447 episodes

Award-winning business advice from Silicon Valley and beyond. Iconic CEOs, from Nike to Netflix, Starbucks to Slack, share the strategies that helped them grow from startups into global brands — and to weather crisis when it strikes. 
Our two formats help tell the complete story of how a business grows, survives and thrives, and the mindsets of growth that keep leaders in the game.
On each episode of our classic format, host Reid Hoffman — LinkedIn cofounder, Greylock partner and legendary Silicon Valley investor — proves an unconventional theory about how businesses scale, asking his guests to share their stories of entrepreneurship, leadership, strategy, management, fundraising. You’ll hear the human journey too — failures, setbacks, learnings. 
From our Rapid Response format, you can expect real-time wisdom from business leaders in fast-changing situations. Hosted by Bob Safian, past editor in chief of Fast Company, these episodes tackle crisis response, rebuilding, diversity & inclusion, leadership change and much more. 

Masters of Scale Masters of Scale

    • Business
    • 4.6 • 3.9K Ratings

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher

Award-winning business advice from Silicon Valley and beyond. Iconic CEOs, from Nike to Netflix, Starbucks to Slack, share the strategies that helped them grow from startups into global brands — and to weather crisis when it strikes. 
Our two formats help tell the complete story of how a business grows, survives and thrives, and the mindsets of growth that keep leaders in the game.
On each episode of our classic format, host Reid Hoffman — LinkedIn cofounder, Greylock partner and legendary Silicon Valley investor — proves an unconventional theory about how businesses scale, asking his guests to share their stories of entrepreneurship, leadership, strategy, management, fundraising. You’ll hear the human journey too — failures, setbacks, learnings. 
From our Rapid Response format, you can expect real-time wisdom from business leaders in fast-changing situations. Hosted by Bob Safian, past editor in chief of Fast Company, these episodes tackle crisis response, rebuilding, diversity & inclusion, leadership change and much more. 

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher

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

    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 implications of the Academy Awards with incisive Hollywood observer Franklin Leonard, founder and CEO of The Black List, an independent platform connecting screenwriters with studios. From Oppenheimer’s near-sweep to Killers of the Flower Moon’s donut – and how Barbie arguably won the night without taking home the top prizes, Leonard teases out lessons about creativity, missed opportunities, and where the future of entertainment is moving.

    If you work in the film, television or theater industry and are interested in finding high quality material, apply for The Black List industry membership today: https://blcklst.com/register/apply

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

    Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribe

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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

    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 private enterprise ever to reach the moon — and the first U.S. presence on the surface in 52 years. CEO Steve Altemus joins Rapid Response host Bob Safian to share how his team navigated multiple last-minute challenges, with lessons about both meticulous planning and swift adaptability. From autonomous vehicles and 3-D printed engines to leveraging software and AI, Altemus explains how commercial space exploration is leaving the realm of science fiction to become a real industry.

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

    Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribe

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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

    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 mission: evolving an organization while staying true to core values. As the re-founder of WaitWhat, the media company that brings this podcast to life, Jeff explores with Reid their own experiences with leadership succession. And they draw on re-founding insight from all-stars like Microsoft's Satya Nadella, Uber's Dara Khosrowshahi, and Yahoo's Marissa Mayer. So reset the clock to Day 0 – because it's always a prime time for a reboot!

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

    Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribe

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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

    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, and three catalysts driving the recent tech layoffs. In this rapidly evolving world, Reid makes a case for how AI is redefining the game of scale, and why entrepreneurs shouldn’t buy into the myth of a “right moment” to engage with a new opportunity or challenge. 

    Register for AI Day (Feb. 29): https://mastersofscale.com/mastersofaiday

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

    Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribe

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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

    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 why deepfakes could soon find their way into your Slack or Zoom calls. But AI is also a powerful new weapon against attackers: Poppy tells Rapid Response host Bob Safian how to protect the most exposed areas of a business, why the unique digital DNA of an organization offers a shield, and how human factors are often more vulnerable than any software.

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

    Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribe

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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

    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 the episode so we’re sharing it with our listeners too. Reid opens up about his progressive upbringing and the power of friendship throughout his life. Plus, the pair experiment with Reid’s chatbot, Pi, and explore how being an AI optimist or pessimist will evolve the future of humanity. 

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

    Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribe

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    • 1 hr 22 min

Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5
3.9K Ratings

3.9K Ratings

Benjamin Leyland ,

Ultimate Sidekick

I absolutely adore this podcast. Entertaining, engaging, informative. The use of sound design, humor, parotic, TV, and radio style segments keeps me listening to the very end. Probably my highest completion rate podcast.

SLS808 ,

Super interesting

Lots of unexpected stories on here. The anecdote about trying new recipes with AI was particularly interesting.

mrvaluead ,

Incredible Talent @ every position

Such an amazing business podcast! I am a loyal listener and listen every week! It’s had such a positive Impact on me as a person both professionally and personally. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate everything the masters of scale team does and I highly recommend anyone who is Interested in business. ✅🙌🤝🦉🪑🌎👊🏼🧠👔💪🏼💯🦾📱📚

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