Masters of Scale

Latest Episodes:

Don't be boring: KCRW's Jennifer Ferro on building a brand people love Oct 01, 2026

Show notes

Jennifer Ferro is the former board chair of NPR and president of Southern California’s iconic public radio organization: KCRW. Ferro talks with host Jeff Berman about how nearly two decades as the founder’s deputy taught her to lead, why she thinks we deserve a better internet, and how the best defense of getting ignored is simple: Don’t be boring.

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Halloween meets GLP-1s: Hershey’s candy Super Bowl, with CEO Kirk Tanner Sep 29, 2026

Show notes

The second a brand like Hershey stops being culturally relevant, says its CEO Kirk Tanner, you should be worried. He joins Rapid Response to explain exactly what he's doing to make sure that never happens. Tanner also reveals why GLP-1 users are actually good for the candy business, how AI is now routing Hershey's sales force in real time through Target and Walmart, and why the Reese's Oreo collaboration (which generated $100 million in its first five months) is the model for how iconic brands find new energy. And with a major Hollywood film about Milton Hershey coming this fall, he talks about whether this is Hershey's Barbie moment.

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Rapid Response: Stop creating businesses. Buy one instead, with Codie Sanchez Sep 26, 2026

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Own or be owned. That's Codie Sanchez's ultimatum for anyone serious about their financial future. The founder of Contrarian Thinking and author of the new book Own or Be Owned returns to Rapid Response to make her most impassioned case yet for why buying a small business is the most reliable path to wealth that most people are too scared to take. She breaks down what "cowboying" your business is costing you, and why AI isn’t a shortcut for everyone, but instead an accelerator for what's already inside you. Plus, the industries she'd invest in right now, and why most small business owners are solving the wrong problems.

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How to build a billion-dollar sports team from scratch, with Golden State Valkyries’ Jess Smith Sep 24, 2026

Show notes

When Jess Smith became employee number one for the Bay Area’s WNBA expansion team, the future was a blank slate. Now, the Golden State Valkyries brand is boasting a unicorn valuation in just its second season. Smith talks with host Jeff Berman about building the brand from scratch, the rise of women’s professional sports, and why so many women in the C-Suite are former athletes.

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Rebranding in a war zone, with Prosper Global (formerly Mercy Corps) Sep 22, 2026

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The world has never faced so many humanitarian crises at once, and the systems built to respond to them are fraying. Tjada McKenna, CEO of Prosper Global — the organization long known as Mercy Corps — joins Rapid Response during UN General Assembly week to share what she's seeing firsthand from Syria to Sudan to Ukraine to Gaza, and why she rebranded a 40-year-old institution in the middle of a funding crisis rather than in spite of one. She explains how the Strait of Hormuz conflict is quietly writing next year's food shortages into fragile countries right now, why Russia's playbook of attacking civilian infrastructure has spread to conflicts around the world, and what she's asking AI companies to do that no one has figured out yet.

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Brené Brown & Reid Hoffman on the skills every leader needs now Sep 17, 2026

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Author and researcher Brené Brown joined host Reid Hoffman on stage last year in San Francisco for the 2025 Masters of Scale Summit. She reveals insights about how to lead courageously, the underrated skills leaders need to thrive, and why compassion is essential for success – even if it’s currently being crowded out of the zeitgeist.

For more conversations like this, join us at this year’s Masters of Scale Summit, coming up October 20-22 in San Francisco.

Go to masters of mastersofscale.com/summit to learn more.

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"Strong Ground": https://brenebrown.com/book/strong-ground/

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Let’s Kill Sh*t: Axios CEO on simplifying your work-life in the AI era Sep 15, 2026

Show notes

AI isn't simplifying your life… Yet. It's mass-producing more options, more decisions, and more noise. Axios CEO Jim VandeHei returns to Rapid Response to make the case that the antidote isn't a better productivity app, it's a ruthless, three-part system he calls Confront, Delete, Amplify. VandeHei shares what he's learned from running Axios by these principles, including calling a leadership meeting with the subject heading "Let's Kill S***," and why he shuttered the Axios app despite years of internal resistance. He also reveals his candid read on the midterms and what they mean for business, the data center backlash he thinks could reshape the political landscape, and what's really at stake in Axios's OpenAI content deal.

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

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Rapid Response: On's 16-year overnight success: Zendaya, Federer, and outrunning competition Sep 12, 2026

Show notes

On built a $4 billion sports brand in 16 years with a garden hose, a Roger Federer dinner in Zurich, and a young designer who watched a Halloween YouTube video. Co-founder and co-CEO David Allemann joins Rapid Response to explain why the defining decade for On is still ahead, and why being the most premium brand matters more than being the biggest. He breaks down the leadership shake-up that brought him back into a CEO role, and what the first-of-its-kind LightSpray robotic process says about On’s innovation philosophy. Allemann also makes the case for why the "movement class" is replacing the leisure class as the defining consumer of our time.

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From high school dropout to CEO, with Autodesk’s Andrew Anagnost Sep 10, 2026

Show notes

Autodesk is the massive public software company at the heart of designing almost everything around you, from cars to buildings to video games. CEO Andrew Anagnost talks with host Jeff Berman about why he first joined a “rebel” group at the company, how he battled for the top job, and why he thinks leading with empathy is smart business.

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NFL Kickoff: the science gets more damning, but the money keeps growing Sep 08, 2026

Show notes

The NFL is the world's most valuable sports business, and it keeps growing. But is the growth sustainable? Sports journalist Michele Steele joins Rapid Response to kick off the 2026-2027 NFL season with a clear-eyed look at what's driving record franchise valuations, why quarterback salaries keep exploding, and what the league's dizzying array of streaming platforms means for the fans. She also breaks down the NFL's deliberate "Helmets Off" strategy to grow its female audience, the business calculus behind nine international games this season, and whether the Bears are really leaving Chicago. Plus the uncomfortable CTE question that won't go away: Is the sport actually safer or have fans been sold a story?

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

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