Scott Galloway · 34:56
About it. Could this in fact make it... The economy less competitive and just let it sit in committee forever? I mean, this feels like ground... It's not even Groundhog Day. It's Groundhog Decade.
Kara Swisher · 35:07
I feel like I've been talking about this. I found a story I wrote fifteen years ago about this saying Google shouldn't have this dominance and why isn't the FTC or the Justice Department acting. It does feel like the market will eventually take care of it. Apple is getting into it, Amazon, it's all big companies, of course. It's not you don't see a lot of innovation in ad tech. Why would there be?
Scott Galloway · 35:27
I think that's their argument. Because the argument at the end of the day, everything everywhere ends. And that's one of their arguments is, oh, these companies too will be disruptive. It's like, yeah, but between now and then, we should have a more robust competitive market, more shareholder value, more jobs. But it is... I like the term. It's ground hot decade.
Kara Swisher · 35:44
Very much so. Anyway, let's pivot to a listener question.
Scott Galloway · 35:48
You've got you've got I can't believe I'm gonna be a mailman. You've got mail.
Kara Swisher · 35:52
Let's listen to it.
Speaker · 35:53
Hi, Karen Scott. My name is Annie, and I'm a new listener calling behalf of a longtime listener. My boyfriend, Tyler, has been listening to all things Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway since way before we started dating. I actually used to think he was incredibly informed and well read until I also started listening to the Pivot podcast and realized he was actually just copying all of his information from the two of you. That being said, it is about to be Tyler's thirtieth birthday in February. To celebrate his arrival into a new decade, I would love for him to have some insight from his two favorite podcasters. If you were to turn 30 again, what would you have done the same? What would you have done differently? And what is the habit you would have liked to have started or stopped in your thirtieth year? And Kara, as a longtime DC resident, I'm very sad to have heard about your Tesla run-in with your Kia. That being said, it absolutely would have happened in Dupont Circle. All the best to the both of you. Thanks.
Kara Swisher · 36:49
Wow. That's a question. Interesting. Happy birthday, Tyler.
Scott Galloway · 36:54
Differently or the same at 30. Yeah. Happy birthday, Tyler.
Kara Swisher · 36:57
Yeah. Happy birthday. And by the way, it's Evan Engel's birthday too. So happy birthday, Engel. He's a producer on Pivot. Happy birthday to him too. Ah, 30. I gotta say nothing different. I would have had... I would have been pregnant again. I would have gotten pregnant again. I love being pregnant. I wish I... I didn't get pregnant till I was 38 though. I don't know. What would you have done differently? I would have been more risk taking. I'm pretty risk taking. I would have been even more so. What about you?
Scott Galloway · 37:25
I would have done... I have like two things, two kind of regrets. Did a lot... You know, took advantage of a great economy, started businesses, really enjoyed myself, had good relationships, you know, with my mom, with... I had a really, you know, really good relationships with with women in my... A lot of good things. A lot of blessed things. The two things, like, big things I regret are one is the same as yours. As I get older, I really wish I had a little girl. I wish I'd had a third kid. And that probably meant... Would have meant starting earlier. And as I get older, it's weird. I I never wanted kids. And I was like the... I was the one in the relationship that decided to stop at two. And I'm just... Every time I see a little girl now, think, god, I would just love to have a little girl. Anyways, I wish I'd had more kids. Specifically, I wish I'd had a daughter. And then the other thing, on a bigger level, and I, you know, I wish I wish I'd been kinder. I wasn't a bad person. I wasn't mean. But with just a little bit of effort, I could I could have made a lot of people's lives much nicer by just being kinder. And I was so caught up in my own shit. I was so ambitious. I was so thinking about every decision was how do I make me more fucking awesome all the time. And I was never mean. I would never went out of my way to be mean to anybody. But with just a little bit more effort with my employees, with with with strangers, with people in my life, I just could have been kinder. And you realize it doesn't take a lot to really make people's lives nicer. I mean, if you're in a position of economic security, or people are impressed by you, or people love you, It just didn't take a lot of effort Yeah.
Kara Swisher · 39:17
I would agree.
Scott Galloway · 39:17
To make their day. Right?
Kara Swisher · 39:19
I would agree. I think that's And
Scott Galloway · 39:20
I didn't... You know what? The reality is? I didn't do a lot of that.
