Skip to Content

Landing on the moon

Intuitive Machines’ Steve Altemus

Steve Altemus shares how the Intuitive Machines team navigated a variety of challenges to become the first private enterprise to land on the moon.

Learn More

GaryVee wants your attention

VaynerMedia’s Gary Vaynerchuk

Gary Vaynerchuk – or GaryVee – joins Rapid Response to preach the need for widespread empathy and fearless leadership, and he uncovers the secrets to his new platform’s unconventional scale.

Learn More

How great cultures are built and rebuilt

Burberry & Apple’s Angela Ahrendts, Uber’s Dara Khosrowshahi & Google & Schmidt Futures’ Eric Schmidt

Recorded live at the Masters of Scale Summit in San Francisco, three legendary culture-setters sit down with host Bob Safian to discuss how they’ve built and rebuilt great cultures at Apple, Uber, Google, and more.

Learn More

Using failure as a launchpad

MoviePass’ Stacy Spikes

After an infamous fall, MoviePass co-founder Stacy Spikes is back to try again, applying hard-earned lessons and a revamped model to meet the same goal: make theater-going a habit for a new generation. As a passionate Black entrepreneur, Stacy shares the hidden powers of being an outsider and how anyone can re-take control of their narrative to spark a new and exciting chapter.

Learn More

How great leaders respond in a crisis

Airbnb’s Brian Chesky

After guiding the company through a near-death experience, Airbnb’s Brian Chesky talks with Rapid Response host Bob Safian about what he learned and how responding to a crisis both reveals your character and teaches you what’s most important. Recorded live on stage at the Masters of Scale Summit in San Francisco.

Learn More

Lessons from the demise of BuzzFeed News

BuzzFeed’s Jonah Peretti

If the most prestigious aspect of your business isn’t paying dividends, should you leave it in the past? BuzzFeed’s co-founder and CEO, Jonah Peretti discusses the surprising decision to shutter the Pulitzer Prize-winning BuzzFeed News, and how the company seeks to re-anchor toward the bright future of media. In his third appearance on Rapid Response, Peretti shares lessons about redefining the tool of social media, leading a private versus public business, and how to tune-out the external noise.

Learn More

Bonus: Stephen Colbert on DonorsChoose (The Complete Interview)

The Late Show’s Stephen Colbert

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.

Learn More
Episode 123: Masters of Scale

Build the right incentives

VIPKid’s Cindy Mi

Businesses run on incentives — from attracting customers with great prices, to drawing in talent with great salaries. But incentives aren’t something you set once; you must constantly revisit them to adjust to changing times. Cindy Mi, founder and CEO of the learning platform VIPKid, has leveraged the power of incentives to build a thriving global learning community — and, to shepherd her organization through a black hole-sized disruption.

Learn More

Risking an iconic brand — and $40b — in a race to go all-electric

Mercedes-Benz’s Ola Källenius

How do you reinvent a world-renowned automaker for an all-electric future? At Mercedes-Benz, CEO Ola Källenius has set the jaw-dropping goal to put fossil-fuels in the rear-view mirror by 2030 — ahead of other competitors and well ahead of Paris Climate Accords recommendations. Pushing the company’s tech, customers, and workforce to operate in a new gear, Källenius says, is repositioning Mercedes for whatever challenges and opportunities are ahead. From strategizing for the luxury market — balancing volume with desirability — to grappling with the complications of economic disruption, Källenius takes us inside the epic transformation of an iconic brand.

Learn More