Highlights to inspire your 2024

The very best founders I know are brilliant at building systems. They connect teams, they remove bottlenecks, and they eliminate single points of failure. And yet When it comes to their own wealth. Most are running a disconnected stack. A tax accountant here and a state attorney there, a wealth manager who doesn't talk to either one of them.

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dot com. Slash M O S. Hey, folks, Jeff Berman here. I am thrilled to share some of the new names who will be joining us at this year's Masters of Scale summit. This may be our biggest stage yet. Reed Hastings, Meredith Whitaker, Van Jones, Amjad Masad, and more.

Will be there with us October 20th through 22nd in San Francisco. If you're building something great, or you want to build something great, We want you there with us too. Join us at masters of scale dot com slash apply twenty six. That's mastersofscot com slash apply. twenty six.

Hi listeners, it's Chris McLeod, executive producer of Masters of Scale. Over the past year, we've shared some truly remarkable scale stories. From fashion icons to AI visionaries. Tech startups to Hollywood mainstays. And as we close the book on twenty twenty three, we thought it'd be a great time to take a look back.

And share some of these unforgettable moments. And this week Reed is passing the mic to the team who makes the show. Five of us behind the curtain have selected our favorite moments of the year. After the break, the Masters of Scale team shares their five favorite moments from 2023.

You gotta have incredible talent at every position. There are fires burning when you're going out. Can you believe it? And then you go back to, this is totally gonna be amazing. There are so many easy ways. I have no idea what to do. Sorry, we made a mistake. But you have to time it right. Oops. We're gonna add a three-bedroom apartment. We haven't made it. Just how you do it. This is masters of scale.

I'm Jodine Dorsey, VP of Live at Wait What? The company that brings Masters of Scale to life. My favorite moment from twenty twenty three is Damon John's Ode to Financial Literacy featured in the Eileen Fisher episode. I love Damon's commitment to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs. The lesson at the heart of this clip.

is about keeping ideas simple, And adaptable. Something I've thought about a lot in my own work since the episode dropped. Imagine.

You're a kid visiting a library for storytime. Once you get past The stuffy dewy decimalization. Of the grown up shelves, you find yourself in the wonder filled world. of the children section.

No There are dragons. Hat it on the wall. Hush owls. А постад он табл.

And Saturn. Hangs from the ceiling. As you gather around with the other kids. Your excitement builds. Are you about to hear a heartwarming tale?

About a hungry caterpillar. Or perhaps you're going to launch into a space rocket adventure. Or maybe. You're gonna shiver your timbers on a jaunty pirate adventure. So imagine.

How you react? When you learn that this story time is going to be all about Financial literacy. My revenge.

That may sound Like a hard sell to a bunch of hyperactive six year olds. But for one superstar entrepreneur. There was a finance shape hole. In the world of children's literature.

that he felt compelled to fill. There's so many great books that talk about Getting to know your feelings and the differences of others. And there were no books about financial intelligence or entrepreneurship. So I just figured Why not?

Me. That Damon John. The founder. of the game changing streetwear brand.

Fubu and one of the original sharks on ABC's Emmy Award winning shark tank. Most of the challenges we have come from the lack of money and the lack of information or what to do with money. He'd need to tell a simple Relatable story to capture kids' imaginations.

So he looked to his own childhood. For inspiration. really rooted in a version of Damon at twenty years old. On a version of Damon at six years old. I did sell pencils and I was young and stuff like that to make money. My passion was

H Damon titled his book. Little Damon learns to earn. Telling the story of a six year old who creates a t shirt business so he can buy a poster.

Hip hop artist. At its heart. Is a simple refrain. That every little kid Can get on board with.

to get kids to participate in it. Studies have shown that they feel very strong about counting to five. Yeah. Tá. Five.

