’t want to feel lost among so many choices, which is why we’ve done the heavy lifting for you and compiled the following list of 10 popular startup podcasts that budding entrepreneurs in Bahrain and the broader region will likely find helpful for their journey ahead.

6 startup podcasts for expanding your horizon

1# Stanford Entrepreneurial Thought Leader Series

If you have a knack for diving deep into academic thinking and want to learn from some of the world’s renowned entrepreneurs, Stanford University’s podcast series is definitely a must-try.

Dubbed Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders, the show includes enlightening discussions and interviews with eminent personalities including some of the brightest minds in Stanford, business leaders, venture capitalists, and startup tycoons. Because each episode spans roughly an hour, the podcast usually tends to be info-rich and pretty detailed.

2# Launch on Fire

Launch is a Kuwait-based company specializing in entrepreneurship, business, and marketing. Founded in 2005 by Khalid Al-Zanki, the company first rolled out its podcast series in Feb 2014 with the vision of educating, empowering, entertaining, and inspiring people by spreading knowledge of business, entrepreneurship, and marketing. Their goal is to help startups succeed with entrepreneurial and marketing efforts, whether you are an expert or a beginner!

The content of this podcast is often optimized to address the startup community in the Middle East.

3# The Foundation

If you find it difficult to stay focused on audio-only podcasts, The Foundation is a great alternative for you to learn without frequently zoning out. This podcast series is basically an online program that includes video interviews with entrepreneurs from all across the world.

In other words, it’s more of a platform to access guest lectures by your favorite business leaders than most conventional audio-only podcasts.

4# Eventual Millionaire

Just as the moniker suggests, Eventual Millionaire is a podcast about how you, as a budding entrepreneur, should go about your business objectives and eventually overcome all the hurdles preventing you from reaching the peak of your potential.

The interviews featured in this podcast series serve as “case studies” in how to make yourself a millionaire. Of course, it doesn’t offer any magical solution to make you rich and successful overnight, but the knowledge it imparts will definitely come handy if you want to learn from the bests in the business world and apply that knowledge to add to the success of your business ventures.

5# This Week in Startup

This Week in Startup is your go-to podcast for keeping yourself updated on the latest and important entrepreneurial news from around the world. One of the oldest business podcasts around today, This Week in Startup has been imparting entrepreneurial wisdom and a sneak peek at the world of business around you since 2009.

6# She Did it Her Way

This is a podcast that specifically focuses on the startup world from the perspective of a woman entrepreneur. Launched by renowned business consultant and speaker Amanda Boleyn, She Did it Her Way provides invaluable insights and motivation to women entrepreneurs for starting, nurturing, and succeeding in their own business. It was named one of “The 12 Best Podcasts for Entrepreneurs” by Forbes in 2015.

You may have noticed that this list features mostly global podcasts rather than focusing solely on podcasts originating right here in our backyard. Well, no surprises there considering that although some of the pertinent issues experienced by an up-and-coming entrepreneur in the Middle East can be quite unique to the region for a host of factors, the spirit of entrepreneurship is usually the same around the world.

There are only a handful of fundamental factors that collectively make the difference between a successful business venture and a failed one regardless of geography. Therefore, having a broader perspective transcending local or regional issues can sometimes add to your efforts to see and approach challenges more holistically.

In case you haven’t noticed, there are so many options when it comes to podcasts. Of course, there are so many others that we haven’t mentioned, so grab your headphones and get ready to explore the world of podcasts and start listening!