Masters of Scale

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 Bob Safian to take us inside Silicon Valley’s reaction to Harris’s presidential bid, why some business leaders are embracing Trump, and what the Democratic Party is telling major donors like himself. Plus, Reid shares blitzscaling advice for the Harris campaign and explains why the number one factor guiding his vote in November is rule of law.

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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 Alex Thompson joins Rapid Response host Bob Safian to share what his sources have said behind the scenes about what drove Biden’s decision-making, the role of business leaders going forward, and how the Harris 2024 enterprise is going into startup mode.

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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 with host Reid Hoffman about the insights he’s gathered from decades of investing, which he shares in his new book: Pattern Breakers. They also riff on how to build – and invest – in the AI revolution. 

Read a transcript of this episode: https://mastersofscale.com

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You can find Pattern Breakers here: https://amzn.to/4d8fx9N

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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 she’s surprised. Janice vets Hollywood’s offerings for the summer entertainment cycle, weighs in on deals from Paramount/Skydance to the astronomical price of NBA rights, and lays out the financial reality for media companies in an age of scrambling for everyone’s digital attention.

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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, design and smirk-worthy marketing to grow into a beverage company valued at $1.4 billion. Mike talks with host Jeff Berman about how he built the irreverent brand to help him escape his professional boredom.

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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, returns to Rapid Response to provide an insider’s guide, including a preview of Team USA’s strategy. Hirshland also talks about the latest Chinese doping scandal, how changes to the NCAA put the future of collegiate sport in jeopardy, and plans for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. 

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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. In this episode, Ron shares how he manages the balance between staying true to his vision, while also embracing change. It’s a crucial topic for many reasons, but especially poignant as Hollywood encounters artificial intelligence.

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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 takes us inside the tumult, providing a framework to understand the trends and their larger economic impact. Plus: how manufacturers are adapting to new sustainability scrutiny, and the first year of Pharrell Williams’ tenure at Louis Vuitton. 

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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 in the midst of a profound disruption. Host Jeff Berman talks to Rahul about how his time at Google helped prepare him for this moment, why he’s doubling down on building trust with customers, and how he thinks AI will shape the future of work.

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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 explain how she’s scaling the brand despite lawsuits, social media attacks and a flurry of vegan restaurant competitor closures. Pinky also shares the story behind her recent keynote at Savannah State University, where she gifted the HBCU grads almost $9 million in entrepreneurial tools and training. 

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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, including AppSumo. That’s his software marketplace worth more than $80 million. Noah shares lessons from his scale journey, and from the early flameouts at high-profile start-ups (like being employee number 30 at Facebook and an early staffer at Mint) that fueled a desire to prove himself.

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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 Boston to detail how green energy is evolving in 2024. GE Vernova is a new company spun out from General Electric, and helps power around a quarter of the world’s electricity. Strazik explains how today’s electrical grid limits renewable energy’s potential, and why it desperately needs a “new brain.”

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcZfnUX1BrQ

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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 for major corporate clients, Adam steered the company through tough times that included an encounter with a loan shark, markets collapsing, and global crises. By the time he sold the company two decades later – for more than $5.2 billion – Adam learned essential lessons about how to scale during uncertainty.

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The Sequoia “RIP: Good Times” presentation: https://articles.sequoiacap.com/rip-good-times

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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 wrestled with the immense responsibility of shepherding a company out of crisis. Shah also discusses how Taylor Swift inspires her leadership, and why Guild recently partnered with Team USA ahead of the Paris Olympics. 

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4jc66RXjvk

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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 ready. But none of the big brand names wanted it. So he started the Dyson company, betting that customers would be swayed by new technology, better performance, and distinctive design. Today the Dyson Corporation commands $9 billion in annual revenue, and — driven by engineering curiosity — develops products from air purifiers to hair dryers, even making a big bet on an electric car (that never hit the market). James Dyson’s inspiring story of scale involves challenging experts at every turn, relentless iteration, and a resilient view of failure as a stepping stone to the next breakthrough.

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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 inside today’s crypto resurgence, in which 1 out of 5 Americans hold crypto in some fashion. Warren shares the story behind Congress’ recent bipartisan crypto bill, and how the industry is cracking down on bad actors and get-rich-quick schemes. Plus, how crypto is part of the underlying tech behind a “new internet.” 

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MBe203ko2Q

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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 issues like purpose and productivity. In this episode called “Do You Need a Routine?” Angela and Mike share notes from their personal lives, colleagues, and experts about value of habit formation.

Check out No Stupid Questions website: https://freakonomics.com/series/nsq/

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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 top-tier schools is the mission of QuestBridge. CEO Ana Rowena Mallari recounts the organization’s 30-year scale journey, during which the program has fostered $5 billion in scholarships and helped 100,000 students. Co-founded by Mallari and Michael McCullough as a summer program at Stanford, QuestBridge now partners with more than 50 schools, transforming how colleges across the U.S. evaluate and admit their incoming classes.

Synthetic voiceover of Reid Hoffman used in this episode was produced by Respeecher with full consent and permission.

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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 when meme stocks first surged in 2021, joins Rapid Response to explain what’s the same and what’s different this time around. Tenev also shares how his family’s struggles in 1990s Bulgaria shapes his view of the U.S. financial markets today, and whether trading on Robinhood is like using a sports gambling app.

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pChXgKIemw

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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 creating a synthetic voice we call “Reid-ish.” The company Respeecher is behind the technology, and its CEO Alex Serdiuk walks us through the speech replication process. Through “Reid-ish” we grapple with authenticity, disclosure, labor, and evolving norms around AI in media. Reid ponders what’s possible for greater sharing and learning through this audio technology, as well as what listeners should know about its use.

For more on our team’s principles and practices, go to mastersofscale.com/pledge for our proposed Listener’s Bill of Rights in the Age of AI.

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