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Rick Shadyak Jr.

Former CEO, St. Jude Fundraising Organization · 1 appearance on the record.

computed by AI from the episodes · how this works → · full disclaimer →

Rick Shadyac Jr. is the former CEO of the fundraising organization for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. During his leadership, he scaled the organization's annual fundraising from approximately $600 million to nearly $3 billion.

12statements → 10claims → 9claims resolved → 89%fully supported → 4.42/5average certainty → 1.25/5average debate potential → ≈4.0/5argument clarity, estimated →

8 supported 1 partly supported 0 contradicted 1 not checkable as stated how the 10 claims stand · each chip opens the sources

1 prediction · 9 assertions · 2 disclosures · every statement was checked. The prediction and assertions are the 10 claims: statements the public record can support or contradict. 9 are resolved, and 1 names no date, number or outcome precise enough to check. Everything else (opinions, insights, what ifs, disclosures) can never be settled by the record, so it carries no assessment.

The record, in short

What the tape says about how Rick argues and how the claims held up. Everything they said, and everything said about them, is in the tabs below.

Their most notable supported claim

Assertion Supported
Shadyak: St. Jude discovered acute lymphoblastic leukemia cure in the 1970s
“Most people don't know this, but the cure for leukemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, was discovered at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in the 19 seventies.”
Rick Shadyak Jr. Aug 11, 2025 ▶ 2:27 How one organization raises billions every year | Masters of Scale

Expressed certainty vs assessment result

none yet certainty 1
none yet certainty 2
none yet certainty 3
92% certainty 4
100% certainty 5

weighted support: a fully supported claim counts one, a partly supported claim counts half. Each filled bar is clickable and opens exactly those claims; "none yet" means nothing said at that certainty level has resolved yet

How they sound: not measured why? →

We measure speaking style by listening to the audio itself, and a fair number needs at least 2,000 words from one person on tape we have measured. There is too little of Rick Shadyak Jr. on measured tape to publish a rate. This says nothing about how they speak.

Everything Rick Shadyak Jr. said on Masters of Scale that made the record, most notable first. Filter by type, assessment or year in the ledger →

Assertion Supported
Shadyak: St. Jude discovered acute lymphoblastic leukemia cure in the 1970s
“Most people don't know this, but the cure for leukemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, was discovered at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in the 19 seventies.”
Rick Shadyak Jr. Aug 11, 2025 ▶ 2:27 How one organization raises billions every year | Masters of Scale
Disclosure
Shadyak made every ALSAC employee accountable for revenue and brand goals
“I made everybody in the organization not only responsible for revenue, but for our brand goals.”
Rick Shadyak Jr. Aug 11, 2025 ▶ 10:48 How one organization raises billions every year | Masters of Scale
Assertion Supported
ALSAC leveraged Isaacman's $125M spaceflight gift to raise $250M total
“And we entered into a partnership, and he said, Rick, I'm gonna give you a hundred and twenty-five million dollars. He, personally, a hundred and twenty-five million dollars. I want you to match it. Okay. And I said, Jared, we'll match it. Okay. And truth be t…”
Rick Shadyak Jr. Aug 11, 2025 ▶ 13:53 How one organization raises billions every year | Masters of Scale
Assertion Supported
St. Jude drove leukemia survival rates from 4% to 94%
“Take the acute lymphoblastic leukemia where the cure was found at St. Jude. When St. Jude opened, it was a four percent cure rate. So think about that. 96 out of a hundred kids who were diagnosed would pass away. So bad that kids were told, parents were told, …”
Rick Shadyak Jr. Aug 11, 2025 ▶ 20:25 How one organization raises billions every year | Masters of Scale
Disclosure
St. Jude to supply free cancer drugs to 120,000 children globally
“St. Jude is going to be providing free, I said free cancer medications to a 120,000 of the 400,000 kids around the globe over the coming five years.”
Rick Shadyak Jr. Aug 11, 2025 ▶ 21:45 How one organization raises billions every year | Masters of Scale
Assertion Supported
St. Jude has 11 million monthly recurring donors giving $19 each
“So when you can say you've got eleven million supporters, not billionaires, but regular people that give you 19 dollars a month that want to be your partners in Hope”
Rick Shadyak Jr. Aug 11, 2025 ▶ 23:57 How one organization raises billions every year | Masters of Scale
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Stagnant charitable funding means nonprofits cannot meet surging global demand
“In the world that we're living in today, there's going to be increased demand for services from not-for-profits that, that unfortunately, they're not going to be able to be met, ok? Because there's going to be a lot of competition for dollars. I hate to use th…”
Rick Shadyak Jr. Aug 11, 2025 ▶ 26:47 How one organization raises billions every year | Masters of Scale
Assertion Supported
U.S. household philanthropic participation plummeted from a high of 66% to 49%
“Less and less people are participating in philanthropy. High of 66% down to about 49% of households participating in philanthropy.”
Rick Shadyak Jr. Aug 11, 2025 ▶ 27:04 How one organization raises billions every year | Masters of Scale
Assertion Supported
Shadyak: St. Jude never bills families for treatment, travel, housing, or food
“No family will ever receive a bill from St. Jude, not for treatment, travel, housing, or food, because we want mom and dad to focus on helping their child survive cancer.”
Rick Shadyak Jr. Aug 11, 2025 ▶ 2:04 How one organization raises billions every year | Masters of Scale
Assertion Supported
St. Jude relies on public donations for 89% of its costs
“About 89% Of all of the operating and capital costs of St. Jude have to be raised from the public, so ALSAC is solely responsible for raising that money.”
Rick Shadyak Jr. Aug 11, 2025 ▶ 3:44 How one organization raises billions every year | Masters of Scale
Assertion Partly supported
Only 4% of the federal cancer budget supports pediatric research
“Only four percent of the federal budget goes to support pediatric cancer research.”
Rick Shadyak Jr. Aug 11, 2025 ▶ 33:31 How one organization raises billions every year | Masters of Scale
Assertion Supported
St. Jude treats its pediatric cancer patients for their entire lives
“When people come to St. Jude's, a typical kid that has cancer, they're with us for two and a half to three years, and on top of that, okay, we treat these kids for life.”
Rick Shadyak Jr. Aug 11, 2025 ▶ 8:39 How one organization raises billions every year | Masters of Scale

Appearances (1)

EpisodeDateSpeaking time
How one organization raises billions every year | Masters of Scale Aug 11, 2025 26m
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