Masters of Scale - PodcastSaver

Masters of Scale

Description

On Masters of Scale, iconic business leaders share lessons and strategies that have helped them grow the world's most fascinating companies. Founders, CEOs, and dynamic innovators join candid conversations about their triumphs and challenges with a set of luminary hosts, including founding host Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock partner). From navigating early prototypes to expanding brands globally, Masters of Scale provides priceless insights to help anyone grow their dream enterprise.

Episodes

2026 / 4 / 9

Humanize AI before it dehumanizes us, with Dr. Rana el Kaliouby at SXSW

AI is moving fast. But are we really keeping humans at the center? In this special live Rapid Response, recorded on stage at South by Southwest, host Bob Safian sits down with AI scientist, founder of...

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2026 / 4 / 7

The “most stressed” wellness CEO, with Calm’s David Ko

What happens when the CEO of one of the world’s biggest wellness apps says it’s time for a change? David Ko of Calm joins Rapid Response just after announcing his departure as CEO for a candid conversation...

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2026 / 4 / 2

How to think faster and talk smarter, with Matt Abrahams

Matt Abrahams knows what it takes to win over a crowd, close a deal, or inspire a team. The renowned communication expert and Stanford business school lecturer shares his science-backed strategies for...

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2026 / 3 / 31

The internet is breaking. So what’s next? with Cloudflare’s Matthew Prince

AI bots are on track to outnumber humans online by 2027. No one has a better line of sight into that shift than Matthew Prince — his company, Cloudflare, routes more than 20% of all internet traffic. Speaking...

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2026 / 3 / 26

Arthur Brooks on how to build a meaningful life

Arthur Brooks is a bestselling author and Harvard professor best known for his work on the science of happiness. He joins host Jeff Berman to reveal the insights at the heart of his new book: The Meaning of...

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2026 / 3 / 24

Crisis at Hormuz, and your $160b tariff refund clock, with Flexport’s Ryan Petersen

When global trade buckles, Ryan Petersen is the person executives call. The founder and CEO of Flexport returns to Rapid Response to offer a real-time account of the Strait of Hormuz crisis — what he's seeing...

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2026 / 3 / 19

Futurist Amy Webb: Trends are not enough

Amy Webb, futurist and CEO of the Future Today Strategy Group, held a funeral for her famous annual trend report at SXSW this year. She explains to host Jeff Berman why convergences are the new critical unit...

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2026 / 3 / 17

The C-suite is messier than you think, with Maryam Banikarim

Career disruption is accelerating across the economy — and few people have navigated it more boldly than Maryam Banikarim. The former CMO of Univision, Gannett, and Hyatt, and host of The Messy Parts podcast,...

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2026 / 3 / 14

How Shantanu Narayen transformed Adobe

Shantanu Narayen announced this week that he will step down after nearly two decades as CEO of Adobe. In this conversation first published in early 2025, Narayen talked with host Reid Hoffman about how he led...

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2026 / 3 / 12

FanDuel CEO Amy Howe: ‘My whole career has been sliding doors moments’

Before taking on the role of FanDuel CEO, Amy Howe faced unprecedented uncertainty while leading Ticketmaster through a global pandemic. Howe talks with host Jeff Berman about navigating fierce competition,...

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2026 / 3 / 10

Stop waiting for clarity. Unfreeze and act, with Accenture’s Julie Sweet

AI disruption and geopolitical upheaval are forcing business leaders to make high-stakes decisions — fast. Accenture CEO Julie Sweet joins Rapid Response host Bob Safian to share what she's hearing from her...

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2026 / 3 / 5

Your Rich BFF dishes on dopamine spending and the new money minefield, with Vivian Tu

Why does uncertainty make us less rational with money? And who should we trust for financial advice online? Vivian Tu, financial educator and CEO of Your Rich BFF, joins Rapid Response to break down today’s...

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2026 / 3 / 3

Rapid Recap: Iran, Anthropic vs. Pentagon, Paramount’s win, and more

Geopolitics is back at the top of every business leader's agenda — and the signals are coming fast. Host Bob Safian sits down with Rapid Response producer Alex Morris to cut through the noise and decode the...

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2026 / 2 / 26

Hailey Bieber, AI and fast launches: how e.l.f. Beauty is winning

Tarang Amin took the helm of e.l.f. Beauty at a pivotal moment and helped turn it from industry underdog to category disruptor, with a retail footprint spanning Sephora, Target, Dollar General, and H&M —...

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2026 / 2 / 24

Unrivaled is rewriting the business of women’s basketball

Women's sports are continuing to thrive. Record-breaking WNBA viewership, a flood of new brand investment, and now Unrivaled: the women's basketball league built by players, for players. Commissioner Micky...

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2026 / 2 / 19

Inside the business of hosting the Super Bowl

The Bay Area is in the midst of something unprecedented: playing host to the NBA All-Star Game, Super Bowl, and FIFA World Cup games back-to-back-to-back. It usually takes years of planning and expert...

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2026 / 2 / 17

Uncovering the $7 trillion reputation economy

Corey duBrowa spent much of his career advising some of the world’s most scrutinized leaders — from Howard Schultz at Starbucks and Marc Benioff at Salesforce to Sundar Pichai at Google. Now, as CEO of global...

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2026 / 2 / 12

DraftKings’ next big bets, with CEO Jason Robins

Prediction markets. AI. Super Bowl ads. Hear how DraftKings co-founder and CEO Jason Robins is placing bets on the future. Robins talked with host Jeff Berman just ahead of the Super Bowl in San Francisco...

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2026 / 2 / 10

Super Bowl ads, Bad Bunny, and the business of cultural risk, with Autodesk’s Dara Treseder

The Super Bowl LX ad blitz was a big budget highwire act — from Anthropic's shot at OpenAI to Lady Gaga's homage to Mr Rogers, and Dunkin's nostalgia-fueled celeb fest. Autodesk CMO Dara Treseder returns to...

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2026 / 2 / 7

GaryVee on how to make Super Bowl ads that are actually funny

Gary Vaynerchuk of VaynerMedia has produced more than a dozen Super Bowl ads for brands. In 2026, his hilarious "Will Shat" spot for Kellogg's Raisin Bran features actor William Shatner with a fiber-forward...

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2026 / 2 / 5

How Zoom grew 30x almost overnight

Eric Yuan saw frustrated customers and wanted to make the product he worked on better – but couldn’t convince his bosses. So he struck out on his own and founded a competitor: Zoom. Yuan talks with host Jeff...

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2026 / 2 / 3

Padma Lakshmi’s secret to authentic leadership? Stop trying.

TV host, producer, author, and UN Goodwill Ambassador Padma Lakshmi joins Rapid Response with candid advice for business leaders on speaking out, showing courage, and staying true to themselves, particularly...

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2026 / 1 / 31

Possible: Amjad Masad on vibe coding, AI agents, and the end of boilerplate

On this episode of Possible, Reid Hoffman and Aria Finger sit down with Amjad Masad, founder and CEO of Replit, to explore how AI is fundamentally changing who gets to build software and what that means for...

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2026 / 1 / 29

How to break through a fear of failure, with Fawn Weaver & Van Jones

After blitzscaling one of the fastest-growing spirit brands in history, Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey founder Fawn Weaver is reflecting on how to build not just a company, but a meaningful life. She talked...

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2026 / 1 / 27

Reid Hoffman on AI’s new tune, Davos, and the need for CEO courage

As global leaders disperse from the World Economic Forum, LinkedIn co-founder and tech investor Reid Hoffman joins Rapid Response to break down the biggest challenges and opportunities facing business today,...

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2026 / 1 / 24

Reid Hoffman & Inflection AI’s Sean White on designing AI that makes us better humans

At Masters of Scale Summit in October of 2025, Reid Hoffman and Dr. Sean White, CEO of Inflection AI, discuss how to design responsible AI systems, build smarter AI-fueled businesses, and the potential for...

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2026 / 1 / 22

How to make smarter changes, with cognitive scientist Maya Shankar

Cognitive scientist Maya Shankar has made a career of cleverly using insights from behavioral economics to fuel her work in the Obama White House and in Silicon Valley. She talks with host Jeff Berman about...

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2026 / 1 / 20

Anti-polarizing strategies from a purple city, with OKC Mayor David Holt

Mayors are unique leaders in America, often more loved and less polarized than state or federal politicians, with a different mandate and metric for success. Mayor of Oklahoma City, David Holt, is also the...

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2026 / 1 / 15

How to save a magazine, with The Atlantic’s Nicholas Thompson

When Nicholas Thompson took over as CEO of The Atlantic five years ago, the iconic magazine was in financial trouble. Now, its profitable and subscriber and revenue numbers are growing. Thompson joins host...

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2026 / 1 / 13

The AI agents in your wallet, with Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach

What did the latest holiday shopping season reveal about consumer confidence as the year begins? Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach joins Rapid Response to unpack the signals he’s seeing across global spending —...

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2026 / 1 / 10

How Baby2Baby stepped up as LA wildfires raged

One year ago, as devastating wildfires tore through Los Angeles, nonprofit Baby2Baby was on the ground helping. We're revisiting the conversation Co-CEOs Norah Weinstein and Kelly Sawyer Patricof had on stage...

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2026 / 1 / 8

The $800M exit that started with a single muffin

Simple Mills started with its founder Katlin Smith tinkering with almond flour muffin recipes in her apartment kitchen. Over the next decade, she built a better-for-you food powerhouse. Smith talks with host...

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2026 / 1 / 6

Business world predictions for 2026

As we turn from reflection to what’s ahead for a new year, Rapid Response presents host Bob Safian’s predictions for the most pressing issues business leaders could face in 2026. Join Bob and producer Alex...

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2026 / 1 / 1

The science of fresh starts

To kick off 2026, we’re revisiting our conversation with behavioral scientist Katy Milkman. The Wharton professor and bestselling author of “How to Change” sits down with host Jeff Berman to share proven ways...

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2025 / 12 / 30

Pioneers of AI: Mark Cuban’s investment strategy in this new era of tech

Mark Cuban has spent decades as a serial entrepreneur and investor, with one of the best track records on the planet (including celebrity status on ABC’s Shark Tank). In this episode of Pioneers of AI, Cuban...

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2025 / 12 / 25

How to unlock your team’s creative potential

To get the most out of your talent, you need to create an environment that allows them to thrive. Nobody knows this better than Indra Nooyi, who spent 12 years as the CEO of PepsiCo. Her drive to support...

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2025 / 12 / 23

Resurrecting dire wolves is just the beginning for Colossal Biosciences’ Ben Lamm

In this encore episode of Rapid Response, we revisit a scientific breakthrough that set the internet ablaze: The ‘de-extinction’ of the dire wolf. While many celebrated Colossal Biosciences’ announcement, the...

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2025 / 12 / 18

The Salesforce CFO who left to save lives

After serving as Chief Legal Officer and then CFO at Salesforce, Amy Weaver sought a new challenge. She is now CEO of Direct Relief, which she tells host Jeff Berman is "the largest, most efficient, most...

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2025 / 12 / 16

Lessons of Rapid Response for 2026

This year delivered whiplash: geopolitics, tariffs, and technology all shifting at once. And heading into 2026, the disruption isn’t easing up. In this special episode, host Bob Safian distills five hard-won...

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2025 / 12 / 11

Make the office a destination, not just an obligation

With over two billion in annual revenue and nearly 7,000 employees, Gensler has cemented itself as a global icon in architecture and design. Host Jeff Berman talks with co-CEO Elizabeth Brink and global...

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2025 / 12 / 9

Kara Swisher takes on big tech, from Apple to Nvidia

Can ChatGPT dethrone Gemini? Is Tim Cook capable of leading Apple into the next wave of AI? As 2025 winds down, journalist and podcast host Kara Swisher joins Rapid Response to cut through the noise and...

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2025 / 12 / 6

A warning for business leaders: Aspiring autocrats tank economies

How does a country sliding toward autocracy affect its economy? Political scientist and author Barbara F Walter offers data-driven insights about why the murky middle ground between democracy and autocracy is...

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2025 / 12 / 4

The business behind OnlyFans, with CEO Keily Blair

In less than a decade, OnlyFans says it has grown into a business earning $7 billion a year. The digital platform is known for letting its 4 million creators share exclusive – often NSFW – content with more...

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2025 / 12 / 2

Embrace the multihyphenate career, with Chief’s Alison Moore

A recent New York Times headline — “Did Women Ruin the Workplace?” sparked a firestorm across social media. Bob Safian welcomes a leader pushing back on this notion with data and nuance: Alison...

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2025 / 11 / 27

Replay: Dinner table wisdom with Danny Meyer

Danny Meyer is best known as the founder of Shake Shack and the legendary restaurants of his Union Square Hospitality Group in New York City. He joined host Jeff Berman in 2024 for the first Masters of Scale...

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2025 / 11 / 25

Beyond the Parade: Macy’s navigates tariffs, turbulence and retail evolution

This Thursday marks the 99th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and Macy’s Inc. chairman and CEO Tony Spring joins Rapid Response with a behind-the-scenes preview of what to expect. It’s been a tumultuous...

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2025 / 11 / 22

Possible: Steve Kerr and Kris Brown on leadership and purpose in sports

What does it take to turn tragedy into advocacy, and advocacy into lasting change? This week, Reid and Aria are talking to Warriors head coach Steve Kerr and Kris Brown, president of Brady, the nation’s...

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2025 / 11 / 20

How to be 'fearless' in the AI age, with Fei-Fei Li and Reid Hoffman

The brilliant computer scientist Fei-Fei Li is often called the Godmother of AI. She talks with host Reid Hoffman about why scientists and entrepreneurs need to be fearless in the face of an uncertain...

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2025 / 11 / 18

AI: The new frontier for mental health support?

In recent weeks, OpenAI faced seven lawsuits alleging that ChatGPT contributed to suicides or mental health breakdowns. To spotlight the controversial relationship between AI and mental health, host Bob...

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2025 / 11 / 13

The future of crypto, with Coinbase’s Emilie Choi

When Emilie Choi first left Linkedin to go work at a crypto company called Coinbase, her old colleagues thought she made a big mistake. But after surviving a crypto winter, she’s become a key figure in the...

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2025 / 11 / 11

How to get funded now: VCs Reid Hoffman, Aileen Lee, and Stacy Brown-Philpot, with Van Jones

Reid Hoffman, Stacy Brown-Philpot, and Aileen Lee are three of the most successful, legendary leaders and investors in Silicon Valley. (The term “unicorn” for a startup valued at a billion dollars? Well,...

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2025 / 11 / 8

Remarkable People: David Chang is 'Steve Jobs with a knife"

What happens when a world-class chef learns that success doesn’t taste like he imagined?David Chang—the culinary force behind Momofuku and author of Eat a Peach—joins Guy Kawasaki to talk about ambition,...

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2025 / 11 / 6

From billion-dollar brand to blank slate: Bobbi Brown’s comeback

She built her first company, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, into a billion-dollar brand. But when things soured between her and her parent company, Estée Lauder, she had a choice: retire from the industry, or...

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2025 / 11 / 4

Branding truths and tariff myths, with Autodesk’s Dara Treseder & Flexport’s Ryan Petersen

In a special episode of Rapid Response, we feature two fast-paced, lively conversations from Masters of Scale Summit in San Francisco. Autodesk CMO Dara Treseder breaks down branding and marketing lessons...

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2025 / 10 / 30

When ‘genius’ becomes a trap, with author Ryan Holiday

For everyone from Superbowl-winning coaches to CEOs, Ryan Holiday’s writing has made the timeless wisdom of ancient Stoic philosophers accessible and relevant in a modern age. He joins host Jeff Berman to...

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2025 / 10 / 28

Chobani & Patagonia CEOs break down where values meet profit

In these volatile times, how do we navigate the intersection between values and commerce? Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert and Chobani CEO Hamdi Ulukaya join the New York Times’ David Gelles on stage at the Masters...

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2025 / 10 / 23

Andrew Ross Sorkin: How to make sense of today’s market

Is the stock market in an AI bubble? What happens if it bursts? To understand our current economic moment, it’s essential to understand history. That’s why journalist and author Andrew Ross Sorkin joined host...

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2025 / 10 / 21

The New York Times ‘will not be cowed’, with CEO Meredith Kopit Levien

From attacks by President Trump to active lawsuits against Microsoft and OpenAI, The New York Times is engaged in a fierce fight to preserve the future of independent journalism. It also keeps building a...

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2025 / 10 / 16

Brené Brown & Reid Hoffman on the skills every leader needs now

Author and researcher Brené Brown joined host Reid Hoffman on stage recently in San Francisco for the 2025 Masters of Scale Summit. She reveals insights about how to lead courageously, the underrated skills...

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2025 / 10 / 14

Airbnb’s bet on an IRL future, with Brian Chesky

Amid dramatic disruption, what role should business play in building the future? Recorded live at the 2025 Masters of Scale Summit in San Francisco, Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky shares his candid...

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2025 / 10 / 9

Replay: How Daymond John built FUBU

How do you create authentic partnerships to build scale? In this archival episode, Reid Hoffman talks with the iconic entrepreneur and Shark Tank star Daymond John about how he built FUBU from...

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2025 / 10 / 2

How to sell a billion dollars of snacks, with the founders of Chomps

Chomps co-founders Rashid Ali and Pete Maldonado had an unusual side hustle: selling meat sticks online. The co-founders join host Jeff Berman to reveal the phone call from Trader Joe’s that changed...

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2025 / 9 / 30

Design dominance sparks a blockbuster IPO, with Figma’s Dylan Field

Figma burst into the public eye in 2022 after Adobe was blocked from buying the design startup for $20 billion. This chapter set the stage for an even bigger milestone at Figma: a splashy IPO this summer at...

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2025 / 9 / 27

Pioneers of AI: The power of storytelling in VCs, with Jeffrey Katzenberg and ChenLi Wang

In this episode of Pioneers of AI, Jeffrey Katzenberg and ChenLi Wang of the venture capital firm WndrCo share why storytelling is essential for building transformative companies and how AI shapes their work....

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2025 / 9 / 25

Build stronger trust on your teams, with Rachel Botsman

What happens when your team doesn’t trust each other? How can you repair damaged trust at work? How has technology changed the way we decide who to trust? Author and trust researcher Rachel Botsman joins host...

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2025 / 9 / 23

After devastating aid cuts, Mercy Corps keeps fighting, with Tjada D’Oyen McKenna

For an organization built around responding to crises around the globe, Mercy Corps now finds itself at the center of its own trauma. Following the Trump administration’s aid cuts, two-thirds of Mercy Corps’...

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2025 / 9 / 18

How to find your next mentor, with Janice Omadeke

A great mentor can supercharge your career. That’s why author and entrepreneur Janice Omadeke wanted to make it easier for people to connect with the best possible mentors. She joins host Jeff Berman to...

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2025 / 9 / 16

Historic changes across high fashion, with WSJ. Magazine’s Sarah Ball

As the fashion world navigates an unprecedented wave of turnover from Chanel to Dior, WSJ. Magazine’s Editor in Chief, Sarah Ball joins Rapid Response to explore the most closely watched New York Fashion Week...

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2025 / 9 / 13

Possible: Stephen Colbert isn’t so sure about AI (with Reid Hoffman)

On the latest episode of Reid Hoffman’s Possible podcast, he and Aria talk with comedian Stephen Colbert. They discuss how J.R.R. Tolkien helps The Late Show host make sense of AI, whether technology will...

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2025 / 9 / 11

How a near-death experience changed this founder’s approach to fear

Podcast description: Matthew Pohlson’s dreams of building a company were almost cut short by a near-death experience. The CEO and co-founder of Omaze reveals how it changed his mindset, and unlocked new ways...

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2025 / 9 / 9

Music biz at a crossroads: from Taylor Swift to AI, with Sowmya Krishnamurthy

Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards shone a light on some of the biggest storylines in the music business today – from the TikTokification of newly minted stars, to the evolving relationship between artists and...

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2025 / 9 / 4

Betting on product to win in fantasy sports, with Underdog’s Jeremy Levine

As the NFL season kicks off this week, host Jeff Berman talks with a serial entrepreneur known for innovating in fantasy sports. Jeremy Levine is the founder and CEO of Underdog, a rapidly scaling unicorn....

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2025 / 9 / 2

Grab’s rise from rideshare to superapp in Asia, with Anthony Tan

Grab is a rideshare service-turned superapp, not available in the US but rapidly growing in Southeast Asia. It’s even outmaneuvered global players like Uber to reach a valuation north of $20 billion. Grab’s...

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2025 / 8 / 28

Reid Hoffman & Kickstarter’s Everette Taylor take your questions

For our latest Strategy Session, Reid Hoffman and Kickstarter CEO Everette Taylor answer questions from entrepreneurs about how to build more resilient businesses. They share frameworks for taking smarter...

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2025 / 8 / 26

Hollywood’s hottest AI partner, with Runway’s Cristóbal Valenzuela

AI tools are disrupting all types of creative content, and Runway AI is a pioneer making major waves in Hollywood. It’s partnering with the likes of Disney and Netflix to revolutionize production. Runway’s...

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2025 / 8 / 21

How design drives successful companies, with Sarah Stein Greenberg

Whether you’re building a new product from scratch, growing your team, or trying to find product market fit, every part of scaling a business has one thing in common. It needs to be well designed. That’s why...

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2025 / 8 / 19

Dating is down. So why is Hinge thriving? with CEO Justin McLeod

As young people report feeling lonelier and less connected than ever, the dating app Hinge is driving its users into real life, human experiences. CEO Justin McLeod returns to Rapid Response to share how the...

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2025 / 8 / 16

The bromance that rebuilt Detroit: Dan Gilbert and Mayor Mike Duggan

As we gear up for our 2025 Masters of Scale Summit, we’re revisiting one of the stellar on-stage conversations that happened at the 2024 event. Hear Rocket Companies’ Dan Gilbert and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan...

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2025 / 8 / 14

The insights that fuel SharkNinja’s biggest innovations

From humble beginnings selling vacuums on late night informercials, SharkNinja has grown to a 6 billion dollar a year business. CEO Mark Barrocas joins host Jeff Berman to reveal how the company keeps coming...

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2025 / 8 / 12

Is it ‘economic Halloween’ in the US? with political economist Mark Blyth

Zoom out from continuing tariff turmoil and Trump’s recent attacks on the Fed and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and you’ll see a broader new economic order is forming. Political economist and Brown...

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2025 / 8 / 7

Inside one of the world’s greatest fundraising operations

When Rick Shadyac Jr. took over as CEO of the fundraising organization responsible for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, it was bringing in about 600 million a year. The recently retired leader joins...

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2025 / 8 / 5

Employers adapt to ICE raids and a workforce on edge

As the Trump Administration ramps up mass deportations, the American Business Immigration Coalition is advocating for policy reform. Rebecca Shi leads the organization made up of 1,400 current and former...

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2025 / 7 / 31

The new art and science of marketing, with Known’s Ross Martin and Kern Schireson

When Ross Martin and Kern Schireson blended their companies in 2020 to form Known, they knew they wanted to throw out the old rule book about how to succeed in marketing. Now, they’re scaling fast and...

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2025 / 7 / 29

Blocking AI crawlers to save the internet, with Cloudflare’s Matthew Prince

Cloudflare recently made headlines with breakthrough technology that stops AI companies from scraping online content with impunity. That’s major impact, since the company is involved in more than 20 percent...

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2025 / 7 / 26

Strategy Session: Advice from Elan Lee and Sarah Robb O’Hagan

How do I learn to delegate? When is it time to expand? How can I find the right partners? Hear two iconic leaders – Sarah Robb O’Hagan and Elan Lee – take on real questions from early stage founders in our...

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2025 / 7 / 24

How to create a ‘transcendent’ career, with author Suzy Welch

NYU Stern School of Business professor Suzy Welch has designed a framework – “Becoming You” – to help you figure out how to build a career that aligns with your values. She joins host Jeff Berman to dig into...

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2025 / 7 / 22

From Colbert to Trump’s WSJ lawsuit, Axios’ Sara Fischer on media turmoil

It’s been one of the most consequential weeks ever in the media business, from CBS’ Stephen Colbert cancellation, and Trump's lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal, to Congress clawing back more than...

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2025 / 7 / 17

CATAN: Reid Hoffman’s favorite board game for business leaders

The board game CATAN has sold 45 million copies worldwide since Klaus Teuber invented it 30 years ago. It’s Reid Hoffman’s favorite board game for business leaders. He sat down with brothers Benjamin and...

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2025 / 7 / 17

Reid Hoffman’s favorite board game for business leaders

The board game CATAN has sold 45 million copies worldwide since Klaus Teuber invented it 30 years ago. It’s Reid Hoffman’s favorite board game for business leaders. He sat down with brothers Benjamin and...

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2025 / 7 / 16

How Starbucks’ CEO is revamping the brand

Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol made waves this week by announcing a new Return-to-Office mandate for corporate workers. It’s the latest in a string of changes the coffee company is making to restore its position...

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2025 / 7 / 15

Trump’s chilling effect on big business, with Harvard Business Review’s Adi Ignatius

After 16 years as Editor-in-Chief of Harvard Business Review, Adi Ignatius is handing the role over to a new leader, and he joins Rapid Response for a more-than-an-exit interview. A longtime friend and...

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2025 / 7 / 10

How a summer job grew into an ice cream empire, with CEO Ben Van Leeuwen

Van Leeuwen Ice Cream is one of the fastest growing dessert brands in the country. It’s known for its seriously delicious classic flavors and its wacky collaborations. (Kraft Mac and Cheese ice cream,...

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2025 / 7 / 8

PBS fights for its future, with President & CEO Paula Kerger

PBS President & CEO Paula Kerger joins Rapid Response to take us inside the organization’s financial reality if federal funding is stripped, and how she’s battling to protect iconic programming — from...

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2025 / 7 / 3

How Baby2Baby stepped up as LA wildfires raged, with co-CEOs Norah Weinstein and Kelly Sawyer Patricof

Devastating wildfires tore through Los Angeles at the start of 2025. Nonprofit Baby2Baby was on the ground leveraging its deep knowledge of how to respond to natural disasters to help families in need....

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2025 / 7 / 1

Canva’s $35B design biz is quietly taking over the workplace, with co-founder & COO Cliff Obrecht

For over a decade, Canva has made design and publishing more accessible than ever. Now, the company is wrestling with how to harness AI while staying true to its mission of empowering individual creators....

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2025 / 6 / 26

Building a $1.5B real estate empire, with Spencer Rascoff and Austin Allison

Zillow co-founder Spencer Rascoff and Dotloop founder Austin Allison both knew that owning a vacation home was a great privilege — and an expensive hassle. They’re leveraging their decades of experience in...

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2025 / 6 / 24

Empowering frontline leaders amid Trump’s massive global aid cuts, with War Child’s Dr. Samantha Nutt

Even after the fighting stops, the impact of war is felt for generations. War Child US and Canada’s President Dr. Samantha Nutt joins Rapid Response to share how the nonprofit is serving families in conflict...

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2025 / 6 / 19

How to raise $172M for the underinvested, with Stacy Brown-Philpot

After wildly successful stints at Google, as CEO of Taskrabbit, and on prominent boards, Stacy Brown-Philpot decided it was time to start her own venture capital fund. She talks with host Jeff Berman about...

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2025 / 6 / 17

Reid Hoffman on Trump vs Musk, Zuckerberg’s “superintelligence,” and the next wave of AI

Amid global conflict, domestic unrest, and AI’s surging impact in all corners of business, it’s getting harder than ever to decipher noise from substance. To help us navigate this challenge, Reid Hoffman...

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2025 / 6 / 17

Reid Hoffman on Trump vs Musk, Zuckerberg’s “superintelligence”, and the next wave of AI

Amid global conflict, domestic unrest, and AI’s surging impact in all corners of business, it’s getting harder than ever to decipher noise from substance. To help us navigate this challenge, Reid Hoffman...

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2025 / 6 / 14

Advice for grads in the age of AI from Reid Hoffman, Spencer Rascoff & more

A group of graduating students asked Reid Hoffman the biggest questions looming in their minds as they venture out into their careers. Plus, we asked a dozen incredible CEOs, founders and authors for the one...

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2025 / 6 / 12

Is Dude Perfect the next Disney?

What started as five friends filming trick shot videos 16 years ago has become a new media empire. Dude Perfect has more than 61 million followers on YouTube alone. CEO Andrew Yaffe talks with host Jeff...

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2025 / 6 / 10

Trump’s impact on crypto future and your portfolio, with Unchained’s Laura Shin

While the first family engage in their own memecoin ventures, the crypto market is booming. Crypto expert and host of the podcast Unchained, Laura Shin joins Rapid Response to reveal the sector’s emerging...

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2025 / 6 / 5

Simon Sinek: How to identify great leaders & find your why

Author Simon Sinek joins host Reid Hoffman for a lively chat about how to identify good leaders, scale ideas, and leverage the “ultimate hack” for success. They also discuss why missionaries beat mercenaries...

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2025 / 6 / 3

Sports biz at a crossroads, from the WNBA to the NCAA to ESPN, with Sarah Spain of Good Game

Sports business has never had higher stakes—for every league, every team, every streaming service, and every player. Sarah Spain, host of the podcast Good Game with Sarah Spain, longtime ESPN personality and...

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2025 / 5 / 31

Pioneers of AI: Reid Hoffman on AI’s environmental risks and rewards

Reid Hoffman recently stopped by Pioneers of AI to talk with host Rana el Kaliouby, and we didn’t want you to miss their fascinating conversation on AI’s environmental impact. They discuss AI’s potential for...

