Masters of Scale
by WaitWhat
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.
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Episodes
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Open to Debate: should we trust AI agents with our information?
Would you hand a stranger your bank passwords, your private messages, and control of your personal information? That’s the ask when the stranger is an AI agent, like Meta Muse, Claude Duet, or OpenAI Dots. In this special episode from Open to Debate, recorded live at the Masters of Scale Summit…
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Demis Hassabis says society is “not ready” for the AI future
Google DeepMind co-founder and chair Demis Hassabis says the world is not ready yet for what’s next in AI. He joins Reid Hoffman to talk about how to effectively govern frontier AI, why a more diverse group of experts need a seat at the table, and more. This conversation was recorded live as part...
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Thriving in chaos: top leaders’ strategies from Masters of Scale Summit
A decade ago, Bob Safian wrote about Generation Flux, the people built to thrive amid constant change. Today, he says, we all belong to it, whether we want to or not. In this live segment from Masters of Scale Summit 2026, Safian gathers leaders from across business, tech, and media to work out...
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Reed Hastings on Hollywood’s future, Netflix’s shakeup and knowing when to leave
After nearly 30 years building Netflix, co-founder and former chairman Reed Hastings stepped down from the board of directors this past June. His departure came at a tumultuous time in Hollywood and at Netflix itself. On top of the fallout from its failed bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery…
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Maria Ressa on how to save democracy from Big Tech
When truth is under attack, how do you fight back? Nobel Peace Prize-winning journalist Maria Ressa has spent years confronting disinformation and political pressure through her news organization, Rappler. In conversation with Reid Hoffman and Aria Finger, Ressa explores the crises facing truth,...
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Eric Schmidt scores US vs. China: who’s winning the AI race?
The AI race between the US and China is the defining competition of our age. Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, advisor to the Pentagon, and current CEO of Relativity Space joins Rapid Response live from Masters of Scale Summit to give his most unvarnished assessment yet. He reveals that the gap...
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Reid Hoffman and OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar on where AI goes from here
Few companies have as much influence over AI’s trajectory as OpenAI. Reid Hoffman sits down with CFO Sarah Friar to understand the precipice of the moment we are in and the decisions that could shape what comes next for each of us. This conversation was recorded live as part of Masters of Scale...
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REI’s secrets to sustaining a beloved brand and touching grass
REI has been around for 88 years. Mary Beth Laughton wants to make sure it’s around for 88 more. The CEO of America’s largest consumer co-op joins Rapid Response to talk about what it actually takes to revive an iconic business — without shareholders, without quarterly earnings calls, and with 26...
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Rich Roll’s ‘crash course’ in entrepreneurship
Rich Roll’s popular podcast recently passed 1,000 episodes. He sat down with host Jeff Berman to discuss his growing podcast network, why he’s ignoring the algorithm, and his tumultuous path from addiction to wellness and endurance athletics. Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter:...
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The AI race to save American science and reshape medicine forever
Renee Wegrzyn spent her career building the future of American science — including ARPA-H, the White House agency created to accelerate health breakthroughs. Then the Trump administration showed her the door. Wegrzyn co-founded Transfyr to tackle what she calls one of the most overlooked issues…
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Pioneers of AI: OpenAI’s Tibo Sottiaux doesn’t want humans to be an ‘afterthought’
Thibault “Tibo” Sottiaux is OpenAI’s head of Product & Platform, making him responsible for the AI tools used by more than a billion users worldwide. Rana el Kaliouby spoke with Tibo on Pioneers of AI about why he’s “proud” OpenAI delayed its latest Astra model over safety concerns, the new suite...
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Building a marketplace from scratch, with Hipcamp founder Alyssa Ravasio
Alyssa Ravasio loves using ‘coyote trickster energy’ to get more people to put down their technology. Her camping marketplace, Hipcamp, has grown into the largest source for booking campsites on public and private land. She talks with host Jeff Berman about scaling the company, learning to...
