Pivot · Jul 5, 2022

Twitter, Layoffs, and Streaming: Pivot's Q2 Quarterly Review

Automatic transcript of the end of the episode, from 23:24. Speakers are labeled by software and may contain errors. Highlighted passages are Scott’s predictions.

Kara Swisher · 23:24 And if they wanted to interface with me when I was there, they were often there. So I don't know. I don't know, Jeremy. Think you're probably right, but that's the way it's going. But it makes me sad to think about all these people stuck in their little offices looking at Zoom. It's kind of a sad and lonely existence if you don't... Workplace is a great place. Scott Galloway · 23:40 I'm in Century City right now. And you go... I went over to the Twin Towers. I've been there in a while, I was just sort of sentimental to go see it. Middle of a workday on a Monday, these are enormous office Yeah. Yeah. And no one's there. They're literally, literally deserted. But I I just wanna make sure I do wanna have one comment here, and that is advice to young people. If you're really ambitious and maybe you don't live to work, you work to live, and you want to have the trade off of quality of life and take advantage of remote work, or you are a caregiver and need to take care of people, which is, I think it's... That's one of the really wonderful unlocks about... Around remote work is saving people time in terms of commuting or putting on a pantsuit or whatever it is. But I think for that that... What I'll call very ambitious people, my advice, full stop, is to get into the office. Kara Swisher · 24:32 Yeah. Scott Galloway · 24:32 That that promotions are a function usually of relationships. And people push back on me and say, no. There's new metrics. I don't buy it. It's... There are three people qualified for every promotion, and the person that gets the promotion the person who has the best relationship with the decider. And relationships are a function of proximity. If you're really ambitious, figure out a way to get into the office. Kara Swisher · 24:53 We will see where it goes. I have noticed the very busy streets in DC, in the office area because, you know, our congress, they're they're all in person. Scott, we'll see what happens. We don't know. This is a really interesting topic, and you're right. This could... Figuring this out is gonna be very difficult. And it's... There's no good answer, actually. Alright, Scott. One more quick break. We'll be back for a couple more predictions from Friends of Pivot. [Ad break] Speaker · 25:37 Prescription Botox is injected by your doctor. Effects of Botox may spread hours to weeks after injection, causing serious symptoms. Alert your doctor right away as difficulty swallowing, speaking, breathing, eye problems, or muscle weakness can be signs of a life threatening condition. Patients with these conditions before injection are at highest risk. Side effects may include allergic reactions, neck and injection site pain, fatigue, and headache. Allergic reactions can include rash, welts, asthma symptoms, and dizziness. Don't receive Botox if there's a skin infection. Tell your doctor your medical history, muscle or nerve conditions, including ALS Lou Gehrig's disease, myasthenia gravis, or Lambert Eaton syndrome, and medications, including botulinum toxins, as these may increase the risk of serious side effects. [Ad break] — Predictions segment begins — Kara Swisher · 26:43 Okay, Scott. We're back. Let's get to more predictions from some friends of Pivot. Here's one about cryptocurrencies. Guest · 26:49 Hey, Karen Scott. This is Edward Onguoso junior at Vice's motherboard. For my prediction, I think that in the coming quarter, we're gonna continue to see crypto have a high correlation with other risky equities driven by the liquidity crunch as consumers and investors predict a recession. Right? And this means that multiple funds, tokens, lending platforms, they're all at risk as the effects of the liquidity crunch, rising interest rates, and venture capitalists tightening their belts all threaten the unsustainable business models with no clear utility that populate a lot of the decentralized finance space. I think continuing that trend, there's gonna be less of an appetite for risk and speculation that drove a lot of the adoption in the stablecoin, the decentralized finance space. Kara Swisher · 27:40 I think that's a pretty safe thing to say, Edward. You know, interestingly, Sam Bankman Fried, who's one of the more stable people in this at FDX, was interested in making a deal to buy Celsius, but walked away, apparently, the story, after finding a $2,000,000,000 hole in the balance sheet. That's what the story was. I think he's correct. I think it's gonna really tighten up. I don't think that's a bad thing. It has to. And, everybody's gonna have to show their underwear essentially about, like, what they have and all their assets and things like that and sort of act like real life kid... Like, real life boys and mostly boys. Scott Galloway · 28:18 It it