Entrepreneurship

This Is Secret Leaders

Cover Image for the collection 'This Is Secret Leaders'

An honest look at entrepreneurship with the world's best founders

By The Blinkist Curators

What's it about?

Entrepreneurship Management & Leadership

Blinkist's Secret Leaders Shortcast brings you the candid truths about entrepreneurship and the challenges that lie ahead, from the people who've made it. This collection of the top 5 episodes will offer tips on staying productive, uncover the reasons for HubSpot and WeTransfer's massive successes, and teach you why following your instinct is the way to go.

This Is Secret Leaders

An honest look at entrepreneurship with the world's best founders

Brian Halligan: Woke Business Building

Brian Halligan: Woke Business Building

If you work in a professional environment, you’ve probably heard the term "company culture" thrown around a lot. While it might sound like jargon, to Brian Halligan that phrase is central to everything his company does. Brian is the co-founder and CEO of marketing giant HubSpot, and he credits his company culture not only for the growth of his business—but for helping him to do right by his customers and employees. In this episode Brian takes you through how to build and grow a business that works for everyone involved.

Damian Bradfield: Balancing Ethics and Growth

Damian Bradfield: Balancing Ethics and Growth

Have you ever heard of a company that gives away 30% of its profits to the arts? Or a company that values stunning design and a simple user experience over maximizing their gain? WeTransfer is the company that does exactly that. The file sharing platform transfers over a billion files a week, but is rooted in its principles of giving back to society and an uncompromising approach to design. In this episode, WeTransfer CEO Damian Bradfield shares the insights he learned as he helped grow the company into what it is today. He'll take you through some approaches on how to lead—and grow—an effective business without compromising your ethical beliefs.

Michael Acton Smith: Keeping the Main Thing, the Main Thing

Michael Acton Smith: Keeping the Main Thing, the Main Thing

If you struggle to manage the ups and downs that life throws at you, this episode might be for you. You'll discover how entrepreneur Michael Acton Smith established the meditation app Calm, and the many benefits that meditation can bring. You'll also hear more about the power of simplicity, and how through meditation you can keep the main thing, the main thing.

James Clear: How to Master Your Habits

James Clear: How to Master Your Habits

Ever reached for your phone and scrolled through Twitter without even realizing it? What about biting your nails or skipping that run? These are habits, and they aren’t just annoying—they’re controlling our lives. In this episode you'll learn what habits really are and how we can cultivate them to benefit your personal and work life. You'll hear from James Clear, author of the bestselling self-help book Atomic Habits, takes us through some of his key learnings and techniques in order to improve our relationship with our habits. By better understanding what drives them and how we can master them, we can gain more control over our lives and steer ourselves in the direction of our goals, either in the workplace or at home.

Sam Mathews: Following Your Instincts

Sam Mathews: Following Your Instincts

If you’ve been living under a rock for the last few years, you might have missed the birth of the billion-dollar industry that is esports. Gamers compete for huge cash prizes in front of millions of people, becoming megastars, commanding giant followings that your favorite pro basketball player would be jealous of. Unlike most people, this episode's guest, Sam Mathews, saw esports' potential at its conception, and went on to grow his own esports enterprise, Fnatic, to a $130 million valuation. Sam will show you how by following your instincts you too can develop a business, scale it, and even deal with the pressures that working with family can bring.

Payal Kadakia: Centering Your Passions

Payal Kadakia: Centering Your Passions

Putting your passions front and center is more than a zeitgeisty trend—it's the very thing that got Payal Kadakia through her tumultuous start as an entrepreneur and gain huge success with her company Classpass. It helped her stay true to her vision, and see her journey in the wider context—making decisions easier to execute. Through her story, you'll see how prioritizing your passions can help you achieve whatever goal you task yourself with.<br>

Michele Romanow: The World's Youngest Dragon

Michele Romanow: The World's Youngest Dragon

Have you ever wondered what being an entrepreneur feels like? According to Michele Romanow—tech entrepreneur, VC, TV personality, and the youngest ever Dragon from Dragon's Den—it can feel like being in a boxing ring where everyone is ready to take you down any moment. That’s exactly why she started Clearbanc, a company that aims to take away some of the pressure on entrepreneurs. In this episode you’ll discover more about her motivation, the path that brought her here, and how Clearbanc supports business founders and the struggles they face.

Jason Calacanis: Power of Risk

Jason Calacanis: Power of Risk

Have you ever been too scared to take a risk in starting that business, making that phone call, or quitting that job? If we want to be successful, taking risks is something we can't avoid— something guest Jason Calacanis knows all too well. It's safe to say he knows a thing or two about taking risks; he's working his way toward being known as the greatest investor of all time, coming in on apps like Uber and Robinhood. In this episode he shares his valuable insight on taking risks and candid conduct has immensely positive outcomes.

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