Birds

Sean Michael McGowan performs “Hotel Song” by Regina Spektor. Recorded live 18 August 2018.

Sean Michael McGowan performs “Hotel Song” by Regina Spektor. Recorded live 18 August 2018.

Hotel Song

Sean Michael McGowan performs “Issues” by Julia Michaels. Recorded live 6 August 2018 in San Luis Obispo, California.

Sean Michael McGowan performs “Issues” by Julia Michaels. Recorded live 6 August 2018 in San Luis Obispo, California.

Issues

Sean Michael McGowan performs “Bridges &amp; Balloons” by Joanna Newsom. Recorded live 3 August 2018 in San Luis Obispo, California.

Sean Michael McGowan performs “Bridges &amp; Balloons” by Joanna Newsom. Recorded live 3 August 2018 in San Luis Obispo, California.

Bridges & Balloons

Sean Michael McGowan performs “Hand-Me-Down Tune” by The Avett Brothers. Recorded live 1 August 2018 in San Luis Obispo, California.

Sean Michael McGowan performs “Hand-Me-Down Tune” by The Avett Brothers. Recorded live 1 August 2018 in San Luis Obispo, California.

Hand-Me-Down Tune

Recorded live 29 July 2018 in San Luis Obispo, California.

Recorded live 29 July 2018 in San Luis Obispo, California.

Dinosaurs

Recorded live 20 June 2018 in San Luis Obispo, California.

Recorded live 20 June 2018 in San Luis Obispo, California.

Robots

Recorded live 31 May 2018 in San Luis Obispo, California.

Recorded live 31 May 2018 in San Luis Obispo, California.

Dance

Recorded live 25 May 2018 in San Luis Obispo, California.

Recorded live 25 May 2018 in San Luis Obispo, California.

Vineyard

The Sean Michael McGowan Show

The best podcast episodes on Startups. For anyone working in a startup, or anyone interested in the incredible stories behind how people built companies like Instagram, and Facebook. Offering both practical advice and insights, as well as the stories for how many of the biggest startups got to where they are today. Add episodes you're interested into your queue below!

Mel Liu

On this episode of the Knowledge Project Podcast, I chat with Patrick Collison, co-founder and CEO of the leading online payment processing company, Stripe. If you’ve purchased anything online recently, there’s a good chance that Stripe facilitated the transaction. What is now an organization with over a thousand employees and handling tens of billions of dollars of online purchases every year, began as a small side experiment while Patrick and his brother John were going to college.   During our conversation, Patrick shares the details of their unlikely journey and some of the hard-earned wisdom he picked up along the way. I hope you have something handy to write with because the nuggets per minute in this episode are off the charts. Patrick was so open and generous with his responses that I’m really excited for you to hear what he has to say. Here are just a few of the things we cover:  The biggest (and most valuable) mistakes Patrick made in the early days of Stripe and how they helped him get better The characteristics that Patrick looks for in a new hire to fit and contribute to the Stripe company culture What compelled he and his brother to move forward with the early concept of Stripe, even though on paper it was doomed to fail from the start The gaps Patrick saw in the market that dozens of other processing companies were missing — and how he capitalized on them The lessons Patrick learned from scaling Stripe from two employees (he and his brother) to nearly 1,000 today How he evaluates the upsides and potential dangers of speculative positions within the company How his Irish upbringing influenced his ability to argue and disagree without taking offense (and how we can all be a little more “Irish”) The power of finding the right peer group in your social and professional circles and how impactful and influential it can be in determining where you end up. The 4 ways Patrick has modified his decision making process over the last 5 years and how it’s helped him develop as a person and as a business leader (this part alone is worth the listen) Patrick’s unique approach to books and how he chooses what he’s going to spend his time reading  ...life in Silicon Valley, Baumol’s cost disease, and so, so much more. Patrick truly is one of the warmest, humblest and down to earth people I’ve had the pleasure to speak with and I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation together. I hope you will too! GO PREMIUM: Support the podcast, get ad-free episodes, transcripts, and so much more: https://fs.blog/knowledge-project-premium/

