Pivot · Jan 31, 2020

US budget deficit will hit $1-trillion; AAPL, MSFT, GOOGL, AMZN, FB earnings breakdown; and Britain sides with China on Huawei

Automatic transcript of the end of the episode, from 32:31. Speakers are labeled by software and may contain errors. Highlighted passages are Scott’s predictions.

Kara Swisher · 32:31 Suspect that's a fail from my perspective. No. Scott Galloway · 32:33 I think that's gonna have tremendous governance and make everything alright and probably Yeah. On its own, solve the anti vaxx and climate problems which are largely being fueled by Facebook that lives on rage. Yeah. Yeah. I'm excited about that. Kara Swisher · 32:45 They haven't asked me, to be honest, yet. Scott Galloway · 32:46 So That's a shocker. Should be the next head Ask of me. I I want you to be the next head of the CDC. When you meet people and shake their hand, you're like, don't touch me. Don't touch me. Okay. So my fail, my fail, and this is a tough one. Had my heart broken this week. As you know Kara Swisher · 33:03 Now what? Scott Galloway · 33:03 Through no compensation, I talk a lot about Chipotle. I absolutely love the product. Eat there a lot. I think it's fantastic. Kara Swisher · 33:12 Rice and beans. Go ahead. Scott Galloway · 33:14 There you go. And they were... They settled Oh, with the state of Massachusetts around some serious violations around child labor laws. And as someone who has a 12 year old son, and one of the things I'm most proud about at my son is he's really excited about getting a job. And I had jobs from the age of basically 11 on. Was a box boy. Kara Swisher · 33:32 My son too. Scott Galloway · 33:33 I had all kinds... I delivered newspapers because, you know, I pretty early on, my mom did a good job of connecting work and money and a better life. And one of the things I love or I'm really excited about is my son. You know, we were at CVS and he went up to Cashier and said, I get a job here? And they said, we have to be 14. And he said, okay, he's been telling us I got seventeen months before I can work at CVS. But anyways, the... It's... I I would... And I don't wanna be cancel culture. I don't wanna just shame them. I love Chipotle and they love me. They sent me a card where I can walk into any Chipotle and get a... For a year, a free free anything. I can just eat up. Not... Anyway, that was very exciting for me. That was a nice moment. And I love the company. I love the product. So I think this is an opportunity for them to make a grand gesture and do something around supporting youth employment. And I would love to see the CEO say Kara Swisher · 34:23 It was keeping people too late. It's having more work right. Than These are That's right. But now a lot of kids work a lot, and a lot of kids have Scott Galloway · 34:30 a And there's nothing wrong with that. That's a great thing. I think it's important. But I think this is an opportunity. There's only three things you have to remember in a crisis, and that is to acknowledge the problem, to have the top guy or gal address it, and to overcorrect. And so what I would like to say to this company, that I love, and to the leadership there, this is an opportunity to overcorrect and make an investment and use employment across your network that does what it's supposed to do, and that is gives young people some additional income, gives them an opportunity to establish the grid, gives them an opportunity to reinforce what is one of the greatest brand attributes of America at a young age, and that is we work, Kara, we work. So I would like my fail that could be a win is to call on my brothers and sisters at a company I absolutely love, and I and I wanna be clear. I got no compensation from them other than free burrito bowls, which arguably is huge compensation, is for them to make a grand gesture and and cover up. Kara Swisher · 35:21 So... Well, good for you to go to turn on your eating place. I thought it was gonna be canoes from con con con... Can Rupert, whatever. Canoes, the the Rupert Murdoch. Scott Galloway · 35:32 Are you speaking Finnish? What are you doing? Kara Swisher · 35:34 What are you talking about? They have the canoes. You know the canoes? Scott Galloway · 35:36 I'm not... Kara Swisher · 35:37 It's this new Google News alternative Oh, news corp. It's called canoes.com. Scott Galloway · 35:42 Right. Right. Kara Swisher · 35:43 Right. Yeah. It's a news aggregation platform. They're trying to compete, I guess, with Google. Scott Galloway · 35:47 I don't know. Gonna be about the fact that the that governance board you were talking Kara Swisher · 35:51 about from and to to to to be... The help... Smaller outlets, they believe. They think it's gonna be fair and balanced, whatever. It... The name of it and the colors. They have