This is a subscriber-only article. Join Entrepreneur+ today for access

Learn More

Already have an account?

Sign in
Entrepreneur Plus - Short White
For Subscribers

Reid Hoffman: To Successfully Grow A Business, You Must 'Expect Chaos' He's the billionaire co-founder of LinkedIn, Greylock Partner, a mentor to many, and, starting in May, the host of a new podcast called 'Masters of Scale.' Here, Hoffman gives us an inside look at how he teaches entrepreneurs to grow successful businesses.

By Andrew Leonard

This story appears in the May 2017 issue of Entrepreneur. Subscribe »

David Yellen

Editor's Note: In the new podcast Masters of Scale, LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock partner Reid Hoffman explores his philosophy on how to scale a business — and starting May 3, at Entrepreneur.com, entrepreneurs are responding with their own ideas and experiences. This story is an in-depth look at Hoffman and his philosophy. This article is included in Entrepreneur Voices on Growth Hacking, a new book containing insights from more than 20 contributors, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders.

Dan Lewis has been wrestling with one of the most common, and critical, bottlenecks that bedevil every tech startup seeking to scale fast: How can his company staff up quickly enough to cope with expected growth without blowing through cash unsustainably? Lewis is the CEO and co-founder of Convoy, an on-demand trucking startup headquartered in Seattle, so the first idea he had felt obvious. He should open up a second office in a city that's way cheaper than Seattle.

But he just wasn't sure. Which is why, on a Friday evening in early March, he'd trekked down to Silicon Valley to meet a man known to have answers to quandaries like this: Reid Hoffman.