Essential Listening: Great Places to Work

If 2015 was the “Year of the Podcast,” then 2016 should see the medium break further into the mainstream. But there are a few things holding podcasting back. The first is demographics. Josh Morgan at Quartz notes that two thirds of podcasts are hosted by white males. The issue then isn’t the format or the technical details, but whether advertisers will support podcasts produced by different segments of the population.

The second issue is whether the long-form audio format is inhibiting the evolution of the podcasting. Charley Locke at Wired talks about the lengths to which podcasters are going to entice new listeners. Blanketing social media and using audio snippets have proven successful in creating new fans. Some podcasters are also experimenting with multimedia to expand the reach of the form. Nobody really knows how all this will shake out, but listeners will likely end up the beneficiaries.

One great thing about doing this post every week is that there is no shortage of material from previous weeks’ editions of Essential Listening. As usual, this week features a diverse group of selections to make your commute a little smarter.

• Barry Ritholtz recently sat down with Michael Covel, author of Trend Following: Learn to Make Millions in Up or Down Markets. These two podcasting veterans discuss the medium, the nature of markets and trend following, and why Vietnam is such an exciting place to visit. (The Big Picture)
• Speaking of Ritholtz, he was recently interviewed by Andrew Horowitz about market and economic fears going into 2016 and the challenges facing China. (The Disciplined Investor)
• The last few years have seen an increase in hedge fund cloning, especially at the exchange-traded fund (ETF) level. Michael Carrier of AlphaClone and Meb Faber, author of Invest With the House: Hacking the Top Hedge Funds, discuss the finer points of hedge fund cloning and how investors can go about implementing this strategy. (AlphaClone)
• One of the great challenges for novice investors is how to navigate the financial world. Maybe all investors need is s few simple rules. Chris Arnold takes a closer look at Harold Pollack and Helaine Olen‘s The Index Card: Why Personal Finance Doesn’t Need to be Complicated. (National Public Radio)
• One of the reasons why investment management is more expensive than it should be is the cost of connecting managers with clients. Zack Miller recently spoke with Peter Hans of Harvest Exchange about how using online resources can make it easier to bring clients and managers together. (Tradestreaming)
• Whether you know it or not, we all could use some professional coaching. Randy Komisar talks with Bill Campbell, who has coached and mentored a number of high-profile Silicon Valley CEOs, about the crucial traits CEOs needs to possess and the role they have to play in a successful organization. (TechCrunch)
• The venture capital boom is likely slowing down for now. That is why start-ups trying to raise a Series A round are going to have to work even harder. Jed Katz of Javelin Venture Partners goes through a 52-point checklist that start-up founders should take to heart. (This Week in Startups)
• When it comes to start-ups, there is something to be said for adopting a lean and focused approach. Tim Ferriss and Daymond John, author of The Power of Broke, discuss how having fewer resources requires you to think creatively and aggressively about your own business challenges. (The Tim Ferriss Show)
• One of the commonalities among today’s largest and most successful tech companies is that they are often ranked as “great places to work.” Michael Covel interviews Ron Friedman, author of The Best Place to Work: The Art and Science of Creating an Extraordinary Workplace, about the research behind what makes the most productive work environments. (Trend Following Radio)
• Gender equality is an increasingly important topic when it comes to work and pay. Stephen Dubner talks with economist Claudia Goldin, who has carefully studied the gender pay gap, about how simplistic wage gap soundbites fall apart under greater scrutiny. The gulf in pay among the genders is not necessarily a result of discrimination, Goldin contends, but is more due to broader societal trends. (Freakonomics Radio)
• Recently, the show Billions premiered on Showtime. Some think it may be a contrary indicator about the stock market. However, James Altucher talks with the show’s creators, David Levien and Brian Koppelman, about their creative process and what it took to bring the series to the public. (The James Altucher Show)

Feel free to leave a comment or to recommend other podcasts Enterprising Investor readers/listeners might enjoy. I may highlight your suggestion in this ongoing series on the world of podcasting.

You can read more from Tadas Viskanta on his blog Abnormal Returns or follow him on Twitter @abnormalreturns.

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All posts are the opinion of the author. As such, they should not be construed as investment advice, nor do the opinions expressed necessarily reflect the views of CFA Institute or the author’s employer.

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