Masters of Scale with Reid Hoffman

By WaitWhat

Business

What's Masters of Scale with Reid Hoffman about?

How do companies grow from zero to a gazillion? Legendary Silicon Valley investor / entrepreneur Reid Hoffman tests his theories with famous founders. Guests include Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg & Sheryl Sandberg, Netflix’s Reed Hastings, Google’s Eric Schmidt, Spanx's Sara Blakely. With original music and hilariously honest stories, the show sounds like nothing you’ve ever heard. Masters of Scale is a WaitWhat original series in association with Stitcher.

4.6

3,571 ratings

Download our free app to listen on your phone

LAST EPISODE

79. How to master your emot...

01.26.2021

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 philosopher. His podcast “Making Sense,” his app ...

Masters of Scale with Reid Hoffman episodes:

01.26.2021 79. 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 philosopher. His podcast “Making Sense,” his app ...
01.21.2021 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 episodes, Danny stayed optimistic and was ...
01.19.2021 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 company Alphabet, shares the controversial ...
01.14.2021 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, co-founder and CEO of Ellevest, ...
01.12.2021 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,” but as Hyman explains, it achieved unicorn ...
01.07.2021 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 primer ...
12.24.2020 Introducing: Spark & Fire, our sister podcast on creativity A podcast recommendation for the New Year. The iconic founders who join us our show are all masters of creativity. From the initial spark, down the crooked path of invention, scaling a company is a hero’s journey in creativity. With ...
12.22.2020 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 accelerations in tech; from supply-chain disruption to opportunities ...
12.17.2020 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 Butterfield runs Slack. In this episode, Taylor talks about how the ...
12.15.2020 57. 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 to ...
12.10.2020 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 just barely avoided ...
12.08.2020 78. 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 Perkins, co-founder and CEO of Canva. From the ...
12.03.2020 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 work. Professor at University College ...
12.01.2020 77. 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, the founder and executive chair ...
11.25.2020 Rapid Response: Balancing Data with Gut Feeling, w/JetBlue's Joanna Geraghty After suffering record shattering drops in revenue from Covid-19, JetBlue has had to rethink every plan and every assumption. Joanna Geraghty, JetBlue's president and chief operating officer, explains how the airline built a new system for flexing the business, to ...
11.24.2020 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 scaled spectacularly. So ...
11.19.2020 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 Colleen DeCourcy tells us. Even as her own business adapts to financial ...
11.17.2020 76. 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 List, an annual survey ...
11.12.2020 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 experiment to reimagine how work gets ...
11.10.2020 75. 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, started the sneaker company, ...
11.05.2020 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 Jefferson University Hospital and director of ...
11.02.2020 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, protected teams, served customers. But as uncertainty has ...
10.27.2020 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 tone you’re going to ...
10.22.2020 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 of his own battle with cancer, Arne has ...
10.20.2020 74. 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 expect from social networks, Nextdoor’s ...
10.15.2020 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 own video-on-demand service. Her balancing ...
10.13.2020 73. 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 and for nonprofits. And Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales knows ...
10.08.2020 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, costs, and protocols to ...
10.06.2020 72. 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 Wojcicki, CEO ...
10.01.2020 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 stand in the upcoming election? What ...
09.29.2020 71. 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. Miquela’s the creation of Trevor’s stealthy creative ...
09.22.2020 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 America. With the pandemic, Hoskins explains, now ...
09.15.2020 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 Schmidt Futures) shares why he's 100% focused ...
09.08.2020 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 ...
08.25.2020 70. 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 John ...
08.18.2020 69. 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 culture, cohere your team, and ...
08.11.2020 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 interested in things he's never ...
08.04.2020 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 something innovative, you can’t know how to price it on ...
07.28.2020 68. 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, she needed to shift ...
07.21.2020 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 serial entrepreneur Selina Tobaccowala ...
07.18.2020 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, Dr. Campbell announced Spelman's ...
07.14.2020 67. Strategy Session 5: 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 ...
07.11.2020 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 doesn't mean, though, ...
07.09.2020 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 business and government to enact systemic change. ...
07.07.2020 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 3D-printing unicorn Carbon ...
07.02.2020 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, Walker found himself flooded with calls from ...
06.30.2020 65. 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 is what Charles Best did when ...
06.27.2020 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 in funding – all ...
06.23.2020 51. 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 forward. No one knows this better ...
06.19.2020 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 the show with her all-too-rare ...

Older episodes