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Masters of Scale

Bonus: Stephen Colbert on DonorsChoose (The Complete Interview)

Masters of Scale

WaitWhat

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

4.64.4K Ratings

🗓️ 13 December 2022

⏱️ 25 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

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.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Hey listeners, this is Jordan McLeod, executive producer of Masters of Scale.

0:04.7

What you're about to hear is a conversation we had in 2020 with Stephen Colbert, host of

0:08.8

the CBS late show.

0:10.4

We spoke with Stephen as part of our episode with Charles Best, founder of the education

0:14.6

nonprofit Donors Choose.

0:16.7

We call this type of interview a cameo appearance, short but impactful, and in Stephen's case,

0:22.6

totally hilarious.

0:24.0

Previously, this uncut interview has only been available to Masters of Scale members, but

0:28.2

we've decided to share it now with all of our listeners.

0:31.8

Why?

0:32.8

First because it's the holidays, and a perfect time to give to the charity organizations

0:36.8

you care about.

0:38.2

Donors Choose supports teachers and their classroom projects across the United States.

0:42.8

It's a great place to do some end of your giving.

0:45.6

And secondly, we've been releasing our complete uncut interviews with anchor guests for a while,

0:50.9

but starting with Stephen, we're now releasing our favorite uncut cameo interviews in the

0:55.5

app.

0:56.7

It can be found in the Masters of Scale courses app, which you can download free in the app

1:00.8

store and the Google Play Store.

1:03.1

We've had some unbelievable conversations with these cameo guests like Levar Burton, Chris

1:07.6

Paul, Code for America's Genpalka, Will I Am with a Black Eyed Peas, and many, many more.

1:14.0

Inside the app, you can listen free to hundreds of great episodes and clip your favorite moments

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