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Masters of Scale

Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales: To scale, find the right values

Masters of Scale

WaitWhat

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

4.64.4K Ratings

🗓️ 13 October 2020

⏱️ 36 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What's more important than product-market fit? Product-VALUE fit. If you choose the right values to drive product development, you'll draw the people, resources, and speed you need. It’s true for for-profits and for nonprofits. And Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales knows this well. Since its launch in 2001, Wikipedia has famously stuck to its values of openness, neutrality, and remaining not-for-profit. But he arrived at those precise values through trial and error – on an earlier free encyclopedia project that stalled. Once he found the right product-value fit, Wikipedia rapidly scaled from a niche side project to one of the most valued treasures on the internet.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Hi, it's Bob Safian. You've been hearing me as the host of rapid response in this feed for a few years now,

0:07.8

with short newsy interviews alongside the deeper dives of Masters of Scale. Well, I'm excited to share that rapid response is expanding into its own feed.

0:17.0

We'll be putting out shows twice a week, focusing on the urgent issues that business leaders are dealing with in real time.

0:24.8

So search for rapid response in your podcast player

0:28.0

and subscribe to make sure you get all our episodes.

0:31.2

I'll see you on the other side.

0:33.0

When you're working with teams of volunteers,

0:36.0

there is no possibility of command and control.

0:39.0

You can't tell people what to do because they will just say,

0:45.0

screw you, I'm a volunteer.

0:51.0

And so you have to have an approach that says, look, here's our values. And frankly, in some

0:58.0

cases you have to say, and if you don't agree with these values, then maybe this isn't the right

1:02.0

place for you.

1:05.0

That's Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia.

1:08.0

Famously, Wikipedia is open to anyone to edit,

1:11.0

but that doesn't mean everyone is suited to the task. If you're unwilling... to

1:15.0

anyone to edit but that doesn't mean everyone is suited to the task.

1:14.0

If you're unwilling or unable to adhere to Wikipedia's core values of openness and neutrality,

1:19.0

well, you'll be very nicely but firmly shown the door. But contributors who can get on board with these

1:26.5

values will find themselves part of a driven team. And a complex editorial process governed by the rules that uphold the core values.

1:35.9

For novice contributors, it's a frustrating journey to learn the ropes.

1:39.7

You can almost imagine it as a number in a Broadway show, the pivotal song in which a disheartened

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