What's your favorite time? So when you see the Chris dollar bill laid out and you're reading that in the classroom or the mom or dad is reading it to their kid, they go One Two three I know you're thinking about the count right now

I know you're thinking about the count right now. Uh it's all you know, there's certain methods and ways to communicate with children that are easier because they're absorbing information in a certain way. The aim of this simple idea is to give kids a lifelong interest in building their financial literacy. And there's something that even the most seasoned leaders can learn from keeping simplicity.

At the heart of their businesses. Every single business has to have clarity and simplicity. And so you know When you say Nike just do it, Fuble Forest Bias, White Castle, What You Crave, T and T we know Drama, T B S very Funny, you know that you are getting to the core of something. That's why they say the great people know how to do what they call a elevator pitch, ninety seconds.

You should be able to convey whatever you do. on the back of a business card. So you better either have a huge ass business card, right very small, or You get it. Put in a couple of words. You gotta convey what you do. There's nothing more important than simplicity and clarity.

The challenge. is keeping things simple. But not letting that keep you. Behind the times.

I know you're thinking about the count right now. That's why I believe. If you want your company to stand the test of time, you need to keep things simple. Without letting them stay the same. Hi, it's Marcha Mukoniana, Assistant Producer at Masters of Scale.

My favorite moment is hands down from Priya Krishna segment in our special mini series. AI and U. I don't want to spoil the cliff, but as a cookbook author, Priya attempts to use technology in a totally new way to develop Thanksgiving recipes. What I love about this excerpt is that Briya shows the power of a true experimentation mindset. This moment inspired me to pursue creative risks and rethink how I use technology to amplify my skill set.

Yeah. On the final Thursday. Of every november, many homes across the US burst with the sounds of a parade on the TV. Spirited family debates. Let's talk politics. And the squeak of an old oven door. For some people.

Preparation for the holiday begins months in advance. While traditions may stay the same, the menu often evolves. It's like what's a new way to make turkey? What's a new way to make pie? It can be so frustrating. That's Priya Krishna. Priya is a best selling cookbook author and food reporter at the New York Times.

Every Thanksgiving, Priya feels the pressure to conjure new and creative recipes. So Priya decided to welcome an unlikely sous chef into her kitchen. We thought What if we just asked? AI to generate our Thanksgiving menu for us.

Priya wondered. Rather than bend over backwards to invent the next traduckin, what if AI? Was the secret weapon every recipe writer didn't know they needed. Priya and her team. Film their experiment.

She committed to cooking the AI generated recipes word for word. We gave Chat GPT a bunch of different prompts. Show us a Thanksgiving desert. That is

A spin on pumpkin pie. Show me an unconventional take on stuffing. Show me an Indian inspired version of Turkey. And that's where things got really interesting. The more specific we made the prompts, the more creative.

Chat GPT would get. Dapriya surprise, GPD's recipe for stuffing. Called for Indian non-bread. Nan is not the Most intuitive bread for a stuffing.

You think you would want something that's super absorbent. But in my mind I was like Maybe there's something too non While Priya cooked through each of the AI recipes, she battled against her instincts. desperate to amend peculiar directions and measurements.

The first dish pre-finished and plated was the N stuffing. It looked a little gnarly coming out of the oven. It sort of looked like a cinnamon raisin bread pudding. Thankfully. Other dishes looked more appetizing.

The cake looked Delightful. It was like a pumpkin spice cake with cream cheese frosting. To judge AI's Thanksgiving dishes, pre invited four New York Times cooking columnists. The green beans were cooked to that perfect crisp tender texture.

And then on the other hand, you had this turkey that was just dry as a bone. The general consensus was If I went to someone's Thanksgiving dinner and they served this, I'd be ordering pizza afterwards. Despite GPT's lack of culinary success. Priya came away with some optimism.

There are plenty of uses for AI and cooking. You could tell AI, I've got mushrooms and chicken broth and green beans in my fridge. What are some things I could make? And AI could give you ideas. I'm cooking chicken thighs, what temperature should they be at to be considered fully cooked? What is the roasting temperature for sweet potatoes that are cut into cubes? AI can be very good as sort of a kitchen assistant.