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Kalshi vs. Everyone: Co-Founder Luana Lopes Lara on the lawsuits and the long game
Prediction markets incentivize truth. Everything else incentivizes clickbait. That's the core argument Luana Lopes Lara makes for Kalshi — the prediction market platform she co-founded that has gone from $5 billion to $22 billion in valuation in under a year, and is now being sued by New York's...
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Don't be boring: KCRW's Jennifer Ferro on building a brand people love
Jennifer Ferro is the former board chair of NPR and president of Southern California’s iconic public radio organization: KCRW. Ferro talks with host Jeff Berman about how nearly two decades as the founder’s deputy taught her to lead, why she thinks we deserve a better internet, and how the best...
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Halloween meets GLP-1s: Hershey’s candy Super Bowl, with CEO Kirk Tanner
The second a brand like Hershey stops being culturally relevant, says its CEO Kirk Tanner, you should be worried. He joins Rapid Response to explain exactly what he's doing to make sure that never happens. Tanner also reveals why GLP-1 users are actually good for the candy business, how AI is now...
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Rapid Response: Stop creating businesses. Buy one instead, with Codie Sanchez
Own or be owned. That's Codie Sanchez's ultimatum for anyone serious about their financial future. The founder of Contrarian Thinking and author of the new book Own or Be Owned returns to Rapid Response to make her most impassioned case yet for why buying a small business is the most reliable…
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How to build a billion-dollar sports team from scratch, with Golden State Valkyries’ Jess Smith
When Jess Smith became employee number one for the Bay Area’s WNBA expansion team, the future was a blank slate. Now, the Golden State Valkyries brand is boasting a unicorn valuation in just its second season. Smith talks with host Jeff Berman about building the brand from scratch, the rise of...
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Rebranding in a war zone, with Prosper Global (formerly Mercy Corps)
The world has never faced so many humanitarian crises at once, and the systems built to respond to them are fraying. Tjada McKenna, CEO of Prosper Global — the organization long known as Mercy Corps — joins Rapid Response during UN General Assembly week to share what she's seeing firsthand from...
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Brené Brown & Reid Hoffman on the skills every leader needs now
Author and researcher Brené Brown joined host Reid Hoffman on stage last year in San Francisco for the 2025 Masters of Scale Summit. She reveals insights about how to lead courageously, the underrated skills leaders need to thrive, and why compassion is essential for success – even if it’s...
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Let’s Kill Sh*t: Axios CEO on simplifying your work-life in the AI era
AI isn't simplifying your life… Yet. It's mass-producing more options, more decisions, and more noise. Axios CEO Jim VandeHei returns to Rapid Response to make the case that the antidote isn't a better productivity app, it's a ruthless, three-part system he calls Confront, Delete, Amplify.…
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Rapid Response: On's 16-year overnight success: Zendaya, Federer, and outrunning competition
On built a $4 billion sports brand in 16 years with a garden hose, a Roger Federer dinner in Zurich, and a young designer who watched a Halloween YouTube video. Co-founder and co-CEO David Allemann joins Rapid Response to explain why the defining decade for On is still ahead, and why being the…
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From high school dropout to CEO, with Autodesk’s Andrew Anagnost
Autodesk is the massive public software company at the heart of designing almost everything around you, from cars to buildings to video games. CEO Andrew Anagnost talks with host Jeff Berman about why he first joined a “rebel” group at the company, how he battled for the top job, and why he…
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NFL Kickoff: the science gets more damning, but the money keeps growing
The NFL is the world's most valuable sports business, and it keeps growing. But is the growth sustainable? Sports journalist Michele Steele joins Rapid Response to kick off the 2026-2027 NFL season with a clear-eyed look at what's driving record franchise valuations, why quarterback salaries keep...
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Angela Duckworth on why grit isn’t enough
With the highly anticipated follow up to her bestseller “Grit”, psychologist and author Angela Duckworth offers a new framework for achieving excellence. She talks with host Jeff Berman about why making even small changes to your situation is the precursor to success. You can find more about...
