''Masters of Scale'' is a business and finance podcast hosted by Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn. The show is produced and owned by WaitWhat. In each episode, Hoffman introduces a theory on how successful businesses scale, and tests its validity by interviewing founders about their path to scale. Guests have included Facebook founder & CEO

Mark Zuckerberg Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (; born ) is an American business magnate, internet entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is known for co-founding the social media website Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook, Inc.), o ...

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...

founder and former CEO Howard Schultz, Netflix founder and CEO Reed Hastings,

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and

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Chairman John Elkann and others. Episodes also feature brief "cameo" appearances from other founders and experts in different industries who build on Hoffman's theories. ''Masters of Scale'' was the first American media program to commit to a 50/50

gender balance The sex ratio (or gender ratio) is usually defined as the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. Many species devia ...

for guests. Hoffman told Quartz: "Silicon Valley prides itself on being a meritocracy, but the data shows it's not. 'Masters of Scale''launched with and maintained our commitment to a 50/50 gender balance of guests on each season. It's important to not just talk about this topic, but to take action ... set an example."

History

Executive producers Deron Triff and June Cohen approached Hoffman with the idea for the podcast, pitching it as a way of "sharing his ideas on scale in a way that could, well, scale." The first episode of ''Masters of Scale,'' featuring Airbnb CEO and cofounder Brian Chesky, aired on May 3, 2017. In March 2018, the show completed its second season. In July 2018, the show launched its third season. In April 2020, a spinoff series ''Masters of Scale: Rapid Response'' was launched to cover the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the business community.

Credits

According to the show credits, the show's executive producers are June Cohen and Deron Triff. The supervising producer is Jai Punjabi. The producers are Chris McLeod, Adam Skuse, Dan Kedmey, Jordan McLeod and Ben Manila. The show is produced with support from Jennie Cataldo. Original music and sound design are by Ryan Holladay.

Episodes

Format

Each episode of ''Masters of Scale'' is based around one of host Reid Hoffman's theories on how companies scale, which he sets out to prove, using the guest's life and experience, as well as other additional guests. Each episode is scored with an original soundtrack.

Guests

A typical episode of ''Masters of Scale'' features one primary guest, whose story is told in detail, and who helps explain the theory, and several cameo appearances by other guests. These guests have been drawn from a wide spectrum of backgrounds, and have included Nobel Prize-winning economist

Daniel Kahneman Daniel Kahneman (; he, דניאל כהנמן; born March 5, 1934) is an Israeli-American psychologist and economist notable for his work on the psychology of judgment and decision-making, as well as behavioral economics, for which he was award ...

, Hall of Fame sportscaster

Dick Stockton Richard Edward Stokvis (born November 22, 1942), known professionally as Dick Stockton, is an American retired sportscaster. Stockton began his career in Philadelphia, then moved to Pittsburgh, where he worked as the sports director for KDKA-TV ...

, National Geographic explorer

Andrés Ruzo Andrés Ruzo is a geoscientist, conservationist, author, science communicator and educator, who became the first scientist granted permission to study the Boiling River of the Amazon in 2011. And in 2002, he was awarded with the National Geogra ...

and Olympic runner

Natasha Hastings Natasha Monique Hastings (born July 23, 1986) is an American 400 meter track and field sprinter. Career Hastings began her track career at a very early age and made a first place win at the USATF Junior Olympics in the 400 metres in the Youth Gi ...

Awards

In April 2018, ''Masters of Scale'' won the Webby People's Voice Award for Best Business Podcast. In 2020, ''Masters of Scale'' was short-listed for the Webby for both Best Business Podcast and Best Live Podcast Recording.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://mastersofscale.com/ Business and finance podcasts 2017 podcast debuts Audio podcasts Interview podcasts