Masters Of Scale With Reid Hoffman

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 the CEO of LinkedIn, Jeff grew users from 33 million to 660 million, and grew revenue to more than $7 billion. His drumbeat? Compassionate management. Cameo appearances by: Chris Tomson (Vampire Weekend), Monica Worline (Stanford's Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education), and Keesa Schreane (host, "You've Been Served"). Chris Tomson is a drummer, singer, and songwriter best known as the drummer of indie rock band Vampire Weekend. He is the lead vocalist and guitarist for Dams of the West, and cohost of the podcast The Road Taken.Monica Worline, PhD, is CEO of EnlivenWork. She’s the co-author of Awakening Compassion at Work: The Quiet Power that Elevates People and Organizations.Keesa Schreane is Global Partner Director at Refinitiv and t

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 partners. Because even Bill Gates doesn’t go it alone. In Part 1 of this special two-part episode, Bill reflects with Reid on the founding and growth of Microsoft — how he not only spotted an inflection point (hello, personal computers) but accelerated it to massive scale (forget computers, let's talk platforms). There’s timeless wisdom in Bill’s ability to identify inflection points, build strategic partnerships and just work harder than everyone else. (In Part 2, Bill reflects on scaling the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the different lessons learned between the two.)Read a transcript of this interview at: https://mastersofscale.com/bill-gates-how-to-accelerate-history/Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.

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 Peas, will.i.am learned from mentors how to not only identify big opportunities but compound them. From the Super Bowl to the first iTunes commercial; from the founding of Beats and his tech company i.am+ to a song beamed back from Mars, his ability to bring stakeholders together to leverage partnerships and compound possibilities will inspire founders at any stage of scale. Cameo appearance: Jeremy Siegel (urban designer, Bjarke Ingels Group).Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 interview, Tory shows how this approach plays out in her global business – and in her impactful foundation that supports women business owners. Live audience energy and great music make this first-ever event a fun listen. Cameo appearances by the Polynesian Voyaging Society's Lehua Kamalu and Affectiva's Rana el Kaliouby.Learn more about the Tory Burch Foundation.Listen to a Meditative Story from Lehua Kamalu: http://listen.meditativestory.com/KamaluRead a transcript of this interview at: https://mastersofscale.com/tory-burch-live-from-boston/Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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” in the equation. That's what TaskRabbit CEO Stacy Brown-Philpot championed for this community of people who work with each other, teach each other, and continually learn from each other. With cameos by DeLashea Strawder (Mosaic Youth Theater in Detroit) and Whitney Johnson (Author, Build an A-Team).Read Build an A-Team: Play to Their Strengths and Lead Them Up the Learning Curve by Whitney JohnsonRead a transcript of this interview at: https://mastersofscale.com/stacy-brown-philpot-keep-humans-in-the-equation-masters-of-scale-podcast/Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 build a company culture? Co-hosted with Jason Feifer, editor-in-chief of Entrepreneur magazine and "Problem Solvers." Featuring eight entrepreneurs from the global network Entrepreneur First.Jason Feifer is the editor-in-chief of Entrepreneur magazine and host of the podcasts “Problem Solvers,” “Pessimists' Archive,” and "Hush Money." He’s the co-author of Mr. Nice Guy. Check him out at @HeyFeifer.Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 the "horseless carriage" company founded by his great-grandfather survive the ups and downs of a century of business — including competitor attacks, leader shakeups, financial crises and more. One key: Resilience. Another: Deciding which company traditions to keep, and which to leave in the past. Featuring cameos from Radio Flyer's Robert Pasin, Cue Ball Ventures' Tony Tjan and ABC Home & Kitchen's Paulette Cole.Read a transcript of this interview at: https://mastersofscale.com/john-elkann-how-to-build-your-company-to-last/Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 advantage those big, cumbersome competitors could never exploit: Dropbox was lean, focused and fast. Hear how he outmaneuvered the big dogs – and what's next for Dropbox.Drew Houston's reading list! Books mentioned in this episode:Competing Against Luck, by Clay Christensen and Karen DillonThe Effective Executive, by Peter DruckerThe Hard Thing About Hard Things, by Ben HorowitzBecoming Steve Jobs, by Brent Schlender and Rick TetzeliHard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire, by James Wallace and Jim EricksonFounders at Work, by Jessica LivingstonHigh Output Management, by Andy GroveMusic: "Exciting Trailer" by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license.Read a transcript of this interview at: https://mastersofscale.com/drew-houston-how-to-take-on-goliaths-and-wi

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 interview with Arianna Huffington, where she told a sliver of this story: it starts in the tiny Athens apartment where she grew up, and takes her to the University of Cambridge. Listen for the lesson she learned from her mother, about embracing life’s journey without being attached to the outcome — a lesson every founder needs to hear. Interspersed with the story, you'll hear prompts from a guide to help you center your mind; after the story, your guide leads you on a quiet meditation to help you recharge and refresh. If you like the effects, you can subscribe to Meditative Story on the app you're using now.Read the transcript of Arianna Huffington's Meditative Story at: https://meditativestory.com/ariannahuffington/Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/