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When AI agents do your shopping, everything changes, with Shopify’s Jess Hertz
For decades, e-commerce rewarded the biggest brands who could buy their way to the top of search results. AI is changing that. Shopify COO Jess Hertz joins Rapid Response to share what Shopify's data reveals about the agentic shopping revolution in real time, and how the company is building the...
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Pioneers of AI: Designing AI for people and the planet, with Aza Raskin
AI is rapidly changing what it means to be human, but is AI development truly human-centered? According to Aza Raskin, co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology, the answer is largely “no.” The man who invented the “infinite scroll” is now working to understand why the most powerful…
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Chicago Fed President on inflation, recession, and Trump’s attacks
The economy is strong, prices are still too high, and the job market is sending mixed signals. The Federal Reserve is navigating all of it while fending off the most overt political pressure in its modern history. Austan Goolsbee, President of the Chicago Fed, joins Rapid Response ahead of the...
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Ford's Jim Farley on beating China, and the storm nobody sees coming
With the ongoing disruption in the Strait of Hormuz and fuel prices still elevated, few auto executives are feeling the pressure more acutely than Ford Motor Company CEO Jim Farley. He joins Rapid Response to give a candid account of what the turmoil means for the auto industry, and for an iconic...
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How Barnes & Noble made a comeback, with CEO James Daunt
CEO James Daunt has now rescued two iconic bookstore chains: Barnes & Noble and Waterstones. He joins host Jeff Berman to discuss the turnarounds, plus how bookstores are preparing for an onslaught of AI-written content, his BookTok strategy, and why local control is the key to making great...
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What the jobs report isn't telling you about AI & the workforce, with Upwork’s Hayden Brown
Few leaders have a better real-time read on how AI is actually reshaping the workforce than Hayden Brown. As CEO of Upwork, the platform where 18 million freelancers meet the businesses that need them, she sees what the monthly jobs report can't: which skills are surging, which jobs are quietly...
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Pioneers of AI: Why AI conversations are always one-sided
Is it possible for us to ever wholeheartedly trust a machine the way we would a human? According to Charles Duhigg, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author of The Power of Habit and Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection, the answer is...
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Know which rules to break, with MTV co-founder Tom Freston
Tom Freston is a cofounder of MTV and former CEO of Viacom. He joined host Jeff Berman to dig into the wild stories and meaningful lessons from his life as an unconventional corporate leader. Freston reveals how MTV’s audience-first mentality and “subway car” approach to hiring helped the network...
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Rapid Recap: Google’s exodus, Spider-Man’s odyssey, Taco “Hell”, and more
What’s the business story of the summer thus far? SpaceX’s stumble post-IPO? AI security breaches? Ongoing tension surrounding the Strait of Hormuz? Host Bob Safian sits down with Rapid Response producer Alex Morris to weigh in. The pair also break down the impact of Uber COO Andrew Macdonald’s...
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Always be the challenger, with Savannah Bananas founder Jesse Cole
Jesse Cole loved baseball. He also knew most people thought it was too long and boring. So he disrupted America’s pastime by putting on a yellow tux - and an incredible show. The founder of the Savannah Bananas welcomed host Jeff Berman to Anaheim Stadium before a show recently to talk about how...
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The new rules of brand building, with Wieden+Kennedy CEO
For decades, Wieden+Kennedy has defined the brands that shape culture. Now, as economic uncertainty, AI, and shifting consumer expectations rewrite the rules of business, CEO Neal Arthur joins Rapid Response to break down why understanding your audience is no longer just the marketing team's job....
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How to beef up your business, with ButcherBox CEO Mike Salguero
After his first VC-backed business flopped, ButcherBox CEO and founder Mike Salguero turned lessons learned the hard way into the fuel that built his subscription meat delivery business. Salguero joined host Jeff Berman to reveal how a blend of clean ingredients, clever marketing, and hiring for...
