logo
episode-header-image
May 2022
34m 3s

Extraordinary leaps need solid foundatio...

Waitwhat
About this episode
If you're launching a moonshot, success depends on how you manage the trajectory of risk. When Stéphane Bancel became Moderna's first CEO, the biotech start-up was chasing a way-out idea many experts thought was impossible. Stéphane built a culture of calculated risk-taking to create a platform for extraordinary leaps — one that enabled life-saving mRNA vacc ... Show More
Up next
Yesterday
Relevance is a sport: Gap’s Richard Dickson on swinging, missing, and winning
Gap was never uncool. It just disappeared. CEO Richard Dickson joins Rapid Response to explain how he's bringing it back, using the same pop culture playbook he used to resurrect Barbie at Mattel. He breaks down why he tracks "brand love" metrics on a dashboard hourly, why Sydney ... Show More
26m 50s
Jul 2
How to build breakout products, with Mark Pincus & Reid Hoffman
Mark Pincus is a serial tech entrepreneur and investor best known as the co-founder of Zynga. He joins host Reid Hoffman to reveal the insights at the center of his new book: Life at the Speed of Play. The godfather of mobile gaming talks with Hoffman about building products peop ... Show More
30m 18s
Jun 30
Cannes Lions’ battle of the brands: Starbucks’ stumble, World Cup ads, and more
Every year at Cannes Lions, the advertising world takes stock of itself — what's working, what's not, and what it's pretending not to notice. Autodesk CMO Dara Treseder joins Rapid Response live from the festival to cut through the noise. She breaks down the industry's complicate ... Show More
31m 28s
Recommended Episodes
Mar 2025
Stéphane Bancel: “The upside was changing humanity forever.”
Moderna’s CEO Stéphane Bancel will go down in history for pioneering the Covid-19 vaccine. He sits down with Bob to recount the story of the pandemic from his perspective, from the moment he knew it would become an international disaster to the decision to throw out Moderna’s pla ... Show More
34m 3s
Oct 2021
Moderna and Flagship Pioneering: Noubar Afeyan
In the field of bio-tech, it can take 10 years and millions of dollars to see if an experimental idea might turn into a life-saving treatment—if it ever does. Noubar Afeyan fully understood those risks when he co-founded Moderna in 2010. He and his colleagues were looking for a w ... Show More
1h 6m
Sep 2021
The Innovation System Behind Moderna’s Covid-19 Vaccine
Noubar Afeyan, cofounder and chair of Moderna Therapeutics and CEO of Flagship Pioneering, says that the breakthrough innovation behind the company’s Covid-19 vaccine came not as a stroke of luck, but from a repeatable process. He outlines a system called “emergent discovery” tha ... Show More
21m 18s
Sep 2023
Moderna CEO Talks New Drugs
Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel talks about the Moderna vaccine, drug prices, and future of the company with Bloomberg's Paul Sweeny and Matt Miller. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 
9m 22s
Apr 2024
301: Biotech mega-rounds, a cancer vaccine setback & CEOs keep their promise
Oruka Therapeutics CEO Lawrence Klein joins us to discuss how his company raised its first round of financing before competing with major players in the inflammation space. We also discuss the latest news in the life sciences, including the end of the Amylyx ALS saga, another use ... Show More
31m 37s
Sep 2021
The future of vaccines
The founders of German biotechnology company BioNTech were researching how to fight cancers using messenger RNA, "the unloved cousin of DNA", when covid-19 first appeared and they realised mRNA could be used to make a vaccine for the disease. Financial Times journalist Joe Miller ... Show More
17m 28s
Sep 2024
Making NOW Your Moment
Akeem Shannon, Founder and CEO at Flipstik Inc., delves into strategically navigating the CPG landscape. As an entrepreneur, one bold move can open up numerous opportunities for business and personal growth. Akeem's journey, from pitching on Shark Tank, to strategically leveragin ... Show More
18m 3s
Feb 2021
Responsible Innovation and Venture Capital
Hemant Taneja, a managing director at General Catalyst and the founder of the firm’s Silicon Valley operations, joins Scott to discuss the venture capital space, why he’s bullish on the healthcare sector, and why responsible innovation is more important than ever. Hemant also sha ... Show More
1h 3m
May 2022
38. Pfizer’s CEO on the Big Gamble That Brought Us the COVID Vaccine
Bapu Jena talks with Albert Bourla about his unusual path to the top, developing a life-saving vaccine in record time, and the second-hardest decision he made along the way. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use ... Show More
34m 18s
Apr 2021
Vaccine Wars | Long Shot | 3
It’s February 2020 and drugmaker Moderna’s sprinting ahead – its Covid vaccine is already poised to enter human trials.But Moderna and its rivals know plenty of vaccines never make it out of trials alive. It’s also going to take a lot of manufacturing muscle to inoculate the worl ... Show More
27m 49s