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2025 / 5 / 29

Why great storytellers thrive in business, with Trilith Studios CEO Frank Patterson

Trilith Studios CEO Frank Patterson joined host Jeff Berman on stage at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta as part of our Masters of Scale live tour in May. Patterson shares insights for thriving as a creative...

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2025 / 5 / 27

OLIPOP’s gutsy play to dethrone Coke and Pepsi, with Ben Goodwin

OLIPOP’s surging popularity has taken the $60 billion soda industry by storm. As Gen Z and millennials ditch sugary sodas, OLIPOP is leading the pre-biotic beverage trend, sparking the likes of Coca Cola and...

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2025 / 5 / 22

Esther Perel: Build better relationships at work

Therapist Esther Perel wants us all to build stronger relationships at work. Her coveted advice is the centerpiece of her books, TED talks and podcast “Where Should We Begin?” During the pandemic, she...

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2025 / 5 / 20

The enterprise AI revolution is underway, with Box’s Aaron Levie

The buzz in Silicon Valley around AI agents has many asking: What’s real and what’s hype? Box’s co-founder and CEO, Aaron Levie, joins Rapid Response to help decipher between fact and fiction, taking...

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2025 / 5 / 15

Why we keep failing to eradicate this disease

John Green has spent his career telling stories — through novels, YouTube videos, and educational projects like Crash Course. Now, he’s on a mission to eliminate tuberculosis: a curable disease that still...

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2025 / 5 / 15

Why we keep failing to eradicate this disease, with YouTuber John Green

John Green has spent his career telling stories — through novels, YouTube videos, and educational projects like Crash Course. Now, he’s on a mission to eliminate tuberculosis: a curable disease that still...

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2025 / 5 / 13

The one trait every leader needs today, with General Stanley McChrystal

Amid polarization, AI disruption, and eroding trust in institutions, retired four-star general, Stanley McChrystal, argues that what leaders need now more than ever, is character. Head of the business...

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2025 / 5 / 10

Replay: Banishing burnout, with Arianna Huffington

To scale sustainably, founders must not neglect their mental health. Arianna Huffington learned this the hard way after collapsing from burnout while leading The Huffington Post. She talked with host Reid...

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2025 / 5 / 8

How this first-time founder landed a $630 million exit

When Ju Rhyu moved to South Korea for a corporate job, she noticed people unapologetically wearing hydrocolloid pimple patches on their faces — on the street, at the office, anywhere. She soon realized no one...

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2025 / 5 / 6

Musk and DOGE: Inside 100 days of chaos, with WIRED’s Global Editorial Director Katie Drummond

When Elon Musk stepped into the White House spotlight and brought his DOGE chainsaw, no one was better poised to cover the fallout than WIRED. The tech journalism outlet knew Musk’s playbook from the get-go,...

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2025 / 5 / 1

Disrupting healthcare job hunting, with Incredible Health’s Dr. Iman Abuzeid

Dr. Iman Abuzeid didn’t set out to disrupt the healthcare hiring system. But after she began listening more closely — especially to nurses — what she heard was an industry full of friction, delays, and...

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2025 / 4 / 29

Marc Lore wants an AI superapp to plan all your meals

In his return to Rapid Response, the billionaire entrepreneur, NBA owner, and CEO of Wonder, Marc Lore, told us he plans all his meals with AI – and he loves it. It’s just one part of his vision for...

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2025 / 4 / 24

Replay: Frustration is your friend, with Adi Tatarko

Spring cleaning season is in full swing, and this week, we’re revisiting Reid Hoffman’s chat with Adi Tatarko, co-founder and CEO of Houzz, an online platform for home remodeling and design. In this episode...

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2025 / 4 / 22

From warzones to boardrooms: José Andrés on leadership learned in the kitchen

As the founder of World Central Kitchen, renowned chef and humanitarian José Andrés has truly mastered the art of leading through crisis. Andrés returns to Rapid Response to share insights from his new book,...

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2025 / 4 / 17

Why happier vets mean healthier pets, with Modern Animal CEO Steven Eidelman

As CEO and co-founder of Modern Animal, Steven Eidelman is challenging the status quo of veterinary care — an industry long overdue for innovation. In this episode, Eidelman unpacks how Modern Animal is...

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2025 / 4 / 15

Finding opportunity in volatility, with GE Vernova CEO Scott Strazik

Amid tariff whiplash and the rejuggling of global trade, GE Vernova’s CEO Scott Strazik is finding a way to stay “relentlessly optimistic”. Strazik returns to Rapid Response to share how the company plans to...

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2025 / 4 / 10

The business case for wellness, with Wellhub CEO Cesar Carvalho

Wellness is no longer just an employee perk — it’s an imperative business strategy. Cesar Carvalho, co-founder and CEO of Wellhub (formerly Gympass), joins host Jeff Berman to make that case and share his...

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2025 / 4 / 8

When powerful law firms don’t defend themselves against Trump, with ex-Skadden associate Rachel Cohen

Many prominent law firms have recently found themselves in President Trump’s crosshairs. Skadden Arps’ attorney, Rachel Cohen, encouraged the firm to fight the government’s pressure, only to have her attempts...

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2025 / 4 / 3

How Reid Hoffman’s new company will create cancer cures

Reid Hoffman shares the inside story this week of his bold new venture to disrupt cancer drug development: Manas AI. He chats with Jeff Berman to reflect on why he co-founded the company, the lessons he’s...

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2025 / 4 / 1

From data breach scandal to AI darling, with Snowflake’s CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy

It's been a wild few years for Snowflake, from a record-breaking IPO to a plummeting stock price to a data-breach scandal. Sridhar Ramaswamy took over in the heat of the turmoil and helped steady the ship, in...

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2025 / 3 / 27

Climate change ‘codeswitching’ for business, with Planet FWD’s Julia Collins

Serial entrepreneur Julia Collins is tackling climate change with her latest venture, Planet FWD. It’s a B2B platform helping brands make their supply chains better for the environment – and their bottom...

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2025 / 3 / 25

Public radio vs. DOGE: NPR CEO Katherine Maher previews her testimony

Tomorrow, NPR’s CEO Katherine Maher goes before a DOGE subcommittee in Congress to defend the public media outlet’s case for federal funding. Maher returns to Rapid Response for the first time since taking on...

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2025 / 3 / 20

Live from SXSW: Mike and Kass Lazerow’s ‘messy’ path to success

Serial entrepreneurs and investors Mike and Kass Lazerow are best known for co-founding Buddy Media, the social media marketing platform that sold to Salesforce for $745 million. Host Jeff Berman joined the...

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2025 / 3 / 18

From 'Trump bump' to 'Trump slump,' with Betterment CEO Sarah Levy

Recent market swings are causing whiplash for everyday investors. Sarah Levy, CEO of digital investment platform Betterment returns to Rapid Response to shed light on a market in flux. Levy explores the...

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2025 / 3 / 13

Solving start-up puzzles, with Vanta CEO Christina Cacioppo

Compliance and security might not be the flashiest parts of running a business, but that’s exactly where the CEO and founder of Vanta saw a $2.5 billion opportunity. Christina Cacioppo joins host Jeff Berman...

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2025 / 3 / 11

Nonprofits navigate Trump’s drastic funding cuts, with The Chronicle of Philanthropy CEO Stacy Palmer

President Trump’s dramatic cuts to U.S. government grants are destabilizing every corner of the non-profit sector, leaving organizations scrambling to adapt. Stacy Palmer, CEO of the Chronicle of...

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2025 / 3 / 6

How Anastasia Soare built a beauty brand worth billions

Anastasia Soare is responsible for how everyone from Oprah to Kim Kardashian shape their eyebrows. Soare started as a Romanian immigrant in a single room salon in Beverly Hills, and decades later, her beauty...

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2025 / 3 / 4

What the Oscars tell us about streamers, studios, and Hollywood’s future with The Ankler's Janice Min

The Oscars aren’t just about filmmaking—they’re a real-time look at the culture, business, and power plays shaping Hollywood and larger entertainment industry. The Ankler CEO Janice Min returns to Rapid...

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2025 / 2 / 27

Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen on leveraging AI

Shantanu Narayen has weathered plenty of storms for Adobe, the iconic software company that earned more than $21 billion in revenue last year. The veteran tech leader talks with host Reid Hoffman about...

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2025 / 2 / 25

Egg prices, avian flu & golden yolks, with Vital Farms CEO Russell Diez-Canseco

Feeling the impact of eggflation? Vital Farms’ CEO Russell Diez-Canseco joins Rapid Response to offer valuable context beyond the eye-popping price tags. As avian flu continues to wipe out millions of birds,...

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2025 / 2 / 20

A more compassionate capitalism, with Cotopaxi’s Davis Smith

Cotopaxi founder Davis Smith believes business can be a force for change. He built a world-class outdoor brand around a simple but powerful motto: Do Good. In this conversation with host Jeff Berman, Smith...

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2025 / 2 / 18

Can Rivian avoid the EV speed bumps? with founder and CEO RJ Scaringe

As demand declines for EVs, and Tesla’s Elon Musk wields power in the new Trump administration, electric automaker Rivian is taking this time to adapt its business and expand its brand. Rivian’s founder and...

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2025 / 2 / 13

Building a network of mentors, with Cadre’s Ryan Williams

Ryan Williams thinks it should be easier to invest in real estate. He founded Cadre in 2014 to address this problem, and scaled it to impressive heights before an acquisition last year that sources say was...

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2025 / 2 / 11

From Nike to Bud Light to Tubi: Lessons from the Super Bowl 2025 ads, with Autodesk's Dara Treseder

Super Bowl LIX had a clear winner on the field, but victory for brands was more hard-won. Sure, plenty of ad spots were star-studded, from Seal to David Beckham to Ben and Casey Affleck, but to what end? Many...

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2025 / 2 / 7

Pivot: Reid Hoffman joins Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway to go deep on AI news

Masters of Scale brings you a special episode of Pivot with Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway featuring conversation with our show’s founding host Reid Hoffman. Together, they discuss the hype and fears around...

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2025 / 2 / 6

Disrupting the hair color business, with Madison Reed CEO Amy Errett

Amy Errett had a hunch that hair color was a huge potential market – especially among women who wanted an option free from harsh chemicals. She started a company focused on clean ingredients, innovative...

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2025 / 2 / 4

Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol is here to put the brand back on top

Amid higher costs, longer wait times and waning sales, Starbucks is ready for a brand refresh. The company’s new CEO, Brian Niccol joins Rapid Response to reveal how Starbucks plans to go back to its roots...

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2025 / 1 / 30

Emma Grede, Mellody Hobson & Angela Ahrendts on inclusive leadership

Emma Grede is the co-founder of the Kardashian brands Good American and Safely, a founding partner of Skims, and chair of the 15 Percent Pledge. In this conversation, recorded live on stage at the Masters of...

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2025 / 1 / 28

Reid Hoffman on AI ‘Superagency’

As Chinese AI developers send shockwaves through Silicon Valley, and Elon Musk spats with President Trump over AI policy, Reid Hoffman returns to Rapid Response to explore today’s AI landscape, and the...

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2025 / 1 / 23

Scaling solutions for the climate crisis, with Vinod Khosla

Tech titan Vinod Khosla argues that a dozen extraordinary entrepreneurs could make all the difference in combatting climate change. He spoke with host Jeff Berman live at the Masters of Scale Summit in...

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2025 / 1 / 21

Redefining work-life balance, with Neha Ruch

As return-to-office policies reignite the perennial debate over work-life balance, a cultural shift is underway. Neha Ruch, founder of Mother Untitled and author of The Power Pause, is leading the charge to...

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2025 / 1 / 16

The power of mentors: Alex Rodriguez, Angela Duckworth, and more

We often hear stories of transformational mentors from the iconic business leaders on our show. In this episode, we’ve curated a handful of our favorite stories about how mentors make a difference. Hear from...

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2025 / 1 / 14

When disaster strikes: On the ground amid LA wildfires

Wildfires have forced more than 100,000 people to evacuate their homes in the Los Angeles area, and killed at least 24 people. In what will likely be the most costly disaster in U.S. history, thousands of...

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2025 / 1 / 9

How Oura Ring is redefining health tech, with CEO Tom Hale

After using an Oura Ring helped him through a stressful transition, Tom Hale decided he wanted to help the health tracker reach new heights. Tom has led the company in a chapter of impressive growth since...

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2025 / 1 / 7

5 bold AI predictions for 2025, with Pioneers of AI host Dr. Rana El Kaliouby

Entering 2025, AI is poised to continue disrupting, redefining and supercharging the business world. AI expert and Pioneers of AI host, Rana El Kaliouby, joins Rapid Response to share five bold AI predictions...

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2025 / 1 / 2

The science of fresh starts, with change expert Katy Milkman

‘Fresh Starts’ are a powerful tool for making change. So to kick off 2025, Katy Milkman stops by to give us science-backed strategies for reaching our goals. Milkman is a behavioral scientist, Wharton...

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2024 / 12 / 31

Replay: Plant-based foods need a makeover, with Peter McGuinness

In this special holiday replay, we share another standout conversation from 2024 featuring Impossible Foods’ Peter McGuinness. This year, sustainability initiatives rolled back across industries and meat...

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2024 / 12 / 26

Replay: How Fawn Weaver blitzscaled a bourbon brand

This week, we’re revisiting a stellar episode from 2024 with Fawn Weaver, founder of Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey. Fawn joins host Jeff Berman to share scale lessons from building one of the fastest-growing...

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2024 / 12 / 24

Replay: How Barstool Sports’ ex-CEO cooks up attention, with Food52’s Erika Ayers Badan

In this special holiday replay, we share a standout conversation of 2024 featuring ex-CEO of Barstool and current head of Food52, Erika Ayers Badan. She shares with Rapid Response why she made a dramatic...

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2024 / 12 / 19

What Dungeons & Dragons can teach entrepreneurs, with Reid Hoffman and Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks

Dungeons & Dragons, the tabletop role-playing game, turns 50 this year. As a lifelong lover of the game, host Reid Hoffman asked fellow D&D player and Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks to join him for a conversation...

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2024 / 12 / 17

Six lessons of Rapid Response for 2025

We’ve rounded up the most definitive business lessons of 2024, as heard on Rapid Response. Drawn from standout guests like will.i.am, Airbnb’s Brian Chesky, Salesforce’s Marc Benioff, and more, these moments...

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2024 / 12 / 12

Prepare for a ‘technology supercycle,’ with futurist Amy Webb

As the founder and CEO of the Future Today Institute, Amy Webb helps global companies and governments see what comes next. She’s an expert in strategic forecasting, NYU business school professor, and popular...

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2024 / 12 / 10

Rapid Response: Bluesky’s bold plan beyond the ‘X-odus’, with COO Rose Wang

Millions of users have joined social media platform Bluesky in recent weeks, as an alternative to Elon Musk's X. It’s sparking new opportunities and challenges for Bluesky's tiny 20-person team, and COO Rose...

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2024 / 12 / 5

How The Flex Company founder Lauren Wang disrupted menstrual care

Lauren Wang, founder of The Flex Company, is transforming the menstrual product industry with bold innovations and a tendency to break taboos. Driven by her own health needs and a staggering lack of progress...

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2024 / 12 / 3

Rapid Response: How Cost Plus Drugs is revolutionizing pharma, with CEO Alex Oshmyansky

With the help of co-founder Mark Cuban, Cost Plus Drugs CEO Alex Oshmyansky is radically re-engineering the pharma marketplace and dramatically cutting the price for many prescription drugs. Oshmyansky joins...

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2024 / 11 / 28

Masters of Scale Live: Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer with Caffè Panna's Hallie Meyer

Danny Meyer is best known as the founder of Shake Shack and the legendary restaurants of his Union Square Hospitality Group in New York City. He joined host Jeff Berman on stage recently for the first Masters...

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2024 / 11 / 26

Rapid Response: Why Apple defies gravity and AI is God, with Guy Kawasaki, host of Remarkable People

Apple defies gravity, and AI is Divine. That’s how Guy Kawasaki, who worked closely with Steve Jobs and is now chief evangelist at Canva and host of the podcast Remarkable People, describes the state of tech...

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2024 / 11 / 21

Tracee Ellis Ross talks Pattern Beauty, advocacy, and joy with Samira Nasr

Award-winning actress and founder of Pattern Beauty Tracee Ellis Ross didn’t see Black beauty being represented well in the market – so she built a company from scratch to fix that. In this episode, she...

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2024 / 11 / 19

Rapid Response: Iggy Azalea on crypto’s biggest myths and mistakes

Rapper and musician Iggy Azalea wants you to know that her crypto token $MOTHER isn’t just another ‘pump and dump’ celebrity crypto play. She believes in the future of cryptocurrency and the potential for...

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2024 / 11 / 16

Possible: Bill Gates on possibility, AI, and humanity

Reid and Aria sat down with Bill Gates to discuss his main areas of focus: climate change, energy, global health, and education—and how AI will help transform each of them. Taking a bird’s-eye view of...

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2024 / 11 / 14

How to grow a greener energy grid, with Octopus Energy’s Greg Jackson

Octopus Energy is now the UK's top electricity supplier, and is growing its footprint in the US. CEO and founder Greg Jackson joins host Jeff Berman to discuss how Octopus is disrupting a global industry with...

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2024 / 11 / 12

Rapid Response: Cultivate loyalty at every level, with Chewy’s Sumit Singh and former Exos CEO Sarah Robb O’Hagan

How do you cultivate loyalty, from investors to team members and, of course, customers? Business leaders have long debated this. Host Bob Safian invites two guests to weigh in with their secrets to brand and...

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2024 / 11 / 8

Rapid Response: Reid Hoffman on Trump's election and what's next

Following Donald Trump’s victory in this week’s US presidential election, Reid Hoffman (a major donor to Vice President Harris’ campaign) is figuring out where business, tech, and his own energy go from here....

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2024 / 11 / 5

Rapid fire fun: Slutty Vegan’s Pinky Cole + ocean educator Philippe Cousteau Jr., live from the Masters of Scale Summit

In this special 2-for-1 episode, we offer two segments of rapid-fire fun from the 2024 Masters of Scale Summit. First, Slutty Vegan’s Pinky Cole joins Rapid Response host Bob Safian for a gamified session on...

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2024 / 11 / 4

Former President Bill Clinton in conversation with Reid Hoffman

Former President Bill Clinton joined host Reid Hoffman on stage at the 2024 Masters of Scale Summit on October 24 to offer insights on what’s at stake in this election, and what could come next. Their full,...

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2024 / 10 / 31

Is AI a new species? Microsoft’s Mustafa Suleyman thinks so

Artificial intelligence is a “new digital species,” says Mustafa Suleyman, Microsoft AI’s CEO. For this episode, Mustafa joined Reid Hoffman on stage at the October 2024 Masters of Scale Summit. They discuss...

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2024 / 10 / 29

Rapid Response: Lessons from Gaza & Israel, with World Central Kitchen’s Erin Gore and the Builders Movement's Daniel Lubetzky

As conflict in the Middle East continues to escalate, Rapid Response host Bob Safian led a discussion live on stage at the Masters of Scale Summit between two experienced leaders with close knowledge of the...

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2024 / 10 / 29

Rapid Response: Lessons from Gaza & Israel, with World Central Kitchen’s Erin Gore and OneVoice’s Daniel Lubetzky

As conflict in the Middle East continues to escalate, Rapid Response host Bob Safian led a discussion live on stage at the Masters of Scale Summit between two experienced leaders with close knowledge of the...

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2024 / 10 / 24

Disrupting the wedding industry, with Zola’s Shan-Lyn Ma

Shan-Lyn Ma, co-founder and co-CEO of Zola, joins host Jeff Berman to share how intrapreneurship prepared her to build a business that’s transformed the wedding industry with online tools. From weathering the...

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2024 / 10 / 22

Rapid Response: Ken Burns on Leonardo da Vinci, AI, and the future of storytelling

Leonardo da Vinci is a thoroughly modern figure, even if he lived hundreds of years ago. So says Ken Burns, the legendary documentary filmmaker on topics from the Civil War to Muhammad Ali. Burns joins Rapid...

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2024 / 10 / 17

Scott Galloway: Unfiltered lessons for business and life

Scott Galloway, creator of Prof G Media and NYU business school professor, joins host Jeff Berman to answer your questions with his trademark wit and candor, offering advice on when CEOs should speak out on...

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2024 / 10 / 15

Rapid Response: How Wikipedia will survive AI, with CEO Maryana Iskander

Wikipedia is among the top ten most-visited websites in the world, and it’s been a pillar of online knowledge for more than 20 years. The site’s parent nonprofit, Wikimedia Foundation, wants it to stay that...

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2024 / 10 / 10

How Bombas pairs scaling impact and profit

David Heath and Randy Goldberg, co-founders of Bombas, join host Jeff Berman to reveal how they scaled their mission-driven apparel company. Bombas donates one item for every one sold, and has given away more...

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2024 / 10 / 8

Rapid Response: How mobile voting can save democracy, with Bradley Tusk of Tusk Ventures

As early voting begins in the US presidential election, there is a nascent movement afoot that would reshuffle future contests from local school boards to Washington DC – and it revolves around our...

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2024 / 10 / 3

From brand savant to accidental entrepreneur, with Sophia Amoruso

From founding the viral fashion brand Nasty Gal to inspiring and living the #Girlboss movement, Sophia Amoruso’s ideas tend to catch fire quickly. She joins host Jeff Berman to share her “accidental”...

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2024 / 10 / 1

Rapid Response: A new script for the book biz and Hollywood, with The Black List’s Franklin Leonard

The Black List has reshaped Hollywood by identifying overlooked screenplays from Argo to The King’s Speech that have become commercial and artistic successes. Now, founder Franklin Leonard is opening The...

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2024 / 9 / 26

Bill Gates, Brian Chesky, and more: Unheard moments from our first Summit

Leaders like Bill Gates, Airbnb’s Brian Chesky, and Pixar’s Lindsey Collins shared big ideas at the first-ever Masters of Scale Summit in 2022. In this episode, host Jeff Berman guides you through the best...

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2024 / 9 / 24

Rapid Response: EA’s march to 1 billion gamers, with CEO Andrew Wilson

While EA’s pursuit of 1 billion users may sound ambitious at first, once you hear CEO Andrew Wilson explain the developers’ strategy to get there, the 1 billion mark starts to almost sound conservative....

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2024 / 9 / 19

Dr. Rana el Kaliouby wants more human-centered AI

Host Reid Hoffman has always been impressed with the way Dr. Rana el Kaliouby thinks about AI. She’s an AI scientist, co-founder of Affectiva, an investor and author who has spent decades building toward more...

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2024 / 9 / 17

Rapid Response: From Taylor Swift to the Emmys, lessons in celebrity, with The Ankler’s Janice Min

While Shōgun, Hacks, and Baby Reindeer bask in their success at The Emmys, the awards reveal deeper lessons about TV’s future. Janice Min, co-founder and CEO of The Ankler, guides us through the key...

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2024 / 9 / 12

From Crystal Pepsi to Cool Ranch Doritos: Lessons from David Novak

David Novak, co-founder and former CEO of Yum! Brands, joins host Jeff Berman to share lessons from scaling one of the world’s largest restaurant companies. Hear how his focus on listening, team recognition,...

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2024 / 9 / 10

Rapid Response: 2024 is the most significant time in human history (Encore)

We are biologically wired to focus on the near-term, and that’s often a good thing. But in this moment — with global conflict, fast-evolving tech, and climate change dominating our present — we need to also...

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2024 / 9 / 5

Drybar founder Alli Webb’s messy truths

Drybar co-founder Alli Webb turned her side hustle as a hair stylist into a business concept now thriving nationwide. She talks with host Jeff Berman about scaling Drybar, launching and then selling a hair...

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2024 / 9 / 3

Rapid Response: Will.i.am is using AI to re-make radio

While some artists complain that AI uses their music as training data, Will.i.am argues that it’s no different than Prince and Michael Jackson taking inspiration from James Brown. Will joins Rapid Response to...

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2024 / 8 / 29

Reddit’s Steve Huffman: Online platforms ‘can’t just sit on their hands’

Steve Huffman, co-founder and CEO of Reddit, joins host Reid Hoffman to share scale lessons from building one of the internet’s most influential platforms. It took nearly two decades for Reddit to reach its...

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2024 / 8 / 27

Rapid Response: How Campus won over Sam Altman & Shaq, with founder Tade Oyerinde

With student loan debt at record highs, higher education is at a crossroads. Campus is an all-online community college that’s built a business model around competitive pricing, resources for students (like...

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2024 / 8 / 22

Blitzscaling bourbon: How Fawn Weaver built Uncle Nearest whiskey

Fawn Weaver, founder of Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, joins host Jeff Berman to share scale lessons from building one of the fastest-growing spirit brands in history. Hear how a photo in the newspaper...

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2024 / 8 / 20

Rapid Response: CNN’s Van Jones on Kamala’s glow-up, AI “wetware,” Elon Musk, and more

As the Democratic National Convention gets underway, CNN’s Van Jones still can’t quite believe Vice President Harris’s glow-up from “cringe” to a Beyonce-like star. The political analyst and entrepreneur...

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2024 / 8 / 15

The vital question Taskrabbit founder Leah Solivan wished she asked investors

A pioneer in the gig economy, Leah Solivan joins host Jeff Berman to share scale lessons from founding Taskrabbit. Hear how a need for dog food on a snowy night grew into a global business acquired by IKEA....

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2024 / 8 / 14

Remembering Susan Wojcicki

We were saddened to hear of the passing of former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki last Friday, following her battle with lung cancer. In honor of this iconic Silicon Valley leader, host Reid Hoffman offers a...

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2024 / 8 / 13

Rapid Response: Wild summer travel tales from Boeing to CrowdStrike, with The Points Guy, Brian Kelly

Is this the craziest non-pandemic summer travel season ever? The Points Guy’s Brian Kelly joins Rapid Response to talk about how Boeing’s safety issues are impacting flying habits, the CrowdStrike outage and...

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2024 / 8 / 8

OpenAI’s Bret Taylor: Your business can’t wait until AI is perfect

Chairman of OpenAI, former co-CEO of Salesforce, and co-creator of Google Maps – those are just a few roles Bret Taylor has played in his Silicon Valley career. Reid Hoffman talks with Bret about OpenAI's...

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2024 / 8 / 6

Rapid Response: Menopause is having a hot moment, with Midi Health’s Joanna Strober

Women are losing sleep, falling behind at work, suffering pain, and struggling in their relationships — all because we don’t talk enough about menopause or treat its symptoms. Midi Health’s Joanna Strober...

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2024 / 8 / 1

Brian Grazer: Scale your curiosity (Encore)

In our fast-paced working life, how can we make networking more impactful? In this episode (first published August 2023) the acclaimed film and television producer Brian Grazer talks with host Reid Hoffman...

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2024 / 7 / 30

Rapid Response: How Barstool Sports’ ex-CEO cooks up attention, with Food52’s Erika Ayers Badan

Controversy, frat house culture, viral moments — when you hear ‘Barstool Sports,’ this may be what comes to mind. But former CEO Erika Ayers Badan is here to tell you that the business model that...

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2024 / 7 / 25

Asking questions that scale, with AG1’s Kat Cole

From traveling the world opening restaurants as a teenager to pioneering new strategies at legacy brands, Kat Cole knows the importance of asking the right questions to forge a path to scale. Host Jeff Berman...

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2024 / 7 / 24

Rapid Response: Reid Hoffman on the business impacts of Trump vs. Harris

Reid Hoffman's support for Kamala Harris and other Democrats — and distaste for former President Trump — has plunged him into headlines, in opposition to Elon Musk and others. Reid joins Rapid Response host...

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2024 / 7 / 23

Rapid Response: What the Democrats' campaign changeup means for business, with Axios’ Alex Thompson

With Kamala Harris suddenly poised to become the Democratic presidential nominee, expectations have been turned on their head for voters, fundraisers, and the business world. Axios political correspondent...

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2024 / 7 / 18

Which start-ups change the future? Investor Mike Maples Jr. with Reid Hoffman

Silicon Valley investor Mike Maples Jr. is known for having a ‘Midas Touch.’ Think of a tech start-up that has changed your life in the last 20 years, and he was probably helping fuel its growth. Mike talks...

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2024 / 7 / 16

Rapid Response: What’s the next Barbenheimer? with The Ankler’s Janice Min

Summer’s not so hot at the movie theaters, and the same goes for streaming. Nothing’s come close to last year’s Barbie-Oppenheimer success, and Janice Min of entertainment news startup Ankler Media can’t say...

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2024 / 7 / 11

Liquid Death’s Mike Cessario: Trust your taste

Can drinking water look cool? That was the driving question behind Liquid Death founder Mike Cessario’s big business idea. Since launching its first tallboy cans of water in 2019, Liquid Death has used humor,...

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2024 / 7 / 9

Rapid Response: Team USA’s bold plan for Paris, with US Olympic & Paralympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland

With 346 events over 17 days at this summer’s Paris Olympics, how do we zero in on the most important events, storylines, and takeaways? CEO of the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee, Sarah Hirshland,...

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2024 / 7 / 4

Ron Howard: Evolve your vision (Encore)

This week, Masters of Scale is bringing back one of our favorite episodes. It’s Reid Hoffman’s conversation with Ron Howard, the legendary director, producer, actor, and co-founder of Imagine Entertainment....

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2024 / 7 / 2

Rapid Response: Why the fashion industry needs a makeover, with Imran Amed

The fashion world is at a sudden inflection point. Big luxury players are struggling, e-commerce markets are floundering, and ultra-fast players like Shein are disrupting. The Business of Fashion’s Imran Amed...

