This episode featured two guests, Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha of LinkedIn and co-authors of The Alliance and The Start-Up of You.

Whether you’re looking to improve your own employment prospects, build a better team at work, or interested in the newest in tech and V.C.. Use the prompts below the fold to start your own conversation offline.

Check Your Knowledge:

1. Roberts says that when he looks at LinkedIn, it reminds him of Ronald Coase. In what ways can services such as LinkedIn reduce transaction costs?

2. Hoffman and Casnocha describe the corporate world as having transitioned to a “team” framework from a “family” framework. What sort of changes does this entail, and to what extent do you agree with their characterization?

Going Deeper:

3. In “Don’t Send Your Kid to the Ivy League,” William Deresiwicz argues that the U.S. system of higher education is “exacerbating inequality, retarding social mobility, perpetuating privilege, and creating an elite that is isolated from the society that it’s supposed to lead.” To what extent do you believe Hoffman and Casnocha share this concern? How do you think their remedies for such ills would compare to Dereswicz’s?

4. Revisit the panel discussion Roberts recently hosted on the future of work. Which of the three panelists (McAfee, McArdle, or Ohanian) seem to most share the outlook on technology and the future of work of Hoffman and Casnocha? Explain.

Extra Credit:

5. Toward the end of the interview, Roberts asks Hoffman and Casnocha what the biggest education/training problem in the workforce today is, as well as what they would do to solve it. How would you answer this question, and what actions would you take to rectify the problem(s) you identify?