Podcasts for remote and bootstrapped founders: 16 active shows (2026)

The best podcasts for remote and bootstrapped founders are the ones that match your stage and still publish: for most people that means one bootstrapper show such as Startups for the Rest of Us, one skills show, and at most one show for range. Every show in the table below published a new episode in October 2026, and we checked each one on its own site or its Apple Podcasts page on 25 October 2026. We also list the well-known shows we dropped and why, because a lot of "best podcast" lists still recommend shows that stopped months or years ago.

One note before the list. Remote Builders has a podcast too: it's our own show, the first episodes are in the works, and you can suggest a guest. It isn't ranked here because there's nothing published to judge yet.

How to choose a founder podcast

Choose on five things: your stage, the format, episode length, whether it shares real numbers, and how recently it published. A great show for someone at US$5 million a year can be noise when you're looking for your first ten customers.

• Stage. Pre-revenue and early founders get more from shows about finding ideas and first customers. Founders with revenue get more from shows about pricing, hiring, churn and selling a business.
• Format. Interviews give you range. Solo episodes give you one person's tested framework. Co-hosted chat shows are easy listening, but the useful bits are more spread out.
• Length. It matters if you listen on a walk or a drive. On Apple Podcasts, How I AI's recent episodes ran 16 to 46 minutes, while Acquired's ran 2 hours 53 minutes to 4 hours 51 minutes (checked 25 Oct 2026).
• Real numbers. Some shows put revenue or ARR in the title, others stay at the level of principles. Numbers help you calibrate, but they're the guest's claims, not audited figures.
• Recency. Check the show's own episode list before you subscribe. A show that last published in 2023 can still be good, but it won't reflect how AI tools have changed building and selling.

If you're also choosing a community, the same stage test applies: see communities for remote founders compared.

16 active podcasts for remote and bootstrapped founders

These 16 shows all published between 1 and 25 October 2026, checked on 25 October 2026 (Bali time) on each show's own site or official Apple Podcasts page. They're grouped roughly from bootstrapped software, through AI-era building, to broader founder stories.

What each show is good for

Each show earns its place for a different job, so here's what you'll actually get from each one, based on its own description and recent episodes.

Bootstrapped software

Startups for the Rest of Us. This is the default pick for self-funded SaaS founders. Its site says it has put out a new episode every week for 15 years and claims more than 15 million downloads. Recent episodes cover SaaS moats in the age of AI and how to become the SaaS that AI tools recommend.

MicroConf On Air. MicroConf's own show describes itself as stories and strategies to level up your SaaS business. Recent episodes run under a "MicroConf Tactics" banner, on topics such as what SaaS buyers want in 2026. The 21 October episode has the same title as one from 23 September, so check before you assume it's new material.

The SaaS Podcast. Its Apple Podcasts page says Omer Khan has interviewed almost 500 founders since 2014, with a focus on how B2B SaaS and AI founders got their first customers and kept them. Episode titles often lead with a revenue figure, which makes it easy to pick the stories closest to your stage. It's a natural companion to getting your first customers without ads.

Rogue Startups. Craig Hewitt, who the site introduces as being from Castos, runs it with a co-host plus guest interviews. Recent episodes cover hiring in the AI era, AI agent experiments and whether "the SaaSpocalypse" is over. It's good for founders running a small team who want honest, in-progress thinking.

Mostly Technical. Ian Landsman and Aaron Francis describe it as a lively discussion on Laravel, business and an eclectic mix of related topics. Episodes are long, loose conversations, so it suits developer-founders who like to hear how other technical people think about running a business.

Solo and AI-era building

Solo Founders. Julian Weisser interviews founders building companies on their own, from later-stage businesses to people gaining traction now, according to its Apple Podcasts page. Several recent titles name funding rounds or big valuations, so it's less about lifestyle businesses than the name suggests. Read it alongside our guide to how solo founders use AI agents.

The Startup Ideas Podcast. Greg Isenberg's show is published about twice a week and shares free startup ideas. Recent episodes cover AI agent adoption and making money in the AI age, and most recent episodes ran 19 to 54 minutes. Use it to widen your idea list, then test ideas properly before you build.

How I AI. Claire Vo's show has a guest demonstrate a practical workflow you can try straight away, per its Apple Podcasts listing. It's the most "do this tomorrow" show on the list for founders adopting AI tools, and episodes are short. If you're choosing tools, see AI coding tools for founders compared.

Latent Space. The Apple Podcasts page describes it as the main Latent Space podcast on AI engineering, Forward Deployed Engineering and AI for science, hosted by swyx with co-hosts. It's technical and often long (recent episodes ran 27 minutes to 1 hour 50 minutes). Skip it if you don't write code.

