Masters of Scale
Masters of Scale is an original podcast hosted by Reid Hoffman, cofounder of LinkedIn, partner at Greylock Partners and Silicon Valley investor. The show is created and owned by WaitWhat. In each episode, Hoffman introduces a theory on how successful businesses scale, and tests its validity by interviewing founders about their path to scale. Guests have included Facebook founder & CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Starbucks founder and former CEO Howard Schultz, Netflix founder and CEO Reed Hastings, FCA and Exor Chairman John Elkann and others. Episodes also feature brief “cameo” appearances from other founders and experts in different industries who build on Hoffman’s theories.
Masters of Scale was the first American media program to commit to a 50-50 gender balance for guests.
History
The first episode of Masters of Scale, featuring Airbnb CEO and cofounder Brian Chesky, aired on May 3, 2017. In March 2018, the show completed its second season.
Credits
According to the show credits, the show’s executive producers are June Cohen and Deron Triff. The supervising producer is Jai Punjabi. The producers are Chris McLeod, Dan Kedmey, Natalie Chang, Jennie Cataldo and Ben Manila. Original music and sound design are by Ryan and Hays Holladay.
Episodes
| Episode | Title | Notes | Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Handcrafted" with Brian Chesky of Airbnb | May 3, 2017 | |
| 2 | "The Money Episode" with Mariam Naficy of Minted | May 10, 2017 | |
| 3 | "The Beauty of a Bad Idea" with Tristan Walker of Walker & Co. | May 17, 2017 | |
| 4 | "Imperfect is Perfect" with Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook | May 24, 2017 | |
| 5 | "Lead, Lead Again" with Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook | May 31, 2017 | |
| 6 | "Innovation=Managed Chaos" with Eric Schmidt of Google | June 7, 2017 | |
| 7 | "Grit Happens" with Nancy Lublin of Crisis Text Line | June 14, 2017 | |
| 8 | "Culture Shock" with Reed Hastings of Netflix | June 28, 2017 | |
| 9 | "The Next Silicon Valley Is..." with Linda Rottenberg of Endeavor | July 12, 2017 | |
| 10 | "Let Fires Burn" with Selina Tobaccowala of Gixo | July 19, 2017 |
| Episode | Title | Notes | Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Escape the Competition" with Peter Thiel of PayPal | Nov. 8, 2017 | |
| 2 | "Look Sideways" with Diane Greene of VMware | Nov. 10, 2017 | |
| 3 | "The Big Pivot" with Stewart Butterfield of Slack | Nov. 15, 2017 | |
| 4 | "Infinite Learner" with Barry Diller of InterActiveCorp. | Dec. 6, 2017 | |
| 5 | "Learn to Unlearn" with Barry Diller of InterActiveCorp. | Dec. 13, 2017 | |
| 6 | "Model Behavior" with Caterina Fake of Flickr, Yes Ventures | Jan. 24, 2018 | |
| 7 | "How to Win User Love" with Sam Altman of Y Combinator | Jan. 31, 2018 | |
| 8 | "How to Build Your Company to Last" with John Elkann of Fiat | Feb. 7, 2018 | |
| 9 | "How to Price Your Product to Scale" with Payal Kadakia of ClassPass | Feb. 14, 2018 | |
| 10 | "Never Underestimate Your First Idea" with Ev Williams of Medium | Feb. 21, 2018 | |
| 11 | "How to Do Good—And Do Good Business" with Howard Schultz of Starbucks | Mar. 7, 2018 | |
| 12 | "How to Find Your Big Idea" with Sara Blakely of Spanx | Mar. 21, 2018 |
Guests
A typical episode of Masters of Scale will feature one primary guest, whose story is told in detail, and who helps explain the theory, and several cameo appearances by other guests. These guests have been drawn from a wide spectrum of backgrounds, and have included Nobel Prize-winning economist Daniel Kahneman, Hall of Fame sportscaster Dick Stockton, National Geographic explorer Andrés Ruzo and Olympic runner Natasha Hastings.
Awards
In April 2018, Masters of Scale won the Webby People’s Voice Award for Best Business Podcast.