Masters of Scale with Reid Hoffman

When's the right time for hypergrowth? Should you take investment when you don’t need the money? How do you deal with an exhausted team? Global entrepreneurs facing hyperfast growth ask Reid their questions about raising capital, pivoting their product, bootstrapping vs. blitzscaling and more. Featuring some of the highest-performing scale entrepreneurs from Endeavor, and cohosted by Harvard professor Youngme Moon, of the great HBS podcast After Hours.

How do you find joy in your life? Our host, Reid Hoffman, finds it through friendship, and the genuine, honest, and intimate conversations it brings. In this special episode of Meditative Story, from the same producers as Masters of Scale, Reid shares his passion for connecting with others by asking big questions.

Rent the Runway co-founder Jenn Hyman knows: Behind every successful business is another business backstage, one you might not expect. Rent the Runway is known for creating a glamorous "closet in the cloud,” but as Hyman explains, it achieved unicorn status by mastering a few less glamorous businesses — including the world’s largest dry-cleaning operation and a data insights practice that’s changing the fashion industry. Cameo appearance: Kevin Venardos (Venardos Circus); Stewart Butterfield (Slack). Read Jenn Hyman's essay on the making of this episode:

To find your big idea? Look for it. And look for it. And be ready to act. Spanx founder Sara Blakely was actively seeking a business idea when she thought of Spanx. Then she moved fast, found help in the right places, and went all-in. The result: A billion-dollar company & women's wardrobes transformed. With cameos by National Geographic Explorer Andrés Ruzo, former director of the US Patent & Trademark Office Michelle Lee, and Endeavor CEO Linda Rottenberg. LINKS: Learn more about The Boiling River Project: http://www.boilingriver.org Read "The Boiling River" by Andrés Ruzo: https://amzn.to/36iHHNF Learn more about the US patent system: https://www.uspto.gov/ Meet Andre, who dresses Oprah Winfrey: https://andrewalkerhair.com Listen to Linda Rottenberg on Masters of Scale: https://mastersofscale.com/linda-rottenberg-the-next-silicon-valley-is/ Get the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dlirtX

You need a great story to build a great company. And great stories are unwaveringly TRUE. No one embodies this principle more fully than Scott Harrison, founder of Charity: Water. A master storyteller, Scott built his nonprofit on 3 radical principles: (1) 100% of donations would go to water projects (not overhead) (2) Progress reports would be utterly transparent, sharing victories, defeats and even GPS coordinates of water wells (3) The brand’s storytelling would lead with hope instead of guilt, inspiring joyful participation without sacrificing honesty. Cameo appearance: Jonathan Gottschall (fellow at Washington & Jefferson College & author).