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2024 / 6 / 27

Grammarly CEO Rahul Roy-Chowdhury: Trust, AI, and the future of work

New AI products are rapidly changing the landscape for businesses. This is especially true for the writing tool Grammarly. The $13 billion dollar software company’s CEO Rahul Roy-Chowdhury has taken the helm...

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2024 / 6 / 25

Rapid Response: Slutty Vegan wants to be the next Shake Shack, with founder Pinky Cole

While many plant-based food brands have struggled recently, Pinky Cole’s fast food chain Slutty Vegan keeps growing, with new restaurants across the U.S. Pinky sits down with Rapid Response host Bob Safian to...

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2024 / 6 / 20

You could start a company this weekend, w/Noah Kagan

Entrepreneur Noah Kagan wants everyone to feel empowered to start a business. That’s the core message of his new book, Million Dollar Weekend. He’s founded multiple companies worth at least a million dollars,...

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2024 / 6 / 18

Rapid Response: Power moves for the planet, w/GE Vernova CEO Scott Strazik

Can nuclear energy, solar and wind farms, and carbon capture scale fast enough to save the planet? GE Vernova CEO Scott Strazik joins Rapid Response host Bob Safian on stage at the Climatech conference in...

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2024 / 6 / 13

Don’t stop learning: How Cornerstone kept scaling, w/Adam Miller

Founded at the dawn of the dot-com era, entrepreneur Adam Miller’s original concept for Cornerstone was a kind of Netflix for adult education: training courses through CD-ROMs. Migrating to online offerings...

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2024 / 6 / 11

Rapid Response: Taking over when tragedy strikes, w/Guild's Bijal Shah

After Guild’s founding CEO suffered a stroke at the age of just 34, Bijal Shah was tapped to take the helm. Shah joins Rapid Response to share the story behind the emotional leadership change, and how she...

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2024 / 6 / 6

Tinker your way to scale: James Dyson

James Dyson's journey to building a global invention enterprise began with a simple goal: to build a better vacuum. After 5,000+ prototypes and years of precise tinkering, his innovative bagless vacuum was...

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2024 / 6 / 4

Rapid Response: Crypto’s new chapter, w/Crypto Council for Innovation’s Sheila Warren

For anyone skeptical about crypto hype, Sheila Warren explains why it is here to stay, and what you might be overlooking. As CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation, Warren joins Rapid Response to take us...

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2024 / 6 / 1

Bonus: Angela Duckworth’s “No Stupid Questions” Podcast

Masters of Scale guest, psychologist, and “Grit” author Angela Duckworth also hosts the podcast “No Stupid Questions.” With her co-host, entrepreneur and executive Mike Maughn, she takes up questions on deep...

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2024 / 5 / 30

QuestBridge: Scaling College Access with Ana Rowena Mallari

Imagine all the highly motivated, high-achieving students who can excel at the most challenging colleges but lack the financial resources to attend. Matching this type of talent with full funding from...

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2024 / 5 / 28

Rapid Response: Robinhood confronts a GameStop sequel, w/CEO Vlad Tenev

How will the return of meme stocks like GameStop and day trading influencers like Roaring Kitty alter the fintech landscape? Robinhood’s co-founder and CEO Vlad Tenev, who was a lightning rod for controversy...

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2024 / 5 / 23

Meet “Reid-ish”: The Story of Cloning Reid Hoffman’s Voice

Masters of Scale goes under the hood of powerful AI in audio, unveiling a full vocal clone for founding host Reid Hoffman. Our CEO Jeff Berman, the Masters of Scale staff, and Reid himself tell the story of...

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2024 / 5 / 21

Rapid Response: What campus protests mean for business, w/Ken Frazier and Ken Chenault

Amid college campus protests over Palestine and Israel, stark US political divides, and legal challenges to diversity initiatives, business leaders face new pressure on whether to speak out and take action on...

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2024 / 5 / 16

Grit-scaling with Angela Duckworth

Success looks different for everybody. But author and psychologist Angela Duckworth has found that whether we achieve success, or even seek it, may hinge on a characteristic that she calls “grit.” Angela’s...

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2024 / 5 / 14

Rapid Response: Airbnb reimagined (Part 1), w/CEO Brian Chesky

As Rapid Response begins a twice-weekly cadence, Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky returns to reveal how the company’s new Icons initiative points toward a surprising new chapter ahead. Host Bob Safian...

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2024 / 5 / 9

Trendspotting with Ron Shaich: Panera, Cava, and Beyond

Some business leaders have a seemingly psychic ability to spot trends, and take them mainstream at just the right moment. Ron Shaich is one of those. As a pioneering force behind fast-casual dining, Shaich...

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2024 / 5 / 7

Caitlin Clark and the new WNBA, w/Commissioner Cathy Engelbert

We’ve reached a radical inflection point in the growth of women’s sports, particularly the WNBA. As college stars like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese enter the league, fans are clamoring for tickets and on...

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2024 / 5 / 7

Rapid Response: Caitlin Clark and the new WNBA, w/Commissioner Cathy Engelbert

We’ve reached a radical inflection point in the growth of women’s sports, particularly the WNBA. As college stars like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese enter the league, fans are clamoring for tickets and on...

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2024 / 5 / 2

Local veggies, national scale: Sweetgreen co-founders

What started with three college friends looking for a healthy lunch in D.C. grew into Sweetgreen, a fast-growing restaurant business focused on salads and grain bowls. From a tiny 500-square-foot storefront...

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2024 / 4 / 30

Rapid Response: Meet your kid’s new AI tutor, w/Khan Academy founder and CEO Sal Khan

Khan Academy first rocked the education world with online video. Now Khan Academy CEO and founder Sal Khan has gone all-in on AI, convinced that it has immense potential to democratize and improve education....

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2024 / 4 / 30

Meet your kid’s new AI tutor, w/Khan Academy founder and CEO Sal Khan

Khan Academy first rocked the education world with online video. Now Khan Academy CEO and founder Sal Khan has gone all-in on AI, convinced that it has immense potential to democratize and improve education....

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2024 / 4 / 25

Rapid Response: Fighting media's reality distortion, w/Axios CEO Jim VandeHei

Every day we’re inundated with news and opinion pieces about America’s hopeless division — but is this really true? Axios CEO Jim VandeHei joins Rapid Response host Bob Safian to bust what he sees as myth,...

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2024 / 4 / 25

Fighting media's reality distortion, w/Axios CEO Jim VandeHei

Every day we’re inundated with news and opinion pieces about America’s hopeless division — but is this really true? Axios CEO Jim VandeHei joins Rapid Response host Bob Safian to bust what he sees as myth,...

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2024 / 4 / 23

Preserve start-up spirit at scale: Techstars’ Maëlle Gavet

Maëlle Gavet is the CEO of Techstars, a pre-seed investor focused on early-stage entrepreneurs. It boasts a market cap of $111.6 billion, and supports founders in programs that span from Tokyo to Lagos to...

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2024 / 4 / 18

Rapid Response: How Star Trek prospers against Netflix and Disney+, w/Executive Producer Alex Kurtzman

The streaming wars have reached a new inflection, as Netflix and Disney+ jostle for position, and in the process disrupt post-strike Hollywood. Paramount+ invested heavily in blockbuster veteran Alex Kurtzman...

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2024 / 4 / 18

How Star Trek prospers against Netflix and Disney+, w/Executive Producer Alex Kurtzman

The streaming wars have reached a new inflection, as Netflix and Disney+ jostle for position, and in the process disrupt post-strike Hollywood. Paramount+ invested heavily in blockbuster veteran Alex Kurtzman...

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2024 / 4 / 16

How AI adds to human potential: (LIVE) with Scale AI’s Alex Wang and Intel’s Lama Nachman

Generative AI is advancing at a breakneck pace, prompting questions on risk and opportunity, from content creation to personal data management. In a special live recording, we delve into the ways AI can...

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2024 / 4 / 11

Rapid Response: How optimism fuels the economy, w/U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO Suzanne Clark

Is the state of the U.S. economy good or bad right now? Stock markets have soared, but consumers remain wary. Are CEOs and investors deluding themselves? Or do Main Street Americans expect too much? Suzanne...

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2024 / 4 / 11

How optimism fuels the economy, w/U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO Suzanne Clark

Is the state of the U.S. economy good or bad right now? Stock markets have soared, but consumers remain wary. Are CEOs and investors deluding themselves? Or do Main Street Americans expect too much? Suzanne...

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2024 / 4 / 9

The healthy, conscious capitalist, w/Whole Foods Market co-founder John Mackey

John Mackey, co-founder and former CEO of Whole Foods Market, started in the grocery business as a Texas undergraduate seeking the keys to a happy life. The self-described “hippie” opened one natural foods...

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2024 / 4 / 9

144. The healthy, conscious capitalist, w/Whole Foods Market co-founder John Mackey

John Mackey, co-founder and former CEO of Whole Foods Market, started in the grocery business as a Texas undergraduate seeking the keys to a happy life. The self-described “hippie” opened one natural foods...

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2024 / 4 / 4

Rapid Response: 2024 is the most significant time in human history, w/PBS host & futurist Ari Wallach

We are biologically wired to focus on the near-term, and that’s often a good thing. But in this moment — with global conflict, fast-evolving tech, and climate change dominating our present — we need to also...

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2024 / 4 / 4

2024 is the most significant time in human history, w/PBS host & futurist Ari Wallach

We are biologically wired to focus on the near-term, and that’s often a good thing. But in this moment — with global conflict, fast-evolving tech, and climate change dominating our present — we need to also...

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2024 / 4 / 2

143. Be an evangelist for authenticity, with tech veteran Guy Kawasaki

With his trademark wit and wisdom, Guy Kawasaki shares lessons from his trailblazing journeys in tech and investing. He was “software evangelist” at Apple when the company launched its revolutionary Macintosh...

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2024 / 4 / 2

Be an evangelist for authenticity, with tech veteran Guy Kawasaki

With his trademark wit and wisdom, Guy Kawasaki shares lessons from his trailblazing journeys in tech and investing. He was “software evangelist” at Apple when the company launched its revolutionary Macintosh...

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2024 / 3 / 28

Bracing for a possible TikTok ban, w/fitness entrepreneur Cassey Ho

If the U.S. government bans TikTok, a generation of content creators and brands who have built businesses on the platform will be radically disrupted. With 17 million social followers — 3.5 million of which...

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2024 / 3 / 28

Bracing for a possible TikTok ban, w/ fitness entrepreneur Cassey Ho

If the US government bans TikTok, a generation of content creators and brands who have built businesses on the platform will be radically disrupted. With 17 million social followers — 3.5 million of which on...

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2024 / 3 / 28

Rapid Response: Bracing for a possible TikTok ban, w/fitness entrepreneur Cassey Ho

If the U.S. government bans TikTok, a generation of content creators and brands who have built businesses on the platform will be radically disrupted. With 17 million social followers — 3.5 million of which...

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2024 / 3 / 26

How to score $200M: Angel City’s playbook for women’s soccer

The high-flying Angel City Football Club is rising to a historic valuation in professional women’s soccer, nearing $200 million. When the Los Angeles team started four years ago, franchises in its league went...

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2024 / 3 / 26

142. How to score $200M: Angel City’s playbook for women’s soccer

The high-flying Angel City Football Club is rising to a historic valuation in professional women’s soccer, nearing $200 million. When the Los Angeles team started four years ago, franchises in its league went...

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2024 / 3 / 21

Riding the Ozempic wave, w/RO's CEO Zach Reitano

Rabid demand for weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy is altering US society and transforming the healthcare industry. Rapid Response host Bob Safian guides us through the upheaval and lessons, talking...

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2024 / 3 / 21

Rapid Response: Riding the Ozempic wave, w/RO's CEO Zach Reitano

Rabid demand for weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy is altering US society and transforming the healthcare industry. Rapid Response host Bob Safian guides us through the upheaval and lessons, talking...

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2024 / 3 / 19

Leading across great divides: Ian Bassin, Protect Democracy Executive Director

Just like private companies, many not-for-profit organizations begin when a founder sees a gap in the market and makes something new to fill it. Ian Bassin is a lawyer, former White House counsel and...

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2024 / 3 / 19

141. Leading across great divides: Ian Bassin, Protect Democracy Executive Director

Just like private companies, many not-for-profit organizations begin when a founder sees a gap in the market and makes something new to fill it. Ian Bassin is a lawyer, former White House counsel and...

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2024 / 3 / 12

Rapid Response: Who really won The Oscars, w/The Black List's Franklin Leonard

The Oscars aren’t just Hollywood’s biggest night. The ceremony and the scrutiny around it captures the trends and evolving values of American culture. Rapid Response host Bob Safian digs into the business...

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2024 / 3 / 12

Who really won The Oscars, w/The Black List's Franklin Leonard

The Oscars aren’t just Hollywood’s biggest night. The ceremony and the scrutiny around it captures the trends and evolving values of American culture. Rapid Response host Bob Safian digs into the business...

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2024 / 3 / 7

Rapid Response: Landing on the moon, with Steve Altemus, CEO of Intuitive Machines

In tackling our own moonshots, few businesses can offer inspiration like Intuitive Machines. When the company’s Odysseus lander touched down on the moon on February 22, Intuitive Machines became the first...

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2024 / 3 / 7

Landing on the moon, with Steve Altemus, CEO of Intuitive Machines

In tackling our own moonshots, few businesses can offer inspiration like Intuitive Machines. When the company’s Odysseus lander touched down on the moon on February 22, Intuitive Machines became the first...

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2024 / 3 / 5

Reid Hoffman & Jeff Berman on why the future needs re-founders

Reid Hoffman thinks visionary leaders should pursue a "re-founder" state of mind. In this episode he welcomes the newest host of Masters of Scale, Jeff Berman, for a dialogue that digs into a re-founder's...

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2024 / 2 / 27

Reid Hoffman on OpenAI’s $7 trillion plan, Apple’s Vision Pro, and AI traps

Will OpenAI’s new text-to-video tool Sora revolutionize content creation? In this episode of Masters of Scale, Reid Hoffman joins Bob Safian to discuss Sam Altman’s fundraising, Meta’s dramatic resurgence,...

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2024 / 2 / 22

Rapid Response: Battling cyber attacks and deepfakes with AI, w/Darktrace CEO Poppy Gustafsson

Cyber war is raging, and the culprit is AI. Poppy Gustafsson, CEO of cybersecurity firm Darktrace shares new, proprietary info about how cybercrime has become professionalized across the Dark Web, and...

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2024 / 2 / 22

Battling cyber attacks and deepfakes with AI, w/Darktrace CEO Poppy Gustafsson

Cyber war is raging, and the culprit is AI. Poppy Gustafsson, CEO of cybersecurity firm Darktrace shares new, proprietary info about how cybercrime has become professionalized across the Dark Web, and...

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2024 / 2 / 20

Reid Hoffman opens up, w/On Being's Krista Tippett

Krista Tippett and our friends at On Being welcomed Masters of Scale host Reid Hoffman for an inspiring conversation about all things philosophy, AI, and technology’s impact on the human condition. We loved...

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2024 / 2 / 13

Super Bowl ads: Lessons from Beyoncé, J. Lo and Taylor

The on-field Super Bowl went down to the wire, but the TV ads battle was a rout. That’s what one of the ad world’s most influential leaders, Autodesk chief marketing officer Dara Treseder, tells Rapid...

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2024 / 2 / 13

Rapid Response: Super Bowl ads (Lessons from Beyoncé, J. Lo and Taylor)

The on-field Super Bowl went down to the wire, but the TV ads battle was a rout. That’s what one of the ad world’s most influential leaders, Autodesk chief marketing officer Dara Treseder, tells Rapid...

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2024 / 2 / 6

5 leadership lessons from gaming with Reid Hoffman

Some of the most vital and overlooked entrepreneurial resources might just be stored away in your family games cupboard… It’s no secret that host Reid Hoffman is a lifelong game fanatic. But this...

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2024 / 1 / 30

Learn from every "no"

In the entrepreneurial journey, facing rejection is not just a possibility, but a certainty. However, it's the ability to perceive these rejections not as setbacks, but as stepping stones, that sets apart the...

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2024 / 1 / 23

Inside Reid Hoffman’s meeting with President Biden

President Biden is the first president to face the full force of the AI revolution. In this special episode, Reid Hoffman joins Rapid Response host Bob Safian for an exclusive inside look into the closed-door...

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2024 / 1 / 18

What’s wrong with the remote vs. in-office debate? w/Atlassian co-CEO Scott Farquhar

The backlash against remote work is in full swing, with 90% of CEOs reportedly rewarding in-office workers with more promotions and raises. But to Scott Farquhar, co-CEO of Atlassian, that’s a big mistake —...

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2024 / 1 / 18

Rapid Response: What’s wrong with the remote vs. in-office debate? w/Atlassian co-CEO Scott Farquhar

The backlash against remote work is in full swing, with 90% of CEOs reportedly rewarding in-office workers with more promotions and raises. But to Scott Farquhar, co-CEO of Atlassian, that’s a big mistake —...

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2024 / 1 / 16

140. Start with a story, cook up success, w/Chef Marcus Samuelsson

Telling a clear story about your product is a basic entrepreneurial skill. But to build enduring impact, you need to help amplify other stories — those that surround you in your community and your...

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2024 / 1 / 16

Start with a story, cook up success, w/Chef Marcus Samuelsson

Telling a clear story about your product is a basic entrepreneurial skill. But to build enduring impact, you need to help amplify other stories — those that surround you in your community and your...

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2024 / 1 / 9

139. will.i.am & Austin Russell: Mute the hype, amplify the product

Is there such a thing as too much hype? And can it ever pay to stay low-key — even about the most innovative of products? Austin Russell of Luminar Technologies believes so. When aged just 17, Austin created...

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2024 / 1 / 9

will.i.am & Austin Russell: Mute the hype, amplify the product

One of the biggest strikes against the tech industry is too much noise and not enough signal. But does it always pay to "show, not tell," — even about the most innovative of products? Austin Russell of...

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2024 / 1 / 2

Highlights to inspire your 2024

As we settle into 2024, the Masters of Scale team reflect on their favorite moments from the past year during which host Reid Hoffman sat down with inspiring and iconic leaders across the business world. They...

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2023 / 12 / 26

What great founders do at night, w/Arianna Huffington

To survive your entrepreneurial journey, you have to learn to recharge. Knowing when to turn the lights out may be the only way to keep the lights on. Few know this better than Arianna Huffington, who...

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2023 / 12 / 19

5 memorable lessons from 2023

There’s no better way to prepare for 2024 than to look back at the year that was. 2023 offered a slew of challenges and opportunities, from AI mania to inflation to Taylor Swift obsession. In this special...

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2023 / 12 / 19

Rapid Response: 5 memorable lessons from 2023

There’s no better way to prepare for 2024 than to look back at the year that was. 2023 offered a slew of challenges and opportunities, from AI mania to inflation to Taylor Swift obsession. In this special...

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2023 / 12 / 14

Inside Intel’s AI ambitions, w/CEO Pat Gelsinger

The AI boom in 2023 left Intel chasing rival Nvidia, whose chips — and shares — have been in high demand. Like other laggards amid this year’s AI mania, Intel is now fighting back, announcing the first-ever...

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2023 / 12 / 14

Rapid Response: Inside Intel’s AI ambitions, w/CEO Pat Gelsinger

The AI boom in 2023 left Intel chasing rival Nvidia, whose chips — and shares — have been in high demand. Like other laggards amid this year’s AI mania, Intel is now fighting back, announcing the first-ever...

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2023 / 12 / 12

138. Find co-creators everywhere, w/Exploding Kittens' Elan Lee

What lessons can business leaders learn from the games industry? Elan Lee, co-founder of Exploding Kittens Inc., joins Reid Hoffman to discuss how Exploding Kittens became one of the most successful...

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2023 / 12 / 12

Find co-creators everywhere, w/Exploding Kittens' Elan Lee

What lessons can business leaders learn from the games industry? Elan Lee, co-founder of Exploding Kittens Inc., joins Reid Hoffman to discuss how Exploding Kittens became one of the most successful...

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2023 / 12 / 5

Pixar’s Ed Catmull: Throw out your rules

There's no perfect process for achieving your goals. Accepting that the rules you play by need to be constantly tweaked, hacked or reinvented will open you up to new ways of innovating. Instilling this...

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2023 / 12 / 5

137. Pixar’s Ed Catmull: Throw out your rules

There's no perfect process for achieving your goals. Accepting that the rules you play by need to be constantly tweaked, hacked or reinvented will open you up to new ways of innovating. Instilling this...

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2023 / 11 / 30

Navigating a leadership crisis, w/Web Summit CEO Katherine Maher

How do you restore confidence after a high-profile leadership uproar? Web Summit’s new CEO Katherine Maher joins Rapid Response host Bob Safian to discuss taking over after the sudden, forced resignation of...

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2023 / 11 / 30

Rapid Response: Navigating a leadership crisis, w/Web Summit CEO Katherine Maher

How do you restore confidence after a high-profile leadership uproar? Web Summit’s new CEO Katherine Maher joins Rapid Response host Bob Safian to discuss taking over after the sudden, forced resignation of...

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2023 / 11 / 28

Remix: Scott Harrison & charity: water, 5 years later

In the five years since Scott Harrison’s first appearance on Masters of Scale with Reid Hoffman, the nonprofit organization he founded, charity: water, has scaled 5 times over....

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2023 / 11 / 21

Bumble’s Whitney Wolfe Herd: Small changes with big impact

Often a small tweak, a rethink of a feature, is what helps your product break out of the pack. Just ask the founder of the Bumble dating app, Whitney Wolfe Herd. She rebounded from one dating app start-up...

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2023 / 11 / 21

42. Bumble’s Whitney Wolfe Herd: Small changes with big impact

Often a small tweak, a rethink of a feature, is what helps your product break out of the pack. Just ask the founder of the Bumble dating app, Whitney Wolfe Herd. She rebounded from one dating app start-up...

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2023 / 11 / 20

17. Sam Altman: Customer love is all you need

The true seed of scale is customer love, which you can’t buy, hack, or game. Sam Altman, former president of Y Combinator, scaled countless start-ups by focusing on this one idea: Finding 100 users who love...

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2023 / 11 / 20

Sam Altman: Customer love is all you need

The true seed of scale is customer love, which you can’t buy, hack, or game. Sam Altman, former president of Y Combinator, scaled countless start-ups by focusing on this one idea: Finding 100 users who love...

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2023 / 11 / 16

GaryVee wants your attention, w/VaynerMedia’s Gary Vaynerchuk

In our attention economy, what does it take to capture the cultural zeitgeist? VaynerMedia’s Gary Vaynerchuk – or GaryVee – joins Rapid Response host Bob Safian to preach the need for widespread empathy and...

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2023 / 11 / 16

Rapid Response: GaryVee wants your attention, w/VaynerMedia’s Gary Vaynerchuk

In our attention economy, what does it take to capture the cultural zeitgeist? VaynerMedia’s Gary Vaynerchuk – or GaryVee – joins Rapid Response host Bob Safian to preach the need for widespread empathy and...

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2023 / 11 / 14

Tap into collective genius, w/Reshma Saujani, founder of Girls Who Code & Moms First

What happens when you tap into the collective genius of a diverse group? Does the cross-pollination of ideas let you create something greater than the sum of its parts?The real magic happens when you...

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2023 / 11 / 14

136. Tap into collective genius, w/Reshma Saujani, founder of Girls Who Code & Moms First

What happens when you tap into the collective genius of a diverse group? Does the cross-pollination of ideas let you create something greater than the sum of its parts?The real magic happens when you...

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2023 / 11 / 9

Your pandemic business takeaways are wrong, with co-authors Joe Nocera and Bethany McLean

Kick the conventional wisdom. In this episode of Rapid Response, Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera sit down with Bob Safian to discuss their book, The Big Fail: What the Pandemic Revealed About Who America...

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2023 / 11 / 9

Rapid Response: Your pandemic business takeaways are wrong, with co-authors Joe Nocera and Bethany McLean

Kick the conventional wisdom. In this episode of Rapid Response, Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera sit down with Bob Safian to discuss their book, The Big Fail: What the Pandemic Revealed About Who America...

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2023 / 11 / 7

Reid Hoffman confronts the AI critics, w/WaitWhat CEO Jeff Berman

Are AI’s harshest critics causing irreversible harm to humanity? How far should leaders lean into AI? And just what would Reid sound like speaking Chinese with a British accent?Reid Hoffman sits down with CEO...

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2023 / 10 / 31

AI + You | 5 ways to ethically build — and use — AI

In this installment of our series, AI + You, we dissect the ethical concerns that builders and users of AI must keep in focus. As the AI rollout continues at dizzying pace, we all have a part to play in...

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2023 / 10 / 26

Gaza in crisis, w/Mercy Corps’ Arnaud Quemin

Keeping calm in a crisis is essential — and extremely difficult. In this special Rapid Response, we hear what it’s like right now in the Gaza Strip. Mercy Corps’s Arnaud Quemin talks with Bob Safian from...

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2023 / 10 / 26

Rapid Response: Gaza in crisis, w/Mercy Corps’ Arnaud Quemin

Keeping calm in a crisis is essential — and extremely difficult. In this special Rapid Response, we hear what it’s like right now in the Gaza Strip. Mercy Corps’s Arnaud Quemin talks with Bob Safian from...

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2023 / 10 / 23

Supporting Palestinian builders versus destroyers, w/Kind’s Daniel Lubetzky

Can you foster peace between Palestinians and Israelis through business engagement? That’s been a priority of Daniel Lubetzky, founder of Kind Snacks, who has worked with entrepreneurs across the region for...

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2023 / 10 / 23

Rapid Response: Supporting Palestinian builders versus destroyers, w/Kind’s Daniel Lubetzky

Can you foster peace between Palestinians and Israelis through business engagement? That’s been a priority of Daniel Lubetzky, founder of Kind Snacks, who has worked with entrepreneurs across the region for...

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2023 / 10 / 18

On the ground in Israel, w/Hello Heart's Maayan Cohen

In the midst of conflict and turmoil, Hello Heart CEO Maayan Cohen leads her team with compassion, resilience, and a commitment to justice. In this special episode of Masters of Scale Rapid Response, Cohen...

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2023 / 10 / 18

Rapid Response: On the ground in Israel, w/Hello Heart's Maayan Cohen

In the midst of conflict and turmoil, Hello Heart CEO Maayan Cohen leads her team with compassion, resilience, and a commitment to justice. In this special episode of Masters of Scale Rapid Response, Cohen...

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2023 / 10 / 17

AI + You | 4 ways to scale your personal growth

In part two of our 3-part series on AI + You, we offer an actionable playbook on how AI can help us scale ourselves personally. Personal scale is all about broadening your skill set and strengthening your...

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2023 / 10 / 12

Rapid Response: Under Armour’s pivot to growth, w/CEO Stephanie Linnartz

Can you reinvigorate a beloved but troubled brand by applying lessons from a different industry? Under Armour CEO Stephanie Linnartz firmly believes so — and earlier this year made the leap from Marriott to...

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2023 / 10 / 12

Under Armour’s pivot to growth, w/CEO Stephanie Linnartz

Can you reinvigorate a beloved but troubled brand by applying lessons from a different industry? Under Armour CEO Stephanie Linnartz firmly believes so — and earlier this year made the leap from Marriott to...

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2023 / 10 / 10

AI + You | 5 steps for impactful experimentation

AI can be overwhelming. In this 3-part series, we offer business leaders an actionable playbook to best implement AI. Part one: To unleash AI’s true power of scale, you must dive headfirst into ongoing...

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2023 / 10 / 5

How to revive collaboration at work, with WPP’s Mark Read

With companies wrestling with the question of returning to the office or to continue working from home, there are so many questions around the future of work. How do you maximize your team’s creative output...

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2023 / 10 / 5

Rapid Response: How to revive collaboration at work, with WPP’s Mark Read

With companies wrestling with the question of returning to the office or to continue working from home, there are so many questions around the future of work. How do you maximize your team’s creative output...

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2023 / 9 / 29

Rapid Response: Confronting Elon Musk, w/ADL’s Jonathan Greenblatt

Under a harsh spotlight, how do you remain composed while fighting for your mission? Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt joins Rapid Response host Bob Safian to take us inside the story of his...

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2023 / 9 / 29

Confronting Elon Musk, w/ADL’s Jonathan Greenblatt

Under a harsh spotlight, how do you remain composed while fighting for your mission? Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt joins Rapid Response host Bob Safian to take us inside the story of his...

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2023 / 9 / 27

Mustafa Suleyman: Empathy in AI

The buzz about AI focuses on how we can bolster our skills, knowledge and efficiency. But what role can AI play in enriching our lives as social beings with feelings, relationships and dreams? In this...

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2023 / 9 / 19

4 strategies for tackling the toughest challenges

The boldest of entrepreneurs take on the impossible. Recorded live at the Masters of Scale Summit, four scale leaders in Bjarke Ingels, Aurora James, Kathryn Finney, and Scott Harrison offer their strategies...

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2023 / 9 / 12

Stacey Abrams: How to harness risk

For some entrepreneurs, risk is just part of the game. But for the reluctant entrepreneur, whose endeavors come as a response to a need they've identified, risk can feel more like a necessary...

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2023 / 9 / 6

Eileen Fisher: Keep it simple to make it timeless

Simplicity is notoriously difficult, but it’s key to iterating successfully — and staying relevant. Featuring cameos from entrepreneur superstar Daymond John, and Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom, this...

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2023 / 9 / 6

135. Eileen Fisher: Keep it simple to make it timeless

Simplicity is notoriously difficult, but it’s key to iterating successfully — and staying relevant. Featuring cameos from entrepreneur superstar Daymond John, and Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom, this...