was less of a prediction, more of a summary of what's happened in last three months. I mean, there's definitely been a risk off trade, and this is the tail of the whip of risk, kind of these shitcoins and the speculation in many of these platforms that were really levered, and we're seeing a massive delevering across entire ecosystem. And this is one of the most levered. I do think though that that it's important to separate not all tokens are the same. And I do think Bitcoin is different than the rest. And that is Bitcoin has established the scarcity credibility along the lines of a fiat currency. And everyone talks about the collapse in Bitcoin. On the Prop G Pod, interviewed Michael Saylor, I think less than two years ago. Bitcoin was at $18,000 So how many securities are up from where they were two years ago? And the other gangster move here that really shocked me was SEC Chairman Gensler said that other than Bitcoin, he purposely called out an exempted Bitcoin. He thinks that these other coins need to be regulated as securities. So when you have this delevering and Gensler saying you're a security and you're going to be subject to reporting requirements and regulation, but he exempts Bitcoin from that. Mhmm. I think he basically just said to... Said Bitcoin is a legitimate asset. So I Well Kara Swisher · 29:37 I think think he said it's a commodity. I was with some people at the commodities, the regulators, and they were like, it's a commodity. It's gonna be a... Scott Galloway · 29:45 Bitcoin I'm not saying it's not justified, but the reality is what he's saying is there's a bunch of coins that are about to be... Basically, every coin's about to be regulated as a secure... As a security Mhmm. Except for one token coin slash commodity slash payment slash store value, whatever you wanna call it, called Bitcoin. Kara Swisher · 30:03 Mhmm. Scott Galloway · 30:04 So I think Bitcoin, just as in '99, everybody says... Uses... You know, talks about, okay. In '99, they cleared out all this shit, and then there are some enduring companies. It looks as if Bitcoin is going to be enduring. And I think it's dangerous to lump them all together because Great. Kara Swisher · 30:20 Agree. Scott Galloway · 30:21 You know? But but it is... I can't imagine the meetings that are going on, at crypto companies right now around, the kind of the delevering and... Do you wanna talk about layoffs? Kara Swisher · 30:32 And I do think these government agencies are cooperating a lot more than you think. Everyone's like, oh, they've been fighting with each other. I know who gets to run it. I think they're cooperating quite a bit. I think they talk all the time, and I do think they're gonna... It's gonna be a commodity. I think it will be. Lastly, here's a prediction about Sheryl Sandberg's future. Guest · 30:50 Hi, Kara and Scott. It's Cecilia Kung of the New York Times and coauthor with Shira Frankel of An Inside Facebook's Battle for Nomination. I've been asked what the next quarter has in store for Sheryl Sandberg, and a lot of sort of the top line for Sheryl Sandberg is a period of transition. She is leaving the company by this fall, and so she will be officially handing over a lot of her responsibilities to other very senior lieutenants at Facebook at a period of great transition at the company as well. This is a really interesting time too because Sheryl Sandberg as perhaps the business world's most prominent and recognizable feminist has already weighed in on abortion rights and the decision by the Supreme Court. We may see her and her organization potentially weigh in more. She has talked about how she wants to focus more on her nonprofit work. But the big thing I would note is a period of transition for Sheryl Sandberg. And as one person recently said to me about her, she's got a fire in her belly, so she's not done yet. Kara Swisher · 31:57 Oh, interesting. Well, she should take mail locks if that's the case. You know what? She's gotta step up, like we said. I mean, Cecilia, this is an interesting thing to say, but she can't transition. She needs to move right fast to something significant. I mean, Mackenzie Bezos has already given over $250,000,000, I think, to Planned Parenthood. Just dropped it. Boom. Like, step the fuck up here in this time. I think that's really important for her to make a big significant difference and not a lot of playing around. I don't know. What do you think, Scott? Scott Galloway · 32:26 I mean, just the contrast in what you brought up, I'm involved in the, the JED Foundation, which focuses on teen, prevention of teen suicide and teen mental health. And we did a fundraiser in New York. And Mackenzie Bezos, basically the head of the foundation, John McPhee, got an email saying, hi, we're from the Mackenzie Bezos Foundation, don't know you're to call it. We need your wiring information. We're sending you $15,000,000. Boom. And they said, we have done the diligence. We don't need anything. We don't want anything. We think you're doing