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Serena Williams on winning in business
Serena Williams doesn't just defy convention on the court. She’s also applying her competitive mindset to entrepreneurship and venture investing, recently rebranding her firm from Serena Ventures to StarFire Ventures. Serena joins Bob Safian to discuss how she identified the 16 unicorns now in…
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Possible: Satya Nadella on making human and token capital compound
In this recent episode of Possible, Reid Hoffman sits down with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella fresh off Microsoft Build 2026. The conversation goes wide: how AI is reshaping work, business, and society—and why the transformation sweeping through software development today is only a preview of…
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Author Jim Collins on unlocking your potential
Jim Collins is the author of some of the most important business books of all time, like Good to Great and Built to Last. For his latest project, instead of profiling iconic companies, he zoomed in on extraordinary individuals we can learn from. He joined host Jeff Berman to reveal how icons like...
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Delta's Ed Bastian on spiking fuel, summer travel, and a blunt reality check on AI
Few companies have a better real-time read on the American economy than Delta, and few CEOs are more willing to say what they actually think. Ed Bastian returns to Rapid Response to share what Delta's booking data is telling him that the headlines aren't, why he's not convinced by AI until it…
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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 launched a conversational card game. In 2025, she joined host Jeff Berman to talk about why she...
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The quiet reinvention of a $42b business, with Canva’s Cameron Adams
In the last year, Canva redefined itself from the ground up. Co-founder and Chief Product Officer Cameron Adams joins Rapid Response live from the Cannes Lions festival to explain why the so-called SaaSpocalypse never kept him up at night, how Canva shifted from a design company to an AI company...
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Pioneers of AI: John Deere's AI vision for future farms
Tractors are smarter than you think. John Deere, the nearly 200-year-old company, is combining sensors, data, and machine learning in highly advanced vehicles and software to reinvent how the world grows food. On this Pioneers of AI episode, John Deere CTO Jahmy Hindman breaks down how AI is…
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Chef Marcus Samuelsson on the ingredients for success
Telling a clear story about your product is an essential entrepreneurial skill. Chef Marcus Samuelsson is an expert at this in his beloved restaurants (Hav & Mar and Red Rooster) and through his broader entrepreneurial efforts. Samuelsson joined host Reid Hoffman in 2024 to share how embracing a...
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Relevance is a sport: Gap’s Richard Dickson on swinging, missing, and winning
Gap was never uncool. It just disappeared. CEO Richard Dickson joins Rapid Response to explain how he's bringing it back, using the same pop culture playbook he used to resurrect Barbie at Mattel. He breaks down why he tracks "brand love" metrics on a dashboard hourly, why Sydney Sweeney's viral...
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How to build breakout products, with Mark Pincus & Reid Hoffman
Mark Pincus is a serial tech entrepreneur and investor best known as the co-founder of Zynga. He joins host Reid Hoffman to reveal the insights at the center of his new book: Life at the Speed of Play. The godfather of mobile gaming talks with Hoffman about building products people love, learning...
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Cannes Lions’ battle of the brands: Starbucks’ stumble, World Cup ads, and more
Every year at Cannes Lions, the advertising world takes stock of itself — what's working, what's not, and what it's pretending not to notice. Autodesk CMO Dara Treseder joins Rapid Response live from the festival to cut through the noise. She breaks down the industry's complicated relationship…
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Pioneers of AI: Reid Hoffman says the AI race is not a cage match
Anthropic and OpenAI’s plans to go public have set off waves of speculation about the ripple effects, and how they’ll stack up to the SpaceX IPO. What’s really driving the value of these companies? Does the timing of the IPOs matter? How might they impact the AI startup ecosystem? To process all...
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How to balance a two-sided marketplace, with Care.com CEO Brad Wilson
Care.com is the digital marketplace that connects caregiving professionals with people who need help with kids, seniors, pets, and more. It’s the market leader in an area where the need is constantly growing. Host Jeff Berman talks with CEO Brad Wilson about how companies can create more loyal...
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$300m in year two. The controversy came free, with David Protein’s Peter Rahal
David protein bars went from startup to one of the hottest consumer products in America in under two years. But the ride has been anything but smooth. Founder and CEO Peter Rahal joins Rapid Response to talk about building a breakout brand through lawsuits, a Jeffrey Epstein association, and the...
About this show
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.
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