Masters of Scale (WaitWhat )

In this special holiday replay, we share a standout conversation of 2024 featuring ex-CEO of Barstool and current head of Food52, Erika Ayers Badan. She shares with Rapid Response why she made a dramatic career pivot — taking over Food52 — and why running Barstool was like “a heart attack every day.” She also explores lessons around cultivating a community of fans, and why, as a leader, “no” is often a better answer than “yes.”

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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 only weeks before Covid hit. Through her years as a leader, Ellen has developed four crisis principles that allowed her to lead teams and thrive through pandemic, economic meltdown, and beyond. The key? Practicing the principles in calmer times, before crisis hits. Because as Reid says: there's no such thing as a crisis playbook. There's just your playbook. Cameos: Amy Shira Teitel (spaceflight historian), Jonah Peretti (BuzzFeed), Brian Chesky (Airbnb), Neil Blumenthal (Warby Parker), Stacy Brown-Philpot (TaskRabbit).

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Wildfires have forced more than 100,000 people to evacuate their homes in the Los Angeles area, and killed at least 24 people. In what will likely be the most costly disaster in U.S. history, thousands of homes and businesses have been lost. In a special edition of Rapid Response, host Bob Safian and show producers share on-the-ground perspectives from entrepreneurs who have been directly impacted.

A couple who ran a small bakery in Altadena, Pain Beurre, share the story of losing their business and home to the flames. The restaurant chain HomeState describes how it’s engaging team members in food relief, and pivoting a closed location to distribute aid. And the LA project manager for World Central Kitchen (chef José Andrés' global organization) details how its global/local playbook is taking shape amid these fires.

If you'd like to support any of the organizations featured, please follow the links below:

Pain Beurre: A Micro Bakery

HomeState

World Central Kitchen

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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 former TaskRabbit CEO Stacy Brown-Philpot champions for this community of people who work with each other, teach each other, and continually learn from each other.

"All-Star Episodes" are part of a special series designed to center some of the most timely — and timeless — business wisdom in the Masters of Scale feed. These episodes best encapsulate the kind of transformative, unconventional insights you hear in the series. Have an idea for an All-Star Episode from our library? Let us know at hello@mastersofscale.com.

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The streaming wars have reached a new inflection, as Netflix and Disney+ jostle for position, and in the process disrupt post-strike Hollywood. Paramount+ invested heavily in blockbuster veteran Alex Kurtzman to turn Star Trek into a distinguishing franchise. Now Kurtzman talks with Rapid Response host Bob Safian about the future of streaming, the end of TV’s golden age, and how courting Trekkies offers lessons for all customer engagement. Plus, Kurtzman shares behind the scenes stories of Star Trek’s past, present and future.

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Every day we’re inundated with news and opinion pieces about America’s hopeless division — but is this really true? Axios CEO Jim VandeHei joins Rapid Response host Bob Safian to bust what he sees as myth, plus share his seemingly counterintuitive AI play. VandeHei also makes a case for why the era of business leaders speaking out on political issues may be behind us, and he weighs-in on the state of Buzzfeed, NPR, and where the future of news media is inevitably headed.

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Revenue for Morning Brew's booming email newsletter operation dried up when the pandemic hit, but its audience remained devoted. Morning Brew CEO Alex Lieberman, who started the business with co-founder Austin Rief as undergraduates at the University of Michigan, leaned into the brand's distinctive personality, fueling a sharp rebound. By last fall, they sold a majority interest to Business Insider for a reported $75 million. Lieberman explains the roots of this "trampoline effect," the potential of the creator economy for entrepreneurs, and why an authentic voice is a shortcut to business success.

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"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 on addressing the challenges of Covid-19. From vaccines and testing protocols to best practices for businesses, Schmidt shares a clear-eyed roadmap for moving toward a healthy, just, and economically vibrant post-pandemic world.

Listen to the "Reimagine" podcast: https://www.reimaginepod.org

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David Heath and Randy Goldberg, co-founders of Bombas, join host Jeff Berman to reveal how they scaled their mission-driven apparel company. Bombas donates one item for every one sold, and has given away more than 140 million pairs of socks, underwear and shirts so far to people in need. They recount how the Shark Tank rollercoaster affected their business, why sometimes you have to ignore well-intentioned advice, and what their nationwide network of community partners has taught them about how to combat homelessness.

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The Black List has reshaped Hollywood by identifying overlooked screenplays from Argo to The King’s Speech that have become commercial and artistic successes. Now, founder Franklin Leonard is opening The Black List’s successful model to the book industry. He shares what Hollywood and publishing have in common: a bottleneck in talent discovery, and billions in missed revenue from untapped audiences. Leonard is already linking novelists to Hollywood’s ever-growing appetite for adaptations. His insights apply to many industries, from the cost of making knee-jerk assumptions to the importance of finding risks worth taking.

For more info, visit: www.rapidresponseshow.com

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Qh-PWaolHo

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It’s easy to have a grand idea; putting that plan into action is not. Victoria Yampolsky conceived of a global concert in support of Ukraine. Without any experience in entertainment or international aid, she shares how she didn’t accept “no” for an answer in her quest to book big-name guests like Pink Floyd and negotiate a streaming deal — to pursue a fundraising goal of $10 million.

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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 and cultural strains, DeCourcy and her team have been guiding brands from Nike to Coca-Cola to Uber in selecting the right messages in a turbulent world. Meshing an economic goal with an emotional message has never demanded more creativity. Brands should take a stand, she argues, but not on everything.

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To survive your entrepreneurial journey, you have to learn to recharge. Knowing when to turn the lights out may be the only way to keep the lights on. Few know this better than Arianna Huffington, who dramatically scaled the Huffington Post — and then experienced profound physical burnout. Her new venture, Thrive Global, scales the idea of balance across an organization. With cameo appearances from Chris Yeh (co-author, Blitzscaling) and Dr. Matt Walker (author of Why We Sleep).