this yellow color that's just, like, breaking your eye. I thought was gonna be that. I thought canoes was your... Gonna attack that, but I guess you don't care. Scott Galloway · 36:11 I'm I'm a complex person, and then I came in with the burrito bowl and child labor. Kara Swisher · 36:15 I perhaps... I thought that Ben Smith going to New York Times as a media columnist leaving BuzzFeed, a big important online media person. You have no commentary about online media. Scott Galloway · 36:25 Yeah. Speaking of BuzzFeed, BuzzFeed put pressure on Facebook. Someone went on Facebook and created a Facebook page devoted to the business of a 15 year old's private parts, and she's been trying to get them to take it down for four years. And finally, BuzzFeed reported it and shamed them into taking it down. So good for BuzzFeed, bad for Facebook. But that's the kind of shit that Facebook is levying across small instances of emotional havoc across the world. And I I I don't know how I even got this. Let's talk about my win. Let's talk about my So unfortunately, because of all the news on Monday around the helicopter accident, the death of Kobe Bryant, it somewhat overwhelmed the media airwaves. But Monday was also the seventy fifth anniversary of when the Russian army liberated or liberated is even the wrong word, but discovered the the camps at Auschwitz and Birkenau. And it's really... I think it's frightening to think about, you know, the the history that repeats itself is the history we forget, and the the collision of ideology and propaganda and the demonization of immigrants and this cold comfort that it can happen in a modern society. Well, all of those things happen. And it wasn't too long ago when they liberated. I was thinking about this today when they liberated or came to Auschwitz. My father was 15 years He's still alive and he was living about an hour and a half away by today's jet transportation standards. So this could absolutely happen again unless we remember. And the vehicles or the most effective means for remembrance has been the survivors. I remember going to temple with my mother at temple, Isaiah and Westwood. And every year they would honor the survivors and they would ask them to stand up. No exaggeration, 35 or 40 people would stand up. The first apartment I rented in New York, the guy would come over. And every time he'd come over and talk to us, he would show us the tattoo of his numbers on his arm. And they're all Kara Swisher · 38:22 They're still chilling. Scott Galloway · 38:23 They're dying. And I worry that Kara Swisher · 38:26 Well, you know what's incredible? There is a thing Scott Galloway · 38:28 You're interrupting my Auschwitz story. I'm Kara Swisher · 38:30 Go ahead. Scott Galloway · 38:31 Go ahead. You're interrupting my Auschwitz story. Kara Swisher · 38:32 Keep going. Keep Scott Galloway · 38:33 going. So my win is there were some great media stories, outlets, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal I thought did really nice touching. And this is a difficult topic because the bottom line is people don't want to click on it. You're going to make more money elsewhere. It's an upsetting thing. So this is the kind of story you think, oh, I'll read it later because it's just incredibly upsetting. But there there is... You know, I feel as a non practicing Jew, the one thing I've always thought that's really important for anyone who has a connection to Judaism my mother's Jewish is to ensure that even though we're losing the survivors, that we make sure that this story and what happened here and it continues to move on such that we can recognize the dangers and have an intolerance and awareness for the type of fascism, is defined by nationalism, demonization of immigrants, refusal to get in the way or stop violence against against ethnic minority groups. It feels like all of those things are starting to rear their ugly head. Totally. Kara Swisher · 39:31 And so My way is America media outlets that keep Scott Galloway · 39:34 you in our Kara Swisher · 39:34 minds. Prevented That's people from stopping those camps earlier, America first, that was trying to not get us into that war. Charles Lindbergh and Joe Kennedy. Like, those groups that were slowing down, and it was the same phraseology about immigrants and not getting involved and not being global. And it's... It really is. And it's including the Supreme Court decision last week that if... That that the Trump administration, if you don't... If you if you draw upon... You don't have... Essentially, you're poor, and you draw upon social monies from the government, you might not be eligible to be an immigrant. And think about all those immigrants who came over after the Holocaust, who had nothing. And there was a great there was a