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2023 / 8 / 29

Brian Grazer: Scale your curiosity

Amidst the fast pace of entrepreneurial life, how can we make our networking more impactful? The acclaimed film and television producer Brian Grazer argues that curiosity is the elixir for deeper human...

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2023 / 8 / 29

134. Brian Grazer: Scale your curiosity

Amidst the fast pace of entrepreneurial life, how can we make our networking more impactful? The acclaimed film and television producer Brian Grazer argues that curiosity is the elixir for deeper human...

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2023 / 8 / 22

Think like an outsider, w/Shellye Archambeau, Ellevest’s Sallie Krawcheck, and Calendly’s Tope Awotona

How do you evolve your greatest obstacle into your greatest superpower? Shellye Archambeau, Ellevest’s Sallie Krawcheck, and Calendly’s Tope Awotona discuss the hidden advantages of strategizing like an...

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2023 / 8 / 15

Ron Howard: Evolve your vision

How do you stay true to your vision for your company amid constant, unpredictable change? And how do you stay true to a singular vision, while also letting it evolve? These are questions every leader needs to...

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2023 / 8 / 15

133. Ron Howard: Evolve your vision

How do you stay true to your vision for your company amid constant, unpredictable change? And how do you stay true to a singular vision, while also letting it evolve? These are questions every leader needs to...

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2023 / 8 / 8

How great cultures are built and rebuilt, w/Eric Schmidt, Angela Ahrendts, & Uber’s Dara Khosrowshahi

Eric Schmidt, Angela Ahrendts, and Dara Khosrowshahi — three legendary culture-setters — sit down with host Bob Safian to discuss how they’ve built and rebuilt great cultures at Apple, Uber, Google and more....

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2023 / 8 / 1

Leading in an age of burnout, w/Arianna Huffington & Padmasree Warrior

How do you nurture human talent in today’s AI-obsessed, pressure-cooker business climate? Arianna Huffington, founder of Thrive and Huffington Post, and Padmasree Warrior, founder of Fable and former chief...

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2023 / 7 / 25

Focus on the scale that your customers can’t see, w/Land O'Lakes CEO Beth Ford

Too often, companies only focus on the type of scale that’s visible: massive campuses, thousands of workers, offices around the globe. But as Land O’Lakes proves, there are less conspicuous ways to scale –...

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2023 / 7 / 18

Prepare for where AI is headed next, w/Reid Hoffman & Bob Safian

Need to Know: AI’s risks and opportunities; why Reid launched his own AI chatbot; and what Elon Musk and Sam Altman aren’t telling you. Reid Hoffman joins Bob Safian to explore how leaders everywhere should...

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2023 / 7 / 13

Re-skill for AI, w/PwC’s Tim Ryan

Rapid Response with Bob Safian: How do you re-skill a 65,000-strong workforce to prepare for the AI revolution? PwC recently invested $1 billion into AI, hoping to unleash never-before-seen potential for...

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2023 / 7 / 13

Rapid Response: Re-skill for AI, w/PwC’s Tim Ryan

Rapid Response with Bob Safian: How do you re-skill a 65,000-strong workforce to prepare for the AI revolution? PwC recently invested $1 billion into AI, hoping to unleash never-before-seen potential for...

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2023 / 7 / 11

Build your culture like a product, w/HubSpot's Dharmesh Shah

Your company's culture is the bedrock of everything you do. So you can't afford to just let your culture emerge — you need to build it with the deliberate approach of a product designer. Then you need to...

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2023 / 7 / 11

132. Build your culture like a product, w/HubSpot's Dharmesh Shah

Your company's culture is the bedrock of everything you do. So you can't afford to just let your culture emerge — you need to build it with the deliberate approach of a product designer. Then you need to...

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2023 / 7 / 6

4 secrets to building your network

Human beings are social creatures, with a critical need to connect with others. This drive gives shape and meaning to our personal and professional lives. For entrepreneurs and business leaders, the path to...

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2023 / 6 / 29

Prioritize principles in crisis, w/Upwork’s Hayden Brown and Merck’s Ken Frazier

Navigate today’s uncertain climate with a steadfast resolve. Recorded live at the Masters of Scale Summit in San Francisco, former Merck CEO Ken Frazier and Upwork CEO Hayden Brown talk with host Bob Safian...

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2023 / 6 / 29

132. Prioritize principles in crisis w/Upwork’s Hayden Brown and Merck’s Ken Frazier

Navigate today’s uncertain climate with a steadfast resolve. Recorded live at the Masters of Scale Summit in San Francisco, Merck CEO Ken Frazier and Upwork CEO Hayden Brown talk with host Bob Safian about...

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2023 / 6 / 27

131. Better metrics for better culture, part 2, with Kapor Capital’s Mitch Kapor & Dr. Freada Kapor Klein

In part 2 of this episode with veteran founders and investors Mitch Kapor & Dr. Freada Kapor Klein, we get into the data of building human-centered cultures. In part one, we heard how Mitch and Freada went...

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2023 / 6 / 27

Better metrics for better culture, part 2, with Kapor Capital’s Mitch Kapor & Dr. Freada Kapor Klein

In part 2 of this episode with veteran founders and investors Mitch Kapor & Dr. Freada Kapor Klein, we get into the data of building human-centered cultures. In part one, we heard how Mitch and Freada went...

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2023 / 6 / 22

Rapid Response: How to inject AI into your core business, w/Smart Eye’s Rana el Kaliouby

Rapid Response with Bob Safian: Should you begin incorporating AI now or wait to see how it shakes-out for early adopters? AI pioneer Rana el Kaliouby urges business leaders to embrace their exploration...

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2023 / 6 / 22

Lessons from an AI pioneer, w/Smart Eye’s Rana el Kaliouby

Rapid Response with Bob Safian: Should you begin incorporating AI now or wait to see how it shakes-out for early adopters? AI pioneer Rana el Kaliouby urges business leaders to embrace their exploration...

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2023 / 6 / 22

How to inject AI into your core business, w/Smart Eye’s Rana el Kaliouby

Rapid Response with Bob Safian: Should you begin incorporating AI now or wait to see how it shakes-out for early adopters? AI pioneer Rana el Kaliouby urges business leaders to embrace their exploration...

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2023 / 6 / 20

130. Better metrics for better culture, part 1, with Kapor Capital’s Mitch Kapor & Dr. Freada Kapor Klein

Can you build with conscience and still succeed? Mitch Kapor & Dr. Freada Kapor Klein certainly think so. As tech industry veteran founders and investors, Mitch and Freada have long embraced non-traditional...

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2023 / 6 / 20

Better metrics for better culture, part 1, with Kapor Capital’s Mitch Kapor & Dr. Freada Kapor Klein

Can you build with conscience and still succeed? Mitch Kapor & Dr. Freada Kapor Klein certainly think so. As tech industry veteran founders and investors, Mitch and Freada have long embraced non-traditional...

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2023 / 6 / 15

To be first to the future, be stubbornly nimble

How do you balance saving capital versus taking advantage of current opportunities? How do investors and founders evaluate risk differently? And how do you embrace disruptive new technology without sending...

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2023 / 6 / 13

Tyler Perry and Netflix's Ted Sarandos: Amplify the untapped audience

To achieve true cultural impact, follow authentic storytelling and spot untapped consumer needs. Recorded live at the Masters of Scale Summit in San Francisco, filmmaker and entrepreneur Tyler Perry and...

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2023 / 6 / 8

Rapid Response: Make AI your co-pilot, w/Microsoft VP of Design & AI, John Maeda

Rapid Response with Bob Safian: Can you truly take advantage of AI before speaking its language? Microsoft’s VP of Design and AI, Dr. John Maeda discusses AI’s common misconceptions and its misunderstood...

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2023 / 6 / 8

Make AI your co-pilot, w/Microsoft VP of Design & AI, John Maeda

Rapid Response with Bob Safian: Can you truly take advantage of AI before speaking its language? Microsoft’s VP of Design and AI, Dr. John Maeda discusses AI’s common misconceptions and its misunderstood...

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2023 / 6 / 6

129. Jimmy Iovine: Harness fear to drive innovation, part 2

With guest host Angela Ahrendts (Burberry, Apple). To innovate, you need to build an instinct to smash through barriers — especially the ones that terrify you. Music industry legend Jimmy Iovine has done this...

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2023 / 6 / 6

Jimmy Iovine: Harness fear to drive innovation, part 2

With guest host Angela Ahrendts (Burberry, Apple). To innovate, you need to build an instinct to smash through barriers — especially the ones that terrify you. Music industry legend Jimmy Iovine has done this...

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2023 / 5 / 31

Jimmy Iovine: Harness fear to drive innovation, part 1

With guest host Angela Ahrendts (Burberry, Apple). To innovate, you need to build an instinct to smash through barriers — especially the ones that terrify you. Music industry legend Jimmy Iovine has done this...

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2023 / 5 / 31

128. Jimmy Iovine: Harness fear to drive innovation, part 1

With guest host Angela Ahrendts (Burberry, Apple). To innovate, you need to build an instinct to smash through barriers — especially the ones that terrify you. Music industry legend Jimmy Iovine has done this...

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2023 / 5 / 23

Using failure as a launchpad, w/MoviePass’s Stacy Spikes

Rapid Response with Bob Safian: After an infamous fall, MoviePass co-founder Stacy Spikes is back to try again, applying hard-earned lessons and a revamped model to meet the same goal: make theater-going a...

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2023 / 5 / 23

Rapid Response: Using failure as a launchpad, w/MoviePass’s Stacy Spikes

Rapid Response with Bob Safian: After an infamous fall, MoviePass co-founder Stacy Spikes is back to try again, applying hard-earned lessons and a revamped model to meet the same goal: make theater-going a...

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2023 / 5 / 16

How the word "no" inspires change, w/Princess Reema

To change the status quo, we need to lean into whatever advantages we have. Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud of Saudi Arabia has privileges that many do not: She is a member of the royal family and Saudi...

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2023 / 5 / 9

How great leaders respond in a crisis, w/Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky

After guiding the company through a near-death experience, Airbnb’s Brian Chesky talks with Rapid Response host Bob Safian about what he learned and how responding to a crisis both reveals your character and...

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2023 / 5 / 4

Rapid Response: Lessons from the demise of BuzzFeed News, w/CEO Jonah Peretti

Rapid Response with Bob Safian: If the most prestigious aspect of your business isn’t paying dividends, should you leave it in the past? BuzzFeed’s co-founder and CEO, Jonah Peretti discusses the surprising...

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2023 / 5 / 4

Lessons from the demise of BuzzFeed News, w/CEO Jonah Peretti

Rapid Response with Bob Safian: If the most prestigious aspect of your business isn’t paying dividends, should you leave it in the past? BuzzFeed’s co-founder and CEO, Jonah Peretti discusses the surprising...

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2023 / 5 / 2

ALL-STAR EP: Uber’s Dara Khosrowshahi — Bringing a culture back from the brink

Early-stage startups are a lot like pirate ships — they need a buccaneering spirit to survive. But every startup needs to shed its pirate nature at some point, and evolve into something more akin to a navy —...

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2023 / 5 / 2

Uber’s Dara Khosrowshahi — Bringing a culture back from the brink

Early-stage startups are a lot like pirate ships — they need a buccaneering spirit to survive. But every startup needs to shed its pirate nature at some point, and evolve into something more akin to a navy —...

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2023 / 4 / 25

Taskrabbit’s Stacy Brown-Philpot — Keep humans in the equation

You may think that to scale you need to cut humans out of the equation. The opposite is true. You can harness the power of the “human cloud” to solve almost any problem — as long as you keep the word “human”...

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2023 / 4 / 25

ALL-STAR EP: Taskrabbit’s Stacy Brown-Philpot — Keep humans in the equation

You may think that to scale you need to cut humans out of the equation. The opposite is true. You can harness the power of the “human cloud” to solve almost any problem — as long as you keep the word “human”...

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2023 / 4 / 18

Shark Tank and FUBU’s Daymond John — How to partner like a shark

How do you create authentic partnerships to build scale? Daymond John, founder of FUBU and one of the original “sharks” on ABC’s Shark Tank, shares lessons from FUBU’s earliest days in Queens, where he...

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2023 / 4 / 18

ALL STAR EP: Shark Tank and FUBU’s Daymond John — How to partner like a shark

How do you create authentic partnerships to build scale? Daymond John, founder of FUBU and one of the original “sharks” on ABC’s Shark Tank, shares lessons from FUBU’s earliest days in Queens, where he...

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2023 / 4 / 18

ALL-STAR EP: Shark Tank and FUBU’s Daymond John — How to partner like a shark

How do you create authentic partnerships to build scale? Daymond John, founder of FUBU and one of the original “sharks” on ABC’s Shark Tank, shares lessons from FUBU’s earliest days in Queens, where he...

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2023 / 4 / 11

Google's Eric Schmidt — Innovation is managed chaos

Google doesn’t tell its employees how to innovate; it manages their inventive chaos. Their secret? Mix free-flowing ideas with disciplined decision-making. In this week's All-Star Episode, former Google...

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2023 / 4 / 11

ALL-STAR EP: Google's Eric Schmidt — Innovation is managed chaos

Google doesn’t tell its employees how to innovate; it manages their inventive chaos. Their secret? Mix free-flowing ideas with disciplined decision-making. In this week's All Star Episode, former Google...

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2023 / 4 / 4

Burberry & Apple’s Angela Ahrendts — How to unite a team

The Apple logo. The iconic Burberry check. These images inspire loyalty of customers and employees alike. But it takes more than a beloved brand to power a company and motivate a team. No one knows this...

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2023 / 4 / 4

ALL-STAR EP: Burberry & Apple’s Angela Ahrendts — How to unite a team

The Apple logo. The iconic Burberry check. These images inspire loyalty of customers and employees alike. But it takes more than a beloved brand to power a company and motivate a team. No one knows this...

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2023 / 3 / 28

Spotify’s Daniel Ek — How to build trust fast

Normally, trust = consistency + time. But when you're scaling fast, you have to find shortcuts to trust, with your partners and your users. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek knows a thing or two about this. When he...

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2023 / 3 / 28

ALL-STAR EP: Spotify’s Daniel Ek — How to build trust fast

Normally, trust = consistency + time. But when you're scaling fast, you have to find shortcuts to trust, with your partners and your users. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek knows a thing or two about this. When he...

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2023 / 3 / 16

Rapid Response: Live with urgency, w/Bozoma Saint John, former Netflix CMO

Being authentic defines strong leadership. Bozoma Saint John has continually challenged expectations, moving purposefully across multiple roles, from Uber’s chief brand officer to Netflix’s CMO, from Pepsico...

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2023 / 3 / 14

The 4 core principles of crisis management, w/Ellen Kullman (DuPont, Carbon)

To survive a crisis, you have to double down on who you already are as a company. This is something Ellen Kullman knows, having led DuPont through the 2008-2009 financial crisis, and taken the CEO role at...

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2023 / 3 / 9

Rapid Response: Compassion in the face of crisis, w/Mercy Corps CEO Tjada McKenna

How do you stay focused and committed to putting out a fire while new fires ignite elsewhere? Mercy Corps CEO, Tjada D’Oyen McKenna returns to Rapid Response to discuss the expansive relief effort in Turkey...

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2023 / 3 / 7

128. Create your own milestones, w/Babylist’s Natalie Gordon

Rather than pursue conventional milestones, define your own. Babylist’s founder and CEO, Natalie Gordon took baby steps to grow her e-commerce site from a 45-minute-a-day side hustle to a platform used by...

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2023 / 3 / 2

Rapid Response: Embrace tension, w/former IBM CEO Ginni Rometty

Hard challenges demand that we embrace tension. Former CEO of IBM Ginni Rometty argues that, right now, business has a responsibility to deploy what her new book calls Good Power — from putting skills first...

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2023 / 2 / 28

127. Swing on the jungle gym, w/David Droga of Droga5 and Accenture Song

Climbing the ladder is a goal for many professionals, but creatively-minded leaders look and move laterally to catapult themselves. Advertising industry icon David Droga built trailblazing creative agency...

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2023 / 2 / 28

127. Dare to make unexpected moves, w/David Droga of Droga5 and Accenture Song

What drove the meteoric rise of David Droga’s trailblazing agency Droga5? A series of daring, unexpected leaps — tactics he’s now applying at mega-scale as head of Accenture Song. Conventional wisdom tells...

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2023 / 2 / 28

Dare to make unexpected moves, w/David Droga of Droga5 and Accenture Song

What drove the meteoric rise of David Droga’s trailblazing agency Droga5? A series of daring, unexpected leaps — tactics he’s now applying at mega-scale as head of Accenture Song. Conventional wisdom tells...

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2023 / 2 / 23

Rapid Response: Finding windows of opportunity, w/Delta CEO Ed Bastian

With deserted airports, vaccine and mask mandates, and pandemic-prompted staff departures behind it, Delta Air Lines is once again soaring, recently sharing $563 million in profits with its employees. CEO Ed...

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2023 / 2 / 21

Make it epic, w/will.i.am

What can entrepreneurs learn from a genre-crossing, multi-platinum musician? How to take a big opportunity — and leverage it into something epic. From his earliest days as a founding member of the Black Eyed...

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2023 / 2 / 16

Rapid Response: Kickstart your users from passive to passionate, w/Kickstarter’s Everette Taylor

To breathe fresh life into an established platform, Kickstarter’s new 33-year-old CEO Everette Taylor is shaking things up – and he’s unapologetic if it makes people uncomfortable. From bold new product lines...

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2023 / 2 / 14

Need to Know: ChatGPT and AI’s inflection point, w/Reid & Bob

Reid Hoffman and Bob Safian sit down once more to discuss how today’s hot-button stories are impacting business. And right now, there's no hotter topic than ChatGPT and the race to bring transformative AI...

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2023 / 2 / 9

Rapid Response: Betting on the Super Bowl, w/FanDuel CEO Amy Howe

Sports gambling is on track to grow into a $40 billion industry in the U.S., with FanDuel the lead player. CEO Amy Howe explains why the Super Bowl is so important to the company’s aspirations, even as it...

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2023 / 2 / 7

Strategy Session: How to balance innovation with your core business? How to help others tell the story of your product? How to sell an audacious vision to risk-averse stakeholders?

How do you keep innovating while also making sure your core business stays on point? How do you turn your employees into impassioned storytellers? And how do you get even the most risk-averse stakeholders to...

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2023 / 2 / 3

Rapid Response: Turning point for a climate-crisis solution, w/Climeworks' Christoph Gebald

The carbon-capture industry notched a breakthrough in early 2023, when Climeworks became the first company to be third-party certified for taking carbon out of the air and mineralizing it underground. ...

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2023 / 1 / 31

When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel

Smart entrepreneurs know one of the secrets to scale is leveraging wisdom from others. (In fact, that’s the mission of this show!) But not all advice is right for you right now — and some can even be...

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2023 / 1 / 31

126. When to seek advice and when to ignore it, w/LearnVest & Inspired Capital’s Alexa von Tobel

Smart entrepreneurs know one of the secrets to scale is leveraging wisdom from others. (In fact, that’s the mission of this show!) But not all advice is right for you right now — and some can even be...

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2023 / 1 / 26

Rapid Response: Stay versatile, w/Lululemon Athletica CEO Calvin McDonald

While many retail businesses have struggled to cope with a wave of disruptions — from pandemic to supply chains to inflation — Lululemon has continued to scale, even when retail sales elsewhere dipped. CEO...

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2023 / 1 / 24

6 leadership traps and how to avoid them

For entrepreneurs and business leaders, the path to success is littered with traps. In this special episode of Masters of Scale, we go into the trenches with leaders from Google, Uber, LinkedIn, and more for...

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2023 / 1 / 19

Rapid Response: Finding untapped value in multicultural consumers, w/Blavity CEO and AfroTech founder Morgan DeBaun

While media companies from CNN to Buzzfeed have faced layoffs, one digital network focused on Black millennials has continued to forge ahead. Morgan DeBaun, CEO of Blavity, which reaches some 100 million...

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2023 / 1 / 18

Netflix’s Reed Hastings: Why culture matters

As Reed Hastings steps down from his co-CEO role at Netflix, we return to the leadership lessons he shared in his original Masters of Scale episode. This episode is all about how you need a strong culture to...

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2023 / 1 / 17

J.J. Abrams: Make room for magic

You can’t predict your next a-ha moment. but you can create favorable circumstances for serendipity to happen – for you, and for your team. No one knows this better than J.J. Abrams, director, producer,...

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2023 / 1 / 12

Rapid Response: How to cultivate a new industry, w/Upside Foods CEO Uma Valeti, MD

When the FDA blessed Upside Foods’ grown-from-cells chicken as safe to eat, it was a coming-of-age moment for cultivated meat. Upside founder and CEO Uma Valeti, MD, shares his journey of convincing skeptics,...

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2023 / 1 / 10

Cisco's John Chambers: The essential playbooks — and when to use them

All great teams need to improvise under pressure, but underpinning this should be a set of tried-and-tested playbooks that let you orchestrate and replicate winning strategies. Cisco's John Chambers created a...

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2023 / 1 / 10

125. 5 vital playbooks — and when to use them, w/Cisco’s John Chambers

All great teams need to improvise under pressure, but underpinning this should be a set of tried-and-tested playbooks that let you orchestrate and replicate winning strategies. Cisco's John Chambers created a...

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2023 / 1 / 10

125. Cisco's John Chambers: The essential playbooks — and when to use them

All great teams need to improvise under pressure, but underpinning this should be a set of tried-and-tested playbooks that let you orchestrate and replicate winning strategies. Cisco's John Chambers created a...

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2023 / 1 / 5

Ray Dalio: How to embrace conflict

Want to improve any idea? Find someone who disagrees with it. This is something legendary investor Ray Dalio knows. But there’s a difference between constructive and destructive conflict — and Dalio is a...

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2023 / 1 / 3

5 ways to keep your brand relevant

Branding is at the heart of any organization’s identity, product, and mission. It's the narrative you weave throughout your scale journey. That’s why brand relevance isn't a nice-to-have — it's a need to...

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2022 / 12 / 29

Rapid Response: Loneliness at work, w/Noreena Hertz, author of The Lonely Century

This is the loneliest century, says economist Noreena Hertz. Even before the pandemic forced us to stay home, loneliness was snaking its way through our lives, affecting everything from how we vote to how we...

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2022 / 12 / 27

10 unforgettable moments of 2022

Masters of Scale presents 10 must-hear moments from 2022! This special episode gathers the most valuable, lesson-packed, insight-filled moments from the past year across Masters of Scale and Masters of Scale:...

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2022 / 12 / 20

124. The co-founder effect, w/Rothy's Stephen Hawthornthwaite and Roth Martin

Running a business can be a lonely job. The long hours, the existential threats — it can feel like the weight of the entire company is on your back. That’s where the transformative power of co-founders comes...

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2022 / 12 / 20

The co-founder effect, w/Rothy's Stephen Hawthornthwaite and Roth Martin

Running a business can be a lonely job. The long hours, the existential threats — it can feel like the weight of the entire company is on your back. That’s where the transformative power of co-founders comes...

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2022 / 12 / 15

Rapid Response: The rise of the “wisdom worker,” w/Modern Elder Academy’s Chip Conley

As we live and work longer, leaders need to redefine how they think about attracting and developing intergenerational talent. Modern Elder Academy's Chip Conley is at the forefront of this mindset shift,...

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2022 / 12 / 13

Bonus: Stephen Colbert on DonorsChoose (The Complete Interview)

In June of 2020, executive producers June Cohen and Jordan McLeod sat down with comedian Stephen Colbert to discuss how, as host of The Colbert Report, Stephen pivoted a satirical run for U.S. president into...

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2022 / 12 / 8

Rapid Response: How Main Street retailers are out-pivoting big-box giants, w/Faire’s Max Rhodes

Small, independent store owners have been perpetually hit by waves of disruption: from malls to big box stores to e-commerce giants. But Max Rhodes, co-founder and CEO of the $12 billion online wholesale...

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2022 / 12 / 6

123. Build the right incentives, w/VIPKid’s Cindy Mi

Businesses run on incentives — from attracting customers with great prices, to drawing in talent with great salaries. But incentives aren’t something you set once; you must constantly revisit them to adjust...

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2022 / 12 / 6

Build the right incentives, w/VIPKid’s Cindy Mi

Businesses run on incentives — from attracting customers with great prices, to drawing in talent with great salaries. But incentives aren’t something you set once; you must constantly revisit them to adjust...

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2022 / 12 / 2

Rapid Response: Risking an iconic brand — and $40b — in a race to go all-electric, w/Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius

How do you reinvent a world-renowned automaker for an all-electric future? At Mercedes-Benz, CEO Ola Källenius has set the jaw-dropping goal to put fossil-fuels in the rear-view mirror by 2030 — ahead of...

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2022 / 11 / 30

Need to Know: Elon Musk at Twitter, Bob Iger’s return to Disney, FTX’s bankruptcy, and more, w/Reid & Bob

Reid Hoffman and Bob Safian sit down once more to discuss how today’s hot-button stories are impacting business. The co-hosts address the key trends that all entrepreneurs should be up to speed on, from the...

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2022 / 11 / 26

Disney’s Bob Iger: How acquisitions become an ecosystem, part 2

From Pixar to Marvel to Lucasfilm, Disney's Bob Iger defied expectations, acquiring world-renowned brands and meshing them seamlessly with the House of Mouse. In Part 2 of our epic conversation with Iger –...

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2022 / 11 / 23

Disney’s Bob Iger: How acquisitions become an ecosystem, part 1

For any distinctive brand or business, it can be a challenge to expand reach without diluting what makes you special. No one has a keener understanding of this issue than Bob Iger, executive chair and former...

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2022 / 11 / 23

77. Disney’s Bob Iger: How acquisitions become an ecosystem, part 1

For any distinctive brand or business, it can be a challenge to expand reach without diluting what makes you special. No one has a keener understanding of this issue than Bob Iger, executive chair and former...

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2022 / 11 / 21

How to unite a team around a shared mission: A story from Yo-Yo Ma on Spark & Fire

What can an entrepreneur learn from a world-class musician? How to create a world-class team, and unite around a clear mission. In this special crossover episode with our sister podcast, Spark & Fire,...

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2022 / 11 / 17

Rapid Response: Don’t be a unicorn, be a dragon, w/Techstars CEO Maëlle Gavet

The tech industry and its investors have been captivated by the spell of the Unicorn for too long — and the ambitious goal of a billion-dollar valuation has done more harm than good. Instead, founders should...

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2022 / 11 / 15

Nike’s Phil Knight: How to sell without selling

Great branding is about identity — and it’s about matchmaking too. No one knows this better than the legendary co-founder of Nike, Phil Knight. When he and his partner, Hall of Fame track coach Bill Bowerman,...

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2022 / 11 / 15

70. Nike’s Phil Knight: How to sell without selling

Great branding is about identity — and it’s about matchmaking too. No one knows this better than the legendary co-founder of Nike, Phil Knight. When he and his partner, Hall of Fame track coach Bill Bowerman,...

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2022 / 11 / 10

Rapid Response: Expand your definition of leadership, w/CNBC's Julia Boorstin

Despite only 8% of Fortune 500 companies with women CEOs, women leaders more often utilize leadership skills that are perfectly suited for the current business climate. Julia Boorstin, who created CNBC’s...

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2022 / 11 / 8

Brand while you build, w/Warby Parker’s Neil Blumenthal & Dave Gilboa

Some aspects of your brand will be defined by what customers tell you; others, by what you tell them. In their stories of how they scaled Warby Parker from scrappy e-commerce site to comprehensive eyewear and...

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2022 / 11 / 8

122. Brand while you build, w/Warby Parker’s Neil Blumenthal & Dave Gilboa

Some aspects of your brand will be defined by what customers tell you; others, by what you tell them. In their stories of how they scaled Warby Parker from scrappy e-commerce site to comprehensive eyewear and...

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2022 / 11 / 3

Rapid Response: Why design matters more than ever, w/PepsiCo Chief Design Officer Mauro Porcini

Design is more than aesthetics. It is an essential competitive tool for an age of perpetual disruption. PepsiCo Chief Design Officer Mauro Porcini shares his 5-point system for sparking creativity at scale....

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2022 / 11 / 1

Let waypoints guide you, w/Aurora's Chris Urmson

To complete an audacious journey, you need to set short, achievable goals — or waypoints — to avoid getting wildly lost. But waypoints also need to be flexible because when you're knocked off track, you need...

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2022 / 11 / 1

121. Let waypoints guide you, w/Aurora's Chris Urmson

To complete an audacious journey, you need to set short, achievable goals — or waypoints — to avoid getting wildly lost. But waypoints also need to be flexible because when you're knocked off track, you need...

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2022 / 10 / 27

Rapid Response: Why we need to think again, w/Adam Grant

As we grapple with pandemic-charged change in business and as a society, we’ve become more fractured, more divisive, and more vulnerable. Adam Grant, best-selling author and professor at the Wharton School,...

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2022 / 10 / 25

45. LIVE! Patience or speed? Both. w/Tory Burch

Tory Burch built a billion-dollar business from the ground up, by speeding forward when others might have hit pause, and showing watchful patience when others may have gone full tilt. In our live onstage...

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2022 / 10 / 25

LIVE! Patience or speed? Both. w/Tory Burch

Tory Burch built a billion-dollar business from the ground up, by speeding forward when others might have hit pause, and showing watchful patience when others may have gone full tilt. In our live onstage...

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2022 / 10 / 22

How great cultures are built and rebuilt, w/Angela Ahrendts, Uber’s Dara Khosrowshahi & Eric Schmidt

Three legendary culture setters come together live on stage at the inaugural Masters of Scale Summit. In the first released recording from the sold-out event, Angela Ahrendts, Dara Khosrowshahi, and Eric...