The Knowledge Project with Shane Parrish

On this episode of the Knowledge Project Podcast, I chat with Patrick Collison, co-founder and CEO of the leading online payment processing company, <a href="https://stripe.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Stripe.</a> If you’ve purchased anything online recently, there’s a good chance that Stripe facilitated the transaction. What is now an organization with over a thousand employees and handling tens of billions of dollars of online purchases every year, began as a small side experiment while Patrick and his brother John were going to college.   During our conversation, Patrick shares the details of their unlikely journey and some of the hard-earned wisdom he picked up along the way. I hope you have something handy to write with because the nuggets per minute in this episode are off the charts. Patrick was so open and generous with his responses that I’m really excited for you to hear what he has to say. Here are just a few of the things we cover: <ul> <li>The biggest (and most valuable) mistakes Patrick made in the early days of Stripe and how they helped him get better</li> <li>The characteristics that Patrick looks for in a new hire to fit and contribute to the Stripe company culture</li> <li>What compelled he and his brother to move forward with the early concept of Stripe, even though on paper it was doomed to fail from the start</li> <li>The gaps Patrick saw in the market that dozens of other processing companies were missing — and how he capitalized on them</li> <li>The lessons Patrick learned from scaling Stripe from two employees (he and his brother) to nearly 1,000 today</li> <li>How he evaluates the upsides and potential dangers of speculative positions within the company</li> <li>How his Irish upbringing influenced his ability to argue and disagree without taking offense (and how we can all be a little more “Irish”)</li> <li>The power of finding the right peer group in your social and professional circles and how impactful and influential it can be in determining where you end up.</li> <li>The 4 ways Patrick has modified his decision making process over the last 5 years and how it’s helped him develop as a person and as a business leader (this part alone is worth the listen)</li> <li>Patrick’s unique approach to books and how he chooses what he’s going to spend his time reading</li> </ul> ...life in Silicon Valley, Baumol’s cost disease, and so, so much more. Patrick truly is one of the warmest, humblest and down to earth people I’ve had the pleasure to speak with and I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation together. I hope you will too! GO PREMIUM: Support the podcast, get ad-free episodes, transcripts, and so much more: https://fs.blog/knowledge-project-premium/

#32 Patrick Collison: Earning Your Stripes

If you want your company to truly scale, you first have to do things that don't scale. Handcraft the core experience. Get your hands dirty. Serve your customers one-by-one. And don't stop until you know exactly what they want. That's what Brian Chesky did. As CEO of Airbnb, Brian’s early work was more akin to a traveling salesman. He takes us back to his lean years – when he went door-to-door, meeting Airbnb hosts in person – and shares the imaginative route to crafting what he calls an "11-star experience.”Read Paul Graham: "In order to scale, you have to do things that don't scale."Read a transcript of this interview at: https://mastersofscale.com/brian-chesky-handcrafted/Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter at http://eepurl.com/dlirtX

Masters of Scale with Reid Hoffman

If you want your company to truly scale, you first have to do things that don't scale. Handcraft the core experience. Get your hands dirty. Serve your customers one-by-one. And don't stop until you know exactly what they want. That's what Brian Chesky did. As CEO of Airbnb, Brian’s early work was more akin to a traveling salesman. He takes us back to his lean years – when he went door-to-door, meeting Airbnb hosts in person – and shares the imaginative route to crafting what he calls an "11-star experience.”Read Paul Graham: "In order to scale, you have to do <a href="http://paulgraham.com/ds.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">things that don't scale</a>."Read a transcript of this interview at: <a href="https://mastersofscale.com/brian-chesky-handcrafted/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://mastersofscale.com/brian-chesky-handcrafted/</a>Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter at <a href="http://eepurl.com/dlirtX" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://eepurl.com/dlirtX</a>

1. Airbnb's Brian Chesky in Handcrafted

OwlTail

Best Startups Podcasts

The best self improvement podcast episodes. From improving productivity, to finding purpose in your life to what constitutes freedom, this topic is on anything and everything that can help people to improve their lives. Add episodes you're interested into your queue below!

"We are a lot harder to read than we think" At work, studies show that others have a better perceptions of our strengths and weaknesses than we do. I've come to believe that I must validate how others view me, I cannot assume my understanding is correct without validation. This episode is fascinating, learn how to have a more accurate view of how others see you.

"The short answer is: people don't see us the way we see ourselves."

Heidi Grant Halvorson, author of "No One Understands You and What to Do About It," explains the science of perception.

HBR IdeaCast

Understand How People See You

"Agility = the opposite of rigidity". "The ability to change your mind is a superpower." When someone gives you feedback, try not to think 'is this true or not?' Try to think 'what can I learn from this?' Sometimes you learn you don't agree but you have a good reason why. "The good learn from everyone and everything. The average from themselves. The stupid already know everything." Socrates.

"Enrollment agility = what to do with our thoughts and emotions internally that

Susan David, author of "Emotional Agility" and psychologist at Harvard Medical School, on learning to unhook from strong feelings.

The Sean Michael McGowan Show

Weekly hand curated podcast episodes for learning