Masters of Scale

Gary Vaynerchuk of VaynerMedia has produced more than a dozen Super Bowl ads for brands. In 2026, his hilarious "Will Shat" spot for Kellogg's Raisin Bran features actor William Shatner with a fiber-forward message. He talked with Jeff Berman about the bold ad, how marketing is changing, big brands' delayed embrace of social media, and more. Visit the Rapid Response website here: https://www.rapidresponseshow.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Eric Yuan saw frustrated customers and wanted to make the product he worked on better – but couldn’t convince his bosses. So he struck out on his own and founded a competitor: Zoom. Yuan talks with host Jeff Berman about building Zoom into a massive player, how it handled 30x growth when the Covid pandemic hit, how he led the company through a painful round of layoffs, and more. Visit the Rapid Response website here: https://www.rapidresponseshow.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

TV host, producer, author, and UN Goodwill Ambassador Padma Lakshmi joins Rapid Response with candid advice for business leaders on speaking out, showing courage, and staying true to themselves, particularly amid the Trump Administration’s violent immigration crackdown. A passionate voice at the intersection of food, culture, and identity, Lakshmi shares how she’s shaking up food media with her new series America’s Culinary Cup, and offers a refreshingly human take on modern work life, including why she chooses to take zoom meetings from the comfort of her own bed.  Visit the Rapid Response website here: https://www.rapidresponseshow.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this episode of Possible, Reid Hoffman and Aria Finger sit down with Amjad Masad, founder and CEO of Replit, to explore how AI is fundamentally changing who gets to build software and what that means for work, creativity, and human agency. Masad traces his journey from growing up in Jordan teaching himself to code and connects it to his love of video games which helped inspire him to build a platform that turns natural language into working software. The conversation spans everything from why gaming mindsets make better builders, to how CEOs are rediscovering hands-on creation, to why “vibe coding” is the next form of literacy and why computational thinking is more important than syntax mastery. The conversation also digs into the future of AI agents, long-running autonomous workflows, and what it means to design environments for machines rather than humans. They also confront harder questions about jobs, fear, regulation, and society’s responsibility during a cognitive industrial revolution. The episode ultimately reframes AI not as a replacement for human creativity, but as a force that can return people to a more entrepreneurial, expressive, and meaningful way of life.  For more info on the podcast and transcripts of all the episodes, visit https://www.possible.fm/podcast/ Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/newsletter/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

After blitzscaling one of the fastest-growing spirit brands in history, Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey founder Fawn Weaver is reflecting on how to build not just a company, but a meaningful life. She talked with CNN host Van Jones at the Masters of Scale Summit in October.  Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/newsletter/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As global leaders disperse from the World Economic Forum, LinkedIn co-founder and tech investor Reid Hoffman joins Rapid Response to break down the biggest challenges and opportunities facing business today, from political headwinds tied to immigration and geopolitics to AI’s real-time impact on industries like music and healthcare. Hoffman also explains why fears of a tech bubble aren’t shaping his investing, what it really means to be an AI-first organization, and why this moment calls for CEOs to speak up and show courage. Visit the Rapid Response website here: https://www.rapidresponseshow.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