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2022 / 10 / 22

Live! Angela Ahrendts, Uber’s Dara Khosrowshahi & Eric Schmidt talk culture at the first Masters of Scale Summit

Three legendary culture setters come together live on stage at the inaugural Masters of Scale Summit. In the first released recording from the sold-out event, Angela Ahrendts, Dara Khosrowshahi, and Eric...

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2022 / 10 / 20

Rapid Response: The promise and peril of engineering biology, w/Ginkgo Bioworks Reshma Shetty

Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine would not have scaled without Ginkgo Bioworks. Reshma Shetty, co-founder and COO of Ginkgo – slated to go public via SPAC acquisition at a reported $15 billion valuation – explains...

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2022 / 10 / 18

How to do good and do good business, w/Starbucks' Howard Schultz

You can make your social impact and your bottom line work hand-in-hand. But you'll have to be as creative and innovative about your company's values as you are about the business itself. Howard Schultz, chair...

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2022 / 10 / 18

21. How to do good and do good business, w/Starbucks' Howard Schultz

You can make your social impact and your bottom line work hand-in-hand. But you'll have to be as creative and innovative about your company's values as you are about the business itself. Howard Schultz, chair...

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2022 / 10 / 13

Rapid Response: Rally a team in turmoil, w/NFL Raiders president Sandra Douglass Morgan

As a new leader, how do you honor an established brand while trying to shepherd it into the next era? Las Vegas Raiders’ president Sandra Douglass Morgan took the helm amid a front office scandal and a team...

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2022 / 10 / 11

120. Think like an intrapreneur, w/Mach49's Linda Yates

Innovation is the lifeblood of the startup — from product to processes and culture to creativity. But innovation is just as essential for scale companies. So how do you keep the innovation flywheel spinning...

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2022 / 10 / 11

Think like an intrapreneur, w/Mach49's Linda Yates

Innovation is the lifeblood of the startup — from product to processes and culture to creativity. But innovation is just as essential for scale companies. So how do you keep the innovation flywheel spinning...

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2022 / 10 / 6

Rapid Response: Mastering the hybrid workplace, w/Priya Parker, author of The Art of Gathering

Hybrid, remote, in-person, a little bit of everything? Work has transformed into a giant experiment. Priya Parker, expert facilitator and author of The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters, shares...

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2022 / 10 / 4

5 ways to build your tolerance for risk

Taking risks can be the catalyst for immense scale or dire straits. Avoiding taking any risks at all leads to stagnancy and empowered competitors. The key is to know which risks are worth taking, and when and...

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2022 / 9 / 29

Rapid Response: How Covid lessons get tested by inflation, w/Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer

After slashing his NYC restaurant team from 2,400 people to just 45 in the teeth of the pandemic, Danny Meyer has rebuilt Union Square Hospitality Group back to its former size. But in his fifth appearance on...

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2022 / 9 / 27

119. Why mission matters more than products, w/Noom’s Saeju Jeong

For truly sustainable long-term growth, you must prioritize your mission over your product — even if that means letting your product go. Noom founder and CEO Saeju Jeong has repeatedly turned his back on...

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2022 / 9 / 27

Why mission matters more than products, w/Noom’s Saeju Jeong

For truly sustainable long-term growth, you must prioritize your mission over your product — even if that means letting your product go. Noom founder and CEO Saeju Jeong has repeatedly turned his back on...

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2022 / 9 / 22

Rapid Response: Flipping your strategy in a volatile market, w/Zillow's Susan Daimler

When markets are in turmoil, you can’t rely on business as usual, but that doesn’t mean you should panic. As the housing climate has turned volatile, rest estate marketplace Zillow has been forced to rethink...

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2022 / 9 / 20

Strategy Session: How to stay inspired while remote? Why do you celebrate wins? Is there a co-founder advantage?

Can a small entrepreneur make an impact within a massive, complex system, like healthcare or education? What's the best framework to amplify the positive side of having co-founders and avoid the...

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2022 / 9 / 15

Rapid Response: Charging toward a clean energy future, w/EVgo's Cathy Zoi

Partnerships can be the secret weapon to rocketing your company to the next level. That’s what Cathy Zoi discovered when she became the CEO of charging station network, EVgo. Whether it be partnering with...

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2022 / 9 / 13

91. Microsoft’s Satya Nadella: Why we need re-founders

To achieve massive scale, you don’t just need founders, you also need a re-founder – someone to come in at a later stage to keep the mission and culture on track. As Microsoft’s third CEO ever — after Bill...

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2022 / 9 / 13

Microsoft’s Satya Nadella: Why we need re-founders

To achieve massive scale, you don’t just need founders, you also need a re-founder – someone to come in at a later stage to keep the mission and culture on track. As Microsoft’s third CEO ever — after Bill...

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2022 / 9 / 8

Rapid Response: How we served 150 million meals in Ukraine, w/José Andrés of World Central Kitchen

Too many businesses and organizations spend time planning and not enough in action, especially in times of emergency. José Andrés, world-famous chef and founder of the nonprofit World Central Kitchen, proves...

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2022 / 9 / 6

118. The Wrongness Playbook, part 2, w/Patreon's Jack Conte

When is it time to double down on your instincts, and when is it time to open yourself up to feedback? Sometimes it comes down to a hard call… that you might get totally wrong. In Part Two of our episode with...

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2022 / 9 / 6

The Wrongness Playbook, part 2, w/Patreon's Jack Conte

When is it time to double down on your instincts, and when is it time to open yourself up to feedback? Sometimes it comes down to a hard call… that you might get totally wrong. In Part Two of our episode with...

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2022 / 9 / 1

Rapid Response: Holding business accountable from Meta to McDonald’s, w/Color of Change’s Rashad Robinson

When it comes to racial justice, many companies and organizations haven't matched their reality to their words. Rashad Robinson, the president of Color of Change, the largest online racial justice...

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2022 / 8 / 30

The Wrongness Playbook, part 1, w/Patreon's Jack Conte

Building a business means making mistakes. Lots of them. But how you’re wrong isn’t always obvious. Jack Conte has learned this lesson as a working musician — and while scaling Patreon into a company worth...

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2022 / 8 / 30

117. The Wrongness Playbook, part 1, w/Patreon's Jack Conte

Building a business means making mistakes. Lots of them. But how you’re wrong isn’t always obvious. Jack Conte has learned this lesson as a working musician — and while scaling Patreon into a company worth...

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2022 / 8 / 25

Rapid Response: Amazon’s plan to be big, green, and beloved, w/AWS CEO Adam Selipsky

Amazon wants to get bigger, but with that scale comes great responsibility. So says Adam Selipsky, CEO of Amazon Web Services, the most profitable and fastest growing part of the tech giant. Selipsky, who...

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2022 / 8 / 23

Strategy Session: How to build trust in a brand-new space? How do you balance limited cash and big ambitions?

How can small businesses survive in times of volatility? How should an entrepreneur balance limited resources with big ambitions? Reid Hoffman and Bob Safian answer questions from small business owners in the...

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2022 / 8 / 18

Rapid Response: "You should be running toward AI," w/Eric Schmidt (frmr Google CEO)

Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, breaks down his deep insights around artificial intelligence on Rapid Response. Schmidt, co-author of the book "The Age of AI: And Our Human Future," alongside Dr. Henry...

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2022 / 8 / 16

How to take creative leaps — and land them, w/Future Shape's Tony Fadell

Creative energy is the raw fuel of entrepreneurship, but if you fail to direct that energy effectively, you risk chasing multiple ideas and delivering none. Tony Fadell learned this lesson time and again...

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2022 / 8 / 16

116. How to take creative leaps — and land them, w/Future Shape's Tony Fadell

Creative energy is the raw fuel of entrepreneurship, but if you fail to direct that energy effectively, you risk chasing multiple ideas and delivering none. Tony Fadell learned this lesson time and again...

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2022 / 8 / 11

Rapid Response: Playing offense in adversity, w/Target’s Brian Cornell

The fallout from the pandemic is proving to be as challenging for business leaders to navigate as the pandemic’s onset. Target’s CEO Brian Cornell had to make difficult decisions in the second quarter of this...

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2022 / 8 / 9

Bill Gates: How to accelerate history (Part 1)

How did Bill Gates scale BOTH a global business and a global philanthropy? He spotted an inflection point in history — and accelerated it. What does that take? A great idea, great timing, and also: Great...

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2022 / 8 / 9

47. Bill Gates: How to accelerate history (Part 1)

How did Bill Gates scale BOTH a global business and a global philanthropy? He spotted an inflection point in history — and accelerated it. What does that take? A great idea, great timing, and also: Great...

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2022 / 8 / 4

Rapid Response: How to decarbonize your business, w/John Doerr, partner at Kleiner Perkins

“Go for the megatons.” That’s John Doerr’s recommendation for how we need to combat the existential threat of climate change. Doerr, a venture capitalist and author of the new book Speed and...

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2022 / 8 / 2

Five ways to burnout-proof your organization

If you’re a leader right now navigating the global pandemic, supply chain disruptions, and your own mental list of what’s keeping you up at night, the issue of burnout is probably on your mind. You can’t...

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2022 / 8 / 2

Bonus: Five ways to burnout-proof your organization

If you’re a leader right now navigating the global pandemic, supply chain disruptions, and your own mental list of what’s keeping you up at night, the issue of burnout is probably on your mind. You can’t...

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2022 / 7 / 28

Rapid Response: What the crypto crash teaches us all, w/Chainalysis’s Michael Gronager

Crypto winter isn’t a disaster, it's an opportunity. That’s how Michael Gronager, CEO of $8 billion crypto data company Chainalysis, describes the crashing prices and bankruptcies that have roiled the...

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2022 / 7 / 26

Need to Know, w/Reid & Bob: Business withdrawals from Russia, strife at Netflix, Musk vs Twitter, the business world’s role in democracy, Crypto’s future, & more

Reid Hoffman and Bob Safian sit down to discuss how today’s hot-button stories are impacting business. The co-hosts address the key trends that all entrepreneurs should be up to speed on, from the looming...

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2022 / 7 / 21

Rapid Response: Turning tears to action, w/Planned Parenthood’s Alexis McGill Johnson

“Hope is a practice. It comes from doing.” As the head of Planned Parenthood, Alexis McGill Johnson is regrouping in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to remove the federal right to safe abortion....

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2022 / 7 / 19

Drive full-speed at opportunity, w/AKQA’s Ajaz Ahmed

If you want to capitalize on an opportunity that you think could change the world, you need to drive full speed toward it. Back in 1994, when Ajaz Ahmed dropped out of college to start one of the first...

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2022 / 7 / 19

115. Drive full-speed at opportunity, w/AKQA’s Ajaz Ahmed

If you want to capitalize on an opportunity that you think could change the world, you need to drive full speed toward it. Back in 1994, when Ajaz Ahmed dropped out of college to start one of the first...

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2022 / 7 / 14

Rapid Response: Waging a $1.4 trillion food fight, w/Impossible Foods CEO Peter McGuinness

What’s the difference between an activist brand and an active brand? Impossible Foods CEO Peter McGuinness says that acting on your values defines a business — from climate change to Roe v. Wade. To unleash...

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2022 / 7 / 12

Harness the passion of internal factions, w/Padmasree Warrior of Fable, Cisco, Motorola

Every company has its own internal factions: engineers vs. designers, East Coast vs. West, IT vs. everybody. The trick is turning factionalism into healthy competition that propels you toward your shared...

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2022 / 7 / 12

114. Harness the passion of internal factions, w/Padmasree Warrior of Fable, Cisco, Motorola

Every company has its own internal factions: engineers vs. designers, East Coast vs. West, IT vs. everybody. The trick is turning factionalism into healthy competition that propels you toward your shared...

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2022 / 7 / 7

Rapid Response: Volunteer for impact, w/AmeriCorps’ Michael Smith, live at the Social Innovation Summit

Volunteering and service are muscles that can close America’s divides and push social change. Speaking live at the 2022 Social Innovation Summit in Washington, D.C., AmeriCorps’ new CEO, Michael Smith, shares...

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2022 / 7 / 5

17. Customer love is all you need, w/Y Combinator's Sam Altman

The true seed of scale is customer love, which you can’t buy, hack, or game. Sam Altman, former president of Y Combinator, scaled countless start-ups by focusing on this one idea: Finding 100 users who love...

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2022 / 6 / 30

Rapid Response: From ‘delusion’ to criminal justice revolution, w/Ameelio’s Zo Orchingwa

When a tech nonprofit competes against a $2 billion incumbent dominating the market, its odds are slim. But Zo Orchingwa took that bet, founding Ameelio, believing that access to communication and education...

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2022 / 6 / 28

Michael Dell: Break it ’til you make it

The first stage of building up a business is to break things down. Michael Dell started a computer company in his dorm room by cracking open some early IBM PCs and figuring out what he could do better,...

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2022 / 6 / 28

113. Michael Dell: Break it ’til you make it

The first stage of building up a business is to break things down. Michael Dell started a computer company in his dorm room by cracking open some early IBM PCs and figuring out what he could do better,...

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2022 / 6 / 25

Rapid Response: Solar energy’s time to shine, w/Sunrun’s Mary Powell

While gasoline prices soar, solar company Sunrun is poised to usher in a customer-led revolution of distributed energy technologies. Sunrun’s CEO Mary Powell combats a “no and slow” culture to transform more...

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2022 / 6 / 21

112. Improving human dignity is an engine of scale, w/Promise CEO Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins

Delivering human dignity to your customers is more than just good practice. It can be a powerful engine of scale. This insight has inspired Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins her whole career, as a labor leader, a music...

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2022 / 6 / 21

Improving human dignity is an engine of scale, w/Promise CEO Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins

Delivering human dignity to your customers is more than just good practice. It can be a powerful engine of scale. This insight has inspired Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins her whole career, as a labor leader, a music...

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2022 / 6 / 18

Above all else, invest in friendship: Reid Hoffman’s 2022 commencement speech

For Reid Hoffman, the way to live a meaningful and productive life is to focus on one key area: friendships. Speaking at Vanderbilt University’s 2022 commencement, he shares four lessons on why friendships...

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2022 / 6 / 16

Rapid Response: Redesigning work in a crisis, w/Upwork CEO Hayden Brown

Most future of work conversations revolve around the “where,” but Upwork CEO Hayden Brown says it’s more important to focus on the “who.” 10% of the workforce at Upwork, the global tech platform for millions...

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2022 / 6 / 14

Strategy Session Live!: How can a start-up beat a Goliath? What gets top talent to stay put? How do you keep multiple stakeholders happy?

How can a small business survive a David vs. Goliath competition? If two sets of stakeholders have opposing needs, how can a startup pivot to keep them both happy? Reid Hoffman and Bob Safian answer these...

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2022 / 6 / 9

Rapid Response: Don’t wait for the system, build it!, w/Genius Guild’s Kathryn Finney

Entrepreneurship is an essential tool for building a more equitable society — which is why Kathryn Finney is laser-focused on encouraging people who don’t fit the mold of the stereotypical founder to jump in....

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2022 / 6 / 7

5. Lead, lead again, w/Meta's Sheryl Sandberg

In just 6 years, Facebook grew to 2 billion users and 14,000 employees. How? Well, first, they hired COO Sheryl Sandberg. And she knew that to lead a fast-changing organization, you have to be as skilled at...

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2022 / 6 / 7

Lead, lead again, w/Meta's Sheryl Sandberg

In just 6 years, Facebook grew to 2 billion users and 14,000 employees. How? Well, first, they hired COO Sheryl Sandberg. And she knew that to lead a fast-changing organization, you have to be as skilled at...

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2022 / 6 / 2

Rapid Response: Why business must be a force for good, w/former American Express CEO Ken Chenault

"Corporations can be a force for good – and they can also be very successful," says Ken Chenault, chair of investment firm General Catalyst and former longtime CEO of American Express. During the past year,...

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2022 / 5 / 31

Extraordinary leaps need solid foundations, part 2, w/Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel

A diverse network of collaborators is key when making scale leaps. Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel has cultivated a wide network of scientists, business leaders, and government officials across his career. When...

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2022 / 5 / 31

111. Extraordinary leaps need solid foundations, part 2, w/Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel

A diverse network of collaborators is key when making scale leaps. Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel has cultivated a wide network of scientists, business leaders, and government officials across his career. When...

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2022 / 5 / 26

Rapid Response: A global benefit concert for Ukraine, w/World Unite for Ukraine’s Victoria Yampolsky

It’s easy to have a grand idea; putting that plan into action is not. Victoria Yampolsky conceived of a global concert in support of Ukraine. Without any experience in entertainment or international aid, she...

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2022 / 5 / 24

110. Extraordinary leaps need solid foundations, part 1, w/Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel

If you're launching a moonshot, success depends on how you manage the trajectory of risk. When Stéphane Bancel became Moderna's first CEO, the biotech start-up was chasing a way-out idea many experts thought...

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2022 / 5 / 24

Extraordinary leaps need solid foundations, part 1, w/Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel

If you're launching a moonshot, success depends on how you manage the trajectory of risk. When Stéphane Bancel became Moderna's first CEO, the biotech start-up was chasing a way-out idea many experts thought...

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2022 / 5 / 19

Rapid Response: Inside a $2.4 billion bet on talent, w/PwC's Tim Ryan

With the workplace in historic flux, consulting firm PwC is committing a whopping $2.4 billion to create an employee engagement platform offering a radically new level of choice. PwC’s U.S. chair, Tim Ryan,...

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2022 / 5 / 17

109. Ford’s Bill Ford: The Refounder Mindset, part 2

Massive change isn’t something you can brute-force — you need to ignite buy-in, again and again, up and down your organization. Because even if your changes will make things more fun, more interesting, and...

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2022 / 5 / 17

Ford’s Bill Ford: The Refounder Mindset, part 2

Massive change isn’t something you can brute-force — you need to ignite buy-in, again and again, up and down your organization. Because even if your changes will make things more fun, more interesting, and...

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2022 / 5 / 12

Rapid Response: Stay scrappy, deliver fast, w/Gopuff’s Yakir Gola

Has Gopuff cracked the code of instant delivery — a field where even Amazon has struggled? Co-founder Yakir Gola talks about the challenge of owning the customer journey from app to warehouse to doorstep, and...

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2022 / 5 / 10

108. Ford’s Bill Ford: The Refounder Mindset, part 1

We often hear the story about the great leader who joins a legacy company and guides it through massive transformation. But massive transformation can also start from the inside. Bill Ford, the executive...

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2022 / 5 / 10

Ford’s Bill Ford: The Refounder Mindset, part 1

We often hear the story about the great leader who joins a legacy company and guides it through massive transformation. But massive transformation can also start from the inside. Bill Ford, the executive...

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2022 / 5 / 5

Rapid Response: Protecting against the next bio threat, w/The Public Health Company's Charity Dean

Charity Dean was one of the first public health officials to set the alarm on COVID. When she searched for a tool to forecast future bio threats, she realized that it didn’t exist yet. So she co-founded the...

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2022 / 5 / 3

1. Airbnb's Brian Chesky: Do things that don’t scale

In honor of our five year anniversary of Masters of Scale, we're revisiting our first episode ever, featuring Airbnb's Brian Chesky.If you want your company to truly scale, you first have to do things that...

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2022 / 5 / 3

Airbnb's Brian Chesky: Do things that don’t scale

In honor of our five year anniversary of Masters of Scale, we're revisiting our first episode ever, featuring Airbnb's Brian Chesky.If you want your company to truly scale, you first have to do things that...

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2022 / 4 / 30

Rapid Response: Rebooting global crisis response, w/ONE Campaign CEO Gayle Smith

Gayle Smith is the CEO of the ONE Campaign, the advocacy group founded by U2’s Bono — and last year, she was tapped by the U.S. State Department to coordinate America’s COVID response and vaccine distribution...

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2022 / 4 / 21

Rapid Response: How Chief became a phenomenon, w/CEO Carolyn Childers

Amid pandemic disruption, Chief turned a small, NYC-based club for women executives into a national phenomenon with more than 12,000 members. Co-founder and CEO Carolyn Childers joins Rapid Response to share...

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2022 / 4 / 19

Tyra Banks: Personal brand power

To succeed in the modern business environment, you need to strut your stuff: to cultivate a personal brand that supports career growth. No one represents this better than Tyra Banks. As a model, a producer,...

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2022 / 4 / 19

78. Tyra Banks: Personal brand power

To succeed in the modern business environment, you need to strut your stuff: to cultivate a personal brand that supports career growth. No one represents this better than Tyra Banks. As a model, a producer,...

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2022 / 4 / 14

Rapid Response: Lessons from an entrepreneur in Ukraine, w/Alyona Mysko, CEO of Fuelfinance

Meet Alyona Mysko, the CEO of a B2B startup in Ukraine called Fuelfinance, as she walks us through the lessons she’s learned while leading her company in a war. Her experience — which sometimes requires her...

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2022 / 4 / 12

Five surprising ways to rethink your hiring

Learn the 5 mindsets that will reshape the way you hire, train, and retain — to build the team of superheroes that will power your business to scale. Hear real-world advice and great stories from Reid,...

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2022 / 4 / 12

Bonus: Five surprising ways to rethink your hiring

Learn the 5 mindsets that will reshape the way you hire, train, and retain — to build the team of superheroes that will power your business to scale. Hear real-world advice and great stories from Reid,...

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2022 / 4 / 7

Rapid Response: Supporting Ukraine's tech workers, w/Emburse CEO Eric Friedrichsen

“Don't let the roadblocks get in the way when there are people who need you desperately.” Eric Friedrichsen, the CEO of Emburse, a B2B software provider, has navigated around risks and financial costs to meet...

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2022 / 4 / 5

106. Chobani's secret to scale: Tap into community, w/founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya

Your local community can be the power behind an epic scale story — because smart community investment always maximizes returns. No one knows this like Hamdi Ulukaya, the founder and CEO of Chobani. He turned...

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2022 / 4 / 5

Chobani's secret to scale: Tap into community, w/founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya

Your local community can be the power behind an epic scale story — because smart community investment always maximizes returns. No one knows this like Hamdi Ulukaya, the founder and CEO of Chobani. He turned...

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2022 / 4 / 2

Rapid Response: Inside "the most radical supply chain shift since World War II," w/Interos CEO Jennifer Bisceglie

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the sanctions that followed, have radically impacted supply chains around the world. Jennifer Bisceglie, CEO of Interos, a risk-management firm focused on supply chains, has...

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2022 / 3 / 31

Rapid Response: How Airbnb.org is housing Ukrainian refugees, w/Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia

Airbnb’s charitable arm, Airbnb.org, has committed to offer free, temporary housing for up to 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine. Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia joins Rapid Response to discuss how the company is...

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2022 / 3 / 29

The secret power of onboarding, w/Canva's Melanie Perkins

Onboarding isn't just about employees. The often overlooked step-by-step process — to join a product or company — lays the foundation for everything that follows. No one knows this better than Melanie...

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2022 / 3 / 29

73. The secret power of onboarding, w/Canva's Melanie Perkins

Onboarding isn't just about employees. The often overlooked step-by-step process — to join a product or company — lays the foundation for everything that follows. No one knows this better than Melanie...

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2022 / 3 / 24

Rapid Response: Putting an end to hustle culture, w/Reshma Saujani, author of Pay Up

“It’s not about fixing women. It’s about fixing the system,” says Reshma Saujani, the founder of Girls Who Code and Marshall Plan for Moms. As the author of the new book Pay Up: The Future of Women and Work,...

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2022 / 3 / 22

Daymond John, Part 2: How to partner like a shark

Good partnerships transcend the transactional. In Part 2 of our two-part series featuring Daymond John, founder of FUBU and one of the original “sharks” on ABC’s Shark Tank, Daymond shows how aligning your...

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2022 / 3 / 22

105. Daymond John, Part 2: How to partner like a shark

Good partnerships transcend the transactional. In Part 2 of our two-part series featuring Daymond John, founder of FUBU and one of the original “sharks” on ABC’s Shark Tank, Daymond shows how aligning your...

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2022 / 3 / 19

Rapid Response: Transforming an idea into a movement overnight, w/Black Women For Black Lives co-founder Tokunbo Koiki

Watching the news out of Ukraine, Tokunbo Koiki saw alarming reports of African and Caribbean students struggling because of racism to flee the country. The news both outraged and inspired her to take action...

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2022 / 3 / 17

Rapid Response: The logistical challenge of supporting refugees, w/Susy Schöneberg, head of Flexport.org

“My big call to action would be to support existing organizations,” says Susy Schöneberg, the founder and head of Flexport.org, the nonprofit arm of the logistics firm Flexport. Schöneberg and her team are...

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2022 / 3 / 15

104. Daymond John, Part 1: How to partner like a shark

How do you create authentic partnerships to build scale? In Part 1 of our two-part series featuring Daymond John, founder of FUBU and one of the original “sharks” on ABC’s Shark Tank, Daymond shares lessons...

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2022 / 3 / 15

Daymond John, Part 1: How to partner like a shark

How do you create authentic partnerships to build scale? In Part 1 of our two-part series featuring Daymond John, founder of FUBU and one of the original “sharks” on ABC’s Shark Tank, Daymond shares lessons...

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2022 / 3 / 14

Rapid Response: “We have an all-out cyber war right now,” w/Bipul Sinha, Rubrik CEO

“We have to assume that cyberattacks will happen,” says Bipul Sinha, CEO of the cybersecurity firm Rubrik. He joins Rapid Response to discuss the dramatic escalation of cyberthreats in the wake of Russia’s...

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2022 / 3 / 12

Rapid Response: How global markets are reacting to Russia's war on Ukraine, w/Sara Menker, CEO of Gro Intelligence

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine presents a new level of disruption to an already fragile global trade system. Sara Menker, the CEO of Gro Intelligence, a data research firm with deep insights on global supply...

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2022 / 3 / 10

Rapid Response: On the ground in Ukraine w/Mercy Corps’ Tjada D'Oyen McKenna

Tjada D'Oyen McKenna, the CEO of Mercy Corps, an NGO on the front lines of the Ukrainian crisis, provides an inside look on how they’re helping address the needs of refugees. Mercy Corps began scenario...

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2022 / 3 / 8

103. Stacey Abrams: How to harness risk

For some entrepreneurs, risk is just part of the game. But for the reluctant entrepreneur, whose endeavors come as a response to a need they've identified, risk can feel more like a necessary...

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2022 / 3 / 3

Rapid Response: Make mistakes to make progress, w/GM's Gerald Johnson

General Motors’ Gerald Johnson shares the process and progress of trying to accomplish two daunting goals: an all-electric vehicle future, and to become the world’s most inclusive company. One thing that...

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2022 / 3 / 1

Need to Know, w/Reid & Bob: Ukraine reverberations, inflation volatility, lessons from Peloton, Theranos, Meta, & more

“We should expect more volatility,” Reid Hoffman tells Rapid Response host Bob Safian in the first Need to Know session of the year, covering news and business topics impacting entrepreneurs right now. Reid...

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2022 / 2 / 24

Rapid Response: Invest in first principles, w/Sarah Levy, Betterment CEO

It may appear off-brand for Betterment, a digital investment adviser, to acquire a cryptocurrency investing platform. But CEO Sarah Levy explains that Betterment, positioned around its long-term...

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2022 / 2 / 23

Announcing the Masters of Scale Summit

Go to summit.mastersofscale.com to learn how to join a pantheon of scale leaders gathering in San Francisco Oct. 18-20, 2022 at the Masters of Scale Summit. The early confirmed stage program...

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2022 / 2 / 17

Rapid Response: "Be confident enough to show your vulnerability," w/Ken Frazier (Merck/General Catalyst)

Ken Frazier, the longtime CEO of pharmaceutical giant Merck, was one of the few Black CEOs at the top of Corporate America. Now as an adviser at General Catalyst and co-founder of the social impact...

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2022 / 2 / 15

Strategy Session: How to make the most of tough pivots? What are the right growth targets? How do you best prepare for entrepreneurship?

In this special edition of Strategy Session, Reid Hoffman answers five burning questions from our Masters of Scale Members. Each asks Reid a critical question about the business challenges that they’re facing...

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2022 / 2 / 10

Rapid Response: Scaling when you’re already at scale, w/Qualcomm's Cristiano Amon

As the global chip shortage unfolded last year, Qualcomm’s engineers quickly redesigned their products – an effort that tapped into “every possible capacity we could find,” says CEO Cristiano Amon. Their...

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2022 / 2 / 8

28. What great founders do at night, w/Arianna Huffington

To survive your entrepreneurial journey, you have to learn to recharge. Knowing when to turn the lights out may be the only way to keep the lights on. Few know this better than Arianna Huffington, who...

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2022 / 2 / 3

Rapid Response: Tapping a new generation of consumers, w/The Drone Racing League's Rachel Jacobson

With their eyes fixed on what’s next, the Drone Racing League has established a fresh fanbase, previously left untapped by professional sports. President Rachel Jacobson, formerly an NBA executive, refers to...

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2022 / 2 / 1

Don’t predict the future. Create it, w/Net-a-Porter's Natalie Massenet

You’ve had a glimpse into the future, and you’re sitting on an idea that could change the world. Now what? Well, prepare for layers of resistance, and be ready to spring into action. Throughout her career,...

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2022 / 2 / 1

102. Don’t predict the future. Create it, w/Net-a-Porter's Natalie Massenet

You’ve had a glimpse into the future, and you’re sitting on an idea that could change the world. Now what? Well, prepare for layers of resistance, and be ready to spring into action. Throughout her career,...

