Investor and philanthropist Robert
Smith — who took on the entire student loan debt of
Morehouse College Class of 2019 —
joins the podcast's Host Reid Hoffman at the closing performance of
the Summit Series flagship event.
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 8, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - Following its
sold-out debut performance in Boston this July, the award-winning Masters of
Scale podcast will bring its live show to the Summit LA conference
on Sunday, Nov. 10. More than an
on-stage interview, the live show encompasses the signature
elements for which the podcast is known — immersive storytelling,
original music, multiple guests, and a sense of humor, in addition
to the main interview.
Robert F. Smith, founder of Vista
Equity Partners and one of the country's most successful investors,
will join a conversation with host Reid
Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn and himself a legendary
investor with Greylock Partners.
Through Master of Scale's signature live format, Hoffman and
Smith will set out to prove a theory: that every great founder has
a second agenda: something outside their main business they're
trying to get done in the world, and that a successful company is
like a Trojan horse, carrying that other purpose forward. Smith,
one of America's few African-American billionaires, will unpack how
this theory has played out in his own life.
Earlier this year, Smith made headlines during a commencement
address at Morehouse College, a
historically black college, by telling the entire class of 2019
that he and his family would pay off their student debt.
The event will also feature a cameo appearance by education
expert Sir Ken Robinson, who gave
the most popular TED Talk of all time, and is best known for his
work helping schools understand the role of creativity.
The evening will feature a technology-powered
crowd exercise, bringing the audience into the conversation —
and inviting them to articulate their own 'second purpose.' The
exercise will be powered by Thoughtexchange, a disruptive platform
that helps leaders crowdsource answers to questions in real
time.
This live recording will become an episode of the popular
podcast series Masters of Scale; subscribe to the podcast on Apple
Podcast or Spotify to be notified when it goes live.
Listeners have described Masters of Scale as "the best
masterclass in building companies and scaling them," "like sitting
through an MBA program," and said of Reid's interview style: "His
thought process is so crystal clear that it makes you want to be
like him."
Robert F. Smith is the
Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Vista Equity Partners. He directs
Vista's investment strategy and decisions, firm governance, and
investor relations. Vista manages equity capital commitments of
over $52 billion and oversees a
portfolio of over 60 software companies that employ more than
70,000 people worldwide. Smith is the founding director and
President of the Fund II Foundation, dedicated to preserving the
African American experience, safeguarding human rights, providing
music education, preserving the environment while promoting the
benefits of the outdoors, and sustaining critical American values.
He is the Chairman of Carnegie Hall and the Chair of the Robert F.
Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights. In 2017, Smith was
named by Forbes as one of the 100 Greatest Living Business
Minds.
Reid Hoffman is the host
of Masters of Scale, co-founder of LinkedIn, and a partner at the
venture capital firm Greylock Partners. As an entrepreneur and
executive, Reid has played an integral role in building many of
today's leading consumer technology businesses, including LinkedIn
and PayPal. He possesses a unique understanding of consumer
behavior and the dynamics of viral businesses, as well as deep
experience in driving companies from the earliest stages through
periods of explosive, "blitzscaling" growth. He serves on the
boards of Airbnb, Apollo Fusion, Aurora, Coda, Convoy, Entrepreneur
First, Gixo, Microsoft, Nauto, Xapo and a few early-stage companies
still in stealth. In addition, he serves on a number of
not-for-profit boards, including Kiva, Endeavor, CZI Biohub and Do
Something. Prior to joining Greylock, he angel invested in many
influential Internet companies, including Facebook, Flickr,
Last.fm, and Zynga. Reid is the co-author of the recent book
Blitzscaling and best-selling books The Start-up of
You and The Alliance.
Masters of Scale is an original podcast hosted by
Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn
and a legendary Silicon Valley investor at the Boston-born Greylock Partners. In each
episode, Reid shares a key theory about how companies grow, testing
his conclusions in conversation with some of the most iconic
business minds on the planet – famous founders and leaders who've
built world-changing companies from a single great idea. Guests
have included Bill Gates, musician
and founder will.i.am, Instagram founder Kevin Systrom, Netflix head Reed Hastings, Stacy
Brown-Philpot of TaskRabbit, Marissa
Mayer of Yahoo!, Dara
Khosrowshahi of Uber, Spanx's Sara
Blakely, Shake Shack's Danny
Meyer, Daniel Ek of Spotify,
Caterina Fake of Flickr/Etsy, as
well as Arianna Huffington,
Barry Diller and Tim Ferriss. Voted the winner of the 2018
People's Voice Award Webby for best business podcast, Masters of
Scale was the first American media property to commit to equitable
gender representation among guests. Masters of Scale is an original
series from WaitWhat, a media invention company founded by
June Cohen and Deron Triff, based in New York.
Thoughtexchange helps leaders crowdsource answers to
questions in real time. AI and machine learning ensure everyone's
response gets considered by others. Powerful analysis tools
instantly surface valuable insights into key areas of agreement and
disagreement. Leaders can find common ground, inspire trust and use
data to make decisions that get immediate support. Everyone
contributes and everyone learns, without bias.
Millions of people in communities, schools, fast-growth startups
and iconic brands are using Thoughtexchange to learn what matters
most, so they can scale, grow, connect and innovate.
Details:
Masters of Scale Live at Summit LA 19 happens on Sunday, November 10, 5:30–6:45pm Pacific time.
The event is part of the week-long Summit LA 19 conference. The
conference is sold out, though there is a waitlist.
To be notified when Robert F.
Smith's episode goes live on the Masters of Scale podcast,
subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen, and
follow @MastersofScale on Twitter.
Discover more about how Thoughtexchange brings people together
at www.thoughtexchange.com and @thoughtxchng on Twitter.
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SOURCE Thoughtexchange