great thread on Twitter about someone's grandmother grandmother, I think it was, that came back and had no money, and she created all these... She and her grandfather created all these businesses, but they had nothing when they got here. And that, to me, is just the the echoes of of how important it was to bring those people here and allow them to thrive in this country after such an incredible tragedy. Scott Galloway · 40:35 At the commemoration, they had all of these world leaders there, and it's become very political. You know, Russia is basically... Putin is accusing Poland of not taking more responsibility. And Poland is now self conscious and angry about it. And at this commemoration, Ronald Lauder, who's one of the family members of the Lauder family, he stood up and he said something very powerful. He was talking about a lot of the demonization of immigrants and antisemitism around the world now. And he said, this is not a metaphor, it's a recurrence. And when he said that, all of the survivors immediately leapt to their feet and began clapping. And all of the people on stage and all the world leaders looked very shamed, which they should be. Kara Swisher · 41:17 They should be. Scott Galloway · 41:17 But this is... Anyways, my win is the media companies that are foregoing clicks and money and clickbait to talk about these important stories and ensure that when we we no longer have those those stories from the survivors, that the stories continue. And I was especially moved by actually some of the reporting from The Wall Street Journal, The Post, The New York Times. Old media that takes their journalism serious and their role in society. Because quite frankly, Monday, all the stories all of the online media was totally overwhelmed And by everybody has the right to mourn for whoever they want, however they want. But I worry that story got a bit buried. Kara Swisher · 41:54 Yep. Agreed. I think it's critically important. It's similar. It it's it's... It can never be covered enough, and and making these links to today are critical because it's systemic, it's ongoing, it's persistent. It is a plague. It's a plague of humanity, of human morality, really. And to bring it back to... It just is. It just... And it never it never goes away, and people think it does, and you just see the... You know, you don't want to say everything is the same, but it is in lots of ways. That's very deep between Chipotle and this. You're very woke. You're a social justice warrior, Scott Galloway. Scott Galloway · 42:28 Yeah. That's me. That's me. Kara Swisher · 42:30 You are. Secretly, you are. I I... Secretly, you hate capitalism. Scott Galloway · 42:33 Capitalism wrapped in empathy and democracy is the engine for all good, Kara. Kara Swisher · 42:38 I think that's Scott Galloway · 42:38 socialism. Touche. Touche. Kara Swisher · 42:42 I know you're a Bernie bro underneath your Bloomberg glove. Scott Galloway · 42:45 If that's true, I'm a closeted Bernie bro then. Mean, I'm so closeted I don't even know it. Kara Swisher · 42:50 Oh. There you go. Squats. Scott Galloway · 42:52 When I'm 55, I'm gonna tell my wife I'm moving in with a a socialist named Javier. — Predictions segment begins — Kara Swisher · 42:56 Okay. Good. That's great. That'll be... I'll come to your wedding. Listen. Your prediction. We need a prediction. We gotta get out of here. Yeah. You made one a little bit. The Uber Eats thing. I was kind of came out Scott Galloway · 43:04 of the side. Uber Eats is no more. Kara Swisher · 43:05 They're going get Scott Galloway · 43:05 out of I the Kara Swisher · 43:06 have not heard that from them. Scott Galloway · 43:08 They're out. Kara Swisher · 43:08 They think it's a big growth business. Scott Galloway · 43:10 Oh, no. Kara Swisher · 43:10 Well, if you have another prediction, please make it. Scott Galloway · 43:13 No. No. That's that's my prediction. That's like... That makes that makes that makes ride Kara Swisher · 43:17 hailing Tell me look like why. That is a bold Scott Galloway · 43:20 Because it makes ride hailing look like a good business, and ride hailing is a shitty business. And the pressure is gonna come... Whatever... Typically, what happens with a company when they start, their earnings are declining, and they're under fire, and it doesn't look like, okay, it looks like this is for real. And Dara got a honeymoon because he's very likable. But basically, go to strategy is always okay, we need to focus. And they're gonna say, what's our least shitty business here? And then ride hailing could be a decent business. It's got decent margins. And they're gonna say, all right, let's focus on ride hailing. And then if you look at it, if you just do any analysis of the food delivery business, it's a terrible business with no