Venture
Voice
The first podcast dedicated to interviewing entrepreneurs. Featuring the founders of Twitter, LinkedIn, Vanguard, Yelp, WordPress, Stack Overflow, Pandora, and more — many before they were famous.
CEOs
Founders
Creators
In 2005 — the year the New Oxford American Dictionary named "podcast" its word of the year — Greg Galant started recording conversations with founders. Early guests included Reid Hoffman while LinkedIn was still a startup, Jack Bogle on creating the index fund, Guy Kawasaki on life as Apple's evangelist, and Joel Spolsky before Stack Overflow existed. One early guest, Evan Williams, came on to talk about his new podcasting company Odeo. A year later, Williams pivoted that side project into Twitter. Many guests made their podcast debut on Venture Voice — years before entrepreneur podcasts existed as a genre.
Those conversations shaped an entrepreneurial career. Getting to know Ev Williams through the show made Greg one of the earliest Twitter users — early enough to grab @gregory on X and @gregory on Instagram. That connection gave him the idea for The Shorty Awards, the leading award show honoring the best of social media with past winners including Lizzo, Conan O'Brien, NASA, and Sesame Street. That led him to co-found and become CEO of Muck Rack, the PR platform used by most Fortune 500 communications teams, which raised $180M after a decade of bootstrapping and landed on the Inc. 5000 four consecutive years. Greg was named an EY Entrepreneur of the Year — proof that listening to enough successful entrepreneurs might turn you into one.
Landmark Guests
Founders, investors, and creators — many interviewed before their companies became household names
Evan Williams
Co-founder of Twitter, Blogger & Medium
Interviewed 2005 — Before Twitter Existed
Reid Hoffman
Co-founder of LinkedIn · Partner at Greylock
LinkedIn was still a startup
Jack Bogle
Founder of The Vanguard Group
Creator of the index fund
Dick Costolo
CEO of FeedBurner · Later CEO of Twitter
The very first VV guest
Tom Perkins
Co-founder of Kleiner Perkins
Funded Google, AOL, Genentech
Guy Kawasaki
Apple Evangelist · Chief Evangelist at Canva
Interviewed 2006 & revisited 2021
Joel Spolsky
Co-founder of Stack Overflow & Trello
Fog Creek Software era
Jeremy Stoppelman
Co-founder & CEO of Yelp
Early-stage interview
Matt Mullenweg
Founder of WordPress & Automattic
$7.5B · Powers 40%+ of the web
Todd McKinnon
Founder & CEO of Okta
Company worth $25B+
David Sacks
PayPal COO · Founder of Yammer & Craft Ventures
PayPal Mafia member
Tim Westergren
Founder of Pandora
Pioneered algorithmic music
Jason Fried
Co-founder of 37signals / Basecamp
Promoted the show on SvN
Derek Sivers
Founder of CD Baby
Two appearances · Gave $22M to charity
David Cohen
Co-founder of Techstars
Interviewed 2008 — Techstars was 2 years old
Steve Hindy
Co-founder of Brooklyn Brewery
War correspondent turned brewer
Brad Feld
Co-founder of Foundry Group & Techstars
Blogged about the show in 2005
Mena Trott
Co-founder of Six Apart (Movable Type)
Pioneer of the blogging era
Jason Calacanis
Founder of Weblogs, Inc. · Angel Investor
Silicon Alley Reporter era
Scott Heiferman
Co-founder of Meetup
Built real-world community at scale
Fabrice Grinda
Serial Entrepreneur & Angel Investor
500+ investments · Interviewed 2005
Amanda Hesser
Co-founder of Food52
NYT food writer turned entrepreneur
Henrik Werdelin
Co-founder of BarkBox & Prehype
Fast Company "100 Most Creative"
Robert LoCascio
Founder & CEO of LivePerson
$50K credit card debt to IPO
The Full Roster
Jack BogleJason CalacanisDrew ClarkDavid CohenDick CostoloSimon DanielDeborah FarringtonBrad FeldJason FriedFabrice GrindaJeremy HagueScott HeifermanGraham HillSteve HindyReid HoffmanScott JohnsonPhilip KaplanGuy KawasakiSharelle KlausRandy KomisarLarry KramerJoe KrausBo PeabodyKelly PerdewTom PerkinsShoba PurushothamanScott RaferKevin RyanDavid SacksFred SeibertPremal ShahDavid SifryBarry SilbertDerek SiversJoel SpolskyJeff StewartJeremy StoppelmanTom SzakySiamak TaghaddosMena TrottTim WestergrenEvan WilliamsSam WylyTodd McKinnonMatt MullenwegAmanda HesserHenrik WerdelinRobert LoCascioMark WilsonDan O'Keefe
Companies include LinkedIn · Twitter · Vanguard · Kleiner Perkins · Yelp · Okta · WordPress · Pandora · Stack Overflow · Trello · Brooklyn Brewery · Basecamp · CD Baby · FeedBurner · Digg · Meetup · Kiva · Six Apart · LivePerson · TerraCycle · Food52 · Bark · Techstars · Automattic · and many more
Timeline
June 2005 — The Beginning
Venture Voice launches as one of the first podcasts on the internet — and the first dedicated to entrepreneurs. Apple has just added podcasts to iTunes. TechCrunch profiles the show within its own first month of existence.
