What drove the meteoric rise of David Droga’s trailblazing agency Droga5? A series of daring, unexpected leaps — tactics he’s now applying at mega-scale as head of Accenture Song. Conventional wisdom tells you to ‘climb the ladder’ of success linearly — as an individual or a company. But David’s unexpected moves — leaning into creative partnerships and controversial programs — accelerated his path to scale. David tells us: “I’m more scared of repetition than I am of failure.”

Branding is at the heart of any organization’s identity, product, and mission. That’s why brand relevance isn’t a nice-to-have — it’s a need to have. This special episode shares key branding lessons from Nike, Disney, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, and more.

In June of 2020, executive producers June Cohen and Jordan McLeod sat down with comedian Stephen Colbert to discuss how, as host of The Colbert Report, Stephen pivoted a satirical run for U.S. president into a massive fundraiser for the nonprofit Donors Choose. They dive into how that presidential run came to be, and how Donors Choose helped Stephen solve the challenge of collecting “campaign contributions” without breaking federal election law. It’s a master class in “Yes-and”-ing your way to scale. Plus, Stephen describes daring his show’s parent company to stop him, when they tried to clip his electoral wings.

What can an entrepreneur learn from a world-class musician? How to create a world-class team, and unite around a clear mission. In this special crossover episode with our sister podcast, Spark & Fire, you’ll hear world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma tell the story of co-founding The Silk Road Project — a musical collective that brings together musicians from wildly different traditions to write and perform original music.