Read Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder by Arianna Huffington: https://amzn.to/39IFfCx

Read Why We Sleep by Matt Walker: https://amzn.to/2Xfxi2w

Read Blitzscaling by Reid Hoffman and Chris Yeh: https://amzn.to/39IFfCx

Read a transcript of this interview at: https://mastersofscale.com/arianna-huffington-what-great-founders-do-at-night/

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From Pixar to Marvel to Lucasfilm, Disney's Bob Iger defied expectations, acquiring world-renowned brands and meshing them seamlessly with the House of Mouse. In Part 2 of our epic conversation with Iger – Disney's executive chair and former CEO – we delve into the next phase of the process, how he helped build a diverse, sustainable ecosystem for Disney companies in the China market, and how all the lessons learned played out in the massive acquisition of 20th Century Fox.

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When a tech nonprofit competes against a $2 billion incumbent dominating the market, its odds are slim. But Zo Orchingwa took that bet, founding Ameelio, believing that access to communication and education for the incarcerated is needed for their future success. Ameelio is on a quest to partner with every prison district in the country until one day, it scales enough to be redundant.   

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AI can be overwhelming. In this 3-part series, we offer business leaders an actionable playbook to best implement AI. Part one: To unleash AI’s true power of scale, you must dive headfirst into ongoing experimentation. To guide you, host Reid Hoffman speaks to Stanford HAI’s Fei-Fei Li, Inflection’s Mustafa Suleyman, Adept’s David Luan, and more AI pioneers. Their experiences with AI provide a perfect lens for any leader to better understand and navigate this new era, even in industries far from the leading edge of tech trailblazers. So channel your inner mad scientist and embrace this new revolutionary tool with us.

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How do you find joy in your life? Our host, Reid Hoffman, finds it through friendship, and the genuine, honest, and intimate conversations it brings. In this special episode of Meditative Story, from the same producers as Masters of Scale, Reid shares his passion for connecting with others by asking big questions.

Read a transcript of Reid Hoffman's Meditative Story at: https://podcast.meditativestory.com/ReidHoffman/

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How do you stay true to your vision for your company amid constant, unpredictable change? And how do you stay true to a singular vision, while also letting it evolve? These are questions every leader needs to consider as they rally people, resources and opportunities to make their vision a reality.

Celebrated filmmaker Ron Howard has a remarkable ability to maintain his vision of creating captivating and deeply human stories — while strengthening how he delivers this vision by incorporating changes in technology, audience tastes and styles of filmmaking.

In this episode you'll hear how Ron set out to deliver his vision through movie-making; how he and producer Brian Grazer co-founded Imagine Entertainment and made a string of visionary box office hits; and how Ron continues to embrace advances in technology to scale his vision.

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For any distinctive brand or business, it can be a challenge to expand reach without diluting what makes you special. No one has a keener understanding of this issue than Bob Iger, executive chair and former CEO of the Walt Disney Company. In this special two-part episode, Iger takes us through how he supercharged the House of Mouse while acquiring Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox. The trick, he explains, is setting up a diverse ecosystem that preserves the culture, methods, and core talent of both old parts and new parts – and fitting them together in ways that make everyone more successful.

Read a transcript of this interview at: https://mastersofscale.com/bob-iger/

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How does a start-up geared to healthcare workers balance giving back during Covid with the desire for growth? FIGS, an emerging lifestyle brand for medical professionals that built its name around premium scrubs, faced key choices amid the pandemic. Co-founder and co-CEO Heather Hasson explains why a commitment to offering free PPE, isolation gowns, and more supported both FIGS's mission and its community. Shifting supply lines, leaning into a robust e-commerce system, and expanding internationally in response to demand, the FIGS team used the moment to reinforce their relationship with their customers – and saw annual revenue climb past $250 million. Hasson likens medical professionals to star athletes, under high pressure for hours on end, with huge stakes in the balance. By treating them with special care, and championing their contributions, FIGS has built enviable brand allegiance among a community that, until Covid hit, was often overlooked.

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You can make your social impact and your bottom line work hand-in-hand. But you'll have to be as creative and innovative about your company's values as you are about the business itself. Howard Schultz, chair and former CEO of Starbucks, not only changed how America wakes up, but set new standards for employee benefits. From offering college tuition to American employees to providing health care for employees' parents in China, Howard has always been one step ahead of the social impact curve.

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Masters of Scale presents 10 must-hear moments from 2022! This special episode gathers the most valuable, lesson-packed, insight-filled moments from the past year across Masters of Scale and Masters of Scale: Rapid Response. From Ukraine to Covid, fashion to crypto, Pepsico to Planned Parenthood, these highlights illuminate timeless takeaways that every business person can learn from and be inspired by — for 2023 and beyond. Featuring: Shark Tank’s Daymond John, Ukrainian entrepreneur Alyona Mysko, Ford chairman Bill Ford, and more.

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Even all-star athletes are coached. So why not you? Alex Rodriguez, former professional baseball player, leaned into outside advice at the most challenging moments in his career – and in building his enormously successful business, A-Rod Corp. Rodriguez shares what he's learned from mentors like investing guru Warren Buffett and NBA icon Magic Johnson, and how mentorship can help sharpen your skills and open up opportunities. We spoke with A-Rod twice this year, including in a live Strategy Session that we released as an episode previously. Here, we dive deep into Alex's story, to explore how great mentors can be a driving force on your journey to scale – and how the best way to find great mentors is to always be learning and to have the mindset of a mentor yourself.

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When Paul Polman joined Unilever as CEO in 2009, the consumer goods company – home to 400-plus brands including Dove soap, Ben & Jerry’s, and Vaseline – had been stagnated with years of lackluster performance. His famous turnaround of the company centered around his ability to redraw the boundaries of Unilever’s mission to emphasize sustainability and long-term growth. He’s a perfect example of why every leader should consistently reexamine the boundaries that limit their business – and be prepared to redraw them as you grow. By redrawing boundaries, you can reinvigorate your team with a new sense of power. As Polman says, “You cannot change people's behaviors if you only work on the purpose – and don’t change the boundaries around it that drive people's behavior.”