Rather than perhaps The kitchen leader. Creo was only able to make this useful discovery through experimentation. No chef expects to create a flawless dish on their first attempt. They know from experience that commitment and patience are key in finding the perfect balance of flavors.

Textures and spells. Although AI lacks the distinctly human senses and emotions needed to enjoy a turkey with all the trimmings, It can still help us come together and experiment and collaborate to make cooking creative, exciting, and accessible. Even though the AI's integration was far from a triumph, it encouraged Priya to step outside of her comfort zone and open her eyes to new ideas. Every business leader should take inspiration from Priya's willingness to invite AI into the kitchen and experiment.

With patience and an open mind, the potential is boundless. That's why I believe that AI won't revolutionize your business overnight. To unleash AI's true power of scale, you must dive headfirst into an era of ongoing experimentation. Hi, it's Anya Profumo. The ad producer here at Masters of Scale.

My favorite moment of the year is from Reshmasul Johnny's episode. Where she talks about creating a network of change makers. Reshma is the founder of Girls Who Code and the founder and CEO of Moms First. In a year where news from around the world makes it harder than ever to stay motivated, I think Reschma's story of optimism and empowerment feels Even more inspiring.

In the clip you're about to hear, Reshma shares the origin story for Girls Who Code. At this point in the program's journey, girls who code is still just an idea for Reshma. A summer course for twenty young women to come together and learn to code. We also get to hear from Diana Chris Navarro, who is one of those first 20 girls to take part in the program. Seventy-four percent of high school girls wanted to pick a career that was about changing the world. And back then less than like 0.2% of girls were going into computer science. So I thought, you know what, if I could connect coding to change making. I could inspire a generation of girls to go into technology.

Reshma didn't just want to build a network to address the issue of representation in tech. You could use These programs to close the gender gap. Okay. The idea was that you would come out of that summer classroom.

You would love coding so much that you would want to go major or minor in computer science. And if you major or minored in computer science, you would then go work in the technology workforce. This is a job where you can march up into the middle class. Maybe for the first time. We're kinda starting kids out at the same place.

And whether you are A young girl living in a homeless shelter in Harlem, or a girl going to the best private school in New York City, you have an equal shot at getting a job at LinkedIn, right? Like That really Excited me. At the core

Of my life is not just solving equity for women and girls but it's also solving poverty. And here I saw an opportunity to do both. So I put the model together. When I talked to people, the number twenty kept coming up that you wanted to put a group Of twenty together to teach them a new skill set. And so I designed these summer camps to have

twenty girls. And then I did my first program. For insight. On how that first cohort felt. Let's hear.

From Diana Chris Navarro. A software engineer. Was one of the first Girls who code. Students.

I took AP computer science in high school. We started off with like three girls. And then they dropped out and I ended up being the only girl in the class. It was very

Cut throat and And I remember This dude got a 97 on a test, and he was like arguing with the teacher and was like, This should be like a 98. I was Just so embarrassed'cause I was just doing

So poorly. I was like, this sucks. I really don't want to code ever again. The experience was so negative. The Dana decided software engineering.

was a closed network. And one. she couldn't break into. That was until She came across the website.

For girls who code. She applied. was accepted. And in the summer of twenty twelve. Arrive for first.

Girls who code session. At an office building. In downtown Manhattan. Sitting around this gorgeous wooden table, everyone holding laptops and it's awesome.

And then R came in with a box of these super fancy cool looking donuts. The program covered coding skills. But Rush also made sure To get the cohort thinking about how they could work together to solve a range of problems.

What app would you create? What technology would you build? And I remember just watching the room. I believed in this idea that if you actually bring together girls that were black, white, straight, gay, you may mean rich, poor, and you put them in a classroom together and you taught them a new skill set. That they would become best friends.

