meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Masters of Scale

Mellody Hobson: When investors head for the exit, run to the fire

Masters of Scale

WaitWhat

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

4.64.4K Ratings

🗓️ 5 May 2026

⏱️ 35 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When markets drop and chaos hits, Mellody Hobson is determined to be brave. The co-CEO of Ariel Investments and former chair of Starbucks and DreamWorks joins Rapid Response to make the case that volatility isn't something to survive but to exploit. She shares the financial lessons she lives by, including a surprising admonition against making choices based on money, and why she sees women's sports as the investment opportunity of a generation. Plus, why math has no opinion, and how that changes everything.

Visit the Rapid Response website here: https://www.rapidresponseshow.com/

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hey folks, Jeff Berman here. Exciting news. Applications are now open for the Masters of Scale Summit.

0:08.7

It's happening October 20th through October 22nd in San Francisco, and it is a really special event.

0:16.5

Please join our curated community of founders, innovators, and leaders shaping the future.

0:22.6

Expect ideas that challenge your assumptions and connections that move your business and maybe even your life forward.

0:30.2

It's an experience that can change literally everything.

0:34.3

Apply now at Mastersofscale.com slash Apply 26. That's Mastersofscale.com slash apply 26.

0:44.5

As your company scales, the hardest part isn't ambition, it's alignment. That's why Atlassian

0:51.1

built the teamwork collection, an AI-powered teamwork platform designed to help teams move faster together.

0:57.7

By connecting Jira, Confluence, Lume, and Rovo, teams can easily align work to real business goals, plan and track progress together, remove knowledge silos, and access the real magic of AI plus human collaboration.

1:13.0

Visit atlasian.com slash team changer to learn more.

1:17.1

That's A-T-L-A-S-S-S-I-A-N dot com slash team changer.

1:25.7

Founders ship faster on deal. Set up payroll for any country and minutes, hire anyone anywhere,

1:31.9

and get visas handled fast, so you stay focused on scaling. Deal takes care of onboarding,

1:37.5

HR, IT, EOR, benefits, and compliance so your team can grow without borders. It's why more than 40,000

1:45.6

fast-growing companies trust Deal to move fast. Visit deal.com slash M-OS. That's D-E-E-L-com

1:53.2

slash M-O-S. Women's sports are the small caps of sports. We're sitting here right now,

2:02.0

front row seat,

2:04.0

where we are seeing this inflection point that is going to financially manifest itself

2:07.4

into real value for teams and emerging leagues

2:11.8

and junior sport.

2:14.0

And when I started to study the data and see this,

2:16.8

I literally, I just said, wow.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from WaitWhat, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of WaitWhat and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.