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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.

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You need a great story to build a great company. And great stories are unwaveringly true. No one embodies this principle more fully than Scott Harrison, founder of Charity: Water. A master storyteller, Scott built his nonprofit on 3 radical principles: (1) 100% of donations would go to water projects (not overhead). (2) Progress reports would be utterly transparent, sharing victories, defeats and even GPS coordinates of water wells. (3) The brand’s storytelling would lead with hope instead of guilt, inspiring joyful participation without sacrificing honesty.

Read a transcript of this interview at: https://mastersofscale.com/scott-harrison-to-scale-you-must-master-the-art-of-storytelling/

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What are your options for emergency funding in the US? Can you use the U.S. CARES Act to get financial assistance? Should you consider crowdfunding? We talk to Karen Cahn, CEO of IFundWomen, about what you need to know. Who qualifies for the forgivable and traditional loans within this $2.2 trillion stimulus package? Do you have to apply today? How much money could you get? And is a loan a good idea? Karen gives us the details – and makes the case that now is the best time to crowdfund. Hosted by editor-at-large Bob Safian. 

Learn what IFW is doing to help entrepreneurs during COVID: ifundwomen.com/covid-19

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"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 CEOs struggling for how to respond. Walker's advice mixes clear-eyed messages — denying the trauma borne by communities of color is no longer option — with optimism about the opportunities ahead. At the Ford Foundation, they've accelerated giving and even exceeded their own KPIs. With more leaders dedicated to making a positive impact, he says, the wind is changing, for people of color and for America. Interviewed by editor Bob Safian.

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Entering 2025, AI is poised to continue disrupting, redefining and supercharging the business world. AI expert and Pioneers of AI host, Rana El Kaliouby, joins Rapid Response to share five bold AI predictions for the year ahead – from technological advancements to societal impact to investing. Whether you’re looking for AI to further enhance your work, portfolio, or personal productivity, Rana’s insights are the ideal primer for harnessing all the opportunity and potential at your disposal this year.

Visit the Rapid Response website here: https://www.rapidresponseshow.com/

Learn more about Pioneers of AI: http://pioneersof.ai/

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“You have to preserve your energy because this year has been about pace,” says iconic restaurateur Danny Meyer in his fourth Rapid Response interview. Meyer catches us up on the past seven-plus months of operating in the midst of the pandemic. In the beginning of the summer, when Covid rates were plummeting in New York City, he says he was full of optimism. His restaurants were back to indoor dining, and despite dealing with a limited workforce, “progress is progress.” Then came the Delta variant, leading Meyer to proactively require Covid-19 vaccinations for all staff and guests at his full service restaurants. All of this while overseeing the opening of two new Daily Provision locations and a full-service restaurant in New York City, called Ci Siamo, the three of which had been in development for three years. Meyer also walks us through his February launch of HUGS, a new SPAC that’s led him down a journey of meeting with a wide variety of businesses that share the notion of what he calls enlightened hospitality. As Meyer says, “This year's been a constant test of, can you stick with the progress? Can you win the game, despite getting the setbacks here and there?”

Read a transcript of this interview: https://mastersofscale.com/when-you-should-require-vaccinations-danny-meyer/

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The first stage of building up a business is to break things down. Michael Dell started a computer company in his dorm room by cracking open some early IBM PCs and figuring out what he could do better, faster, and cheaper. Then he did the same thing to the entire model of computer sales. Learn from Dell how to revolutionize an industry — using deconstruction to gain insight your competitors lack, and then building something bigger and better.

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Your board of directors can make or break you. In fact, Reid believes, the wrong board member can break your company faster than the right board member can make it. Learn the five vital mindset shifts that can help you create a better board, with insights from Mellody Hobson, the co-CEO of Ariel Investments and the chair of the Starbucks board, along with Lisa Shalett, co-founder of Extraordinary Women on Boards, and Shishir Mehrotra, founder and CEO of Coda (Reid's on their board). These universal lessons don’t only speak to founders assembling their very first board, or board directors looking for best practices – they also offer important advice for team-building across the board.

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Recent market swings are causing whiplash for everyday investors. Sarah Levy, CEO of digital investment platform Betterment returns to Rapid Response to shed light on a market in flux. Levy explores the evolving volatility of crypto, socially responsible investing, generational attitudes to finance, and more. Amid the noise around our economy, Sarah offers a clear-eyed vision to help everyone find their own unique approach to money. 

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Small, independent store owners have been perpetually hit by waves of disruption: from malls to big box stores to e-commerce giants. But Max Rhodes, co-founder and CEO of the $12 billion online wholesale marketplace Faire, argues that Main Street retailers are actually better positioned right now to navigate today’s stormy shopping landscape than the competition. Max digs into how Faire is using technology and data to help stores maximize their advantages — nimbleness, adaptability, and smaller inventories — and combine them with the scale benefits enjoyed by the likes of Amazon and Target.

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Business plan not entirely clear? Not sure how you’ll make enough money or find your users? That's OK. Really. The most scalable ideas often come at you sideways. You'll find yourself crabwalking from a small market to a bigger one to one of unimaginable scale. We talk to the master of the entrepreneurial crabwalk, Diane Greene, who brought us into the age of cloud computing. As the founding CEO of VMWare and now the head of Google’s cloud division, she shares how she scampered sideways into a market of boundless potential.

Read a transcript of this interview at: https://mastersofscale.com/diane-greene-look-sideways/

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New graduates 🎓are like entrepreneurs — standing on the edge of that cliff, ready to build their own plane and fly. But what if the blue skies and calm winds disappear? In a commencement speech for 2020 graduates — and anyone embarking on something new — our host Reid Hoffman says: Be optimistic. Be bold. But most of all, steer toward the opportunities emerging in this new world. How do you find them? Cultivate a network of people smart, curious people. This network creates a map of the world. And at uncertain times like these, you’ll definitely need that map.