You could just feel like oh We're all gonna be really good friends and we're all gonna do really cool stuff together. And there's people here that really believe in us and really want us to succeed. And it's just this like freaking awesome feeling. It was this big light. that went off in my head. I thought to myself, you know, maybe I could help create an entire generation of girls.

that could make the world a better place. And she's like you guys are gonna change the world. And then that was it. We were gonna build girls who code. After the break. We'll hear more of our team members. Share their favorite Masters of Scale moments from twenty twenty three. So stick around.

When you build substantial wealth through your business, it's often tied up in a single equity position. The upside is real, but so is the risk, and knowing when to act isn't always obvious. Creative planning works with business owners to build a strategy around concentrated equity. When to diversify, how to manage tax risk, and how to protect what you've spent years building. Creative planning where wealth works together.

Learn more at creative plating dot com slash masters of scale. Humans will never be more intelligent than AI. Those were great at AI and those that went out of business because they weren't. How do we build a future? That is human centered. I'm Rana El Calyubi.

And on my podcast Pioneers of AI, we answer that question and so many more. As an AI scientist, entrepreneur, and investor, I know what it takes to build AI that works for everyone. Every week, I sit down with the pioneers shaping our future. And we take you behind the scenes of the AI that's transforming our lives. Find pioneers of AI wherever you tune in. Hey listeners, Bob here. If you listen to Rapid Response on Masters of Scale, you may be missing half the show because every Friday we release a second Rapid Response exclusively in the Rapid Response feed. The guests and topics are just as compelling and timely for From Ford CEO to NASA's administrator to the lessons from The Devil Wears Prada. It takes about 10 seconds to find, just search rapid response wherever you listen to podcasts and hit follow to make sure you never miss an episode.

I hope to see you there. We're back with our favorite Masters of Scale moments from twenty twenty three. There's so many incredible moments that we don't have time to share today, and we're curious what your favorite was. Let us know. We're at Masters of Scale on all social platforms. Next up

Passing the mic to Adam. Hello, this is Adam Skuse, senior writer at Masters of Scale. My favorite moment of the year is a story about Steve Jobs from Pixar co-founder Ed Catmell. Ed tells how Steve leaned into his writer side at the nineteen ninety nine Macworld event, poking fun at the event and himself. Ed used the story to illustrate a change he saw in the years he worked closely with Steve, a change that produced a lighter hearted, more accepting Steve jobs that remained somewhat shrouded by its reputation.

The theory of the episode is about the need to constantly reinvent your creative processes, something mastered by both Steve and Ed. And a skill that is only going to become more vital with the runaway development of AI. Uh When Steve Jobs bought us. At the beginning.

To be honest, we were nervous. Because we did know. And What the reputation was. And I have to say for several years.

I didn't see any sense of humor. at all. That's Ed Catmole. co founder of Pixar. Recalling Steve Jobs.

As a creative genius. Yes. But a genius who was demanding. Rash. Abrasive.

And that's Putting it mildly. I would say from ninety one to ninety five was the dramatic change in him as a person. It became more empathetic and caring. They paid attention to people.

Actually begin to see him having it. But this reputation stuck with Steve. Even after The changes Ed is talking about.

So when the stories were written about him. They're about the early public stories'cause frankly it's kind of sexy. Bad behavior or various things like that. For more dramatic television.

Good example. That's Dramatic Television is the nineteen ninety nine TV movie Pirates. No, Wiley.

had played Steve In a television movie. That was fairly derogatory towards Steve. I want beauty. Ning companies.

I see. Are you listening? Yes, I'm listening! I'm so sick of your abusiveness! That's all you know! Tearing people down like Tartars! You miserable son of a f<unk> Shortly after the film came out. Was the annual Apple showcase.

Macworld ninety nine. It meant the image of Steve Jobs. As an intense Humorless. Taskmaster.

Was fresh. in the minds of attendees. That didn't stop them from going wild. As the light stemmed. And a turtleneck figure.

Screwed out to the center of the stage. Welcome to the Macworld 99 stage, Steve Jobs. This is going to be a great Macworld.

