Masters of Scale

Tractors are smarter than you think. John Deere, the nearly 200-year-old company, is combining sensors, data, and machine learning in highly advanced vehicles and software to reinvent how the world grows food. On this Pioneers of AI episode, John Deere CTO Jahmy Hindman breaks down how AI is making farms faster, smarter, and more sustainable. Plus he shares his vision for a fully autonomous farm....

Telling a clear story about your product is an essential entrepreneurial skill. Chef Marcus Samuelsson is an expert at this in his beloved restaurants (Hav & Mar and Red Rooster) and through his broader entrepreneurial efforts. Samuelsson joined host Reid Hoffman in 2024 to share how embracing a diversity of stories has been an essential ingredient to his businesses. Subscribe to the Masters o...

Gap was never uncool. It just disappeared. CEO Richard Dickson joins Rapid Response to explain how he's bringing it back, using the same pop culture playbook he used to resurrect Barbie at Mattel. He breaks down why he tracks "brand love" metrics on a dashboard hourly, why Sydney Sweeney's viral jeans ad was actually good news for the whole industry, and why the biggest risk a brand can take is pl...

Mark Pincus is a serial tech entrepreneur and investor best known as the co-founder of Zynga. He joins host Reid Hoffman to reveal the insights at the center of his new book: Life at the Speed of Play. The godfather of mobile gaming talks with Hoffman about building products people love, learning fast from your mistakes, and handling screen time for his own kids.  The book: https://www.lifeat...

Every year at Cannes Lions, the advertising world takes stock of itself — what's working, what's not, and what it's pretending not to notice. Autodesk CMO Dara Treseder joins Rapid Response live from the festival to cut through the noise. She breaks down the industry's complicated relationship with AI, weighs in on the hottest and most overrated campaigns of the year including sharp takes on Nike,...

Anthropic and OpenAI’s plans to go public have set off waves of speculation about the ripple effects, and how they’ll stack up to the SpaceX IPO. What’s really driving the value of these companies? Does the timing of the IPOs matter? How might they impact the AI startup ecosystem? To process all this, Pioneers of AI phones a friend: Reid Hoffman. As co-founder of LinkedIn and Manas AI, a longtime...

Care.com is the digital marketplace that connects caregiving professionals with people who need help with kids, seniors, pets, and more. It’s the market leader in an area where the need is constantly growing. Host Jeff Berman talks with CEO Brad Wilson about how companies can create more loyal employees by supporting caregiving, why the future of work needs to be flexible, how he’s leading through...

David protein bars went from startup to one of the hottest consumer products in America in under two years. But the ride has been anything but smooth. Founder and CEO Peter Rahal joins Rapid Response to talk about building a breakout brand through lawsuits, a Jeffrey Epstein association, and the kind of social media heat most companies would run from. Rahal also revisits his $600 million sale of R...

While many tech companies race to build ever-larger AI models, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna sees the future differently. Speaking with host Bob Safian before a live audience during New York Tech Week, Krishna explains why enterprises are overcomplicating AI adoption, what kinds of risks leaders should be taking right now, and how to weigh AI's costs against its benefits. He also shares why IBM believes...

As America hurtles toward its 250th birthday, the world is watching. Ian Bremmer, Eurasia Group President and PBS host, joins Rapid Response to give his unvarnished read on the state of Brand America. He shares how he’s advising business and political leaders around the globe, why he believes the US is overdue for a revolution, and what the widening gap between American wealth and American opportu...

RJ Scaringe is the founder and CEO of Rivian Automotive. Host Jeff Berman digs into how Scaringe thinks about competing with Tesla, the hard won lessons of building a company that makes both vehicles and software, and how the company is scaling to fuel the highly anticipated launch of its newest electric vehicle: The R2. This Masters of Scale Live event, sponsored by Atlassian, was recorded at Atl...

As the World Cup kicks off this Thursday, scrutiny surrounds ticket prices, disrupted fan travel, potential ICE activity, and FIFA’s murky dealings. ESPN Global Sports Correspondent Sam Borden has covered this tournament from Brazil to Qatar, and he joins Rapid Response to break down the USA's real chance, what Iran's presence on American soil actually means, and whether hosting the world's bigges...