great work. Godspeed. Where do we send the money? And then you have Sheryl Sandberg who basically will give a million dollars and want a big check and have a bunch of people take photos of her. And I wanna say that Sheryl Sandberg is more like most men. And that is the notion of giving is like, I need something in return. It's not really giving. I I don't buy into the premise. And I... You know, I'm not a huge fan of Sheryl Sandberg. I think to call somebody who has delayed and obfuscated data and used the majority of her skills to obfuscate and misdirect our attention from what has been probably the greatest level or crisis of teen depression, especially among young girls, to call that person a feminist, I just don't buy into the... I just don't... I don't think they've earned that title. Kara Swisher · 33:42 Or de earned it. De earned it in a lot of ways. Here's the thing. She's got to roll up her sleeves. She... You said skills. She has the skills. You know what I mean? She has the ability to do something significant. Scott Galloway · 33:53 Great executive. Talented woman. Kara Swisher · 33:55 So she needs to, like, use her force of... For good, and she needs to really... Speaking of lean in, lean the fuck in, Cheryl. That's what I would say to her, and she's probably listening to this. Lean in in a real significant way. You've got the money. You've got the means. Ignore... You know, like, you're gonna get a lot of shit. Take it. Take it. You deserve it. Like, you know what I mean about Facebook and everything else, and stop focused on yourself and focus on the problem, which is, in your case, you have, you know, abortion rights is is a big issue for you. And and I think you especially focus on, the people really hurt... Hurting, which as Scott pointed out in a previous show was, women of, poor women of color, or the poor just in general. You need to really get shit done that actual is not a photo opportunity that is not, that you don't talk about, that you just do. Like, just do, essentially. I think she's got fire in her belly, then use it for that. Anything else, a lot of studies, a lot of, you know, considering, talking, just move. Just move. You you can do it. Like, this is an opportunity to redeem yourself in some fashion, and you should... It's a golden opportunity. You should take it. Scott Galloway · 35:05 You're assuming this is an individual that's redeemable. Kara Swisher · 35:08 I do. Okay. I do. As you know. I... You know what? She's got the means and the money and the talent. Mhmm. She can do it. You know? Not everybody's redeemable. I agree with you. Like, I want her to use her money for this, and I want her to use her intelligence and her drive and her ambition and focus it on something that matters that will change people's lives for the better. The rest of your life should be about that. That's my feeling. Scott Galloway · 35:34 I think there's a lot of parents of teenage girls that will not accept her apology. Kara Swisher · 35:38 Agreed. Agreed. But, you know, look at all these cigarette people that have given all this money for anti... Like, could hap... Look. If... Just make it so. Make it so. And and and you may not even... By the way, you may not get a thank you. You may not get get I forgive you, but do it the fuck anyway. That's my feeling. You know? I think you you can do it, and so we'll see where that goes. No more transitions. Let's go. You know how I am with that. Like Yep. Speak... Speaking of layoffs, I self fire myself all the time. Anyway, Scott, I'm very excited. This is... You did very well this quarter. You may retain your job. — Predictions segment ends — Scott Galloway · 36:13 A broken clock. Broken clock, Kiara. Kara Swisher · 36:16 No. You're thoughtful man, and and you deserve credit. This was... You did a lot of really Speaker · 36:21 good ones. Kara Swisher · 36:21 Sounds good to you. And and very... I don't think there were any bad ones. You know? I think you've been pretty much on point. And one of the things is you do listen to a lot more people. I think you've been availing yourself to a lot more interesting points of view, which is great. Scott Galloway · 36:36 Is the antidepressant? Kara Swisher · 36:37 Is that a hate crime? Is that a hate crime? Anyway, that's the show. We'll be back on Friday for more, but I'm glad we're able to assess ourselves and see how we do. We'll try our best... To do our best, going forward. Scott, read us out. Scott Galloway · 36:53 Today's show was produced by Lara Naaman, Evan Engel, and Taylor Griffin. Ernie Intertodd engineered this episode. Thanks also to Drew Burrows and Neil Silverio. Make sure you subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening to Pivot from New York Magazine and Vox Media. We'll be back next week and next quarter for another breakdown of all things tech and business. Kara, thanks for a great quarter. Best of you and yours. Kara Swisher · 37:14 You too. Here's the next one. [Ad break] Kara Swisher · 38:23 tomorrow [Ad break]