What you can hear in the audience sort of this increasing Kitter. As people. begin to laugh because they realize it wasn't Steve. Now in fact.

It was Noah Wiley that came out. You know, everybody at Apple has been thinking different for the last couple of years. We're selling a lot of computers. But there's something else happening here. The resurgent of apples!

So this went on for a couple of minutes and then Reached the point where no Wiley It's something like an extreme version of what Steve used to say. Some really great new products. Some insanely great new products.

Some really, totally, wildly, insanely great new products. We've got products that are going to make it. And then Steve came out. You're supposed to come over here. Open a water. Now Steve with a slighter sense of humor. I thought it'd be a a great idea to have Noah Wally come out.

On the stage. and pretend to be him. He just demonstrated the depth of humor. To be able to do that. This insanely great thing we talked you didn't have a hundred years ago.

This moment of levity. Was a clear indication. Of how Steve had changed. It's a change, and it had been tracking for a long time. Even

If most of the world Overlooked it. And it had a huge effect. On how Steve worked. Part of his change over time.

Why things weren't going the way expected. They could then change the way he Work.

and I thought about people. And throughout his life he kept learning and growing. As we all should be doing. As a result of that. Steve.

And Apple had a major transformative effect in the world. The MacBook. The iPod. iTunes. And the iPhone.

These are some of the vastly impactful things that Steve Jobs Shepherded. Into the world. And I'd argue These were all so successful in part because Steve learned to change his approach.

His process. And even The way he saw himself. I believe. You need to constantly tweak.

Hack. And reinvent. The ways you work to keep at the top. Of your creative game. Now that we've heard from a few members of our incredible team.

I get to share my favorite moment of the year. This fall we chronicled the story of Imagine Entertainment. Through two separate episodes. With the company's co founders Ron Howard and Brian Grazer. We heard in Brian's episode about his unique networking practice, which he calls curiosity conversations.

Whether it's a Hollywood star or a young office assistant. The way Brian spends meaningful time to connect with people has stuck with me. As a podcast producer. Or Even just a human being in the world.

It's so important to remember how curiosity can be a catalyst for meaningful connection. And Brian will go to great lengths to engage in a curiosity conversation. An early example was with child star turned teenage heart throb. Ron Howard. who would one day become his lifelong business partner.

Let's hear the story of a meet cute for the ages. One day. Brian saw Ron Howard. Passing below his window. I ripped it open and I yell out the window just impulsively, Ron, Ron Howard

And he Glanced at me and then kind of Took off. So he eluded me, but I thought, you know, no, I really wanna Talk to him.

It's usually a bit harder to forge a trusted professional connection. Than simply yelling out your window. had a passer by. It's One of the reasons I built LinkedIn.

But this was NT Seventy nine. Sometime Before the rise of online social networks. So Brian

Took a more conventional approach. I called his assistant, Louisa, said I really want to have a conversation with Ron Howard. And then I was quite persuasive. And I had the meeting with Ron, he came to my office. And we had this magical one hour conversation.

He just had this aura of goodness about him. That was very attractive to me. We shared movie ideas back and forth, and I had several movie ideas that he really was impressed with. The two shared a vision from making movies that put human stories at their heart. We shared the same дрім.

That's where Ron and I intersected. Dreams are really, really important. And the only way they come true is Through execution. Both Brian and Ron had the will to push forward with their vision.

In nineteen eighty two, they brought to life. The comedy. Set in a morgue. Titled Night Shift. Starring Michael Keaton.

And Henry Winkler. The film. was a low key success. Ron and Bryan Then set their sights on a project Brian had been trying to get made for years.

The Story of a Man and a Mermaid Who fell in love. Titled Splash. Splash. Lived up to its name.

And was a massive hit. After our night shift. And splash experiences, I was so impressed with Brian. We had bonded. And He had a similar kind of output.

