Masters of Scale

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On Masters of Scale, iconic business leaders share lessons and strategies that have helped them grow the world's most fascinating companies. Founders, CEOs, and dynamic innovators join candid conversations about their triumphs and challenges with a set of luminary hosts, including founding host Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock partner). From navigating early prototypes to expanding brands globally, Masters of Scale provides priceless insights to help anyone grow their dream enterprise.

  • 32 minutes 44 seconds
    How a summer job grew into an ice cream empire, with CEO Ben Van Leeuwen

    Van Leeuwen Ice Cream is one of the fastest growing dessert brands in the country. It’s known for its seriously delicious classic flavors and its wacky collaborations. (Kraft Mac and Cheese ice cream, anyone?) Co-founder and CEO Ben Van Leeuwen talks with Jeff Berman to reveal how it grew from his love of simple ingredients and driving an ice cream truck as a teenager into a rapidly scaling company with about 2,000 employees.

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    10 July 2025, 9:00 am
  • 27 minutes 7 seconds
    PBS fights for its future, with President & CEO Paula Kerger

    PBS President & CEO Paula Kerger joins Rapid Response to take us inside the organization’s financial reality if federal funding is stripped, and how she’s battling to protect iconic programming — from Frontline to Sesame Street. Kerger shares the role of corporate philanthropy in PBS’ future, its relationship with streamers like Netflix, and how she handles allegations of public media bias. Whether or not you're an avid Nova or Ken Burns viewer, PBS' challenge captures critical lessons about focus, mission, and the need to evolve or die trying.

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

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    8 July 2025, 9:00 am
  • 36 minutes 16 seconds
    How Baby2Baby stepped up as LA wildfires raged, with co-CEOs Norah Weinstein and Kelly Sawyer Patricof

    Devastating wildfires tore through Los Angeles at the start of 2025. Nonprofit Baby2Baby was on the ground leveraging its deep knowledge of how to respond to natural disasters to help families in need. Co-CEOs Norah Weinstein and Kelly Sawyer Patricof joined host Jeff Berman on stage to reflect on what it was like to use everything they’d learned scaling their nonprofit to help their hometown in a moment of crisis. 

    This Masters of Scale Live event, presented by Capital One Business, was recorded at Neuehouse in Los Angeles. 

    To learn more about how you can support Baby2Baby, go to https://baby2baby.org/

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    3 July 2025, 9:00 am
  • 29 minutes 40 seconds
    Canva’s $35B design biz is quietly taking over the workplace, with co-founder & COO Cliff Obrecht

    For over a decade, Canva has made design and publishing more accessible than ever. Now, the company is wrestling with how to harness AI while staying true to its mission of empowering individual creators. Co-founder and COO Cliff Obrecht joins Rapid Response to reveal how Canva is navigating this shift—and why the stakes are so high when it comes to AI-adoption in the creative industry. He opens up about leading the company alongside his wife and co-founder Melanie Perkins, their decision to give away $100 million to causes in Malawi, and what it means to scale without compromising values. Obrecht also shares Canva’s role in the future of technology and how marketing could define the business’s next chapter.

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

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    1 July 2025, 9:00 am
  • 32 minutes 53 seconds
    Building a $1.5B real estate empire, with Spencer Rascoff and Austin Allison

    Zillow co-founder Spencer Rascoff and Dotloop founder Austin Allison both knew that owning a vacation home was a great privilege — and an expensive hassle. They’re leveraging their decades of experience in real estate to reshape how owning a vacation home works with a new business: Pacaso. They join host Jeff Berman to reveal how it became the fastest U.S. company to ever reach unicorn status.

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

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    26 June 2025, 9:00 am
  • 29 minutes 5 seconds
    Empowering frontline leaders amid Trump’s massive global aid cuts, with War Child’s Dr. Samantha Nutt

    Even after the fighting stops, the impact of war is felt for generations. Dr. Samantha Nutt, President of War Child USA and Canada, joins Rapid Response to share how the nonprofit is serving families in conflict zones around the world — from Sudan to Afghanistan, utilizing local leaders and community organizers to spark meaningful and long term change. In the wake of Trump’s sweeping USAID divestment, Dr. Nutt reveals how nonprofits are adapting to a new climate, and why she’s surprisingly optimistic about the future of American generosity.

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

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    24 June 2025, 9:00 am
  • 33 minutes
    How to raise $172M for the underinvested, with Stacy Brown-Philpot

    After wildly successful stints at Google, as CEO of Taskrabbit, and on prominent boards, Stacy Brown-Philpot decided it was time to start her own venture capital fund. She talks with host Jeff Berman about how she raised $172 million for Cherryrock Capital, why she’s focusing on underinvested founders, and how she owes it all to a six-day silent retreat.

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

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    19 June 2025, 9:00 am
  • 32 minutes 31 seconds
    Reid Hoffman on Trump vs Musk, Zuckerberg’s “superintelligence,” and the next wave of AI

    Amid global conflict, domestic unrest, and AI’s surging impact in all corners of business, it’s getting harder than ever to decipher noise from substance. To help us navigate this challenge, Reid Hoffman returns to Rapid Response, sharing valuable insights about Trump’s public spat with Elon Musk, the crisis in the Middle East, and how his new AI healthcare startup functions in the age of RFK Jr. Plus, Hoffman assesses Meta and Apple’s recent strategy to compete with OpenAI, and whether AI is realistically poised to spark a “white collar bloodbath”.

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

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    17 June 2025, 9:00 am
  • 23 minutes 50 seconds
    Advice for grads in the age of AI from Reid Hoffman, Spencer Rascoff & more

    A group of graduating students asked Reid Hoffman the biggest questions looming in their minds as they venture out into their careers. Plus, we asked a dozen incredible CEOs, founders and authors for the one piece of advice they’d give to a new graduate. It’s excellent wisdom whether you’re a new graduate or not. 

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

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    14 June 2025, 9:00 am
  • 32 minutes 53 seconds
    Is Dude Perfect the next Disney?

    What started as five friends filming trick shot videos 16 years ago has become a new media empire. Dude Perfect has more than 61 million followers on YouTube alone. CEO Andrew Yaffe talks with host Jeff Berman about how he and the dudes are leveraging the Disney playbook to build a vertically integrated business that spans, content, products, events and maybe someday … their own theme park.

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

    Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribe

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    12 June 2025, 9:00 am
  • 28 minutes 25 seconds
    Trump’s impact on crypto future and your portfolio, with Unchained’s Laura Shin

    While the first family engage in their own memecoin ventures, the crypto market is booming. Crypto expert and host of the podcast Unchained, Laura Shin joins Rapid Response to reveal the sector’s emerging economic, political and geopolitical implications. Shin also provides a primer on how to best experiment with crypto today, why Stablecoin is growing so fast, and what Coinbase joining the S&P 500 means for the industry’s future.

    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.

    10 June 2025, 9:00 am
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