Mixergy Startup Stories. Andrew Warner's long-running interview show, per its Apple Podcasts page, has leaned hard into AI in 2026, and many titles lead with a revenue claim, such as one person plus Claude running a 30-client agency. It published on 20 October after a gap since 30 May, so treat it as irregular.

Range, product and stories

My First Million. Shaan Puri and Sam Parr brainstorm business ideas every week, and they publish several times a week. It's entertaining and good for range, but it's light on step-by-step detail for a small remote company.

Lenny's Podcast. Lenny Rachitsky interviews product leaders and growth experts for concrete, tactical advice, per its Apple Podcasts page. Recent guests are mostly from larger tech companies, but episodes on product-market fit apply at any size.

Smart Passive Income. The show is listed as "with Pat Flynn and Liz Wilcox", and its site claims 47+ million downloads. It mixes interviews with short how-to episodes on email and selling, which suits creators, consultants and online businesses more than SaaS.

How I Built This. Guy Raz interviews well-known entrepreneurs about how they built their brands, including the doubt and failure along the way, per its Apple Podcasts page. It alternates full stories with shorter "Advice Line" episodes. Most companies are consumer brands, so it's better for motivation than for remote-business tactics.

Acquired. Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal tell the history and strategy of major companies in very long, heavily researched episodes. It's here as an optional extra: great for strategic thinking, not much for running a three-person remote business.

Founders. David Senra reads biographies and pulls out lessons, under the line learn from history's greatest entrepreneurs. Recent episodes covered Sam Walton, Henry Singleton and Michael Bloomberg. Good for perspective on long careers, not for this quarter's problems.

Shows we dropped, and why

We dropped these because they had no episode in the 90 days before 25 October 2026, are on a stated hiatus, or we couldn't verify them. The archives of several are still worth hearing.

• Tropical MBA. Its episode list shows a 30 July 2026 episode titled "The TMBA Podcast Is Going on Hiatus", saying Dan is stepping away from the mic with no return date yet. It's the classic show for location-independent founders, so the archive is still worth it.
• The Bootstrapped Founder. Arvid Kahl's official feed showed the latest episode on 3 April 2026.
• Software Social. Its site showed the latest episode on 18 July 2026, described as a season closer.
• Indie Hackers podcast. The podcast page on indiehackers.com returned a "Gone" error when we checked, and Apple Podcasts showed the last episode in June 2023. The Indie Hackers community itself is still active, with new posts on the day we checked.
• Build Your SaaS. Its domain showed a registrar parking page, and its feed had no episode in the last 90 days.
• Lightcone (Y Combinator), Indie Bites, Bootstrapped Web and Distributed. Each one's feed had no episode in the 90 days before we checked.
• The Remote Show (We Work Remotely). We couldn't find a current official episode list to verify, so we left it out.
• Business Wars. Left out by choice: it's about big-company rivalries, not building a small company.

How to get the most from founder podcasts

Get value by turning episodes into decisions, not by listening to more. A podcast is useful when it changes what you do this week.

1. Pick two or three shows and cap the rest. One matched to your stage, one for a skill you're weak in, and one for range if you want it.
2. Listen with a question. Before you press play, write the problem you're stuck on, such as pricing or your first sales calls. Skip episodes that don't touch it.
3. Write one decision per episode. Put it straight into your task list or decision log, with a date to review it. If an episode doesn't produce one, that's fine, but notice when a show never does.
4. Check claims before you copy them. Revenue figures and growth stories are the guest's own account. Test the tactic small before you bet on it.
5. Follow up with guests. A short, specific note to a guest about what you tried after their episode is one of the better cold messages you can send. Keep it to one question.
6. Join the community attached to a show. Several shows sit next to a community or event series, such as MicroConf. That's where you can ask the follow-up question. Our guide to communities for remote founders compares them.

To compare notes on what's worth your listening time with other remote founders, request an invite to Remote Builders.

Common mistakes

The biggest mistake is listening instead of shipping. Podcasts feel like progress because you're learning, but an hour of listening is an hour you didn't spend talking to customers or building.

• Listening at the wrong stage. A pre-revenue founder binging episodes about scaling to 50 staff will pick the wrong problems to solve.
• Treating survivor stories as a plan. Founder-story shows mostly feature people for whom it worked. You rarely hear from the ones who did the same things and failed.
• Subscribing to shows that have stopped. Old lists still recommend shows that ended years ago. Check the latest episode date before you subscribe.
• Copying AI-era tactics blindly. A lot of 2026 episodes are about AI agents and one-person companies. Some tactics will suit your business, many won't, and they change quickly.
• Never acting on what you hear. If you can't name a decision a show changed in the last month, unsubscribe and use the time to ship.
• Using podcasts to avoid selling. Listening to customer-acquisition episodes isn't the same as doing outreach. Pair any episode on first customers with a real action from getting your first customers without ads.