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2022 / 1 / 27

Rapid Response: Be relentless – so your team can be fearless, w/Planned Parenthood’s Alexis McGill Johnson

Faced with long odds, how do you keep your team motivated and moving forward? As a leader, Alexis McGill Johnson is focused on building hope. As the president of Planned Parenthood, Johnson is preparing for...

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2022 / 1 / 25

66. The 4 core principles of crisis management, w/Ellen Kullman (DuPont, Carbon)

To survive a crisis, you have to double down on who you already are as a company. This is something Ellen Kullman knows, having led DuPont through the 2008-2009 financial crisis, and taken the CEO role at...

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2022 / 1 / 20

Rapid Response: Lessons of Omicron, w/Sir Jeremy Farrar, director of Wellcome Trust

Sir Jeremy Farrar is UK’s pre-eminent scientific authority on Covid-19 and the chief executive at the research foundation Wellcome Trust. He joins Rapid Response to discuss the latest learnings of the Omicron...

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2022 / 1 / 18

101. Always be recruiting, w/Paul English, co-founder of Kayak

The more your business scales, the more tempting it is to delegate your company’s recruiting efforts. Resist that urge! You should always be recruiting. Featuring Paul English, co-founder of travel search...

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2022 / 1 / 18

Always be recruiting, w/Paul English, co-founder of Kayak

The more your business scales, the more tempting it is to delegate your company’s recruiting efforts. Resist that urge! You should always be recruiting. Featuring Paul English, co-founder of travel search...

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2022 / 1 / 15

100. Lessons that matter most: What we’ve learned from 100 episodes of Masters of Scale

What’s harder about entrepreneurship than most people realize? How do you overcome your own doubts? Can you really trust your team? In this special episode, Reid Hoffman and Masters of Scale...

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2022 / 1 / 15

Lessons that matter most: What we’ve learned from 100 episodes of Masters of Scale

What’s harder about entrepreneurship than most people realize? How do you overcome your own doubts? Can you really trust your team? In this special episode, Reid Hoffman and Masters of Scale...

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2022 / 1 / 11

Leap before you look, w/Marc Lore (Jet.com)

Marc Lore is all too familiar with leaping into the unknown. He’s made leaps of faith as the founder of Diapers.com, Jet.com, the CEO of Walmart U.S. e-commerce, and now, as a part owner of NBA/WNBA teams,...

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2022 / 1 / 11

99. Leap before you look, w/Marc Lore (Jet.com)

Marc Lore is all too familiar with leaping into the unknown. He’s made leaps of faith as the founder of Diapers.com, Jet.com, the CEO of Walmart U.S. e-commerce, and now, as a part owner of NBA/WNBA teams,...

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2022 / 1 / 4

Marc Andreessen: The 6 secrets of great timing

As an early internet founder and iconic venture capitalist, Marc Andreessen has thought deeply about the role timing plays in a startup's success. Timing is of vital importance to any business: when to launch...

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2021 / 12 / 21

President Barack Obama: When the moment chooses you, part 1

Politics and entrepreneurship have much in common: Both versions of scale leadership require strategic patience, hard work, a clear vision of a better future, an unshakable belief that you can bring that...

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2021 / 12 / 21

87. President Barack Obama: When the moment chooses you, part 1

Politics and entrepreneurship have much in common: Both versions of scale leadership require strategic patience, hard work, a clear vision of a better future, an unshakable belief that you can bring that...

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2021 / 12 / 16

Rapid Response: How flexibility creates momentum, w/Crate & Barrel CEO Janet Hayes

Crate & Barrel CEO Janet Hayes has been on a mission to modernize the home decor company since she took over as CEO in August, 2020. When she first joined the company, stores were closed and the future of...

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2021 / 12 / 14

Strategy Session LIVE!: How to protect yourself from copycat businesses? When should you seek funding? How to entice funders to invest in a niche business?

This special rendition of Strategy Session stars small business owners who Masters of Scale fans might recognize. That’s because a number of them have been featured in our signature three-act ads. You’ll hear...

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2021 / 12 / 9

Rapid Response: How GoFundMe has facilitated $15 billion in giving, w/CEO Tim Cadogan

From the start of the pandemic, GoFundMe has served as a consistent global outlet for help. Since its inception, the for-profit crowdsourcing platform has facilitated $15 billion in giving through more than...

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2021 / 12 / 7

98. How redefining boundaries drives performance, w/former Unilever CEO Paul Polman

When Paul Polman joined Unilever as CEO in 2009, the consumer goods company – home to 400-plus brands including Dove soap, Ben & Jerry’s, and Vaseline – had been stagnated with years of lackluster...

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2021 / 12 / 7

How redefining boundaries drives performance, w/former Unilever CEO Paul Polman

When Paul Polman joined Unilever as CEO in 2009, the consumer goods company – home to 400-plus brands including Dove soap, Ben & Jerry’s, and Vaseline – had been stagnated with years of lackluster...

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2021 / 12 / 2

Rapid Response: Re-founding Instacart, w/first-time CEO Fidji Simo

This past summer, Fidji Simo departed from Facebook – where she stood among the highest-ranking female executives, serving as the head of their app – for the opportunity to become a first-time CEO at...

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2021 / 11 / 30

The case for bootstrapping, w/Mailchimp's Ben Chestnut

This week, we’re returning to an episode of Masters of Scale featuring Ben Chestnut, the co-founder and CEO of Mailchimp. The email marketing platform was acquired this year by Intuit in a...

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2021 / 11 / 30

39. The case for bootstrapping, w/Mailchimp's Ben Chestnut

This week, we’re returning to an episode of Masters of Scale featuring Ben Chestnut, the co-founder and CEO of Mailchimp. The email marketing platform was acquired this year by Intuit in a...

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2021 / 11 / 24

Three tools for happy, healthy gatherings, by Meditative Story

Many of us attempt to shift gears during the holidays, spend quality time with people we love, and refresh. But too often, we end up glued to our devices – catching up on work, avoiding complex people, or...

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2021 / 11 / 22

Need to Know, w/Reid & Bob: Metaverse mania, the great resignation, Facebook quandaries, and more

Reid Hoffman and Rapid Response host Bob Safian break down what you need to know right now about the most important issues and opportunities impacting entrepreneurs. The co-hosts dive into inflation...

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2021 / 11 / 18

Rapid Response: How to turn intentions into action, w/Aurora James, founder of the 15 Percent Pledge

In May 2020, as companies began making promises about how they’d help Black-owned businesses in the wake of George Floyd’s killing, Aurora James launched the 15 Percent Pledge initiative with an Instagram...

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2021 / 11 / 16

Build a better board, w/Mellody Hobson, Lisa Shalett, & Shishir Mehrotra

Your board of directors can make or break you. In fact, Reid believes, the wrong board member can break your company faster than the right board member can make it. Learn the five vital mindset...

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2021 / 11 / 16

97. Build a better board, w/Mellody Hobson, Lisa Shalett, & Shishir Mehrotra

Your board of directors can make or break you. In fact, Reid believes, the wrong board member can break your company faster than the right board member can make it. Learn the five vital mindset...

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2021 / 11 / 9

96. Focus on the scale that your customers can’t see, w/Land O'Lakes CEO Beth Ford

Too often, companies only focus on the type of scale that’s visible: massive campuses, thousands of workers, offices around the globe. But as Land O’Lakes proves, there are less conspicuous ways to scale –...

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2021 / 11 / 4

Rapid Response: How Peloton keeps pushing through resistance, w/CEO John Foley

Skepticism and doubt are no strangers to John Foley, the CEO of Peloton. As he says, it’s been part of the company’s DNA “since the first time I pitched the business to an investor back in 2012.” Last year,...

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2021 / 10 / 28

Rapid Response: The truth about what we watch, with Nielsen’s David Kenny

How do you respond when your own users resist your data? That question is top-of-mind for Nielsen CEO David Kenny. For decades, Nielsen has measured ratings and demographics across TV and media – the ultimate...

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2021 / 10 / 26

50. Ray Dalio: How to embrace conflict

Want to improve any idea? Find someone who disagrees with it. This is something legendary investor Ray Dalio knows. But there’s a difference between constructive and destructive conflict – and Dalio is a...

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2021 / 10 / 21

Rapid Response: Launching a $500b startup, w/Jet.com's Marc Lore

Since stepping down as Walmart’s president of e-commerce at the beginning of the year, billionaire entrepreneur Marc Lore has had a busy year of big ideas. In the spring, it was announced that he reached a...

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2021 / 10 / 19

A masterclass in crowdsourcing, w/Duolingo's Luis von Ahn

Crowdsourcing is more than a group of people interested in the same cause, it’s a way to tap skills – and scale – that you don’t have. And when it works, it can be the rocket fuel that launches you to scale...

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2021 / 10 / 19

62. A masterclass in crowdsourcing, w/Duolingo's Luis von Ahn

Crowdsourcing is more than a group of people interested in the same cause, it’s a way to tap skills – and scale – that you don’t have. And when it works, it can be the rocket fuel that launches you to scale...

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2021 / 10 / 14

Rapid Response: Overcoming institutional hurdles, w/ U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland

In the last year, Sarah Hirshland has had to face one daunting issue after another as the CEO of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee – each of which have required urgent, in-the-moment decisions. Most...

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2021 / 10 / 12

95. The Honest Company’s Jessica Alba: Make your customer the star

Jessica Alba’s approach in founding and building The Honest Company revolves around three letters: IRL, a useful acronym for “In Real Life.” This phrase acts as a reminder for the company to shine the...

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2021 / 10 / 12

The Honest Company’s Jessica Alba: Make your customer the star

Jessica Alba’s approach in founding and building The Honest Company revolves around three letters: IRL, a useful acronym for “In Real Life.” This phrase acts as a reminder for the company to shine the...

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2021 / 10 / 7

Rapid Response: SolarWinds: Urgent lessons from a cyberattack, w/ CEO Sudhakar Ramakrishna

Last year, SolarWinds became the subject of a massive and sophisticated cyberattack, potentially affecting thousands of organizations. CEO Sudhakar Ramakrishna, who joined the company soon after the breach...

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2021 / 10 / 5

94. No data, no scale, w/Care.com’s Sheila Lirio Marcelo

No matter what phase of growth you’re in, data is essential to scale. Take it from Sheila Lirio Marcelo, the founder and former CEO of Care.com, the two-sided marketplace connecting working families with care...

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2021 / 10 / 5

No data, no scale, w/Care.com’s Sheila Lirio Marcelo

No matter what phase of growth you’re in, data is essential to scale. Take it from Sheila Lirio Marcelo, the founder and former CEO of Care.com, the two-sided marketplace connecting working families with care...

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2021 / 9 / 30

Rapid Response: How to scale tech responsibly, with former Google ad chief and Neeva founder Sridhar Ramaswamy

To compete against bigger players, you need a special edge. Sridhar Ramaswamy, who led Google’s huge ad business, is now going head-to head against his former employer with an ad-free subscription-based...

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2021 / 9 / 28

How to unlock your team’s creative potential w/ Indra Nooyi, former CEO of PepsiCo

To get the most out of your talent, you need to create an environment that allows them to thrive. Nobody knows this better than Indra Nooyi who spent 12 years as the CEO of PepsiCo. It was her drive to...

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2021 / 9 / 28

93. How to unlock your team’s creative potential w/ Indra Nooyi, former CEO of PepsiCo

To get the most out of your talent, you need to create an environment that allows them to thrive. Nobody knows this better than Indra Nooyi who spent 12 years as the CEO of PepsiCo. It was her drive to...

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2021 / 9 / 23

Rapid Response: How to lead for enduring impact w/ Spelman’s Dr. Mary Schmidt Campbell

Your ability to make quick decisions in the face of a crisis can define your career. That’s been the case for Dr. Mary Schmidt Campbell, president of Spelman College, the all-women's HBCU in Atlanta. In her...

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2021 / 9 / 21

Bonus: Five secrets to keeping your best employees

Managing your team right now requires fresh thinking. Learn what motivates the best performance, and how to build creative teams in remote, hybrid, and fluid conditions, from some of the sharpest...

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2021 / 9 / 16

Rapid Response: In hard times, the show must go on, w/BroadwayHD’s Bonnie Comley

18 months ago, the lights went out on Broadway. What can you learn as this $16bn industry begins to re-light the lights? Tony-winning producer Bonnie Comley, the CEO of BroadwayHD and board president of the...

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2021 / 9 / 14

92. How setbacks create momentum w/ Robert Reffkin, Compass founder and CEO

As dangerous as obstacles and setbacks may appear, they can also present opportunities. Robert Reffkin, founder and CEO of the real estate platform, Compass, knows this well. He’s a perfect example of how to...

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2021 / 9 / 14

How setbacks create momentum w/ Robert Reffkin, Compass founder and CEO

As dangerous as obstacles and setbacks may appear, they can also present opportunities. Robert Reffkin, founder and CEO of the real estate platform, Compass, knows this well. He’s a perfect example of how to...

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2021 / 9 / 9

Rapid Response: When to build the company before the product, with Aurora CEO Chris Urmson

Chris Urmson has had to take a different approach in building his company Aurora, which develops self-driving technology. As opposed to creating and iterating a product with a handful of people, and then...

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2021 / 9 / 7

Strategy Session: When to leave the trenches? Can you pivot without losing customers? Can co-founders stay aligned remotely?

Host Reid Hoffman answers seven burning questions from a range of entrepreneurs facing universal and timeless challenges in this all-new Strategy Session. How do you expand to a country where you’re not...

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2021 / 9 / 2

Rapid Response: When you should require vaccinations w/ Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer

“You have to preserve your energy because this year has been about pace,” says iconic restaurateur Danny Meyer in his fourth Rapid Response interview. Meyer catches us up on the past seven-plus months of...

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2021 / 8 / 26

Rapid Response: How Electronic Arts grows a metaverse, with CEO Andrew Wilson

Hollywood may build stars, but gaming is "the biggest, fastest-growing entertainment medium in the world," says CEO Andrew Wilson of Electronic Arts. That's why businesses from Netflix to Disney to Facebook...

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2021 / 8 / 24

Coming soon on Masters of Scale Season 9

Coming August 31st: An all-new season of Masters of Scale, with iconic leaders and rising stars of scale companies. This season, Reid Hoffman trades theories with Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, Robert...

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2021 / 8 / 19

Rapid Response: How mission fuels risk-taking, with Illumina CEO Francis deSouza

Facing off with the FTC isn't for the timid. But when your mission and your business model are aligned, the hard decisions – about risk, about investment, about priorities – become clearer. Francis deSouza is...

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2021 / 8 / 17

Bonus: Cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset, w/Reid, Bob & Sir Richard Branson

Reid’s personal advice on the most important success factor for any scale leader: your mindset. Talking with editor-at-large Bob Safian, Reid shares how he approaches every challenge with a learning mindset:...

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2021 / 8 / 10

47. Make it epic, w/will.i.am

What can entrepreneurs learn from a genre-crossing, multi-platinum musician? How to take a big opportunity — and leverage it into something epic. From his earliest days as a founding member of the Black Eyed...

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2021 / 8 / 3

8. Netflix’s Reed Hastings: Why culture matters

You need a strong culture to build a company that will scale beyond the early startup days. And strong company cultures only emerge when every employee feels they own the culture from Day One. Here's how Reed...

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2021 / 7 / 29

Rapid Response: How Harley-Davidson set a foundation for the long term with CEO Jochen Zeitz

Even an 118-year-old company needs an entrepreneurial jolt. When Jochen Zeitz took over as CEO of motorcycle maker Harley Davidson in early 2020, he moved quickly to restructure the business – even in the...

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2021 / 7 / 27

90. The beauty of emphasizing the obvious, w/Birchbox's Katia Beauchamp

Unconventional ideas define entrepreneurship: They fuel dreams but also spur naysayers and obstacles. Katia Beauchamp, co-founder and CEO of Birchbox, has repeatedly found ways to recast the unconventional as...

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2021 / 7 / 27

The beauty of emphasizing the obvious, w/Birchbox's Katia Beauchamp

Unconventional ideas define entrepreneurship: They fuel dreams but also spur naysayers and obstacles. Katia Beauchamp, co-founder and CEO of Birchbox, has repeatedly found ways to recast the unconventional as...

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2021 / 7 / 22

Rapid Response: Inside J.Crew's purposeful pivot, with CEO Libby Wadle

"We have to reignite the energy and the fire and the love," says CEO Libby Wadle of J.Crew Group, which launched Madewell Forever this week, a dynamic bet on sustainability. The resale platform, in...

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2021 / 7 / 20

Strategy Session: When should founders step aside? Where can you find investors? Were pandemic pivots harmful?

When should you hire your replacement as CEO? Is blitzscaling still the best strategy, in today's context of uncertainty? What are the best fundraising options if you can't access a major VC firm? How do you...

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2021 / 7 / 15

Rapid Response: Scaling a mission w/TAAF's Sonal Shah

"Hate is not a one community issue," says Sonal Shah, president of The Asian American Foundation, a nonprofit launched by business leaders in May, dedicated to addressing discrimination against Asian...

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2021 / 7 / 13

How to find your big idea w/Spanx's Sara Blakely

To find your big idea? Look for it. And look for it. And be ready to act. Spanx founder Sara Blakely was actively seeking a business idea when she thought of Spanx. Then she moved fast, found help in the...

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2021 / 7 / 13

22. How to find your big idea w/Spanx's Sara Blakely

To find your big idea? Look for it. And look for it. And be ready to act. Spanx founder Sara Blakely was actively seeking a business idea when she thought of Spanx. Then she moved fast, found help in the...

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2021 / 7 / 8

Rapid Response: How BuzzFeed bounced back, w/Jonah Peretti

Millennials and Gen Z want different experiences, different content, different opportunities. But catering to those distinct needs wasn't enough, says BuzzFeed co-founder and CEO Jonah Peretti; the...

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2021 / 7 / 6

How to accelerate expertise, with Mellody Hobson, co-CEO of Ariel Investments, chair of Starbucks

To move at the speed of opportunity, you need to accelerate expertise. Mellody Hobson is co-CEO of Ariel Investments, the first Black-owned asset management firm in the United States, as well as board chair...

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2021 / 7 / 6

89. How to accelerate expertise, with Mellody Hobson, co-CEO of Ariel Investments, chair of Starbucks

To move at the speed of opportunity, you need to accelerate expertise. Mellody Hobson is co-CEO of Ariel Investments, the first Black-owned asset management firm in the United States, as well as board chair...

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2021 / 7 / 1

Rapid Response: Tapping into generosity (via Bitcoin), w/Charity: Water's Scott Harrison

The art of promotion can advance any enterprise, as Scott Harrison demonstrated even during the pandemic. As founder and CEO of Charity Water, Scott faced fundraising trouble a year ago but now the nonprofit...

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2021 / 6 / 29

Asking the uncomfortable questions, w/ Michael Seibel, Y Combinator

Barreling full-speed ahead isn't always the key to scale. For Michael Seibel, managing director at Y Combinator and co-founder of Justin.tv and Socialcam, action sometimes needs to take a back seat to asking:...

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2021 / 6 / 29

88. Asking the uncomfortable questions, w/ Michael Seibel, Y Combinator

Barreling full-speed ahead isn't always the key to scale. For Michael Seibel, managing director at Y Combinator and co-founder of Justin.tv and Socialcam, action sometimes needs to take a back seat to...

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2021 / 6 / 24

Rapid Response: Fighting through headwinds at Marriott, w/President Stephanie Linnartz

With Marriott's business already reeling due to Covid, beloved CEO Arne Sorenson was lost to cancer earlier this year. Stephanie Linnartz, president of Marriott International, shares how she and...

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2021 / 6 / 22

Need to Know, w/Reid & Bob: Crypto craziness, ransomware attacks, "smart risks" & more

"Will some people lose their shirts with crypto? Absolutely. Will new great industries be built upon this? Absolutely," Reid Hoffman tells Rapid Response host Bob Safian, in a new, unfiltered conversation....

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2021 / 6 / 15

87. J.J. Abrams: Make room for magic

You can’t predict your next a-ha moment. but you can create favorable circumstances for serendipity to happen – for you, and for your team. No one knows this better than J.J. Abrams, director, producer,...

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2021 / 6 / 14

The Complete Interviews from Masters of Scale

The never-before-released, original and uncut conversations between host Reid Hoffman and Masters of Scale guests. Each intimate, unedited conversation includes 60 minutes or more of content, including...

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2021 / 6 / 10

Rapid Response: Fashioning a greener closet, w/Rent the Runway's Jenn Hyman

Fashion became secondary amid Covid lockdowns. Sweatpants-only life pressed apparel-subscription service Rent the Runway into layoffs and furloughs. But as co-founder and CEO Jenn Hyman explains, the business...

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2021 / 6 / 8

Build the right flywheel, w/Teach for America / Teach for All's Wendy Kopp

Not every platform turns into a flywheel for scale. Wendy Kopp founded two networks that each became flywheels for change: Teach for America and Teach for All, where she's currently CEO. Yet the shape of the...

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2021 / 6 / 8

86. Build the right flywheel, w/Teach for America / Teach for All's Wendy Kopp

Not every platform turns into a flywheel for scale. Wendy Kopp founded two networks that each became flywheels for change: Teach for America and Teach for All, where she's currently CEO. Yet the shape of the...

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2021 / 5 / 29

5 essential moves for post-pandemic success, featuring Airbnb, Etsy, Sunrun, and more

Shift your mindset. Tighten your focus. Map your future. In this special episode, Reid Hoffman presents a five-step playbook for post-crisis success. Moving from chaos to calm requires a revised agenda,...

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2021 / 5 / 27

Rapid Response: Upskilling and the war for talent, w/Guild Education CEO Rachel Carlson

How do you win the post-pandemic war for talent? Send your frontline workers to online school. That's the pitch that Rachel Carlson has made – successfully – to big businesses from Chipotle to Disney, Walmart...

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2021 / 5 / 25

Alex Rodriguez: How mentorship provides an edge

Even all-star athletes are coached. So why not you? Alex Rodriguez, former professional baseball player, leaned into outside advice at the most challenging moments in his career – and in building his...

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2021 / 5 / 25

85. Alex Rodriguez: How mentorship provides an edge

Even all-star athletes are coached. So why not you? Alex Rodriguez, former professional baseball player, leaned into outside advice at the most challenging moments in his career – and in building his...

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2021 / 5 / 20

Rapid Response: Why real estate matters more than ever, with Compass founder & CEO Robert Reffkin

"We may not be able to survive this," remarked Robert Reffkin, founder and CEO of real estate platform Compass, after pandemic lockdown rules essentially outlawed U.S. home selling. Yet today the housing...

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2021 / 5 / 18

84. President Barack Obama, part 2: How to adapt to changing rules

Creating a prototype in your garage isn't the same as leading a team of thousands. You need to keep your mission constant, but your tactics fluid as you scale. This is exactly the challenge President Barack...

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2021 / 5 / 18

President Barack Obama, part 2: How to adapt to changing rules

Creating a prototype in your garage isn't the same as leading a team of thousands. You need to keep your mission constant, but your tactics fluid as you scale. This is exactly the challenge President Barack...

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2021 / 5 / 13

Rapid Response: Inside Google’s Pandemic Safety Squad, w/Chief Health Officer Dr. Karen DeSalvo

Google search may be the world’s most powerful public health platform. Dr Karen DeSalvo, Google's chief health officer, has built a team of doctors, scientists and clinicians who — alongside engineers and...

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2021 / 5 / 11

83. President Barack Obama: When the moment chooses you, part 1

Politics and entrepreneurship have much in common: Both versions of scale leadership require strategic patience, hard work, a clear vision of a better future, an unshakable belief that you can bring that...

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2021 / 5 / 6

Rapid Response: Surviving a close shave, with Harry's co-CEO Andy Katz-Mayfield

Harry's took a one-two punch in 2020 – right on the chin. First, the federal government blocked a $1.37 billion acquisition of the shaving and consumer products company; then Covid-19 lockdowns hit. Rather...

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2021 / 5 / 4

30. The elusive formula for great hiring, w/Workday's Aneel Bhusri

Your first hires are your cultural cofounders. And it’s worth your time to get every one right. That's why Workday CEO Aneel Bhusri personally interviewed his first 500 employees. Today, with 12,500 employees...

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2021 / 5 / 4

The elusive formula for great hiring, w/Workday's Aneel Bhusri

Your first hires are your cultural cofounders. And it’s worth your time to get every one right. That's why Workday CEO Aneel Bhusri personally interviewed his first 500 employees. Today, with 12,500 employees...

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2021 / 4 / 29

Rapid Response: "A crucible moment for Instacart," with founder & CEO Apoorva Mehta

Five years of growth in five weeks. That's how Covid-19 lockdowns accelerated Instacart's business last spring. Now, a year later, the company faces another "crucible moment," says Instacart CEO Apoorva...

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2021 / 4 / 27

A Strategy Session w/A-Rod + Reid: Build a team of mentors

To win at scale, you need more than great players – you need a team of great coaches. This Strategy Session episode is full of great advice and tactics for building that deep bench of mentors, each with a...

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2021 / 4 / 22

Rapid Response: A pandemic is not a business model, w/Blue Apron's Linda Findley Kozlowski

With the pandemic, cooking at home got a renewed boost, and meal kit outfits saw a rise in demand. But a year in, the trend toward at-home dining now faces a new inflection point. We're talking with Linda...

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2021 / 4 / 20

Frustration is your friend, w/Houzz founder Adi Tatarko

Frustration is an important signal: it indicates an opportunity, a problem to be solved. And if your solution also builds a community, you've unlocked a path to scale. Adi Tatarko founded the online...

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2021 / 4 / 20

82. Frustration is your friend, w/Houzz founder Adi Tatarko

Frustration is an important signal: it indicates an opportunity, a problem to be solved. And if your solution also builds a community, you've unlocked a path to scale. Adi Tatarko founded the online...

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2021 / 4 / 15

Rapid Response: Can bankruptcy save movie theaters? with Alamo Drafthouse CEO Shelli Taylor

"It's 12 months of no meaningful revenue," says Alamo Drafthouse CEO Shelli Taylor. "And then last weekend was phenomenal." Taylor returns to the podcast to explain why the hip, culture-forward movie theater...

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2021 / 4 / 13

Need to Know, w/Reid & Bob: GameStop, SPACs, gov't stimulus, and vaccines

"The future is sooner and stranger than you think," Reid Hoffman tells Rapid Response host Bob Safian in a frank, unfiltered conversation about the lessons of 2021 so far. "The rulebook will be changing month...

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2021 / 4 / 8

Rapid Response: Delta CEO Ed Bastian: Turbulence, recovery, and risk

With 75% of U.S. customers saying they'll soon be vaccinated, Delta is embracing a new phase, opening up middle seats as of May 1. CEO Ed Bastian bet at the start of the pandemic that focusing on consumer...

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2021 / 4 / 5

Beyond Meat's Ethan Brown: How to teach your customer

As the founder and CEO of Beyond Meat, Ethan Brown has spent years navigating misconceptions about plant-based foods. But smart entrepreneurs listen instead of arguing. Only by obsessing over what customers...

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2021 / 4 / 5

81. Beyond Meat's Ethan Brown: How to teach your customer

As the founder and CEO of Beyond Meat, Ethan Brown has spent years navigating misconceptions about plant-based foods. But smart entrepreneurs listen instead of arguing. Only by obsessing over what customers...

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2021 / 4 / 1

Rapid Response: The trampoline effect, w/ Morning Brew CEO Alex Lieberman

Revenue for Morning Brew's booming email newsletter operation dried up when the pandemic hit, but its audience remained devoted. Morning Brew CEO Alex Lieberman, who started the business with co-founder...

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2021 / 3 / 30

Mark Cuban: What investors really look for

No one knows the fundraising game better than Mark Cuban, serial entrepreneur, investor, and star of Shark Tank. For founders, identifying the right source of capital, under the right terms, can provide a...

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2021 / 3 / 30

80. Mark Cuban: What investors really look for

No one knows the fundraising game better than Mark Cuban, serial entrepreneur, investor, and star of Shark Tank. For founders, identifying the right source of capital, under the right terms, can provide a...

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2021 / 3 / 25

Rapid Response: The business of democracy, w/Leadership Now's Daniella Ballou-Aares

In recent months, business leaders have been pressed to take public positions on politics in ways they never have before. That's good for business and good for democracy, says Daniella Ballou-Aares,...

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2021 / 3 / 23

79. Disney’s Bob Iger: How acquisitions become an ecosystem, part 2

From Pixar to Marvel to Lucasfilm, Disney's Bob Iger defied expectations, acquiring world-renowned brands and meshing them seamlessly with the House of Mouse. In Part 2 of our epic conversation with Iger –...

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2021 / 3 / 16

Airbnb's Brian Chesky: "We died and were reborn." A special Rapid Response

Headlines last April predicted death for Airbnb. How could it survive a pandemic that stopped their core business cold? As the business cratered (in 8 weeks, they lost 80% of revenue), CEO Brian Chesky...

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2021 / 3 / 4

Rapid Response: A prescription for healthy growth, with FIGS Co-CEO Heather Hasson

How does a start-up geared to healthcare workers balance giving back during Covid with the desire for growth? FIGS, an emerging lifestyle brand for medical professionals that built its name around premium...

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2021 / 2 / 25

Nike’s CEO John Donahoe on wartime leadership (Rapid Response)

When he became CEO on the eve of the pandemic, Nike's John Donahoe starting game plan revolved around listening and being out in the marketplace. But when lockdowns began rolling through, he quickly adjusted,...

