For the past 4 years, I’ve written about my favorite Product podcasts and it’s already that magical time of year again! For a quick throwback, here are my past posts:
While I’m not commuting in-person these days to Kin Insurance, I’m still able to log about 1 hour of podcast listening time on my walks every day.
Here is this year’s list of my favorites for Product Managers looking to level up in 2021.
Note: There are a few duplicates from 2017–2020, but that’s because they are still great!
Top 10 Podcasts for Product Managers
Honorable Mention #1: Ted Talks Daily
Ted Talks Daily is your daily dose of inspiration and will help you think bigger as a Product Manager. While the content is (very often) much higher level than the day to day of a PM, that’s a good thing.
As you progress in your Product career and master the basics, you’ll start considering the role of your product and your company in the global economy.
And every so often, you’ll be inspired by something from a Ted talk completely outside of the world of tech and Product and you’ll be a better PM for it!
My recommendation: “How technology changes our sense of right and wrong | Juan Enriquez”
iTunes Link: Ted Talks Daily
Spotify Link: Ted Talks Daily
Honorable Mention #2: The Modern Product Manager
Note: This podcast is produced by the writer of this blog post (Alex Mitchell)
The Modern Product Manager is your deep dive into important and relevant Product topics and questions:
How can you thrive as a Remote Product Manager?
What design skills do Product Managers need today?
My recommendation: “Good Product Manager / Great Product Manager”
iTunes Link: The Modern Product Manager
Spotify Link: The Modern Product Manager
10. Startup Stories — Mixergy
With Startup Stories, Andrew Warner brings you fast-paced and fast-talking stories from the world of startups and entreprenuership.
Each and every day, Warner brings the heat on topics ranging from the biggest new funding rounds to top questions from first time founders to behind-the-scenes views of Product Development at fast growing startups.
Startup Stories is a potpourri of startup, Product, and tech content and it’s great at it!
My recommendation: “#2037 Adii Pienaar on his darkest moments”
iTunes Link: Startup Stories
Spotify Link: Startup Stories
9. Inside Intercom
As the company has grown, Intercom has continue to invest heavily in it’s content marketing and it shows. Their podcast and guests are consistently high quality and highly relevant to the world of today’s Product Manager.
Recently, I especially enjoyed the short “series” that Inside Intercom did called “S.H.O.P.”, a 4-part deep dive into the dramatic changes happening in retail and eCommerce. I learned a LOT about the changing landscape.
My recommendation: “Productboard founder and CEO Hubert Palan on mastering product strategy”
iTunes Link: Inside Intercom
Spotify Link: Inside Intercom
8. This is Product Management
At this point, This is Product Management (TIPM) is a perennial feature on my list of podcasts for Product Managers and they deserve it.
Here is a quick view of a few of their recent episodes as proof:
As you can see from the titles alone, TIPM covers an incredibly important and relevant Product topic each and every week. They are one of the most tactically-helpful podcasts out there for Product Managers of all levels.
My Recommendation: “261 Feedback and Flexibility is Product Management”
iTunes Link: This is Product Management
Spotify Link: This is Product Management
7. Product Love
Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) are dead.
Well not quite… But, Minimum Loveable Products (MLPs) have gained an incredible amount of notarity and traction over the past few years.
For many companies, it’s essential to create products that customers love, share, promote, and evangelize. It’s how Product Led companies succeed.
Product Love explores why certain products are so lovable with the people and teams who created them.
Go beyond the MVP with Product Love.
My Recommendation: “Todd Olson, CEO of Pendo: The Product-Led Organization”
iTunes Link: Product Love
Spotify Link: Product Love
6. Rocketship.FM
Rocketship.fm is back on my list of top podcasts this year because they have brought the ? in 2020 and 2021!
Rocketship breaks down concepts from Product Management to Growth, Sales to Funding, combining them with real world stories and killer guests to change the way you think about your product and your business.
My Recommendation: “Product Journeys: Signal”
iTunes Link: Rocketship.FM
Spotify Link: Rocketship.FM
5. The Indicator
While The Indicator is not intended as a podcast for Product Managers, it has made the list again this year because it truly helps PMs learn about different sectors of the economy that they may not have exposure to otherwise.
Listen to an episode or two of The Indicator and you’ll also become a fan of the two hosts: Stacey Vanek Smith and Cardiff Garcia. They have a great interplay of personalities and are genuinely fun to listen to!
My Recommendation: “Emojiconomics”
iTunes Link: The Indicator
Spotify Link: The Indicator
4. Business Wars
Business Wars is different from many of the new day, new topic podcasts I’ve featured on my list so far. This podcast takes a more serial, long-form approach, covering some of the biggest business wars in history.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve really enjoyed their “SpaceX vs. Blue Origin” series. Even though I knew many of the details, their re-enactments and behind the scenes detail simply bring these stories and events to life.
As a Product Manager, you’ll get the story behind the story with Business Wars.
My recommendation: “SpaceX vs Blue Origin | Burning Up”
iTunes Link: Business Wars
Spotify Link: Business Wars
3. Business Casual
Morning Brew made big news in 2020 with their $75MM acquisition by Insider, Inc., the parent company of Business Insider.
Throughout the pandemic, their podcast Business Casual continued to kill it as well!
These days, host Kinsey Grant devotes 2 episodes to each topic: Mondays feature an interview with a leader in the field (whether that field is sports betting, bitcoin, or meme stocks) and Thursdays feature a deeper dive into that same topic.
I really enjoy the new-ish format and come away each week smarter as a PM because of Kinsey and Business Casual!
My recommendation: “Bitcoin to $500,000? The Winklevoss Twins think so”
iTunes Link: Business Casual
Spotify Link: Business Casual
2. Snacks Daily
If you haven’t listened to an episode of Snacks Daily, the finance and startups podcast from Robinhood, I highly recommend it! They’ve continued to level up in 2020 and 2021 and more than earned their spot again on my list this year.
Snacks is fast-paced, Snacks is funny, and Snacks is highly topical.
Who talked about the Gamestop Stock Pop (say that 3 times fast!) before everyone else? Snacks did.
Who creates their own vocabulary like “Cyber Bulling” and “Zucking”? Snacks does.
Who brings simple explanations to complex topics like SPACs and Direct Listings? Snacks, that’s who.
I guarantee you’ll enjoy the entertaining hot takes hosts Nick and Jack have each day for you and in only 15 minutes, you’ll be smarter on what’s happening in the financial and tech world, especially when things are changing so fast!
My recommendation: “1st pod back: Our 3 big biz wishes for 2021”
iTunes Link: Snacks Daily
Spotify Link: Snacks Daily
1. Masters of Scale
It should be no surprise that Reid Hoffman and Masters of Scale have retained the crown as my #1 Podcast for Product Managers in 2021.
Even mid-pandemic, I still get excited when new episodes of Masters of Scale drop and they instantly become my top listen.
In 2020, Masters of Scale pivoted to add “Rapid Response” episodes, featuring Bob Safian, former editor of Fast Company. These episodes, as their name implies, are more focused on what’s currently happening in the economy and world of startups rather than more broad timeless topics.
Why is Masters of Scale so important for Product Managers?
Quite simply because Hoffman and Safian combine the highest quality guests with great storytelling with simple takeaways that are applicable to many types of businesses.
Trust me, that combination is far from simple, but they make it look like it.
My Recommendation: “Innovation is managed chaos, w/Eric Schmidt of Google/Alphabet”
iTunes Link: Masters of Scale
Spotify Link: Masters of Scale
What Did I Miss?
What great podcasts for PMs did I miss this year? Which episodes are your favorites? Let me know on Twitter: Alex Mitchell