2005 — 2009 · The Early Years
Greg interviews Evan Williams before Twitter, Reid Hoffman while LinkedIn is still a startup, Jack Bogle on inventing the index fund, Tom Perkins on building Kleiner Perkins, and dozens more. Mashable and Signal v. Noise promote episodes to their audiences.
2009 · Hiatus
After nearly 60 episodes, Venture Voice goes on hiatus. Greg focuses full-time on Muck Rack and The Shorty Awards. The early interviews become time capsules — founders speaking about their companies at the very earliest stages.
2020 — 2021 · The Return
After 11 years, Venture Voice returns. Greg records new interviews with Todd McKinnon (Okta, $25B+), Matt Mullenweg (WordPress/Automattic, $7.5B), Guy Kawasaki (Canva), and more — while revisiting classic conversations with new context.
What's Next
Subscribe now so you don't miss the next season of Venture Voice. New episodes are coming — follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or the Venture Voice newsletter.
What They Said
Guests, listeners, and the press on Venture Voice
"
Dude, Venture Voice rules. You asked me some really insightful questions, and drew some stuff out of me that I'd never really talked about before. I have just told you a bunch of stuff I have never told anybody except for a few close friends.
Derek Sivers
Founder of CD Baby · On air, October 2008
"
Greg gives good interview — we covered a lot of ground which Greg did a nice job of summarizing in the show notes.
Brad Feld
Co-founder of Foundry Group & Techstars · Feld Thoughts blog, 2005
"
Venture Voice was the first podcast about startups I listened to, back in 2006. It inspired me to go the entrepreneurial route. I still remember the interviews with founders of Yelp, Grasshopper…
pkuhar
Apple Podcasts review · October 2020
"
Venture Voice is an awesome podcast overall. For anyone who's in the web/tech industry, it's a must-listen.
James Archer
Founder of Forty Media · Signal v. Noise comment, 2006
"
Greg from Venture Voice has put up an excellent audio interview with Jason Fried of 37Signals. Definitely worth a listen.
Mashable
Pete Cashmore era · October 2005
"
I am really enjoying the clever questions and interesting interviews on this podcast. Greg does a good job of asking questions that bring out the passion in the stories of the people he interviews.
J.C.Town
Apple Podcasts review · March 2021
"
I thought this would just be some stuffed shirt prattling on. Instead, he blew my mind. John Bogle is the real deal. His philosophies, his motivations, his maverick ideals and idealism absolutely rocked my world.
WorkHappy.net
Blog review of the Jack Bogle episode · April 2006
"
The original podcast interviewing amazing entrepreneurs. I loved it when it started many years ago and am so glad that Greg is picking it back up. Strongly recommend!
Dave
Apple Podcasts review · November 2020
"
I'm glad this podcast is back in action! It's one of my original favorites — super real interviews with entrepreneurs. Recommended!
David Cohen
Founder & CEO of Techstars · Apple Podcasts review · October 2020
In the Press
Coverage from tech publications and industry sources
TechCrunch
TechCrunch profiled Venture Voice in July 2005 — within TechCrunch's own first month of existence — making the podcast one of the earliest subjects TechCrunch ever covered.
July 2005
Signal v. Noise (37signals)
Jason Fried promoted the John Bogle episode on 37signals' influential blog, calling Bogle's philosophies on simplicity, common sense, and fairness essential listening for entrepreneurs.
February 2006
Wikipedia
Guy Kawasaki's Wikipedia biography cites his Venture Voice interview as a primary source — quoting his on-air remarks about leaving Apple to start his own company.
Cited in biography
Online News Association
ONA highlighted that many of Greg's guests "made their podcast debut on Venture Voice" — a claim that, given the 2005 launch date, is almost certainly true for a remarkable number of now-iconic founders.
ONA 2020 Conference
CMSWire
CMSWire described Venture Voice as evidence of Greg's "uncanny ability to absorb lessons from others" and connected the podcast directly to the origin of Twitter through its early relationship with Evan Williams.
December 2015
Spark n Launch
Named Venture Voice to its "Top Startup Podcasts" list alongside Mixergy, This Week in Startups, Stanford's Entrepreneurship Corner, and HBR Ideacast.
July 2012
Listen to the Archive
Two decades of entrepreneur interviews — from the dawn of podcasting to today.