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 calling. But instead of trying to outwit the FDA in the name of moving fast, Wojcicki made the call to work with regulators directly and collaboratively. Hear how she embraced "red tape" as a tool to scale — not swiftly, but sustainably.Read a transcript of this interview at: https://mastersofscale.com/anne-wojcicki-how-and-why-to-embrace-gatekeepers/Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 navigated this kind of Big Pivot. He launched two different game companies, which both (surprise!) turned into game-changing communications platforms: Flickr and Slack. Hear the thinking behind making a hard left turn —and bringing your team along with you.Read a transcript of this interview at: https://mastersofscale.com/stewart-butterfield-the-big-pivot/Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 (that you may have heard of) with a brilliant idea for a whole new way of connecting. Hear how the small tweaks along the way helped her move into huge new markets. With cameo appearances by Steve Spohn (AbleGamer) and Marissa Mayer (Google, Yahoo).Read a transcript of this interview at: https://mastersofscale.com/whitney-wolfe-herd-small-changes-for-big-impact/Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 late-stage founder – like the fact that you’re bringing along all your life experience. That’s what Gwyneth Paltrow did when she launched Goop. Paltrow transitioned from Hollywood star to startup founder with her lifestyle brand, which now has over 8 million subscribers -- and she did it by leaning in to what she knew, embracing what she didn’t, and coming up with strategies to fill the gap. With cameo appearances by Boyd Martin (Olympic equestrian), Ruben Harris (Career Karma), Sara Blakely (Spanx) and Brian Chesky (Airbnb).Read a transcript of this interview at: https://mastersofscale.com/gwyneth-paltrow-entrepreneurship-as-a-second-act/Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privac

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 up for success. On this special Graduation Episode, guest host Jordan Harbinger teams up with Reid Hoffman to share advice that will help you navigate choices in your career, with insights from Instagram's Kevin Systrom, Yahoo's Marissa Mayer, Spotify's Daniel Ek, and more. Get more from Jordan Harbinger: https://www.jordanharbinger.com/Read a transcript of this interview at: https://mastersofscale.comListen to Masters of Scale episodes mentioned in this interview:Kevin Systrom (Instagram): http://listen.mastersofscale.com/InstagramKevinSystromDaniel Ek (Spotify): http://listen.mastersofscale.com/SpotifyDanielEkLinda Rottenberg (Endeavor): http://listen.mastersofscale.com/EndeavorLindaRottenbergDanny Meyer (Shake Shack): http://listen.mastersofscale.com/ShakeShackDannyMeyerShellye Archambeau (Me

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 – no less heroic, but more disciplined. As the new CEO of Uber, Dara Khosrowshahi took on the most extreme pirate-to-navy transition in startup history. Though Uber blitzscaled to become the most valuable startup in the world, it was also notorious for its toxic culture. Dara turned the company around. His method? Truth-telling and doing the right thing. Cameo appearances: Arianna Huffington (Thrive Global) and Ben Chestnut (Mailchimp).Read a transcript of this interview at: https://mastersofscale.com/dara-khosrowshahi-how-pirates-become-the-navy/Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You can bootstrap your business to scale, but you'll have to make your own luck. Nobody knows this better than Mailchimp's Ben Chestnut. He used a DIY ethos to grow a $600M company without ever raising a dollar of outside funding. The Mailchimp story is the exception to Reid's rule (always raise more money than you think you need!). The episode explores a range of options for those who don't fit the VC-funding mold. Cameo appearances: LeVar Burton (Star Trek, Reading Rainbow, LeVar Burton Reads), Don MacKinnon (Milq), Karen Cahn (iFundWomen).Read a transcript of this interview at: https://mastersofscale.com/ben-chestnut-the-case-for-bootstrapping/Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 career championing radically open systems, from Creative Commons to cyber currency. As a past director of the famed MIT Media Lab, he focused on facilitating conversations that keep pace with the shifting challenges we face in our companies, institutions and societies. Cameo appearance: Megan Smith (former U.S. Chief Technology Officer).Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 of CEO for a failing tech company, months from bankruptcy. Through a series of calculated risks, she led it through a complex merger, a head-spinning pivot, and grew it into MetricStream, which now boasts 1,200 employees and a valuation in the hundreds of millions. How? Clear goals and big risks — the same principles that have defined her career. With a cameo appearance by poker champion Liv Boeree.Our 2020 Rapid Response interview with Shellye is so good! Listen: http://listen.mastersofscale.com/ShellyeRR_Read a transcript of this interview at: https://mastersofscale.com/shellye-archambeau-take-bigger-risks/Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/pri

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 viewpoints to see the opportunities others miss. Sallie Krawcheck knows this well. She rose through the ranks of Wall Street and saw firsthand the challenges a lack of diversity brings. After serving as CEO of Sanford Bernstein, Smith Barney, Citi's Wealth Management and Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, Sallie went on to found Ellevest, an investment platform aimed at women. Her straight talk — and hilarious asides — create the clear business case for diversity of all kinds. Cameo appearance: Steven JohnsonRead Stephen Johnson's book Farsighted: How We Make the Decisions That Matter the MostLearn more about Stephen's books and podcasts at https://stevenberlinjohnson.com/Read a transcript of this interview at: https://mastersofscale.com/sallie-krawcheck-check-your-blindspot/Subscribe to the Masters of Sc

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 hosting of Masters of Scale — all the while proving our theory that you can chart an epic journey to scale if you make everyone you enlist a hero — in their OWN story and not just yours. Guest host: June Cohen, the executive producer of Masters of Scale and the cofounder of WaitWhat, the company behind it). Cameo appearances: Arianna Huffington (Thrive Global) and Jeff Weiner (LinkedIn).Read a transcript of this interview at: https://mastersofscale.com/reid-hoffman-make-everyone-a-hero-part-two/Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.