But we were driving all over town all the time, trying to sell to every studio and network And we between us we had probably thirty development projects going, which meant a lot of meetings. And we actually said. If we just

cooled all of this, we'd have some leverage and maybe we could just work out of one office. And not have to drive around quite so much. And we You know, we'd have each other. Ron and Bryan.

saw each other as force multipliers, helping each other bring their visions into being. So in nineteen eighty five Shortly after Splash was released, They decided to officially pool the resources by co founding. Imagine entertainment.

There was no sort of secret formula. to imagine other than Our personal taste. And this sort of belief. That we could

Between us Tell stories that would reach an audience. Ron's a master of movie making. And here He's also being

A master of modesty. Because I would argue that personal taste Plus. Self belief was his secret formula. In fact.

It is the formula. That can make a vision. into a reality. In order to achieve your own unique vision. It needs to be guided by your own personal taste and values and driven.

by your belief that you can make it a reality. Thanks. To the huge success of Splash. Imagine. One of the hottest production studios in Hollywood.

So within a year. Ron and Bryan raised funds with an IPO. So they could rapidly scale their vision. For creating modern. Human centered stories that spoke to their generation of movie goers.

We immediately had a pool of money. to work with to control our own development. to invest in the films. With the idea that we would maintain the right to syndication.

Burgeon. Video cassettes. And so forth. It was really uh thrilling. On paper, it looked like we'd really done something on paper. Ron and Bryan.

felt like they built a future proof model. For scaling the vision. But then they were broadsided by an unexpected upset. The kind that crawls barefoot through air ducts and yells. Yippee.

Bruce Willis. Was Given six milyen dollars. To star and die hard. He was a T V star.

When this TV guy leapt to that number. Every A list actor in Hollywood jumped to that number. Or more. And Our model no longer held up.

Because we were supposed to make movies for a certain number. Yet the studio wanted us To get the best actors of our generation, the best stars. To be in these movies. Before moving on, I want to assure you that Ron Howard

The nicest man in Hollywood. is in no way better. At Bruce's casting. was the right guy for the movie. By the way, they made a good call. It was a huge hit. But that priced us out of our model.

As a creative leader. You'll always have to face it Unexpected outside forces that may undercut your ability to For delivering your vision. They might be as bland as a change in interest rates.

Or As unexpected. as a disgruntled New York cop. in your ventilation system. And that's

where your expertise as a visionary will be most needed. Mm. There we have it. The Masters of Scale team's favorite moments from twenty twenty three. We have a lot of exciting things planned for 2024.

We can't wait for another year alongside you on your scale journey. Thanks for listening. Hey there, it's Jill Slessenger. I'm launching a new show. It's called Money Moves, and your money is going to move. We're gonna help you make better financial decisions. We're gonna call out the BS you're finding all over social media. We're gonna give you actionable guidance to make your financial life clearer, less stressful. We're gonna answer your financial questions and take the mystery out of your financial life. Follow and listen to Money Moves with Jill Schlesinger wherever you get your podcast.

Masters of Scale is a Wait What original. Our executive producer is Chris McLeod. Our producers are Chris Gauthier. Adam Skuse, Alex Morris. Tucker Logsky.

And Marcia, Marco Trinina. Our editor at large is Bob Safian. Our music director is Ryan Holliday. Original music and sound design by Eduardo Rivera. Brian Holiday.

Pay's holiday. and they can tell. Audio editing by Keith J Nelson, Steven Davies, Steven Wells. Andrew Knoll and Liam Jenkins. Mixing and Mastering by Erin Bastanelli and Brian Pugh.

Our CEO and Chairman of the Board. It's Jeff Berman. Masters of Scale was created by June Cohen. and Darren Treff. Special thanks.

The Jodine Dorsay. Alfonso Bravo. Tim Cronin. Erica Flynn. Sarah Tarter.

Kitty plays it. Maryl Karecker. Calling Howard. Brandon Klein.

Send me your Putta. Kelsey Saison. Luisa Vallez, Nikki Williams. And Justin Winslow. Visit masterscale.com

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