Kara Swisher · 39:23
Yeah. Yeah. I would agree with you. I would agree with you. You do... You just... I'm more with the risk taking besides getting pregnant again. I really wish I had gotten pregnant again. I liked it. It was interesting. I loved it. But I did have more kids. So I did do that. And I was happy that I did that because at the time, I remember when I... Right after I couldn't anymore, I'm like, oh, shoot. I missed that one. But I didn't as it turns out. And I'm glad I did that. I have to say, don't have that many regrets. I don't. I'm trying to think. Just more risk taking, even more so. More, more, more cowbells, more swisher. That's what I would have done. More like, could see you later, more changing jobs, more taking risks, that kind of stuff, I think, probably. Saying yes to a lot more things that that I was worried about.
Scott Galloway · 40:08
But my advice to this kid, this 30 year old, I mean, look at this. He has he has he has a partner calling a show that he obviously likes to try and surprise him to lie to him. Right? Yeah. Know, take stock of your blessings.
Kara Swisher · 40:21
Be nice to Annie, Tyler. Ask him
Scott Galloway · 40:23
to marry.
Kara Swisher · 40:24
Are you married? Are you married?
Scott Galloway · 40:25
When you were 30, did you have the presence I didn't to just realize how fucking blessed you are? I didn't? Yes. I thought it was all me. I thought everything good that happened to me was a function of just how awesome I was. I never took the time to really stop and think, Jesus Christ, am I lucky. And you get that perspective as you get older. And the and the younger you get it, I think the more rewarding a life you can lead because it just gives you a sense of satisfaction and reward.
Kara Swisher · 40:50
I'll give Tyler one more piece of advice. I... So that I think work for me. Think about the fact that you're not gonna be here in a hundred years. Just really do. Just... It really does put a lot of things 100 perspective. You know, 30... Right now, 30, how old? He could go he could go to 70 years, you know, seventy or more years. Finite. Everything's finite. So get... Realize that and realize it every day of your life. And then I think that's what you would do. And and don't don't crib off of us and pretend it's your intelligence. That's not cool. But Annie, I'm glad you're onto him.
Speaker · 41:20
That's Most
Kara Swisher · 41:21
people do that. But otherwise, happy birthday, Tyler. And Annie, thank you so much about the Kia. It was a tragedy. It was a tragedy. Of course, it was a Tesla that did it. Anyway, if you've got a question of your own that you'd like answered, send it our way. Go to nymag.com/pivot to submit a question for the show or call 85551 Wait. One quick question, Scott, before we get to predictions. What would you... What would your daughter's name have been?
Scott Galloway · 41:45
I didn't get to the... We didn't get to the naming thing. No? I don't know.
Kara Swisher · 41:48
Nothing? I just... Well, you know, you're in Britain.
Scott Galloway · 41:51
I don't know. Anne? What are No.
Kara Swisher · 41:53
Oh god. You're in Britain, like Drusilla. They have so many good names. Prunella or something like that. You live in Britain.
Scott Galloway · 42:00
Yeah. I never got to the naming part. We named our sons very Scottish names. Alec. Well, Alec is Scottish. Nolan because Nolan Ryan was my favorite athlete growing up. But the nice part is his mother, I tell this story in my class, and that is I met my oldest mother at the pool at the Raleigh Hotel. And Kara, I don't know how you and Amanda met, or you guys are blind date. But it was the middle of the day at the pool at the Raleigh, middle of a Sunday. And I said to myself, I saw her, and I said, I'm going to speak to her before I leave. And I promised myself I would speak to her. And I sat there for a couple hours. And to open, and that is to open a conversation with a stranger who's sitting with another woman and another guy wearing nothing by the pool without the assistance of alcohol, that is not easy.
Kara Swisher · 42:52
What did you do? What did you say?
Scott Galloway · 42:53
And I said, I'm not leaving until I spoke to her.
Kara Swisher · 42:55
What'd say?
Scott Galloway · 42:56
Just went up and said, hey. Where are you guys from? Anyways... But the the good part is it was at the Raleigh Hotel, and my oldest son's middle name is Raleigh.
Kara Swisher · 43:03
Oh, nice. Oh, nice.
Scott Galloway · 43:05
What I tell young people is nothing really wonderful will happen to you unless you take an uncomfortable risk.
Kara Swisher · 43:11
Oh, nice. Well, that's our message.
Scott Galloway · 43:13
That's our message.