While legacy news outlets like The Washington Post stumble, The Guardian keeps growing — but how? Guardian Media Group CEO Anna Bateson joins Rapid Response to pull back the curtain on the company's unusual ownership structure and the multi-revenue model fueling its resilience. Bateson also weighs in on the threat and opportunity of AI chatbots, the Jeff Bezos effect on media, and what role she se...

If there was a Mount Rushmore of brand builders, investor Rohan Oza would be on it. He’s been the driving force behind $8 billion in exits for vitaminwater, Poppi, and more. Oza joins host Jeff Berman to reveal his playbook for success. Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter:  https://mastersofscale.com/subscribe See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Priv...

Big Tech is moving fast on AI. But who's watching out for the rest of us? Aza Raskin, co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology, has spent years sounding the alarm about where the race to build powerful AI is actually taking us. He joins Rapid Response to expose the incentive structures quietly pushing Silicon Valley toward dangerous territory, and to make the case that it's not too late to c...

Money = Math + Feelings. That’s the equation at the heart of Carrie Joy (CJ) Grimes’ nonprofit WorkMoney, which has scaled to more than 9 million members since it started during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Grimes joins host Jeff Berman to reveal the strategies that can improve not just how much money we have, but our relationship with it.   CJ’s book: The Joy of Money Subscribe...

What if the way we think about business value, trust, and capitalism itself is fundamentally broken? Eric Ries’ The Lean Startup changed how a generation of entrepreneurs build companies. Now, Ries takes aim at some of the most sacred business assumptions today in his new book, Incorruptible. Ries joins Rapid Response to share what he witnessed firsthand in the clash between Anthropic and the US g...

We all feel the urgency: learn to use AI, or risk falling behind at work. And we all know there's an upside: AI can reduce tedious tasks, streamline operations, and boost output. But knowing is half the battle (maybe even less) and implementing AI needs to happen across an entire organization. So what does it take to start? Well, here at WaitWhat (the company behind this podcast!) we paused all op...

When Lew Frankfort joined Coach half a century ago, it was a small NYC handbag maker without a single storefront. Frankfort reveals how he scaled the brand into a global icon worth more than 20 billion dollars with a signature blend of “magic and logic”.  Lew’s memoir is Bag Man. Find it at: https://lewfrankfort.com/ Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter:  https://mastersof...

Robotaxis are multiplying across American cities… But are consumers actually ready to trust them? Zoox CEO Aicha Evans joins Rapid Response to talk about the company’s strategy as an Amazon subsidiary, its intensifying rivalry with Waymo, and why a new partnership with Uber could be the key to getting autonomous rides from novelty to scale. Evans also reveals why she recruits what she calls an “in...

In a new follow-up to his bestselling book Range, author David Epstein reveals his new contrarian take: The best thing for innovation is actually constraints. Epstein talks with host Jeff Berman about the fascinating research he did to prove out this idea, with examples from Silicon Valley, Pixar and more.  Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter:  https://mastersofscale.com/...

When Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn sent an internal memo about AI last year, he didn't expect it to go viral — or to ignite a firestorm about the future of work. Now he joins Rapid Response to unpack what he got right, what he got wrong, and what the backlash taught him about the real limitations of AI. Von Ahn also reveals why he's made a deliberate pivot in 2026: chasing users, not revenue — and wha...

Todd Graves built Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers into a nearly 1,000 restaurant empire worth billions. It’s well known for both its deliciously simple menu and its refreshingly friendly staff. The founder and CEO talks with host Jeff Berman about how he perfected the recipe for success, why he thinks restaurants should be wary of private equity, and much more. Subscribe to the Masters of Scale wee...

When markets drop and chaos hits, Mellody Hobson is determined to be brave. The co-CEO of Ariel Investments and former chair of Starbucks and DreamWorks joins Rapid Response to make the case that volatility isn't something to survive but to exploit. She shares the financial lessons she lives by, including a surprising admonition against making choices based on money, and why she sees women's sport...

As The Devil Wears Prada 2 hits theaters this weekend, Rapid Response explores the enduring business lessons inside the now 20-year-old original. Host Bob Safian is joined by two insiders who built their careers in the world the film depicts: Janice Min, CEO of The Ankler, and Sarah Ball, editor-in-chief of WSJ Magazine. Together they track how publishing, fashion and power have all shifted over t...