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2021 / 2 / 23

Virgin’s Sir Richard Branson: The secret to big leaps

Successful daredevils aren't really winging it, even if it looks that way from the outside. They have a method. No one knows this better – or does this better – than Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin...

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2021 / 2 / 23

76. Virgin’s Sir Richard Branson: The secret to big leaps

Successful daredevils aren't really winging it, even if it looks that way from the outside. They have a method. No one knows this better – or does this better – than Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin...

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2021 / 2 / 19

A taste of Masters of Scale Season 8

Our all-new season of Masters of Scale features iconic leaders and rising stars of scale companies. This season, Reid Hoffman trades theories with Disney CEO Bob Iger, model/mogul Tyra Banks, investor Mark...

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2021 / 2 / 18

Rapid Response: Winning and losing, w/Vanderbilt University coach Jerry Stackhouse

Maintaining high performance in business has become harder than ever, between health challenges, economic obstacles, and political uncertainty. But we all still work to win. Jerry Stackhouse, coach of the...

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2021 / 2 / 16

Rapid Response: Public-private opportunities, with Defense Innovation Unit's Mike Brown

Call him the unofficial U.S. ambassador to Silicon Valley. As director of the Defense Innovation Unit within the U.S. Department of Defense, Mike Brown is tasked with bridging the gap between technology...

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2021 / 2 / 11

Rapid Response: Iterating under pressure, with Feeding America's Claire Babineaux-Fontenot

The pandemic era has ushered in a new wave of food insecurity, with some 50 millions Americans hungry for food aid. How could Feeding America, a nationwide network of food banks, meet the moment? CEO Claire...

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2021 / 2 / 9

Strategy Session: 5 burning questions & their unexpected answers w/Reid Hoffman & Bob Safian

How do you build expertise in new tech like quantum, crypto and AI? How much attention should you be paying to the stock market right now? How do you keep your company's culture fresh if you don't have...

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2021 / 2 / 2

How to be the steward of your idea, w/Affectiva's Rana el Kaliouby

Great entrepreneurs aren't just product obsessed; they're impact obsessed. Rana el Kaliouby, co-founder and CEO of Affectiva, has spent most of her career thinking about how to project – and steward – the...

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2021 / 2 / 2

75. How to be the steward of your idea, w/Affectiva's Rana el Kaliouby

Great entrepreneurs aren't just product obsessed; they're impact obsessed. Rana el Kaliouby, co-founder and CEO of Affectiva, has spent most of her career thinking about how to project – and steward – the...

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2021 / 1 / 28

Rapid Response: Aggressive sustainability, w/Lynn Jurich, CEO of Sunrun

Expectations for solar are high under a Biden administration, says Lynn Jurich, CEO of the solar power company Sunrun. While Sunrun's stock price has quadrupled in the past year, Jurich faces not only...

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2021 / 1 / 26

How to master your emotions, w/Sam Harris

The biggest challenge for founders often isn’t winning the strategic game – it’s winning the mental game. For a master class in mastering your emotions, we turn to Sam Harris, author, neuroscientist, and...

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2021 / 1 / 26

74. How to master your emotions, w/Sam Harris

The biggest challenge for founders often isn’t winning the strategic game – it’s winning the mental game. For a master class in mastering your emotions, we turn to Sam Harris, author, neuroscientist, and...

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2021 / 1 / 21

Rapid Response: Ten months of pain and hope, w/restaurateur Danny Meyer

It's been an epic journey for iconic New York City restaurateur and Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer. Forced by the pandemic into closures and layoffs last spring, as he poignantly shared in two previous...

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2021 / 1 / 19

Innovation is managed chaos, w/Eric Schmidt of Google/Alphabet

Google has succeeded by innovating again and again. Their secret? They don’t tell their employees how to innovate; they manage the chaos. Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google since 2001 and now chair of parent...

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2021 / 1 / 19

6. Innovation is managed chaos, w/Eric Schmidt of Google/Alphabet

Google has succeeded by innovating again and again. Their secret? They don’t tell their employees how to innovate; they manage the chaos. Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google since 2001 and now chair of parent...

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2021 / 1 / 14

Rapid Response: What the pandemic has cost women, w/Ellevest's Sallie Krawcheck

Amidst the devastating effects of the pandemic, one in five women has left the workforce, and the gender pay gap and wealth gap are expanding. There's a long-term cost to that inequity, says Sallie Krawcheck,...

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2021 / 1 / 12

54. What's the hidden business behind your business? w/Rent the Runway's Jenn Hyman

Rent the Runway co-founder Jenn Hyman knows: Behind every successful business is another business backstage, one you might not expect. Rent the Runway is known for creating a glamorous "closet in the cloud,”...

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2021 / 1 / 12

What's the hidden business behind your business? w/Rent the Runway's Jenn Hyman

Rent the Runway co-founder Jenn Hyman knows: Behind every successful business is another business backstage, one you might not expect. Rent the Runway is known for creating a glamorous "closet in the cloud,”...

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2021 / 1 / 7

8 reliable lessons for unreliable times

If 2021 is even half as unpredictable as 2020 was, you'll need to dig deep into your resilience and wisdom to get through. We've pulled together this special episode of Masters of Scale to serve as a sort of...

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2020 / 12 / 22

2020: The Year in Review w/Reid Hoffman & Bob Safian

Our host, Reid Hoffman, and our editor at large, Bob Safian, in conversation about a pandemic-disrupted year filled with unexpected twists and lessons. From the rise (and risks) of remote work to...

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2020 / 12 / 17

Rapid Response: Why Salesforce bought Slack, w/Salesforce's Bret Taylor

Salesforce's much-buzzed-about deal to acquire Slack for $28 billion goes back a decade, when Friendfeed founder Bret Taylor met Flickr founder Stewart Butterfield. Now Taylor is Salesforce's president, while...

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2020 / 12 / 15

Be a platform, w/Shopify's Tobi Lütke

The secret to massive scale? Be a platform. Build a virtuous cycle where everyone wins, and you’ll emerge the biggest winner of all. This is what Tobi Lütke did when he built Shopify – and then opened it up...

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2020 / 12 / 15

55. Be a platform, w/Shopify's Tobi Lütke

The secret to massive scale? Be a platform. Build a virtuous cycle where everyone wins, and you’ll emerge the biggest winner of all. This is what Tobi Lütke did when he built Shopify – and then opened it up...

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2020 / 12 / 10

Rapid Response: Why take on a turnaround, w/Magic Leap’s Peggy Johnson

Why leave a storied tech icon to lead a troubled brand? As the pandemic deepened this summer, Peggy Johnson left a safe perch at Microsoft to take the helm of one-time startup darling Magic Leap, which had...

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2020 / 12 / 3

Rapid Response: Loneliness at work, w/Noreena Hertz

This is the loneliest century, says economist Noreena Hertz. Even before the pandemic forced us to stay home, loneliness was snaking its way through our lives, affecting everything from how we vote to how we...

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2020 / 12 / 1

72. Building bridges to scale, w/Kind’s Daniel Lubetzky

Scaling isn’t only about scaling UP – it’s about scaling OUT: to new products, new verticals, new customers. And to do this, you’ll need to build bridges. No one knows this better than Daniel Lubetzky,...

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2020 / 12 / 1

Building bridges to scale, w/Kind’s Daniel Lubetzky

Scaling isn’t only about scaling UP – it’s about scaling OUT: to new products, new verticals, new customers. And to do this, you’ll need to build bridges. No one knows this better than Daniel Lubetzky,...

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2020 / 11 / 25

Rapid Response: Balancing data with gut feeling, w/JetBlue's Joanna Geraghty

After record-shattering drops in revenue from Covid-19, JetBlue had to rethink every plan and every assumption. Joanna Geraghty, JetBlue's president and chief operating officer, shares how the airline built a...

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2020 / 11 / 24

3. Learn from every “no,” w/Walker & Company’s Tristan Walker

The best business ideas often seem laughable at first glance. So if you’re hearing a chorus of “no’s” – it may actually be a good sign. Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Airbnb – they all sounded crazy before they...

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2020 / 11 / 24

Learn from every “no,” w/Walker & Company’s Tristan Walker

The best business ideas often seem laughable at first glance. So if you’re hearing a chorus of “no’s” – it may actually be a good sign. Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Airbnb – they all sounded crazy before they...

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2020 / 11 / 19

Rapid Response: Why brands must take a stand, w/Wieden+Kennedy's Colleen DeCourcy

Legendary ad agency Wieden+Kennedy pioneered some of the most successful campaigns in history. But 2020 has raised the stakes for companies—and fundamentally changed how advertising works, W+K president...

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2020 / 11 / 17

How to find hidden value that others miss, w/The Black List's Franklin Leonard

Forget looking for a needle in a haystack – instead, build a new type of metal detector, to find undervalued assets that others don’t see. That’s exactly what Franklin Leonard did when he started The Black...

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2020 / 11 / 17

71. How to find hidden value that others miss, w/The Black List's Franklin Leonard

Forget looking for a needle in a haystack – instead, build a new type of metal detector, to find undervalued assets that others don’t see. That’s exactly what Franklin Leonard did when he started The Black...

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2020 / 11 / 12

Rapid Response: A virtual-first workplace, w/Dropbox's Drew Houston

In-office engagement or remote flexibility? We don't need to choose, says Dropbox co-founder and CEO Drew Houston. Facing the biggest shift in work habits in half a century, Houston has embarked on a radical...

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2020 / 11 / 5

Rapid Response: Pandemic Planning, Phase Two, w/Dr. Bon Ku (Jefferson University Hospital)

With Covid-19 cases surging, businesses may be forced into a new wave of adjustments. Will the crisis-management tactics of spring and summer be successful as winter unfolds? Dr. Bon Ku, an ER physician at...

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2020 / 11 / 2

Rapid Response: Small business – more stressed than ever, w/H&R Block's Jeff Jones

Small business is being taxed emotionally as well as financially, and that tax is rising, says H&R Block CEO Jeff Jones. As the pandemic hit, entrepreneurs did what entrepreneurs do: solved problems,...

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2020 / 10 / 27

Build a more human internet, w/Caterina Fake

Internet pioneer Caterina Fake knows: Online communities are built one human connection at a time. As the founder, you need to establish guidelines and norms from Day One – because the tone you set is the...

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2020 / 10 / 27

16. Build a more human internet, w/Caterina Fake

Internet pioneer Caterina Fake knows: Online communities are built one human connection at a time. As the founder, you need to establish guidelines and norms from Day One – because the tone you set is the...

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2020 / 10 / 22

Rapid Response: When your business disappears overnight, w/Marriott’s Arne Sorenson

95% of your business disappears. What do you do? Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson recounts how the travel industry drastically changed last spring, with hotel bookings all but disappearing overnight. In the midst...

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2020 / 10 / 20

The Empathy Flywheel, w/Nextdoor CEO Sarah Friar

A social network that limits your network? Yes. Meet Nextdoor, a hyperlocal social network that’s all about who you really are and where you really live. Although it goes against everything that we've come to...

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2020 / 10 / 20

69. The Empathy Flywheel, w/Nextdoor CEO Sarah Friar

A social network that limits your network? Yes. Meet Nextdoor, a hyperlocal social network that’s all about who you really are and where you really live. Although it goes against everything that we've come to...

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2020 / 10 / 15

Rapid Response: Movie-theater drama has come to every business, w/Shelli Taylor, CEO, Alamo Drafthouse

As big movie chains shut down, Shelli Taylor's determined to keep her theaters open. With revenue at a trickle, the CEO of Alamo Drafthouse is negotiating daily with landlords and banks, and even tried her...

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2020 / 10 / 13

68. Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales: To scale, find the right values

What's more important than product-market fit? Product-VALUE fit. If you choose the right values to drive product development, you'll draw the people, resources, and speed you need. It’s true for for-profits...

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2020 / 10 / 13

Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales: To scale, find the right values

What's more important than product-market fit? Product-VALUE fit. If you choose the right values to drive product development, you'll draw the people, resources, and speed you need. It’s true for for-profits...

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2020 / 10 / 8

Rapid Response: The Covid test facts every CEO needs, w/Rajiv Shah (Rockefeller Foundation)

To safely re-open a business, you need more than masks. Covid testing is key – and the options are changing quickly. We found the most in-the-know person in public health to walk us through the choices,...

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2020 / 10 / 6

YouTube's Susan Wojcicki: How to find – and keep – true north

When you scale at warp speed, it’s easy to lose your bearings. You have to establish your company’s true north, or the dizzying pace of growth will push you off course. No one knows this better than Susan...

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2020 / 10 / 6

67. YouTube's Susan Wojcicki: How to find – and keep – true north

When you scale at warp speed, it’s easy to lose your bearings. You have to establish your company’s true north, or the dizzying pace of growth will push you off course. No one knows this better than Susan...

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2020 / 10 / 1

Rapid Response: Your company is a citizen – it can act like one, w/Baratunde Thurston

The pandemic, social unrest, the U.S. election – everything affects your team and your business. And the stakes are only getting higher. How do you address race and diversity? Should your business take a...

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2020 / 9 / 29

66. How to build authentic connection at scale, w/Trevor McFedries & Lil Miquela

You might not know Trevor McFedries yet, but if you're on Instagram, you've probably met Miquela. She has millions of followers, hit singles and lucrative contracts with brands. But she’s not actually real....

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2020 / 9 / 29

How to build authentic connection at scale, w/Trevor McFedries & Lil Miquela

You might not know Trevor McFedries yet, but if you're on Instagram, you've probably met Miquela. She has millions of followers, hit singles and lucrative contracts with brands. But she’s not actually real....

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2020 / 9 / 22

Rapid Response: Healthy offices and the myth of remote-work productivity, w/Diane Hoskins (Gensler)

Is your office safe to re-open? How much space do you need? Is remote-work really more productive? Diane Hoskins is co-CEO of architecture firm Gensler, which advises businesses from Google to Bank of...

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2020 / 9 / 15

Rapid Response: Nothing matters but this. w/Eric Schmidt (frmr Google CEO)

"Until this problem gets fixed, all the other things that I care about, that you care about, are on hold.” In this must-hear interview, Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO (and now co-founder of...

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2020 / 9 / 8

Rapid Response: What you can learn from how schools are pivoting, w/ Success Academy's Eva Moskowitz

The first day of school doesn't look the way it used to – in some cases, it might not be happening at all. As schools across the country start a new year, we're kicking off a new season with Eva Moskowitz,...

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2020 / 8 / 25

Peloton’s John Foley – How to turn skeptics into fans

Casual fans come and go. But converts stick with you – and spread the word. The trick is knowing how – and WHEN – to convert skeptics into super-fans. No one knows this better than Peloton co-founder and CEO...

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2020 / 8 / 25

65. Peloton’s John Foley – How to turn skeptics into fans

Casual fans come and go. But converts stick with you – and spread the word. The trick is knowing how – and WHEN – to convert skeptics into super-fans. No one knows this better than Peloton co-founder and CEO...

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2020 / 8 / 18

Why your company needs new rituals w/Shishir Mehrotra (YouTube, Coda)

You need more than a good product to scale – you need strong rituals. All companies have rituals, from holding all-hands meetings to measuring KPIs. The right rituals in the right places help build your...

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2020 / 8 / 18

64. Why your company needs new rituals w/Shishir Mehrotra (YouTube, Coda)

You need more than a good product to scale – you need strong rituals. All companies have rituals, from holding all-hands meetings to measuring KPIs. The right rituals in the right places help build your...

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2020 / 8 / 11

14. The infinite learner, w/Barry Diller (Part 1 of our interview)

Tinder. Top Gun. Roots. The Simpsons. What do they have in common? Media icon Barry Diller. We're re-airing a classic episode with some wise words. Barry is what we call an "infinite learner." He’s only...

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2020 / 8 / 11

The infinite learner, w/Barry Diller (Part 1 of our interview)

Tinder. Top Gun. Roots. The Simpsons. What do they have in common? Media icon Barry Diller. We're re-airing a classic episode with some wise words. Barry is what we call an "infinite learner." He’s only...

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2020 / 8 / 4

19. How to price your product to scale, w/ClassPass's Payal Kadakia

The price that bleeds your business could also save it. We're revisiting a classic episode with ClassPass' Payal Kadakia to focus something every entrepreneur struggles with: pricing. When you invent...

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2020 / 8 / 4

How to price your product to scale, w/ClassPass's Payal Kadakia

The price that bleeds your business could also save it. We're revisiting a classic episode with ClassPass' Payal Kadakia to focus something every entrepreneur struggles with: pricing. When you invent...

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2020 / 7 / 28

Be a painkiller AND a vitamin, w/Clara Shih (Hearsay Systems)

Some products are vitamins and some are painkillers – the best, though, are both. This is what Clara Shih, founder and CEO of Hearsay Systems, learned in the early years of her software startup. To survive,...

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2020 / 7 / 28

63. Be a painkiller AND a vitamin, w/Clara Shih (Hearsay Systems)

Some products are vitamins and some are painkillers – the best, though, are both. This is what Clara Shih, founder and CEO of Hearsay Systems, learned in the early years of her software startup. To survive,...

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2020 / 7 / 21

10. Let fires burn w/Selina Tobaccowala (Evite, SurveyMonkey, Gixo)

It's the opposite of what you were taught. The best entrepreneurs — they let fires burn. Knowing which problems NOT to solve is as critical as knowing how to solve them. We're revisiting this episode with...

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2020 / 7 / 21

Let fires burn w/Selina Tobaccowala (Evite, SurveyMonkey, Gixo)

It's the opposite of what you were taught. The best entrepreneurs — they let fires burn. Knowing which problems NOT to solve is as critical as knowing how to solve them. We're revisiting this episode with...

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2020 / 7 / 18

Rapid Response: Building a bridge over troubled waters, with Spelman College president Dr. Mary Schmidt Campbell

How to keep students learning – and building their vital lifelong community bonds – in the middle of a pandemic? This is the question for Dr. Mary Schmidt Campbell, president of Spelman College. Late in July,...

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2020 / 7 / 14

Strategy Session: How transparent should you be with your board? How do you boost morale in dark days? Is it time to blitzscale?

How do you take smart risks, how can you be transparent – but inspiring – with your board and your team, how do you keep up morale in what seem like the darkest days, and what does the future of blitzscaling...

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2020 / 7 / 11

Rapid Response: Inside PayPal's $530M plan to close the racial wealth gap, with CEO Dan Schulman

The pandemic has hurt many businesses – but PayPal isn't one of them. PayPal has boomed as e-commerce has swelled, with stock up more than 50% this year and a huge new demographic joining the platform. That...

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2020 / 7 / 9

Rapid Response: What it will take for tech and Hollywood to be anti-racist, w/Color Of Change's Rashad Robinson

There's no quick fix to 400 years of oppression, says Color Of Change president Rashad Robinson. One of the largest racial justice organizations in the US, Color Of Change works with decision-makers in...

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2020 / 7 / 7

62. The 4 core principles of crisis management, w/Ellen Kullman (DuPont, Carbon)

To survive a crisis, you have to double down on who you already are as a company. This is something Ellen Kullman knows, having led DuPont through the 2008-2009 financial crisis, and taken the CEO role at...

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2020 / 7 / 2

Rapid Response: A new playbook for new times, w/Ford Foundation president Darren Walker

"This was like 1918, 1929 and 1968 in one week," says Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation. With the pandemic, economic crisis, and civil unrest all coming together after George Floyd's death,...

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2020 / 6 / 30

61. Stephen Colbert + DonorsChoose's Charles Best — The power of small goals

Startups are audacious. They’re big. They’re world-changing. But you can’t achieve scale on day one. Sometimes the best way to achieve that monumental success tomorrow is to take a teeny tiny step today. This...

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2020 / 6 / 30

Stephen Colbert + DonorsChoose's Charles Best — The power of small goals

Startups are audacious. They’re big. They’re world-changing. But you can’t achieve scale on day one. Sometimes the best way to achieve that monumental success tomorrow is to take a teeny tiny step today. This...

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2020 / 6 / 27

Rapid Response: Burning cash, accepting turbulence w/Delta CEO Ed Bastian

A surprisingly candid and upbeat interview on the industry hardest hit by the pandemic. Delta saw seat bookings fall to less than 5% of normal, had 40,000 employees go on unpaid leave, and raised $14 billion...

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2020 / 6 / 23

Liberating the human spirit, w/Robert F. Smith (Vista Equity, Morehouse Commencement), Recorded live at Summit LA 2019

Every great founder has a second purpose — something outside their main business they're trying to get done in the world. And every successful company is like a Trojan Horse, carrying this second purpose...

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2020 / 6 / 23

50. Liberating the human spirit, w/Robert F. Smith (Vista Equity, Morehouse Commencement), Recorded live at Summit LA 2019

Every great founder has a second purpose — something outside their main business they're trying to get done in the world. And every successful company is like a Trojan Horse, carrying this second purpose...

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2020 / 6 / 19

Rapid Response: How business can engage against racism, w/Shellye Archambeau (MetricStream, Nordstrom, Verizon)

What can your business do right now in the struggle against racism? More than you think, says Shellye Archambeau, former CEO of MetricStream, now a board member at Verizon, Nordstrom and Okta. She returns to...

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2020 / 6 / 16

Build. Measure. Learn, w/Eric Ries of The Lean Startup and the LTSE

Forget writing that business plan. Design an experiment instead. So many products and companies fail because the assumptions in their beautiful business plans were just wrong. So stop writing and start...

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2020 / 6 / 16

60. Build. Measure. Learn, w/Eric Ries of The Lean Startup and the LTSE

Forget writing that business plan. Design an experiment instead. So many products and companies fail because the assumptions in their beautiful business plans were just wrong. So stop writing and start...

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2020 / 6 / 13

Rapid Response: GM's Mary Barra: "Going ventilator fast"

GM is now reopening auto plants, after shutting them in March, temporarily reducing pay for 69,000 employees, and making a fast pivot to produce masks and ventilators. But with the killing of George Floyd,...

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2020 / 6 / 9

Strategy Session: The post-pandemic business, w/questions from Village Global and co-host Bob Safian, editor-at-large

How do you find new markets when your old ones stall? How do you stay agile when your team is overwhelmed? And do constraints always lead to creativity — really? In this Strategy Session recorded in the...

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2020 / 6 / 6

Rapid Response: BuzzFeed’s Jonah Peretti: Record-high audience, record-low revenue

BuzzFeed audience is at record highs. But the pandemic's economic effects have crushed the bottom line. BuzzFeed co-founder and CEO Jonah Peretti shares how his company is making hard decisions to build...

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2020 / 6 / 3

Bonus: Reid’s 2020 Commencement Speech: In a crisis, steer toward the emerging opportunities

New graduates 🎓are like entrepreneurs — standing on the edge of that cliff, ready to build their own plane and fly. But what if the blue skies and calm winds disappear? In a commencement speech for 2020...

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2020 / 5 / 30

Rapid Response: Danny Meyer, 10 weeks later: How to revive restaurants

"Being the first to close is one thing. But I don't want to be the last to open,” says iconic restaurateur Danny Meyer in his second Rapid Response interview. After shutting his iconic New York City...

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2020 / 5 / 28

Rapid Response: How "startup DNA" helped One Medical respond to Covid, with CEO Amir Rubin

Since One Medical’s IPO in January, CEO Amir Rubin has been forced to constantly adapt to the coronavirus pandemic, as healthcare needs, expectations, and behaviors shifted. From telemedicine to Covid-19...

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2020 / 5 / 26

59. A masterclass in crowdsourcing, w/Duolingo's Luis von Ahn

Crowdsourcing is more than a group of people interested in the same cause, it’s a way to tap skills – and scale – that you don’t have. And when it works, it can be the rocket fuel that launches you to scale...

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2020 / 5 / 23

Rapid Response: How Warby Parker is making decisions in uncertainty, with CEO Neil Blumenthal

"It's like getting hit in the face over and over and over,” says Warby Parker co-CEO Neil Blumenthal. But “crisis brings out clarity.” At Warby, planning for the future has meant leaning into the present —...

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2020 / 5 / 21

Rapid Response: Leading with your gut, w/Lifeway Foods CEO Julie Smolyansky

Tapping both personal experience and intuition, Lifeway CEO Julie Smolyansky has embraced action amid uncertainty. Before the pandemic reached full throttle, Lifeway stockpiled seven weeks worth of product,...

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2020 / 5 / 19

58. How to unite a team, Part 2 w/Angela Ahrendts of Burberry, Apple

In Part 2, Angela arrives at Apple, which feels like another planet after her years in fashion. In never-before heard stories, Angela shares how she learned the language of tech (the physical store is the...

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2020 / 5 / 19

How to unite a team, Part 2 w/Angela Ahrendts of Burberry, Apple

In Part 2, Angela arrives at Apple, which feels like another planet after her years in fashion. In never-before heard stories, Angela shares how she learned the language of tech (the physical store is the...

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2020 / 5 / 16

Rapid Response: Future-proofing Verizon, with CEO Hans Vestberg

Data streaming, videoconferencing – even phone calls are way up at Verizon amid Covid-19, as digital interaction steps in for IRL. But boom times don't mean easy times for CEO Hans Vestberg, who moved over...

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2020 / 5 / 12

Apple's Angela Ahrendts: How to unite a team (Part 1)

The Apple logo. The iconic Burberry check. These images inspire loyalty of customers and employees alike. But it takes more than a beloved brand to power a company and motivate a team. No one knows this...

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2020 / 5 / 12

57. Apple's Angela Ahrendts: How to unite a team (Part 1)

The Apple logo. The iconic Burberry check. These images inspire loyalty of customers and employees alike. But it takes more than a beloved brand to power a company and motivate a team. No one knows this...

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2020 / 5 / 9

Rapid Response: Operating in a fishbowl w/Philly 76ers & NJ Devils CEO Scott O’Neil

In sports, everyone has an opinion on every hire, every trade, every price change. That’s the reality – and also the privilege, says Scott O'Neil, CEO of the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils. When the...

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2020 / 5 / 7

Rapid Response: Crisis lessons from inside the ER, with Dr. Bon Ku

In the Covid-19 storm, treating hospital patients requires constant iteration, creative information-sharing, and worst-case-scenario planning. Dr. Bon Ku, an ER physician and director of the Health Design Lab...

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2020 / 5 / 5

Rapid Response: Food security in a pandemic, w/Sara Menker of Gro Intelligence

Will the U.S. run out of food? Can the world's food supply chains survive coronavirus? Sara Menker, founder and CEO of Gro Intelligence, which parses 650 trillion agricultural data points daily, shares...

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2020 / 5 / 2

Rapid Response: On the frontlines of scale: Hospitals, w/Dr. David Skorton, AAMC

Hospitals are facing overwhelming challenges they weren’t equipped for – and in many cases, they’re now innovating their way toward solutions. Today we're talking with Dr. David Skorton, CEO of the AAMC, the...

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2020 / 4 / 30

Rapid Response: Inside Panera’s pandemic pivot, with CEO Niren Chaudhary

What do you do when you can’t serve customers in cafes and carry on business as usual? You try unusual things, says Panera CEO Niren Chaudhary. Forced to close cafes and restructure teams, Panera is...

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2020 / 4 / 28

Rapid Response: A crisis leadership session with General Stanley McChrystal

Everyone's looking for a box of crisis tricks. But the hard truth is that it simply doesn’t exist, says retired General Stanley McChrystal. Instead of looking for a new style, McChrystal says, lead with the...

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2020 / 4 / 25

Rapid Response: Pet adoptions: Up. Delivery business: Up. What that means to Chewy’s Sumit Singh

Pet adoptions have soared during the coronavirus lockdown, as people seek companionship and solace. For Chewy, the pet-supply company, that’s driving unprecedented demand. Ultra-rapid growth has its own set...

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2020 / 4 / 24

Rapid Response: "Neighbors are the frontline of support," w/Nextdoor's Sarah Friar

A neighborhood is more than just the people who share a common address, says Nextdoor CEO Sarah Friar. It’s every space that makes up your daily life. So Nextdoor is jumping in, rolling out new features like...

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2020 / 4 / 23

Rapid Response: Build government back – better, w/Jen Pahlka (Code for America, USDR)

In the US, local governments are leading the response to COVID-19 – making decisions and gathering data at a speed and scale never before seen. And many of them are asking Jen Pahlka for help. The founder and...

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2020 / 4 / 22

Rapid Response: Remote teams as an intentional choice, w/Wences Casares of Xapo

Many of us will be working remotely for a long time to come. So: How do you turn March's temporary scramble into a long-term benefit? Bitcoin pioneer Wences Casares runs a fully distributed company at his...

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2020 / 4 / 20

Rapid Response: Target’s Brian Cornell: “I want to see retail survive this”

Every day in a pandemic is different, and that’s true for people and for corporations. CEO Brian Cornell has promised Target will keep its doors open. To do that, Target is becoming "a good student," says...

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2020 / 4 / 18

Rapid Response: TaskRabbit's Stacy Brown-Philpot: “A pandemic doesn’t see money.”

TaskRabbit remains open for business, says CEO Stacy Brown-Philpot. As the magnitude and severity of the pandemic became clear – and as workers across the U.S. were furloughed and services cut – TaskRabbit...

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2020 / 4 / 16

Rapid Response: Lyft’s John Zimmer: How to keep an essential business running

Everything starts with transportation, says John Zimmer, co-founder and president of Lyft. And even though ride sharing is sharply down, transportation remains key – for essential workers and for our supply...

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2020 / 4 / 14

Rapid Response: A playbook for when "there’s no playbook," w/CEO Ellen Kullman (Carbon, DuPont)

How do you survive a crisis? You create your own trajectory, says Ellen Kullman. And she knows: In her former role, she became CEO of the chemical engineering giant DuPont in 2008, just ahead of the financial...