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Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, breaks down his deep insights around artificial intelligence on Rapid Response. Schmidt, co-author of the book "The Age of AI: And Our Human Future," alongside Dr. Henry Kissinger and MIT’s Daniel Huttenlocher, says that we’re entering an unknown era with technology – one that requires extra vigilance to ensure that we amplify the positives and de-amplify the negatives. His advice to businesses: You need to be running as fast as you can toward AI applications. If your competitor gets there first, you'll be in trouble. Schmidt argues that AI will change business, society, and potentially humanity itself. "It's important that our systems not enable the worst of us, but instead promote the best of us,” he says.

Read the book "The Age of AI: And Our Human Future" from Henry Kissinger, Eric Schmidt, and Daniel Huttenlocher: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-age-of-ai-henry-a-kissinger/1139558876?ean=9780316273800

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Delivering human dignity to your customers is more than just good practice. It can be a powerful engine of scale. This insight has inspired Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins her whole career, as a labor leader, a music manager, and now as a fin-tech entrepreneur with Promise. Her secret? Take a contrarian lens to existing systems. Find a space where human dignity is lacking, create a product that gives your customers flexibility, options, access they didn’t have before — and unlock new value.

Watch the signed version of Amber Galloway's story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F24FZz1DczA

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In Part 2, Angela arrives at Apple, which feels like another planet after her years in fashion. In never-before heard stories, Angela shares how she learned the language of tech (the physical store is the ‘hardware’; the experience inside the ‘software’), then introduces innovations that change the face of Apple retail, from an app (The Loop) that let store managers collaborate to the landmark “Today at Apple” program, building community through free classes inside each Apple store. Throughout, Angela shows her team, through words and actions, that each person matters, and that they're all a part of something much bigger than themselves. Cameo: Eric Trigg (Trigg Ranch).

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Your ability to make quick decisions in the face of a crisis can define your career. That’s been the case for Dr. Mary Schmidt Campbell, president of Spelman College, the all-women's HBCU in Atlanta. In her second appearance on Rapid Response, Dr. Campbell, who recently announced her plan to retire at the end of the academic year, discusses how listening to her community has led to resolving complex conflicts. As was the case at the beginning of the school year when the Spelman faculty threatened a last-minute boycott over COVID uncertainty – a potential crisis which Dr. Campbell was able to quickly defuse. From record fundraising to rising U.S. News ratings for Spelman, Dr. Campbell demonstrates how consistent leadership builds confidence and resilience. “I feel that when we have all of the voices and all of the wisdom from all over our campus involved in these big issues,” Dr. Campbell says, “the solutions are ones that end up being good for everybody.”

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When it comes to racial justice, many companies and organizations haven't matched their reality to their words. Rashad Robinson, the president of Color of Change, the largest online racial justice organization in the U.S., is holding major corporations accountable. Hear Rashad talk through the difficulties of changing systems from Hollywood, Silicon Valley, to Washington DC, getting help from President Barack Obama, and what business leaders can do to actively change racial injustice.

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What’s harder about entrepreneurship than most people realize? How do you overcome your own doubts? Can you really trust your team? In this special episode, Reid Hoffman and Masters of Scale executive producer June Cohen gather five of their favorite guests – Brian Chesky, Tyra Banks, Angela Ahrendts, Sallie Krawcheck, and Franklin Leonard — for a raw, honest, open dialogue filled with nonstop insights on those questions and many more. Sharing personal confessions and in-the-trenches stories, Reid’s guests provide unforgettable lessons from their leadership journeys. In commemoration of Reid’s 100th episode. 

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In this special holiday replay, we share another standout conversation from 2024 featuring Impossible Foods’ Peter McGuinness. This year, sustainability initiatives rolled back across industries and meat alternatives struggled more than ever before on sales. McGuinness tells host Bob Safian where plant-based brands made big missteps, and why the industry’s marketing should evolve – potentially away from climate change messaging. McGuinness also shares how Impossible leverages retail partners like Starbucks and Burger King, lessons he learned from scaling oat milk for Chobani, and why Impossible see’s other plant-based players less as competitors and more as collaborative “frenemies.” 

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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 done. The company's recently announced Virtual First plan dedicates all in-office activity to creative, team-based efforts, rebranding its offices as Dropbox Studios. Individual work will happen offsite, either at home or a self-chosen co-working space. Project teams set their own schedules. The unique opportunity of this moment, Houston says: How do we make work better? Yes, he admits, remote work feeds Dropbox's business, which now includes a collaboration with Zoom as part of a re-thought product roadmap. If Dropbox is going to design for the future of work, says Houston, then its own workforce needs to live in that future, right now.

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Whatever you are when you're small gets amplified when you grow. So if you're starting any kind of online community (social media, ecommerce, crowdfunding), be careful what you cultivate. Caterina Fake has founded or invested in companies with interesting and influential communities — Flickr, Etsy, Kickstarter, Stack Overflow, even Blue Bottle Coffee. Her wise words for every founder: You have a responsibility to shape the community from day one -- because the tone you set is the tone you’re going to keep, even as you go viral.

Hear Caterina's own brilliant podcast, Should This Exist? https://shouldthisexist.com/

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Rapper and musician Iggy Azalea wants you to know that her crypto token $MOTHER isn’t just another ‘pump and dump’ celebrity crypto play. She believes in the future of cryptocurrency and the potential for fostering a new engaged community of followers — or ‘stans’ as she calls them. Azalea sits down with Rapid Response host Bob Safian to reveal why she retired from music and made the pivot into cryptocurrency, as well as founding an online gifting platform and telecommunication company. For any business looking to strengthen their brand around human connection, Iggy shares valuable advice for taking advantage of this digital age.