At Masters of Scale Summit in October of 2025, Reid Hoffman and Dr. Sean White, CEO of Inflection AI, discuss how to design responsible AI systems, build smarter AI-fueled businesses, and the potential for transforming everything from healthcare to education. This conversation is brought to you by Inflection AI. Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/newsletter/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Cognitive scientist Maya Shankar has made a career of cleverly using insights from behavioral economics to fuel her work in the Obama White House and in Silicon Valley. She talks with host Jeff Berman about the tools everyone can use to be more resilient in the face of change.  You can find Maya's book The Other Side of Change here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/729180/the-other-side-of-change-by-maya-shankar/ Check out Maya’s podcast A Slight Change of Plans here: https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/a-slight-change-of-plans See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Mayors are unique leaders in America, often more loved and less polarized than state or federal politicians, with a different mandate and metric for success. Mayor of Oklahoma City, David Holt, is also the current president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and he joins Rapid Response to discuss how cities deliver for their residents, navigate macroeconomic forces and federal policy, and improve public trust. Holt shares what it means to govern a politically “purple” city, and how forces of politics and society may make us appear to be more polarized than we really are. Visit the Rapid Response website here: https://www.rapidresponseshow.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When Nicholas Thompson took over as CEO of The Atlantic five years ago, the iconic magazine was in financial trouble. Now, its profitable and subscriber and revenue numbers are growing. Thompson joins host Jeff Berman to talk about the impressive turnaround, how media companies can weather AI disruption, and lessons from the world of long distance running. His new memoir is The Running Ground: A father, a son, and the simplest of sports: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/678434/the-running-ground-by-nicholas-thompson/ Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/newsletter/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How does a country sliding toward autocracy affect its economy? Political scientist and author Barbara F Walter offers data-driven insights about why the murky middle ground between democracy and autocracy is bad for business. She talked with host Jeff Berman live on stage at the 2025 Masters of Scale Summit.  Walter’s book: https://bookshop.org/p/books/how-civil-wars-start-and-how-to-stop-them-barbara-f-walter/35f702a0af16f18a Walter’s Substack: https://barbarafwalter.substack.com/ Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/newsletter/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In less than a decade, OnlyFans says it has grown into a business earning $7 billion a year. The digital platform is known for letting its 4 million creators share exclusive – often NSFW – content with more than 400 million paying users. So far, creators have earned $25 billion using OnlyFans. CEO Keily Blair revealed what’s next for the brand with host Jeff Berman live on stage at Web Summit in Lisbon.  Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/newsletter/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The brilliant computer scientist Fei-Fei Li is often called the Godmother of AI. She talks with host Reid Hoffman about why scientists and entrepreneurs need to be fearless in the face of an uncertain future. Li was a founding director of the Human-Centered AI Institute at Stanford and is now an innovator in the area of spatial intelligence as co-founder and CEO of World Labs.  This conversation was recorded live at the Presidio Theatre as part of the 2025 Masters of Scale Summit. Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribe  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In recent weeks, OpenAI faced seven lawsuits alleging that ChatGPT contributed to suicides or mental health breakdowns. To spotlight the controversial relationship between AI and mental health, host Bob Safian is joined on stage at Innovation@Brown Showcase by Brown University's Ellie Pavlick, director of a new institute dedicated to exploring AI and mental health, and Soraya Darabi of VC firm TMV, an early investor in mental health AI startups. Pavlick and Darabi weigh the pros and cons of applying AI to emotional well-being, from chatbot therapy to AI friends and romantic partners.  Visit the Rapid Response website here: https://www.rapidresponseshow.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When Emilie Choi first left Linkedin to go work at a crypto company called Coinbase, her old colleagues thought she made a big mistake. But after surviving a crypto winter, she’s become a key figure in the rise of the company – and the industry. Now Coinbase President and COO, Choi talked with host Reid Hoffman about the operating lessons that enable hyper-scaling and the future of money. This conversation was recorded live on stage at the Presidio Theatre as part of the 2025 Masters of Scale Summit. Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribe See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Reid Hoffman, Stacy Brown-Philpot, and Aileen Lee are three of the most successful, legendary leaders and investors in Silicon Valley. (The term “unicorn” for a startup valued at a billion dollars? Well, Aileen coined that.) This power trio sat down with journalist Van Jones live onstage at the 2025 Masters of Scale Summit, October 8 in San Francisco, to share candid snapshots of the investor’s mindset during this time of rapid change. Learn why VCs have dramatically shifted the way they invest in entrepreneurs this year, how companies can stand out in the crowded AI space, their personal green lights or red flags, and how players on all sides can adapt. Visit the Rapid Response website here: https://www.rapidresponseshow.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.