15 Best Business Podcasts to Listen to in 2026

Last updated: September 29, 2026

Quick answer: The best business podcasts in 2026 are Acquired for company deep dives, How I Built This for founder stories, and Odd Lots for markets and the economy. For daily business news, The Best One Yet covers three stories in about 20 minutes. Every show below is free and still publishing new episodes in 2026.

There are thousands of business podcasts, and most “best of” lists only cover startups and venture capital. This list is broader. It covers the founder interviews, but also the shows that explain markets, management and the economy, the topics CEOs and business owners actually need to follow.

We checked every show on this list for new episodes in 2026. For each one you’ll find the host, the format, who it’s best for and where to listen. Looking beyond business? See our full list of the best podcasts across every genre.

Quick Picks: Business Podcasts at a Glance

Podcast	Host(s)	Best for	Typical length	New episodes
Acquired	Ben Gilbert & David Rosenthal	Deep company histories	3–4 hours	About monthly
How I Built This	Guy Raz	Founder origin stories	About 50–85 min	Mon & Thu
Odd Lots	Joe Weisenthal & Tracy Alloway	Markets and the economy	About 40–55 min	Mon & Thu
Founders	David Senra	Lessons from business biographies	About 1–2 hours	Weekly
My First Million	Sam Parr & Shaan Puri	Business ideas	About 1 hour	3x a week
The Diary of a CEO	Steven Bartlett	Leadership and mindset	90+ min	2x a week
All-In	Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis, David Sacks, David Friedberg	Tech, markets and policy debate	1–2 hours	Weekly
The Prof G Pod	Scott Galloway	Business strategy and markets	About 30–60 min	Several a week
Planet Money	NPR team	Economics made simple	15–30 min	2x a week
HBR IdeaCast	Harvard Business Review	Management and leadership	About 30 min	Weekly
Masters of Scale	Reid Hoffman and rotating hosts	Scaling a company	30–45 min	Weekly
The Knowledge Project	Shane Parrish	Decision-making	1–2+ hours	Weekly
The Best One Yet	Nick Martell & Jack Crivici-Kramer	Daily business news	About 20 min	Weekdays
The Pitch	Josh Muccio	Real startup pitches	About 45–60 min	Weekly
Foundr	Nathan Chan	Step-by-step founder playbooks	50+ min	Weekly

The Best Business Podcasts, Reviewed

1. Acquired

Hosts: Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal

Best for: understanding how great companies were built

Acquired tells the full story of one company per episode, from founding to today. Episodes often run three to four hours and play like an audiobook, built on months of research. The hosts come from venture capital, so the analysis of strategy and deal-making is sharp. If you love long, researched storytelling, see our list of the best documentary podcasts too.

Start with: the Nike episode, which runs about four hours.

Listen Now

2. How I Built This with Guy Raz

Host: Guy Raz

Best for: founder origin stories

Guy Raz interviews the founders of well-known brands about how they started, what nearly broke them and how they recovered. The show has run since 2016 and still posts twice a week: a full interview on Mondays and an “Advice Line” episode on Thursdays, where a famous founder coaches small-business owners who call in. It’s also one of the best interview podcasts in any genre.

Start with: “Bogg Bag: Kim Vaccarella” (September 2026), about the $100 million business she almost walked away from.

Listen Now

3. Odd Lots

Hosts: Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway (Bloomberg)

Best for: markets, finance and the economy

Odd Lots takes one topic from the week’s business news and goes deep with an expert who works in it. That could be bond markets, copper mining or how a data center gets financed. The hosts are senior Bloomberg journalists who explain complex markets without talking down to you. In 2026 it has ranked in the top 10 investing podcasts on Apple Podcasts in the U.S.

Start with: “Ray Dalio on the Five Forces That Make This a Historical Moment” (November 2025).

Listen Now

4. Founders

Host: David Senra

Best for: lessons from history’s great entrepreneurs

Every week David Senra reads a biography of an entrepreneur and distills its lessons into one episode. He has covered hundreds of founders since 2016, and the show has built a following among CEOs and investors. According to Fortune, one founder credited a single episode with $750 million in capital raised from listeners. Readers will also like our list of the best book podcasts.

Start with: any biography of a founder in your own industry; the back catalog is the real value.

Listen Now

5. My First Million

Hosts: Sam Parr and Shaan Puri

Best for: new business ideas

Sam Parr (who sold his media company The Hustle to HubSpot) and Shaan Puri brainstorm business ideas in real time. They spot a trend, size the market and talk through how they’d build it. It’s the most energetic show on this list and a favorite among side-hustlers.

Listen Now

6. The Diary of a CEO

Host: Steven Bartlett

Best for: leadership, mindset and personal growth

Steven Bartlett’s long-form interviews go beyond business into health, psychology and success. Episodes usually run 90 minutes or more, and the guest list is one of the biggest in podcasting. If this is your style, you’ll also like our picks for the best motivational podcasts.

Listen Now

7. All-In

Hosts: Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis, David Sacks and David Friedberg

Best for: tech, markets and policy debate

Four Silicon Valley investors debate the week’s news, from AI and markets to tariffs and geopolitics. It’s unscripted, opinionated and often heated. Listeners who follow how policy moves markets should also browse our list of the best political podcasts.

Listen Now

8. The Prof G Pod

Host: Scott Galloway

Best for: business strategy and big tech

NYU Stern professor and serial entrepreneur Scott Galloway gives blunt takes on business, markets and careers. The feed runs several formats a week, including a markets episode and a listener Q&A.

