Interview · Europe
The Diary of a CEO
with Steven Bartlett
Long, personal interviews with founders, executives and public figures — a mainstream British show that reaches an audience no venture podcast does.
Why an angel should listen
This is the least venture-shaped show on this list and the one your non-investing friends have heard of. The interviews are personal rather than commercial, and the subject is usually the person rather than the business — what it cost them, what they got wrong, what they would not do again.
The angel-relevant part is that you are underwriting people for a decade, and this show is a long study in what founders are actually like under sustained pressure. The candid sections about burnout, co-founder breakdown and the personal cost of scaling describe the failure modes that kill more early companies than bad strategy does.
The format is long and the guest list ranges far beyond business, so it requires selection. Treat it as an occasional listen rather than a rotation staple.
Where to begin
Start with these
- Interviews with founders about co-founder relationships breaking down — the most common early-stage failure and the least discussed.
- Episodes about burnout and the personal cost of scaling.
- Anything with a founder whose company failed publicly.
In short