139. will.i.am & Austin Russell: Mute the hype, amplify the product

Masters of Scale

WaitWhat

Entrepreneurship, Business, Management, Reid Hoffman, Mindset, Diversity & Inclusion, Jeff Berman, Bob Safian, Startups

4.6 • 4.4K Ratings

🗓️ 9 January 2024

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Is there such a thing as too much hype? And can it ever pay to stay low-key — even about the most innovative of products? Austin Russell of Luminar Technologies believes so. When aged just 17, Austin created revolutionary tech to let autonomous vehicles navigate safely. Almost as startling is how he kept his breakthrough close to his chest for five years — carefully choosing trusted team members, mentors and industry partners before revealing his tech to the wider world. In this special episode guest-hosted by master hype-ologist will.i.am, Austin offers a masterclass in understatement and the importance of keeping the pitch from drowning out your product.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi listeners, it's Reed. You're about to hear a special episode of Masters of Scale.
0:07.0	Our guest is Austin Russell, co-founder and CEO of Luminar Technologies.
0:12.8	His company develops autonomous driving technology
0:15.8	for companies like Volvo, Mercedes,
0:18.0	and over 50 commercial partners.
0:20.1	But we have another guest.
0:21.9	I'm thrilled to introduce our guest host, Will I am.
0:26.3	Will is no stranger to Masters of Scale. You might remember his own episode on how to make it epic. He also kicked off our two-part show
0:36.2	with President Barack Obama. You can find both in our show feed. Will is known
0:41.8	Austin for a while and he's the perfect guide to take you
0:44.9	through Austin's story and to share a theory of scale you can apply to your
0:49.6	entrepreneurial journey. Now on with the show.
0:54.0	I had a stance right it was called the B boy stance.
0:58.0	Back in the 80s every artist started off rapping on the corner for their boys
1:02.0	but you know check out these rhymes they just wrote started off wrapping on the corner for their boys.
1:03.0	Like, yo, check out these rhymes, they just wrote.
1:06.1	Some guys would be standing around listening.
1:09.2	The arms folded, looking straight ahead
1:11.4	with a certain look and a certain energy.
1:14.0	Le Beeboy stands.
1:19.0	Top two-speed driving by slow looking, mean mugging the cops.
1:24.6	The B boy stance.
	...

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