Masters of Scale

Latest Episodes:

Rapid Response: When you should require vaccinations w/ Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer Sep 02, 2021

Show notes

“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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Microsoft’s Satya Nadella: Why we need re-founders Aug 31, 2021

Show notes

To achieve massive scale, you don’t just need founders, you also need a re-founder – someone to come in at a later stage to keep the mission and culture on track. As Microsoft’s third CEO ever – after Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer – Satya Nadella is doing just that. He’s fostered a culture at Microsoft that rewards new ideas and makes room for feedback. Satya discusses how, as Chairman and CEO, he has transformed Microsoft from a cutthroat culture towards embracing social networks, collaboration, and cloud. Plus, Satya and Reid reminisce about the early conversations that led to Microsoft’s acquisition of LinkedIn. With guest David Mandel, showrunner of Veep.

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Rapid Response: How Electronic Arts grows a metaverse, with CEO Andrew Wilson Aug 26, 2021

Show notes

Hollywood may build stars, but gaming is "the biggest, fastest-growing entertainment medium in the world," says CEO Andrew Wilson of Electronic Arts. That's why businesses from Netflix to Disney to Facebook are eyeing the space, along with creators and startups eager to tap into the entrepreneurial opportunities posed by the still-evolving "metaverse." Wilson, who oversees franchises from Apex Legends to FIFA to The Sims, explains how he's playing in this ever-changing field – and how an industry-wide cultural referendum on harassment keeps him up at night.

Read a transcript of this interview at: mastersofscale.com

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Coming soon on Masters of Scale Season 9 Aug 24, 2021

Show notes

Coming August 31st: An all-new season of Masters of Scale, with iconic leaders and rising stars of scale companies. This season, Reid Hoffman trades theories with Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, Robert Reffkin, founder and CEO of Compass, Indra Nooyi, former CEO of Pepsico, Jessica Alba, founder of The Honest Company, Beth Ford, CEO of Land O'Lakes, iconic investor and founder Marc Andreessen, Sheila Marcello, founder of Care.com, Lynn Jurich, co-founder and CEO of Sunrun – and many more. Plus, we’ve got live episodes coming up, your favorite Strategy Sessions, and a few surprises in store. Join us!

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Rapid Response: How mission fuels risk-taking, with Illumina CEO Francis deSouza Aug 19, 2021

Show notes

Facing off with the FTC isn't for the timid. But when your mission and your business model are aligned, the hard decisions – about risk, about investment, about priorities – become clearer. Francis deSouza is CEO of Illumina, the world’s dominant maker of gene sequencing technology. After playing a key role in the creation of Covid vaccines, Illumina is trying to acquire a company with a breakthrough cancer screening test, over the FTC's objections. DeSouza offers a personal reflection on the lessons and reality of grappling with regulators, highlighting levers that can help to accelerate scale. What underscores his entrepreneurial efforts is a passion for Illumina’s mission: improving human health by unlocking the power of the genome.

Read a transcript of this interview at: mastersofscale.com

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Bonus: Cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset, w/Reid, Bob & Sir Richard Branson Aug 17, 2021

Show notes

Reid’s personal advice on the most important success factor for any scale leader: your mindset. Talking with editor-at-large Bob Safian, Reid shares how he approaches every challenge with a learning mindset: ask the right questions, leverage networks, and build curiosity and resilience. To cement the idea, he shares Lesson One from the new Masters of Scale Courses app, starring Sir Richard Branson! You'll learn an exercise from Reid that you can practice daily.

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

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Make it epic, w/will.i.am Aug 10, 2021

Show notes

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).

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

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Rapid Response: How Harley-Davidson set a foundation for the long term with CEO Jochen Zeitz Jul 29, 2021

Show notes

Even an 118-year-old company needs an entrepreneurial jolt. When Jochen Zeitz took over as CEO of motorcycle maker Harley Davidson in early 2020, he moved quickly to restructure the business – even in the midst of the pandemic's highest uncertainty. That defiance paid off, settling investors and refocusing the company. He's trimmed the product line, set up equity grants for employees including factory workers, and doubled-down on Harley’s brand power. Challenges persist, including ongoing supply chain delays, but Zeitz has his eyes on the road ahead. As a longtime motorcycle rider and a longtime champion of sustainability, he is setting out to square those two passions – and lead the company through an expansive second century.

Read a transcript of this interview at: mastersofscale.com

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The beauty of emphasizing the obvious, w/Birchbox's Katia Beauchamp Jul 27, 2021

Show notes

Unconventional ideas define entrepreneurship: They fuel dreams but also spur naysayers and obstacles. Katia Beauchamp, co-founder and CEO of Birchbox, has repeatedly found ways to recast the unconventional as something obvious, enabling ongoing growth through repeated challenges. When Katia and her co-founder introduced Birchbox, its novel business model went against many beauty-industry norms. Then, as it caught on, competitors from Amazon to Sephora took direct aim by copying Birchbox's approach – and crushing margins in the process. To navigate the ups and downs, wooing investors, suppliers, and customers, Katia discovered how describing an industry-flipping idea in conventional terms could both accelerate and extend Birchbox's appeal. The road to differentiating the brand, it turned out, required emphasizing the obvious.

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

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Rapid Response: Inside J.Crew's purposeful pivot, with CEO Libby Wadle Jul 22, 2021

Show notes

"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."

Read a transcript of this interview at: mastersofscale.com

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