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Since One Medical’s IPO in January, CEO Amir Rubin has been forced to constantly adapt to the coronavirus pandemic, as healthcare needs, expectations, and behaviors shifted. From telemedicine to Covid-19 testing, One Medical has leaned into existing advantages to scale quickly: standing up respiratory care clinics and testing centers; revamping virtual and in-person visits; vetting labs and data. One Medical is now helping other businesses identify new practices to safely bring employees back to work. If you have a consistent platform and mission, explains Amir, that operating system can be applied to even fast-changing environments. Interviewed by editor Bob Safian.

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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.”

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After slashing his NYC restaurant team from 2,400 people to just 45 in the teeth of the pandemic, Danny Meyer has rebuilt Union Square Hospitality Group back to its former size. But in his fifth appearance on Rapid Response since Covid struck, Danny says he isn’t yet triumphant. With inflation creating fresh challenges even at Shake Shack, Danny shares lessons on the good and bad of leading through a crisis, plus explains why he’s handed off his CEO title — and where he finds inspiration to fuel new innovations.

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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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With student loan debt at record highs, higher education is at a crossroads. Campus is an all-online community college that’s built a business model around competitive pricing, resources for students (like giving them a laptop and paying for home internet), and compensating professors well above the national average. The start-up also achieves high graduation rates, while maintaining an impressive bottom line. Campus founder and Chancellor Tade Oyerinde shares how he wooed investors like Sam Altman and Shaq, and has won-over major partners from Forever 21 to Arizona State University and Butler University.

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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 keep an entrepreneurial team, and all of us, safe. Rajiv Shah is president of the Rockefeller Foundation, which has led response to health crises in the United States and around the world for 100 years (including the 1918 flu pandemic). Applying what he learned fighting the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, Shah has brought together business, government, and health officials to turbo-charge Covid testing development. Next-gen test kits are coming soon: cheaper, easier, more abundant. If deployed correctly, says Shah, they can make us all safer and healthier in 2021.

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“We should expect more volatility,” Reid Hoffman tells Rapid Response host Bob Safian in the first Need to Know session of the year, covering news and business topics impacting entrepreneurs right now. Reid and Bob discuss the implications of the Ukraine invasion, then dive into the pandemic-fueled troubles at Peloton, PayPal, and Meta, new climate-change urgencies — including Reid’s recent trip to Antarctica, and how Activision will be different after merging with Microsoft. Plus: pay transparency; the lessons of Theranos; and the business case for democracy. Cameos: John Doerr (author of Speed & Scale), Jeremy Farrar (Wellcome Trust), Daniella Ballou-Aares (Leadership Now Project).

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“Hope is a practice. It comes from doing.” As the head of Planned Parenthood, Alexis McGill Johnson is regrouping in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to remove the federal right to safe abortion. Johnson is now faced with the challenge to move her team from tears and shock to action. Any leader faced with a worst-case scenario can learn from her vision: “to fight and stay courageous, and maintain ourselves.”

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Sir Jeremy Farrar is UK’s pre-eminent scientific authority on Covid-19 and the chief executive at the research foundation Wellcome Trust. He joins Rapid Response to discuss the latest learnings of the Omicron variant – and offers a framework for reacting to the uncertainty. Farrar, whose research specializes in infectious diseases, also shares the two most important leadership lessons he’s learned during the pandemic: find time for yourself, and take warnings seriously. “Humanity often finds ways of going through some really bad periods to get to a good place. And I think we're going through a bad period at the moment,” Farrar says.

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Human beings are social creatures, with a critical need to connect with others. This drive gives shape and meaning to our personal and professional lives. For entrepreneurs and business leaders, the path to success relies on strong, human-centered networks. In this special episode, we revisit the Masters of Scale Summit to hear from leaders, including our very own Reid Hoffman, who share inside stories on how to build — and nurture — professional and personal networks. Learn how to network with authenticity, multiply the positive attributes of your network, and recognize your own biases to prevent blind spots on your journey to scale.

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Five years of growth in five weeks. That's how Covid-19 lockdowns accelerated Instacart's business last spring. Now, a year later, the company faces another "crucible moment," says Instacart CEO Apoorva Mehta. He's leaning into what he describes as a four-sided market – including software services for grocers and advertising for product vendors – to amplify the appeal of tech-enabled shopping, even as vaccinations proliferate and in-store buying revives. Instacart's focus, he says, will help it outpace a rising field of competitors, and create a distinctive advantage even against behemoth Amazon.

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Crowdsourcing is more than a group of people interested in the same cause, it’s a way to tap skills – and scale – that you don’t have. And when it works, it can be the rocket fuel that launches you to scale further than you could have ever imagined. No one knows this better than Luis von Ahn, founder and CEO of Duolingo. Duolingo is a language app with over 300 million users worldwide, who complete over 7 billion exercises a month. It’s their passion for learning that drives them to create even more content for the app – igniting the rocket fuel that Duolingo needs. Cameo appearance by Elizabeth Sampat (game designer and author). 

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As the pandemic hit, Airbnb was preparing for an IPO. Within a matter of days, everything changed dramatically, as travel worldwide screamed to a halt. “I felt like I was captain of a ship and a torpedo hit the side,” says CEO Brian Chesky. Airbnb responded quickly, announcing that they'd override host rules and allow for guest cancellations. They went on to establish a relief fund for hosts, lobby the U.S. Congress to include hosts in the CARES stimulus package; open up a new business line of virtual experiences, and raise an astounding one billion dollars in new capital — all with the goal of both weathering the storm and laying the groundwork for the new era of travel that Chesky firmly believes will follow. Chesky takes our co-host Bob Safian through the last few weeks, shares what gives him hope and explains why he’s bringing Airbnb back to its roots as a scrappy, resilient startup that can adapt and evolve.

