Lots of drive time this week, which means lots of good podcast listening. Here are four that I thought you would enjoy:

• For those looking for entrepreneurial focused podcasts, my new FAVE is Masters of Scale with Reid Hoffman (VC at Greylock and founder of LinkedIn). Here are the two that I have listened to with their key points that stuck:
  • • Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook): Learn about the importance of launching “imperfect products” and then listening intently to your customers to iterate and make it better vs. waiting to launch that perfect product. Be close to your customers!
    • Brian Chesky (Airbnb): Invest early and often in customer relationships so you develop empathy and build better products (thanks to all the educators who have taken time with our team over the past few weeks to let us know how we can continue to serve you better!). I love how he describes envisioning what would give your customers an 11-star experience. One of our projects at NGPF this summer:)

• Marc Andreessen, Venture Capitalist on Masters in Business with Barry Ritholtz: He founded Netscape (the first internet browser for you young folks), built another company (Opsware) and had a successful exit and now invests in start-ups as a venture capitalist. You will get a great history of the internet from someone who helped spawn it, learn about the ingredients that make a successful entrepreneur (he calls his interviews police interrogations) and find out how he thinks the future will unfold in the tech world. Very entertaining.

• Burton Malkiel, author, Vanguard director, Princeton professor, index fund pioneer on Masters in Business with Barry Ritholtz. I wish every young investor was required to read his book “A Random Walk Down Wall Street” and listen to this podcast where he explains the folly of trying to “beat the market.” He popularized the idea (that a research company verified) that blindfolded monkeys could throw darts at a dartboard and pick better stocks then “the pros.

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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