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2020 / 4 / 13

Rapid Response: Airbnb’s Brian Chesky: "Crisis is pushing us back to our roots"

As the pandemic hit, Airbnb was preparing for an IPO. Within a matter of days, everything changed dramatically, as travel worldwide screamed to a halt. “I felt like I was captain of a ship and a torpedo hit...

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2020 / 4 / 7

Rapid Response: Fast pivots for changing needs w/DonorsChoose Charles Best

People are altruistic – even more so in times of uncertainty. This is what Charles Best, founder and CEO of DonorsChoose, has learned through 20 years of leading his nonprofit through the terrorist attacks of...

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2020 / 4 / 4

Rapid Response: Relief funding & crowdfunding in a crisis w/Karen Cahn of IFundWomen

What are your options for emergency funding in the US? Can you use the U.S. CARES Act to get financial assistance? Should you consider crowdfunding? We talk to Karen Cahn, CEO of IFundWomen, about what you...

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2020 / 4 / 2

Rapid Response: Crisis data is the story of our times, says Crisis Text Line founder

"Anxiety," "grief," "mom”: These are the words surfacing at this extreme moment in time. That data comes from Crisis Text Line, whose online counselors are using both empathy and aggregated data to help...

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2020 / 3 / 31

Rapid Response: Hourly workers are a ‘hero class’ w/Cue Ball’s Tony Tjan

Hourly workers are the 'hero class,' says VC Tony Tjan. And the pandemic is wreaking havoc on their financial stability. At Boston’s Cue Ball Group, Tony’s portfolio includes companies that employ hundreds of...

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2020 / 3 / 26

Rapid Response: First, be human – Thoughts on the crisis from Reid Hoffman

Can you blitzscale when the world grinds to a halt? How do you do right by your team AND your investors? What will the entrepreneurial world look like on the other side of this? In this special episode, our...

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2020 / 3 / 24

Rapid Response: Danny Meyer on the wrenching decision to do layoffs

Last week, Danny Meyer laid off 2,000 people – that's 80 percent of staff at Union Square Hospitality Group, representing 20+ restaurants across the country. It was a heartbreaking decision made with full...

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2020 / 3 / 18

Rapid Response: Remote teams, w/WordPress/Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg

The first in a series of special episodes with tools you need RIGHT NOW | Suddenly, many of us are remote workers. As companies radically reimagine their day-to-day in response to the pandemic, we all need to...

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2020 / 2 / 27

56. How to start a revolution, w/Bitcoin pioneer Wences Casares (Xapo)

What if your idea is so radical that people have trouble grasping what it is — or even believing it won't harm them? Every founder believes their product is revolutionary – and the more revolutionary their...

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2020 / 2 / 27

How to start a revolution, w/Bitcoin pioneer Wences Casares (Xapo)

What if your idea is so radical that people have trouble grasping what it is — or even believing it won't harm them? Every founder believes their product is revolutionary – and the more revolutionary their...

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2020 / 2 / 20

Strategy Session: When to replace the founder, how to be a learn-it-all, when to take the "venture bet," w/questions from Endeavor Outliers and co-host Bob Safian, editor-at-large

Growth vs. innovation, scale vs. stability, founders vs, CEOs? Entrepreneurs want to know! In this month's Strategy Session, high-performing scale-ups from around the world ask Reid their most urgent...

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2020 / 1 / 23

When to zoom in, when to zoom out, w/Josh Silverman (Etsy/eBay/Skype/Evite)

When do you see the forest? And when do you see the trees? Building a company to scale requires a delicate balance of macro and micro focus – and the skill to know where to focus when. Josh Silverman has...

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2020 / 1 / 23

54. When to zoom in, when to zoom out, w/Josh Silverman (Etsy/eBay/Skype/Evite)

When do you see the forest? And when do you see the trees? Building a company to scale requires a delicate balance of macro and micro focus – and the skill to know where to focus when. Josh Silverman has...

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2020 / 1 / 17

Strategy Session: When not to blitzscale, how to persuade your board to let you slow down, and: Are you in a Glengarry Glen Ross market? w/questions from Endeavor and co-host Youngme Moon of HBS

When's the right time for hypergrowth? Should you take investment when you don’t need the money? How do you deal with an exhausted team? Global entrepreneurs facing hyperfast growth ask Reid their...

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2020 / 1 / 13

Bonus: A Meditative Story from Reid Hoffman

How do you find joy in your life? Our host, Reid Hoffman, finds it through friendship, and the genuine, honest, and intimate conversations it brings. In this special episode of Meditative Story, from the same...

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2020 / 1 / 9

53. What's the hidden business behind your business? w/Rent the Runway's Jenn Hyman

Rent the Runway co-founder Jenn Hyman knows: Behind every successful business is another business backstage, one you might not expect. Rent the Runway is known for creating a glamorous "closet in the cloud,”...

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2019 / 12 / 20

Replay: Bill Gates is ending his foundation — here’s how it began

Bill Gates announced this week that he will shutter his philanthropic foundation in 20 years – but not before using it to give away $200 billion to fight global diseases. In this archival episode from 2019,...

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2019 / 12 / 20

52. Bill Gates: The biggest success story you haven't heard (Part 2)

In Part 2 of this special two-part conversation, we’re talking with Bill Gates about the biggest success story ever told on the podcast. It was achieved not through Microsoft, but through the Bill & Melinda...

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2019 / 12 / 20

Bill Gates: The biggest success story you haven't heard (Part 2)

In Part 2 of this special two-part conversation, we’re talking with Bill Gates about the biggest success story ever told on the podcast. It was achieved not through Microsoft, but through the Bill & Melinda...

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2019 / 12 / 13

51. How to solve an impossible challenge, w/Megan Smith (US CTO, Google, shift7)

Faced with an impossible challenge? Don’t reinvent the wheel. Look for someone who’s already solved the problem, and lift them up. Megan Smith calls that technique “scout and scale.” She used it as the United...

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2019 / 12 / 13

How to solve an impossible challenge, w/Megan Smith (US CTO, Google, shift7)

Faced with an impossible challenge? Don’t reinvent the wheel. Look for someone who’s already solved the problem, and lift them up. Megan Smith calls that technique “scout and scale.” She used it as the United...

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2019 / 12 / 5

LIVE! Find your Trojan horse, w/Robert F. Smith

Recorded live at Summit LA: Every great founder has a second purpose — something outside their main business they're trying to get done in the world. And every successful company is like a Trojan horse,...

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2019 / 12 / 5

50. LIVE! Find your Trojan horse, w/Robert F. Smith

Recorded live at Summit LA: Every great founder has a second purpose — something outside their main business they're trying to get done in the world. And every successful company is like a Trojan horse,...

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2019 / 11 / 26

49. Ray Dalio: How to embrace conflict

Want to improve any idea? Find someone who disagrees with it. This is something legendary investor Ray Dalio knows. But there’s a difference between constructive and destructive conflict – and Dalio is a...

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2019 / 11 / 21

2. Raise more money than you need, w/Minted's Mariam Naficy

Think you've raised enough money for your startup? Think again. You have to run through a minefield of unexpected expenses as an entrepreneur. And you never know where the big opportunity will come from — or...

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2019 / 11 / 21

Raise more money than you need, w/Minted's Mariam Naficy

Think you've raised enough money for your startup? Think again. You have to run through a minefield of unexpected expenses as an entrepreneur. And you never know where the big opportunity will come from — or...

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2019 / 11 / 15

How to set the drumbeat, w/LinkedIn's Jeff Weiner

Every leader has to set the drumbeat for their company — the culture, mission, and values that get the entire team in sync. And the rhythm has to be true to them. Jeff Weiner is a master at this. When he was...

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2019 / 11 / 15

48. How to set the drumbeat, w/LinkedIn's Jeff Weiner

Every leader has to set the drumbeat for their company — the culture, mission, and values that get the entire team in sync. And the rhythm has to be true to them. Jeff Weiner is a master at this. When he was...

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2019 / 10 / 31

46. Make it epic, w/will.i.am

What can entrepreneurs learn from a genre-crossing, multi-platinum musician? How to take a big opportunity — and leverage it into something epic. From his earliest days as a founding member of the Black Eyed...

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2019 / 10 / 10

Keep humans in the equation, w/TaskRabbit's Stacy Brown-Philpot

You may think that to scale you need to cut humans out of the equation. The opposite is true. You can harness the power of the "human cloud" to solve almost any problem — as long as you keep the word “human”...

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2019 / 10 / 10

23. Keep humans in the equation, w/TaskRabbit's Stacy Brown-Philpot

You may think that to scale you need to cut humans out of the equation. The opposite is true. You can harness the power of the "human cloud" to solve almost any problem — as long as you keep the word “human”...

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2019 / 9 / 26

Strategy Session: How do you gain your users' trust? How do you build a team and company culture at the same time? w/questions from Entrepreneur First and co-host Jason Feifer of Entrepreneur magazine

How can I scale during a downturn? Should my company be a pirate or the navy? Reid Hoffman answers questions from early-stage entrepreneurs all over the world, like: How do you gain trust? How do you...

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2019 / 9 / 12

How to build your company to last, w/Fiat's John Elkann

Forget being a unicorn. Learn to be a phoenix. Your company can last 100+ years — but you'll need the resilience to rise and fall, and rise again. Fiat’s chair John Elkann shares the principles that helped...

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2019 / 9 / 12

18. How to build your company to last, w/Fiat's John Elkann

Forget being a unicorn. Learn to be a phoenix. Your company can last 100+ years — but you'll need the resilience to rise and fall, and rise again. Fiat’s chair John Elkann shares the principles that helped...

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2019 / 9 / 5

44. Take on Goliath — and win, w/Dropbox's Drew Houston

When Drew Houston founded Dropbox, he knew he faced some fierce competition (hello, Google, Apple and Microsoft). But he didn’t back down. Why? Because he believed in his product, and he knew he had an...

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2019 / 9 / 5

Take on Goliath — and win, w/Dropbox's Drew Houston

When Drew Houston founded Dropbox, he knew he faced some fierce competition (hello, Google, Apple and Microsoft). But he didn’t back down. Why? Because he believed in his product, and he knew he had an...

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2019 / 8 / 6

Bonus: Recharge your brain with a Meditative Story by Arianna Huffington

As an entrepreneur, you have to find a way to recharge. This new podcast, from the creators of Masters of Scale, is designed to create calm amid an always-on schedule. The episode was inspired by Reid’s...

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2019 / 8 / 1

43. 23andMe's Anne Wojcicki: Embrace the gatekeepers

When Anne Wojcicki co-founded 23andMe, she carved out a brand-new space in personal health -- helping people become experts on their bodies right down to the DNA level. Then the federal regulators came...

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2019 / 8 / 1

23andMe's Anne Wojcicki: Embrace the gatekeepers

When Anne Wojcicki co-founded 23andMe, she carved out a brand-new space in personal health -- helping people become experts on their bodies right down to the DNA level. Then the federal regulators came...

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2019 / 7 / 26

The Big Pivot w/Slack's Stewart Butterfield

In your company’s darkest moment, remember: You CAN pivot from failure to success. But only if you slash and burn everything that isn’t working. Slack’s co-founder and CEO, Stewart Butterfield, has twice...

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2019 / 7 / 26

13. The Big Pivot w/Slack's Stewart Butterfield

In your company’s darkest moment, remember: You CAN pivot from failure to success. But only if you slash and burn everything that isn’t working. Slack’s co-founder and CEO, Stewart Butterfield, has twice...

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2019 / 7 / 18

Small changes with big impact w/Whitney Wolfe Herd of Bumble

Often a small tweak, a rethink of a feature, is what helps your product break out of the pack. Just ask the founder of the Bumble dating app, Whitney Wolfe Herd. She rebounded from one dating app startup...

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2019 / 7 / 18

42. Small changes with big impact w/Whitney Wolfe Herd of Bumble

Often a small tweak, a rethink of a feature, is what helps your product break out of the pack. Just ask the founder of the Bumble dating app, Whitney Wolfe Herd. She rebounded from one dating app startup...

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2019 / 7 / 2

Entrepreneurship as a second act, w/Gwyneth Paltrow

It’s never too late to join the entrepreneurial party. We've heard all the stories of young geniuses, but plenty of influential entrepreneurs founded companies in their 30s, 40s, 50s. There’s value to being a...

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2019 / 7 / 2

41. Entrepreneurship as a second act, w/Gwyneth Paltrow

It’s never too late to join the entrepreneurial party. We've heard all the stories of young geniuses, but plenty of influential entrepreneurs founded companies in their 30s, 40s, 50s. There’s value to being a...

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2019 / 6 / 21

Bonus: 10 New Rules for Big Career Changes (The Graduation Episode) w/Jordan Harbinger

On Masters of Scale, we talk a lot about how businesses grow. But we also talk about how people grow: How key decisions (and happy accidents) can shape your future, and how your setbacks can actually set you...

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2019 / 6 / 5

40. How pirates become the navy, w/Uber's Dara Khosrowshahi

Early-stage startups are a lot like pirate ships – they need a buccaneering spirit to survive. But every startup needs to shed its pirate nature at some point, and evolve into something more akin to a navy –...

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2019 / 6 / 5

Bringing a culture back from the brink, w/Uber's Dara Khosrowshahi

Early-stage startups are a lot like pirate ships – they need a buccaneering spirit to survive. But every startup needs to shed its pirate nature at some point, and evolve into something more akin to a navy –...

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2019 / 6 / 5

40. Bringing a culture back from the brink, w/Uber's Dara Khosrowshahi

Early-stage startups are a lot like pirate ships – they need a buccaneering spirit to survive. But every startup needs to shed its pirate nature at some point, and evolve into something more akin to a navy –...

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2019 / 4 / 30

38. Open or closed? The answer is both, w/Joi Ito

No organization that’s entirely closed — or entirely open — can scale as successfully as an organization that combines both. Yes, it invites a bit of chaos – but chaos breeds innovation. Joi Ito has spent his...

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2019 / 4 / 30

Open or closed? The answer is both, w/Joi Ito

No organization that’s entirely closed — or entirely open — can scale as successfully as an organization that combines both. Yes, it invites a bit of chaos – but chaos breeds innovation. Joi Ito has spent his...

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2019 / 3 / 26

37. Take bigger risks, w/Shellye Archambeau

If you try to avoid risk, you actually risk total failure. Or worse: mediocrity. Take it from Shellye Archambeau. She led the most stunning Silicon Valley turnaround you’ve never heard of. She took the role...

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2019 / 3 / 26

Take bigger risks, w/Shellye Archambeau

If you try to avoid risk, you actually risk total failure. Or worse: mediocrity. Take it from Shellye Archambeau. She led the most stunning Silicon Valley turnaround you’ve never heard of. She took the role...

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2019 / 3 / 12

36. Check your blindspot, w/Sallie Krawcheck (Ellevest)

If your company's dominated by one type of person, you run the risk of tunnel vision. You might move fast — but you'll often drive straight into traps. Truly scalable companies need a diverse portfolio of...

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2019 / 3 / 12

Check your blindspot, w/Sallie Krawcheck (Ellevest)

If your company's dominated by one type of person, you run the risk of tunnel vision. You might move fast — but you'll often drive straight into traps. Truly scalable companies need a diverse portfolio of...

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2019 / 2 / 26

35. The Reid Hoffman Story (Part 2): Make everyone a hero

We’re back with Part 2 of our special turn-the-tables episode with Reid Hoffman. In this episode, we follow Reid through PayPal, LinkedIn, the Microsoft acquisition, his angel investments, Greylock, and his...

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2019 / 2 / 26

The Reid Hoffman Story (Part 2): Make everyone a hero

We’re back with Part 2 of our special turn-the-tables episode with Reid Hoffman. In this episode, we follow Reid through PayPal, LinkedIn, the Microsoft acquisition, his angel investments, Greylock, and his...

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2019 / 1 / 22

The Reid Hoffman Story (Part 1): Make everyone a hero

In this special episode, we turn the tables on host Reid Hoffman. He’s the guest and we tell his story, while proving a theory that’s perfect for Reid: You can chart an epic journey to scale, if you make...

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2019 / 1 / 22

34. The Reid Hoffman Story (Part 1): Make everyone a hero

In this special episode, we turn the tables on host Reid Hoffman. He’s the guest and we tell his story, while proving a theory that’s perfect for Reid: You can chart an epic journey to scale, if you make...

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2019 / 1 / 8

Let your customers be your scouts, w/Eventbrite's Julia Hartz

That constant roar of customer feedback? Be thankful for it. It holds all the secrets to your success, if you learn how to read the signs. Listen to what users say, sure. But also watch what they do and...

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2019 / 1 / 8

33. Let your customers be your scouts, w/Eventbrite's Julia Hartz

That constant roar of customer feedback? Be thankful for it. It holds all the secrets to your success, if you learn how to read the signs. Listen to what users say, sure. But also watch what they do and...

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2018 / 12 / 18

32. To scale, you must master the skill of storytelling, w/Charity: Water's Scott Harrison

You need a great story to build a great company. And great stories are unwaveringly true. No one embodies this principle more fully than Scott Harrison, founder of Charity: Water. A master storyteller, Scott...

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2018 / 12 / 18

To scale, you must master the skill of storytelling, w/Charity: Water's Scott Harrison

You need a great story to build a great company. And great stories are unwaveringly true. No one embodies this principle more fully than Scott Harrison, founder of Charity: Water. A master storyteller, Scott...

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2018 / 11 / 19

The Millennial Episode, w/Brit + Co's Brit Morin

You can marshal the power of millennials to grow your company, but you have to redefine your concept of loyalty. To keep millennials as users (and employees), you’ll need to keep evolving — and help them...

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2018 / 11 / 19

31. The Millennial Episode, w/Brit + Co's Brit Morin

You can marshal the power of millennials to grow your company, but you have to redefine your concept of loyalty. To keep millennials as users (and employees), you’ll need to keep evolving — and help them...

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2018 / 10 / 22

When to ignore conventional wisdom, w/Shake Shack's Danny Meyer

To revolutionize an industry, you have to cast off received wisdom. Shake Shack’s Danny Meyer knows this well. When he opened his first high-end restaurant in New York, Union Square Cafe, received wisdom told...

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2018 / 10 / 22

29. When to ignore conventional wisdom, w/Shake Shack's Danny Meyer

To revolutionize an industry, you have to cast off received wisdom. Shake Shack’s Danny Meyer knows this well. When he opened his first high-end restaurant in New York, Union Square Cafe, received wisdom told...

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2018 / 9 / 19

27. How to build trust fast, w/Spotify's Daniel Ek

Normally, trust = consistency + time. But when you're scaling fast, you have to find shortcuts to trust, with your partners and your users. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek knows a thing or two about this. When he...

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2018 / 9 / 19

How to build trust fast, w/Spotify's Daniel Ek

Normally, trust = consistency + time. But when you're scaling fast, you have to find shortcuts to trust, with your partners and your users. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek knows a thing or two about this. When he...

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2018 / 9 / 6

Instagram's Kevin Systrom: Keep it simple while scaling big

You can scale big with a simple idea (and a tiny team!) — but only if you catch the prevailing winds. That's what Kevin Systrom did when he co-founded Instagram: The simple photo app tapped the right trends,...

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2018 / 9 / 6

26. Instagram's Kevin Systrom: Keep it simple while scaling big

You can scale big with a simple idea (and a tiny team!) — but only if you catch the prevailing winds. That's what Kevin Systrom did when he co-founded Instagram: The simple photo app tapped the right trends,...

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2018 / 8 / 8

How to make the star employees you need, w/Marissa Mayer

Can't find the star employees you need? Then make them. That's what Marissa Mayer did when she founded the Associate Product Manager program in the early days of Google — one of the company's crown jewels....

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2018 / 8 / 8

25. How to make the star employees you need, w/Marissa Mayer

Can't find the star employees you need? Then make them. That's what Marissa Mayer did when she founded the Associate Product Manager program in the early days of Google — one of the company's crown jewels....

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2018 / 7 / 25

24. How to kill your bad ideas, w/Zynga's Mark Pincus

To succeed, you have to be relentless about pursuing a big opportunity — and ruthless about killing your own bad ideas along the way. Zynga founder Mark Pincus upended the gaming industry with social games...

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2018 / 7 / 25

How to kill your bad ideas, w/Zynga's Mark Pincus

To succeed, you have to be relentless about pursuing a big opportunity — and ruthless about killing your own bad ideas along the way. Zynga founder Mark Pincus upended the gaming industry with social games...

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2018 / 3 / 21

How to find your big idea, w/Spanx's Sara Blakely

How to find your big idea? Look for it. And look for it. And be ready to act. Spanx founder Sara Blakely was actively seeking a business idea when she thought of Spanx (she shares a never-fail technique)....

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2018 / 3 / 21

22. How to find your big idea, w/Spanx's Sara Blakely

How to find your big idea? Look for it. And look for it. And be ready to act. Spanx founder Sara Blakely was actively seeking a business idea when she thought of Spanx (she shares a never-fail technique)....

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2018 / 2 / 28

Bonus: The 10 Commandments of Startup Success w/guest host Tim Ferriss

Guest host Tim Ferriss shares advice you’ll want to etch into stone: the Ten Commandments of Startup Success. We teamed up with Tim’s own podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, to bring you this special remix of...

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2018 / 2 / 21

20. Never underestimate your first idea, w/Twitter/Medium's Ev Williams

Never put a limit on your first idea. It could span your entire career. Ev Williams, co-founder of Twitter and Medium (and before that: Blogger), shares what he learned in every iteration of his grand vision...

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2018 / 2 / 21

Never underestimate your first idea, w/Twitter/Medium's Ev Williams

Never put a limit on your first idea. It could span your entire career. Ev Williams, co-founder of Twitter and Medium (and before that: Blogger), shares what he learned in every iteration of his grand vision...

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2018 / 2 / 14

19. How to price your product to scale, w/ClassPass' Payal Kadakia

The price that bleeds your business could also save it. When you invent something innovative, you can’t know how to price it on day one. First, get people in the door — get a LOT of people in the door — even...

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2018 / 2 / 14

How to price your product to scale, w/ClassPass' Payal Kadakia

The price that bleeds your business could also save it. When you invent something innovative, you can’t know how to price it on day one. First, get people in the door — get a LOT of people in the door — even...

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2018 / 1 / 24

Build a more human internet, w/Caterina Fake (Etsy, Kickstarter, Flickr, "Should This Exist?")

Whatever you are when you're small gets amplified when you grow. So if you're starting any kind of online community (social media, ecommerce, crowdfunding), be careful what you cultivate. Caterina Fake...

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2018 / 1 / 24

16. Build a more human internet, w/Caterina Fake (Etsy, Kickstarter, Flickr, "Should This Exist?")

Whatever you are when you're small gets amplified when you grow. So if you're starting any kind of online community (social media, ecommerce, crowdfunding), be careful what you cultivate. Caterina Fake...

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2017 / 12 / 13

15. Learn to unlearn (Part 2) w/Barry Diller

To move from one success to another, you have to learn to unlearn. Take everything that helped you win the first time, then discard it and learn a new way. That's how Barry Diller, a titan of "old media" (at...

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2017 / 12 / 13

Learn to unlearn (Part 2) w/Barry Diller

To move from one success to another, you have to learn to unlearn. Take everything that helped you win the first time, then discard it and learn a new way. That's how Barry Diller, a titan of "old media" (at...

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2017 / 11 / 15

The Big Pivot, w/Slack's Stewart Butterfield

In your company’s darkest moment, remember: You CAN pivot from failure to success. But only if you slash and burn everything that isn’t working. Slack’s co-founder and CEO, Stewart Butterfield, has twice...

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2017 / 11 / 15

13. The Big Pivot, w/Slack's Stewart Butterfield

In your company’s darkest moment, remember: You CAN pivot from failure to success. But only if you slash and burn everything that isn’t working. Slack’s co-founder and CEO, Stewart Butterfield, has twice...

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2017 / 11 / 10

12. Look for the ideas that come at you sideways, w/Diane Greene of Google, VMware

Business plan not entirely clear? Not sure how you’ll make enough money or find your users? That's OK. Really. The most scalable ideas often come at you sideways. You'll find yourself crabwalking from a small...

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2017 / 11 / 10

Look for the ideas that come at you sideways, w/Diane Greene of Google, VMware

Business plan not entirely clear? Not sure how you’ll make enough money or find your users? That's OK. Really. The most scalable ideas often come at you sideways. You'll find yourself crabwalking from a small...

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2017 / 11 / 8

11. Escape the competition, w/PayPal's Peter Thiel

If you want to grow your business, your goal isn’t to beat the competition — it’s to escape the competition altogether. No one knows this better than PayPal founder Peter Thiel. His theory? “Competition is...

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2017 / 11 / 8

Escape the competition, w/PayPal's Peter Thiel

If you want to grow your business, your goal isn’t to beat the competition — it’s to escape the competition altogether. No one knows this better than PayPal founder Peter Thiel. His theory? “Competition is...

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2017 / 8 / 26

Bonus: Seven lesser-known laws of leadership

The Masters of Scale team brings you a special blend of leadership tips from Season One guests — including clips we haven’t aired yet. In this bonus episode, we’ll share our favorite insights from Y...

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2017 / 7 / 19

Let fires burn, w/Selina Tobaccowala of Gixo

In the early days of your startup, it feels like everything's on fire all the time. Real talk: if you try to put out every fire, every day, you’ll only burn yourself out. The best entrepreneurs know how to...

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2017 / 7 / 19

10. Let fires burn, w/Selina Tobaccowala of Gixo

In the early days of your startup, it feels like everything's on fire all the time. Real talk: if you try to put out every fire, every day, you’ll only burn yourself out. The best entrepreneurs know how to...

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2017 / 7 / 12

9. The next Silicon Valley is...? w/Endeavor's Linda Rottenberg

What’s the secret to Silicon Valley's thriving startup scene? And can that kind of ecosystem happen anywhere else in the world? Linda Rottenberg, CEO of Endeavor, makes the case that a startup culture can be...

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2017 / 7 / 12

The next Silicon Valley is...? w/Endeavor's Linda Rottenberg

What’s the secret to Silicon Valley's thriving startup scene? And can that kind of ecosystem happen anywhere else in the world? Linda Rottenberg, CEO of Endeavor, makes the case that a startup culture can be...

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2017 / 6 / 28

8. Why culture matters, w/Netflix's Reed Hastings

Strong company cultures only emerge when every employee feels they own the culture — and this begins even before the first job interview. CEO Reed Hastings has built an adaptive, high-performing culture at...

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2017 / 6 / 28

Why culture matters, w/Netflix's Reed Hastings

Strong company cultures only emerge when every employee feels they own the culture — and this begins even before the first job interview. CEO Reed Hastings has built an adaptive, high-performing culture at...

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2017 / 6 / 14

7. Your plan B needs a plan B, w/Crisis Text Line founder Nancy Lublin

To succeed, entrepreneurs need a good idea, timing, money, luck. But more than anything, they need the ability to generate an endless supply of Plans B, C, and D when Plan A doesn't come through. Nancy Lublin...

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2017 / 6 / 14

Your plan B needs a plan B, w/Crisis Text Line founder Nancy Lublin

To succeed, entrepreneurs need a good idea, timing, money, luck. But more than anything, they need the ability to generate an endless supply of Plans B, C, and D when Plan A doesn't come through. Nancy Lublin...

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2017 / 5 / 31

5. Lead, lead again, w/Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg

In just 6 years, Facebook grew to 2 billion users and 14,000 employees. How? Well, first, they hired COO Sheryl Sandberg. And she knew that to lead a fast-changing organization, you have to be as skilled at...

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2017 / 5 / 31

Lead, lead again, w/Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg

In just 6 years, Facebook grew to 2 billion users and 14,000 employees. How? Well, first, they hired COO Sheryl Sandberg. And she knew that to lead a fast-changing organization, you have to be as skilled at...

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2017 / 5 / 24

4. Imperfect is perfect, w/Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg

If you’re Steve Jobs, you can wait for your product to be perfect. For the rest of us, If you’re not embarrassed by your first product release, you’ve released it too late. Imperfect is perfect. Why? Because...

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2017 / 5 / 24

Imperfect is perfect, w/Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg

If you’re Steve Jobs, you can wait for your product to be perfect. For the rest of us, If you’re not embarrassed by your first product release, you’ve released it too late. Imperfect is perfect. Why? Because...

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2017 / 5 / 17

Learn from every "no," w/Walker & Company's Tristan Walker

The best business ideas often seem laughable at first glance. So if you’re hearing a chorus of “No’s” — it may actually be a good sign! Google, Facebook, LInkedIn, Airbnb — they all sounded crazy before they...

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2017 / 5 / 17

3. Learn from every "no," w/Walker & Company's Tristan Walker

The best business ideas often seem laughable at first glance. So if you’re hearing a chorus of “No’s” — it may actually be a good sign! Google, Facebook, LInkedIn, Airbnb — they all sounded crazy before they...

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2017 / 5 / 3

1. Airbnb's Brian Chesky in Handcrafted

If you want your company to truly scale, you first have to do things that don't scale. Handcraft the core experience. Get your hands dirty. Serve your customers one-by-one. And don't stop until you know...

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2017 / 5 / 3

Airbnb's Brian Chesky in Handcrafted

If you want your company to truly scale, you first have to do things that don't scale. Handcraft the core experience. Get your hands dirty. Serve your customers one-by-one. And don't stop until you know...

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2017 / 4 / 18

Coming Soon: Masters of Scale

Coming May 3rd, Reid Hoffman, legendary Silicon Valley entrepreneur and investor, explains how famous founders take their companies from zero to a gazillion. In this trailer for Season One, a taste of this...

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