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To get the most out of your talent, you need to create an environment that allows them to thrive. Nobody knows this better than Indra Nooyi who spent 12 years as the CEO of PepsiCo. It was her drive to support talent that underpinned all of the initiatives that transformed the company. Her approach, which she calls “Performance with Purpose,” centers around delivering great financial performance while simultaneously focusing on the company’s environmental impact and creating an environment where employees can bring their whole selves to work. “I looked at each person in my company, not as a tool of the trade,” she says, “but I looked at them as an individual asset that had to bring their head, heart, and hands to the company for us to be successful.”

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“Go for the megatons.” That’s John Doerr’s recommendation for how we need to combat the existential threat of climate change. Doerr, a venture capitalist and author of the new book Speed and Scale, joins host Bob Safian to discuss our decarbonization efforts, what he calls “the greatest economic opportunity of the next century.” The book quantifies the specific societal needs, in six discrete areas, to achieve a carbon-neutral world. John isn’t arguing that we all need to be vegan ascetics, but rather, the need for collective action – and the critical role that business plays in advancing that movement. 

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There’s no better way to prepare for 2024 than to look back at the year that was. 2023 offered a slew of challenges and opportunities, from AI mania to inflation to Taylor Swift obsession. In this special episode, Rapid Response host Bob Safian shares the most impactful business lessons from the year, exploring the importance of an experimentation mindset, empathy-driven leadership, and adapting to the modern workplace. Featuring guest appearances from Gary Vaynerchuk, Bozoma Saint-John, Rana el Kaliouby, Daniel Lubetzky, Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud and more.

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Massive change isn’t something you can brute-force — you need to ignite buy-in, again and again, up and down your organization. Because even if your changes will make things more fun, more interesting, and more profitable, you’re going to face defiance and inertia until you clue everyone in. That’s what Bill Ford learned while working to remake Ford Motor Company as an environmental powerhouse — against surprising internal and even national-level resistance. 

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Amy Errett had a hunch that hair color was a huge potential market – especially among women who wanted an option free from harsh chemicals. She started a company focused on clean ingredients, innovative technology, and a revamped salon experience. Since founding Madison Reed in 2013, more than 5 million people have tried her products. Errett joins host Jeff Berman to discuss why company culture is so important and how getting fired kickstarted it all.

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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 he founded one of the world’s first crowdfunding platforms, DonorsChoose. For 20 years, the nonprofit has been helping public school teachers get funding and supplies for classroom projects and it all started with just a handful of projects in the Bronx, where Charles was a public school teacher. Now it funds thousands of projects in all 50 states, raising almost a billion dollars in the process. Charles did it by adeptly creating a flywheel that matches for donors and grantees, allowing them to connect directly with one another, and doing it all one small step at a time. Cameo: Stephen Colbert!!!

Visit DonorsChoose.org

Learn more about US campaign funding laws: https://www.fec.gov/introduction-campaign-finance/understanding-ways-support-federal-candidates

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This past summer, Fidji Simo departed from Facebook – where she stood among the highest-ranking female executives, serving as the head of their app – for the opportunity to become a first-time CEO at Instacart. She replaced founder Apoorva Mehta, who appeared on this show last spring to talk about Instacart’s incredible COVID-fueled growth. Since then, Fidji has emphasized an evolved company mission, diversifying the company’s leadership and focusing on providing the necessary technology to help grocery retailers best serve their customers. As you’ll hear Fidji mention in the episode, she was raised in a French-Sicilian family where food anchored their daily life. “To me, Instacart’s mission resonated deeply, and I saw a very big opportunity.”

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From traveling the world opening restaurants as a teenager to pioneering new strategies at legacy brands, Kat Cole knows the importance of asking the right questions to forge a path to scale. Host Jeff Berman dives into Cole's fascinating career, exploring how she led teams at iconic brands like Hooters and Cinnabon, applying the lessons to steering the billion-dollar health supplement company Athletic Greens, where she’s just been named CEO. Plus, how her renowned Hot Shot Rule can change your life and career.

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Octopus Energy is now the UK's top electricity supplier, and is growing its footprint in the US. CEO and founder Greg Jackson joins host Jeff Berman to discuss how Octopus is disrupting a global industry with green energy. From helping customers game out savings to building AI-powered software tools, his approach to innovation is multifaceted – and fascinating.

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Emma Grede is the co-founder of Good American and Safely, a founding partner of Skims, and chair of the 15 Percent Pledge. In this conversation, recorded live on stage at the Masters of Scale Summit in October of 2024, Grede shares entrepreneurial lessons with Angela Ahrendts (former SVP at Apple). Later in the episode, it’s Ahrendts’ 2024 Summit chat with Mellody Hobson, president of Ariel Investments and former chair of DreamWorks. Hobson explains why she believes DEI efforts are worth fighting for and the importance of financial literacy.

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Eric Schmidt, Angela Ahrendts, and Dara Khosrowshahi — three legendary culture-setters — sit down with host Bob Safian to discuss how they’ve built and rebuilt great cultures at Apple, Uber, Google and more. Recorded live at the Masters of Scale Summit in San Francisco, the conversation delivers surprising stories, and counterintuitive lessons on authenticity, making mistakes, and how to build a unique culture that’s right for your business.

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Dungeons & Dragons, the tabletop role-playing game, turns 50 this year. As a lifelong lover of the game, host Reid Hoffman asked fellow D&D player and Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks to join him for a conversation about the entrepreneurial lessons they each learned from the game, how Hasbro is scaling the legacy brand to new heights, and the ways technology is unlocking new levels of creative and business opportunities.

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Last year, SolarWinds became the subject of a massive and sophisticated cyberattack, potentially affecting thousands of organizations. CEO Sudhakar Ramakrishna, who joined the company soon after the breach was discovered, speaks with host Bob Safian about how he and the company responded, and how other companies should approach the ever-looming threat of cyber-risk. "There is no such thing as 'I won't be breached because I'm too secure or too smart,’ says Ramakrishna. “You could be breached. And when it happens, be humble. Learn from it, adapt, and act with a sense of urgency." 