points of differentiation on the supply or the demand side. So it's got tremendous cost pressure. And it's got all these crazily well funded companies from SoftBank has two players in it. It has one company that's public. It's just they're gonna look at it and say, let's sell it. They've already sold they already sold their food delivery business in India, I believe. So they're already starting to divest themselves from this business. So I don't think they double down. I think they get out. Kara Swisher · 44:18 We'll I'm just telling you, talked about it on stage with me as their... Essentially their future and their Hail Mary and everything else. Scott Galloway · 44:25 That Uber Eats was their was their growth engine. Kara Swisher · 44:27 Yes. Yep. I'm just saying. I agree with you. Think it's just a crazy business in terms of of the competitors and where it's going from Amazon to everybody. You know, just everybody is in this business. — Predictions segment ends — Scott Galloway · 44:39 What is Kara Swisher up to this week? Oh, wait. Weekend. Oh. Where are we? Weekend. Kara Swisher · 44:43 What... Weekend. Nothing. My kids... My one son is going to visit his girlfriend away somewhere else, and my other son is going to Vegas for debate club. So I have a lovely weekend with my Scott Galloway · 44:55 So those are terms you never hear in the same sentence. Vegas And Debate Club. Kara Swisher · 44:59 That's where he's going. He's hitting it. Scott Galloway · 45:01 He's it Vegas. Hear that. Vegas and debate club. You don't hear that a lot. Kara Swisher · 45:05 Understand it. I just wrote the check. Anyway, he's very... He's preparing for it. I don't know. He... Debate club is good. They're they're both... So I'm just gonna hang out and just lie around on my back trying to recover from this ridiculous cold. What are you doing, Scott Galloway? Scott Galloway · 45:18 We're moving. So it's a... This is an awful weekend, and it's Super Bowl down here on Monday, so I might go to his Kara Swisher · 45:23 Oh, that's right. It's the Super Bowl. Scott Galloway · 45:25 I could give a shit about. I don't even know if it's playing. Kara Swisher · 45:28 It's the San Francisco Giants. I know that. Scott Galloway · 45:31 The Giants? The San Francisco Giants? Is that a purposeful joke? Did you actually just say that? The San Francisco Giants? No. Kara Swisher · 45:38 I was teasing you. I... Because I hate sports. Scott Galloway · 45:39 Well done. Kara Swisher · 45:40 It's the it's the Chiefs. Right? The kids Scott Galloway · 45:42 And I didn't realize. Unfortunately, my nine year old is getting better at soccer, and he joined this demonic instrument called the traveling team. And I'm spending Saturday and Sunday Oh. In Palm Beach Gardens both days. And I'm like, I'm not going. And then it's like, I didn't Kara Swisher · 45:57 realize traveling. I never let my kids get near that stuff. Scott Galloway · 46:01 My gosh. Unfortunately, he's getting... It's just terrible. I'm gonna have to sneak in, like, I don't know, and kneecap him or something because he's becoming a better athlete, is really infringing on my leisure time. Kara Swisher · 46:11 Oh, you're gonna... Traveling. Oh, sorry, Scott Galloway · 46:14 Scott. Right? Kara Swisher · 46:15 So sorry. That's a... Speaking of plagues, that's a... Oh god. Traveling teams, you go everywhere. And they're far. It's like always a two hour drive. Scott Galloway · 46:24 And then there's one game at ten and one game at two, which gives us enough time to, like, go to... Go get a Kara Swisher · 46:30 Get some Chipotle. Scott Galloway · 46:31 And then go back. Kara Swisher · 46:32 Make sure the kids are not working Scott Galloway · 46:34 too much. Kara Swisher · 46:35 Make some money. Anyway, Scott. Scott Galloway · 46:36 Yeah. Kara Swisher · 46:37 Scott, can you please read the read the credits, please? I will talk to you next week. We'll talk about the Super Bowl and the ads, the Trump ad and the Bloomberg ad. There's so much to talk about. And then, obviously, impeachment is still Scott Galloway · 46:47 going on. Oh, yeah. That's right. A lot there's a lot going on there. Kara Swisher · 46:50 Yeah. We'll talk about it Monday after you get back from your traveling team and Chipotle eating. Please read the credits. Scott Galloway · 46:56 Today's show is produced by Rebecca Sinanis. Erica Anderson is Pivot's executive producer. Thanks also to Rebecca Castro and Drew Burrows. Make sure you're subscribed to the show on Apple Podcasts. Or if you're on Android, check us out on Spotify or frankly wherever you listen to podcasts. If you liked our show, please recommend it to a friend. Thanks for listening to Pivot from Vox Media. We'll be back next week for another breakdown of all things tech and business.