Listen Now

9. Planet Money

Hosts: NPR’s Planet Money team

Best for: economics made simple

Planet Money started during the 2008 financial crisis and has released more than 1,500 episodes. Each one explains a single economic idea through a story, usually in under 30 minutes. It’s one of the best educational podcasts for anyone who wants to understand the economy without jargon.

Listen Now

10. HBR IdeaCast

Hosts: Harvard Business Review editors

Best for: managers and leaders

Harvard Business Review’s weekly show interviews researchers, authors and CEOs about management. Episodes are about 30 minutes and focus on one practical problem, such as running better meetings or leading through change. For more like it, see our list of leadership podcasts.

Start with: “The Shifting Relationship Between Business and the U.S. Government” (March 2026).

Listen Now

11. Masters of Scale

Hosts: Reid Hoffman and rotating hosts

Best for: growing a company

LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman launched this show in 2017. Founders and CEOs explain the decisions that let their companies grow, and each episode is built around one lesson. A Rapid Response series in the same feed covers leaders reacting to current events.

Start with: the episode with Reddit co-founder and CEO Steve Huffman.

Listen Now

12. The Knowledge Project

Host: Shane Parrish

Best for: better thinking and decision-making

Shane Parrish, founder of Farnam Street, interviews investors, CEOs and scientists about how they think. Conversations often run two hours or more and focus on judgment rather than tactics. It’s a strong pick for executives.

Listen Now

13. The Best One Yet

Hosts: Nick Martell and Jack Crivici-Kramer

Best for: a fast daily business briefing

Three business stories in about 20 minutes, every weekday. The hosts started out running Robinhood’s daily podcast before going independent in 2022. For more quick daily listens, see our best morning news podcasts and best news podcasts.

Listen Now

14. The Pitch

Host: Josh Muccio

Best for: seeing how startups really raise money

Real founders pitch real investors, and you hear the whole meeting. Later episodes follow up on whether the deal closed and what happened next. It’s the closest thing to Shark Tank, without the TV editing.

Listen Now

15. Foundr

Host: Nathan Chan

Best for: step-by-step founder playbooks

Nathan Chan interviews founders about exactly how they got customers, hired and scaled. The show has more than 500 episodes, with guests from bootstrapped startups to billion-dollar exits. It’s more tactical than most interview shows.

Listen Now

Bonus for policy watchers

Business doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Breaking Battlegrounds, our own weekly show, is a political podcast rather than a business one. Hosts Chuck Warren and Sam Stone interview policymakers and business leaders about the elections and policy fights that affect the economy.

Listen Now

Best Business Podcasts on Spotify

Every podcast on this list is free on Spotify. If you listen there, pick by how much time you have:

Under 20 minutes: The Best One Yet for daily news, or Planet Money for one economic idea at a time.
About 30–60 minutes: HBR IdeaCast, Odd Lots, Masters of Scale or How I Built This.
Long drives and workouts: Acquired, Founders, The Knowledge Project or The Diary of a CEO.
Want to watch, not just listen: The Diary of a CEO, All-In, My First Million and Acquired all publish full video episodes on YouTube, and many shows now post video on Spotify too.

Tip: follow a show on Spotify so new episodes land in your library automatically, and download long episodes before a flight. Short on time? Our lists of podcasts for your commute and the best podcasts to listen to at work have more ideas.

Best Podcasts for Entrepreneurs

If you run your own business or want to, these are the six shows to start with:

If you want…	Listen to
Inspiration from how famous brands started	How I Built This
Lessons from history's greatest founders	Founders
Your next business idea	My First Million
To see how fundraising actually works	The Pitch
Tactical how-tos on customers and growth	Foundr
Advice on scaling past the early stage	Masters of Scale

For small-business owners, How I Built This’s Thursday Advice Line episodes are especially useful. Real owners call in with a problem and get coached by a well-known founder. Thinking of launching a show for your own company? Read our guide on how to start a business podcast.

How We Picked These Podcasts

We started with the business charts on Apple Podcasts and Spotify and the shows most recommended by founders and executives. Every show had to meet three tests:

Still active: new episodes published in 2026. We checked each feed in September 2026.
Track record: at least several years of consistent publishing, so there’s a real back catalog to explore.
Useful: hosts or guests with firsthand experience running, funding or reporting on businesses.

We also balanced the list across formats, from daily news briefings to long-form company histories, so there’s a pick for every kind of listener.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the number one business podcast?

There’s no single official ranking, but Acquired, How I Built This and The Diary of a CEO are among the most popular and most recommended. Acquired is the top pick for deep company analysis, and How I Built This is the best-known founder interview show.

What podcasts do CEOs listen to?

Founders by David Senra is widely followed by CEOs and investors. The Knowledge Project, HBR IdeaCast and Odd Lots are also popular with executives because they focus on decision-making, management and markets.

What are the best financial podcasts?

For markets and the economy, start with Odd Lots and Planet Money. For daily business and market news, try The Best One Yet. For how investors think about tech and markets, All-In and The Prof G Pod are strong picks.

What is the best business podcast for beginners?

How I Built This and Planet Money. Both explain business in plain language through stories, and most episodes stand on their own, so you can start anywhere.

Are business podcasts free?

Yes. Every podcast on this list is free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and most are also on YouTube. Some offer paid, ad-free versions or bonus episodes.