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In part two of our 3-part series on AI + You, we offer an actionable playbook on how AI can help us scale ourselves personally. Personal scale is all about broadening your skill set and strengthening your human relationships. To guide you, host Reid Hoffman speaks to Stanford HAI’s Fei-Fei Li, Inflection’s Mustafa Suleyman, tech-centric artist Holly Herndon and more AI pioneers. You’ll discover how AI can amplify your ability as a leader, coworker, collaborator and friend.

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"We have to reignite the energy and the fire and the love," says CEO Libby Wadle of J.Crew Group, which launched Madewell Forever this week, a dynamic bet on sustainability. The resale platform, in partnership with ThredUp, is part of a purpose-led pivot that Wadle first sparked as head of Madewell. Wadle takes us inside that journey, looking back to J.Crew's heyday and forward to the opportunities that she believes purpose can unlock. From a visit to a fair-trade factory in Vietnam to new insights on in-store versus online, Wadle says, "I've never felt more inspired and excited and invigorated."

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While some artists complain that AI uses their music as training data, Will.i.am argues that it’s no different than Prince and Michael Jackson taking inspiration from James Brown. Will joins Rapid Response to talk about his investments in the “dawn of intelligent media,” including his new app RAiDIO.fyi — AI technology that he contends will be pre-installed in every car of the future. Will shares surprising lessons from his MBA studies at Harvard, why developers are like rappers, how he works with Mercedes, and more. 

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Danny Meyer is best known as the founder of Shake Shack and the legendary restaurants of his Union Square Hospitality Group in New York City. He joined host Jeff Berman on stage recently for the first Masters of Scale Live, presented by Capital One Business. 

Later in the conversation, Danny's daughter, Hallie Meyer, joined them on stage. Hallie is busy scaling her own food venture, the gourmet NYC ice cream shop Caffè Panna. The Meyers offer invaluable insights on how to scale great experiences for customers and teams. 

Find out how to attend upcoming live Masters of Scale events at mastersofscale.com/live

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For any distinctive brand or business, it can be a challenge to expand reach without diluting what makes you special. No one has a keener understanding of this issue than Bob Iger, executive chair and former CEO of the Walt Disney Company. In this special two-part episode, Iger takes us through how he supercharged the House of Mouse while acquiring Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox. The trick, he explains, is setting up a diverse ecosystem that preserves the culture, methods, and core talent of both old parts and new parts – and fitting them together in ways that make everyone more successful.

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Crate & Barrel CEO Janet Hayes has been on a mission to modernize the home decor company since she took over as CEO in August, 2020. When she first joined the company, stores were closed and the future of retail was uncertain as Covid-19 put in-person experiences to a screeching halt. She’s responded by leaning into digital and sustainability for her brands, and flexibility for her employees. “As soon as I said, ‘It's a flexible workplace, and I'm going to value talent, collaboration, and results over location,’ everybody has been working faster and smarter than ever,” she says.

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To succeed, entrepreneurs need a good idea, timing, money, luck. But more than anything, they need the ability to generate an endless supply of Plans B, C, and D when Plan A doesn't come through. Nancy Lublin has scaled three successful not-for-profits: Dress for Success, DoSomething.org and Crisis Text Line. She shares the tenacious approach to technology and financing that have helped these organizations scale.

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Under a harsh spotlight, how do you remain composed while fighting for your mission? Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt joins Rapid Response host Bob Safian to take us inside the story of his public row with Elon Musk. Jonathan also explains how business leaders must ignite hope in the face of hate to help build a brighter future. Plus, he shares lessons about the seasonality of business, the importance of Hollywood, and why leaders everywhere should embrace conflict.

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How to find your big idea? Look for it. And look for it. And be ready to act. Spanx founder Sara Blakely was actively seeking a business idea when she thought of Spanx (she shares a never-fail technique). Then she moved fast, found help in the right places, and went all-in. The result: A billion-dollar company and women's wardrobes transformed.. With cameos by National Geographic Explorer Andrés Ruzo, and the former director of the US Patent & Trademark Office Michelle Lee.

Read The Boiling River by Andrés Ruzo.

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After record-shattering drops in revenue from Covid-19, JetBlue had to rethink every plan and every assumption. Joanna Geraghty, JetBlue's president and chief operating officer, shares how the airline built a new system for flexing the business, to ramp up only when demand rises, deploying cost cuts but no furloughs. As airlines grapple with a new global infection surge, Geraghty says her decisions rely on new types of data as well as gut feeling – from re-opening middle seats starting in January 2021 to expanding flights to London. The volume of choices Geraghty has to make and the uncertainty around the risks are dizzying. But despite the challenges, she says, JetBlue is rising up.

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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).

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Want to improve any idea? Find someone who disagrees with it. This is something legendary investor Ray Dalio knows. But there’s a difference between constructive and destructive conflict – and Dalio is a master at spotting the difference. In constructive conflict, a team has a shared goal, whether or not they have differing opinions. And this is the key to success. Cameo appearances: Steve Horgan (USA Field Hockey Director of Umpiring), Daniel Amen (psychiatrist, founder of Amen Clinics).

Ray's latest book, Principles for Success, is out now.

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Innovation is the lifeblood of the startup — from product to processes and culture to creativity. But innovation is just as essential for scale companies. So how do you keep the innovation flywheel spinning at all levels of scale? The answer according to Linda Yates is to seed every level of your company with an intrapreneurial mindset. As CEO of Mach49, an incubator for large global companies, Linda shares her vast experience and strategies for injecting intrapreneurial thinking and bias-to-action across hundreds of large-scale organizations.