Kara Swisher · 43:15
That... You are a 100% correct. And by the way, until I had a daughter, I called Louie Louise a lot, and he didn't mind. Anyway, Scott, one more quick break. We'll be back for predictions.
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Kara Swisher · 44:11
Why do
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— Predictions segment begins —
Kara Swisher · 44:31
Okay, Scott. Let's hear
Scott Galloway · 44:33
Regardless of whether AI, whether their performance matches the promise, and we're already into kind of... I don't wanna call it peak hype cycle, but we're into the hype cycle of AI already. Zero to a million users in five days versus versus 75 for, Instagram, a 150 for Spotify. But we're gonna see the investment that Microsoft made as one of the savviest investments in corporate history. Because even if it doesn't live up to the potential, the the market share that Bing is gonna get in the ninety days after it launches like a ChatGPT inspired or driven product. Because if you think about search, I spent some time on Bing last night. If you think about AI, it's supposed to be a predictions engine. And Google, at the end of the day, search is supposed to predict what would be the best answer. And what has happened to Google, Google has no shortage of AI. But what has happened to Google is that the economic incentives have turned it into sort of a cesspool. And that is it used to take you to the best answer. Now it takes you to the place they can further monetize. And if you type in best resorts in Thailand for families, it'll give you 15 links, some of which that people are paying to be there, and you kinda sort through stuff, and you have to still come up with your own answer. And Bing, at least from a perception standpoint, should they incorporate ChatGPT, which they will, will say, when you use Bing, we're not gonna give you 15 shitty answers. We're gonna give you the one right one. And it'll be an answer that'll be something along the lines of the three best travel resorts in Thailand or the three best resorts for families in Thailand are x, y, and zed. And even if it's not... Even if there's no real there there, I think the perception... I think Bing is about to get so much trial. And the idea and the perception that Microsoft could be a new dominant force again in search is gonna take a $1,500,000,000,000 market cap company. If it just takes it up 10%, they've got a 15 x return on the 10,000,000,000 they put into OpenAI. Excuse me. So in sum, in six or twelve months, we're gonna look back on Microsoft and Satya Nadella. Keep in mind, he put a billion bucks into OpenAI in 2019 when no one was talking about it. We're gonna see this as one of the savviest corporate moves in a long, long time. This is a great move by Microsoft.
Kara Swisher · 46:51
Great. Well, there you have it. I think that's a good one. I think you're right. But I do think there's some overhyping going on here. We'll see where it goes. I do think there's a lot more going on at the Googles and Amazons and Facebooks of the world than they're letting on. I think though that Microsoft's made a smart move here in terms of getting market share and interest and focus on them, of first mover advantage. But I don't count Google out of this one. But I agree. I think they've let other people take their market It
Scott Galloway · 47:16
comes back again. You brought up the innovator's dilemma last week, and that is it is just really hard to attack the golden goose. They have this $150,000,000,000 cash volcano called Search, and unfortunately involves giving you a lot of marginal links to marginal answers. And basically, the promise of a prediction engine, which is what AI promises, is to say no. We're gonna give you one answer, and that's it. And it totally flies in the face of their business model. It it... The whole point, the way Google monetizes search is by giving you a couple 100 links back.
Kara Swisher · 47:52
It used to be more delightful. This is the answer. It used to be more delightful for some reason and useful, but you're right. You can't It's gotten worse.
Scott Galloway · 47:59
Despite the technology getting better at Google, Google has no shortage of AI. What Google has is an an incentive structure.
Kara Swisher · 48:06
No. No. They have deep minds. They've got... They certainly... They've gotta be creative and figure out creative and delightful delightful ways ways to to use their products. And they're not delightful anymore. There's very... And that's why people are responding to... It's interesting and it's interesting. That's all it is. And so I think that's... There's new ways to search. And I remember years ago saying search is so... We'll look back on typing words into a box and think how Neanderthal... Neanderthal of us because what a silly way. There should be so many other ways to search that aren't... That have a lot more to do with us. I don't know. I just always thought it was so was not the way it was going go. Anyway, good prediction, Scott Galloway. That's the show. We'll be back on Tuesday with more Pivot. Scott, read us out.
— Predictions segment ends —
Scott Galloway · 48:48
Today's show was produced by Lara Naiman, Evan Engel, and Taylor Griffin. Ernie Intertaut 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 for another breakdown of all things tech in business. Recognize the finite nature of life, be kind, and have daughters.
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