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The true seed of scale is customer love, which you can’t buy, hack, or game. Sam Altman, former president of Y Combinator, scaled countless start-ups by focusing on this one idea: Finding 100 users who love you is better than 1 million who kinda like you. As CEO of OpenAI, Sam leads the creation of genuinely useful AI products. He shares timeless insights in his interview from 2018 on how to build on the love of passionate customers to create world-shifting tools.

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Three legendary culture setters come together live on stage at the inaugural Masters of Scale Summit. In the first released recording from the sold-out event, Angela Ahrendts, Dara Khosrowshahi, and Eric Schmidt reveal how they’ve built and rebuilt great cultures at Apple, Uber, Google and more. Host Bob Safian delivers surprising stories, counterintuitive anti-lessons and live-show energy from the stage of San Francisco's Presidio Theatre. The first of many episodes from the Masters of Scale Summit stage.

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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.

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Crypto winter isn’t a disaster, it's an opportunity. That’s how Michael Gronager, CEO of $8 billion crypto data company Chainalysis, describes the crashing prices and bankruptcies that have roiled the cryptocurrency sector. Gronager offers an insider’s perspective on operating in a volatile marketplace, providing lessons on dreaming too big in boom times and on leaning into building and creating when lulls emerge. Chainalysis helps track financial flows on blockchains, including crypto criminals from North Korea and Russia. Despite current risks, Gronager argues, the still-emerging crypto sector is maturing, and he’s as confident as ever about its future. 

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While EA’s pursuit of 1 billion users may sound ambitious at first, once you hear CEO Andrew Wilson explain the developers’ strategy to get there, the 1 billion mark starts to almost sound conservative. Wilson returns to Rapid Response to shed light on EA’s recent announcements around a community-driven app, and plans to unleash new AI tools for creators and gamers alike. Wilson also shares the inside story behind the company’s high-stakes FIFA rebrand, how Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu shapes his business leadership, and more. 

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As the founder of World Central Kitchen, renowned chef and humanitarian José Andrés has truly mastered the art of leading through crisis. José returns to Rapid Response to share insights from his new book, Change the Recipe — a candid collection of personal stories that doubles as a playbook for navigating uncertainty, breaking rules, and leading with heart. José also explores how AI is poised to reshape the food industry, the importance of unplugging, and more. In a world seemingly on fire, José shows us how to harness that fire — without getting burned.

Order José’s New Book Today

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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 act – a conviction that long-term demand will be strong, while near-term economics are dismal – is familiar among entrepreneurial leaders. By defiantly keeping the movie magic alive, she's leaning into hope, the human need for community, and a creative new model. Yet there's no guarantee how this story will end.

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Sports gambling is on track to grow into a $40 billion industry in the U.S., with FanDuel the lead player. CEO Amy Howe explains why the Super Bowl is so important to the company’s aspirations, even as it expands into wider gaming options and broader sports leagues. Leveraging its first-mover advantage, FanDuel is seeking to build an iconic brand around responsible gaming. With so much on the line, Super Bowl week is as make-or-break for Howe as it is for the two teams on the field.

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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 Dillon

The Effective Executive, by Peter Drucker

The Hard Thing About Hard Things, by Ben Horowitz

Becoming Steve Jobs, by Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli

Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire, by James Wallace and Jim Erickson

Founders at Work, by Jessica Livingston

High Output Management, by Andy Grove

Music: "Exciting Trailer" by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license.

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We’ve reached a radical inflection point in the growth of women’s sports, particularly the WNBA. As college stars like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese enter the league, fans are clamoring for tickets and on social media, generating unprecedented excitement and business potential. WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert joins Rapid Response host Bob Safian to share how she plans to capitalize on this newfound buzz, and how NIL deals have transformed the business of sports for players and owners alike. Plus, Engelbert peels back the curtain on how she led the league through the Brittney Griner crisis and the tumult of COVID. 

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The Oscars aren’t just about filmmaking — they’re a real-time look at the culture, business, and power plays shaping Hollywood and larger entertainment industry. The Ankler CEO Janice Min returns to Rapid Response to unpack the night’s biggest turning points — including how Sean Baker’s Anora proved that low-budget filmmaking can outrun major studios, why Hollywood is more afraid of political controversy than ever, and how livestreaming is factoring in the streamers wars, one Hulu glitch at a time.

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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 home in on your targets. The wrong ones can lead you horribly astray. Shishir Mehrotra, former head of YouTube and co-founder of Coda, learned this when he scaled YouTube to a billion hours of watch time each day. He kept the team focused on that audacious goal by establishing fresh new rituals. And in his new role as CEO and founder of Coda, he's learned to constantly ask: What old rituals are holding us back? And what new rituals can we create together that will be inclusive, empowering — and keep us all moving forward? Cameo appearances: George Kembel (Stanford's d.School), Tobi Lütke (Shopify), and Dr. Akhila Cadet (Change Cadet).  

Read more about the rituals at Coda — and add your own here: https://coda.io/@shishir/masters-of-scale-rituals

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What happens when you tap into the collective genius of a diverse group? 

Does the cross-pollination of ideas let you create something greater than the sum of its parts?

The real magic happens when you create a network of changemakers: people united by a common cause who will drive impact and innovation. Doing this will vastly improve your odds of forging groundbreaking solutions to the challenges you face.

Reshma Saujani did this when she founded Girls Who Code, which has supported thousands of young women and non-binary people to take up impactful roles in the tech industry and beyond. With her latest venture, Moms First, she's again deploying her skills as a master of impactful networking.

In this episode, Reshma reveals how she's built inclusive networks of collaborators to tackle intractable problems from unexpected angles and unlock massive opportunities.

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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, they never tried to force-feed customers a product just to drive up the bottom line. They focused on one thing: making an excellent product for people who believed in the edgy Nike ethos. Because they knew, when there’s a mismatch between product and market, the bottom usually drops out. Instead, they told the world who the are, and then did everything they could to find their ideal customers. And made history. Cameo appearance: Eddy Lu (GOAT).

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