Kara Swisher · 25:40
But they had been... Some of them had had careers before, and they felt... It felt like they were really leaning into startups and trying things, and I don't know. It was interesting. It was an... I felt great after this dinner.
Scott Galloway · 25:52
Look. It's a more nuanced conversation. I think about this a lot. If you're blessed with a great degree and you're young, I still think that going to a great platform on a risk adjusted basis, if you're fortunate enough to get an opportunity to go to work for a great platform, whether it's a Vox, a JP Morgan, Google, I I still think on a risk adjusted basis, that's the place to go and learn and get health care and meet people. I think entrepreneurship is romanticized. Having said that, creating an environment and this is where I think antitrust comes in where there's a lot of opportunity for small businesses. I think that's the key to America's one of the keys to America's success. Two thirds of new jobs are created by small and medium sized businesses. So I think anything we can do to increase the environment for entrepreneurship is a wonderful thing. I you have take a sober look. The thing I don't like about this news is everyone says, oh, I'm gonna start a business. And whenever I call people and call me, they think I'm going go, oh, yeah, start a business no matter what they ask me. And more often than not, say, as much as you hate where you are, given your situation, given your financial needs, I would consider staying for another year and trying to work it out there. But the more new business formation you have, the better the economy. Because these things fill new spaces, occasionally they blow up. And I've been an entrepreneur my whole life. It's been very stressful, and it's been very rewarding. And I find that there's a link between those two things in anything you do, and that is the highs are higher and the lows are lower.
Kara Swisher · 27:22
But they should... I think I think the idea is if you have a choice, you should make a choice. And what many people... They asked me if I would give the same advice to those who, you know, had had jobs, you know, that that aren't movable, and I said, no. Absolutely not, but I would encourage them to get more... There's more educational opportunities online to think about some... If you didn't have education, some vocational training Mhmm. Or get that education, but but it was... It's different where you are on the economic spectrum, obviously. But you're right. Sometimes saying is just as good a decision as leaving.
Scott Galloway · 27:55
That's a key point, and that is we tend to think of entrepreneurship in the context of two MIT grads who leave Google to The start a majority of entrepreneurship is immigrants that are never given the opportunity to work for Google, so they open a great restaurant or a services company. Entrepreneurship, I relate to this, and people don't. I'm an entrepreneur because of my deficiencies, not because of my skills. Don't have the ability to be effective and successful in a big organization. I'm too insecure.
Kara Swisher · 28:26
Me either. We're bad employees. Do you know that?
Scott Galloway · 28:28
Well, I don't position it as a romantic thing. Like, I'm too much of a maverick. I was literally too much No.
Kara Swisher · 28:33
No. I said bad employees, Scott. I'm not an insulting.
Scott Galloway · 28:35
Let me just be self aware for a moment. When I was at Morgan Stanley, if people went into a conference room, I thought, oh, they must be talking about me. I spent more time worrying about worrying about what everyone thought of
Kara Swisher · 28:46
me Young Scott.
Scott Galloway · 28:47
Than actually Just
Kara Swisher · 28:48
show Young Scott.
Scott Galloway · 28:48
Doing getting my shit done. And so I thought, I need to have control and information, and the only way I can get that is by starting my own business. So the majority of entrepreneurs start a company not out of options, but out of a lack of options. The great thing about America
Kara Swisher · 29:07
don't agree. I didn't do that. That's not why Walter started. I think you're was stupid.
Scott Galloway · 29:11
Yeah, but you had momentum, and for lack of a better term, privilege. You have brands, you have platforms, you had money, you had amazing educations. The majority of entrepreneurs have
Speaker · 29:20
none They of
Scott Galloway · 29:21
have none
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Scott Galloway · 29:22
They can't go to work for Google or The Wall Street Journal. So just be clear. If you have access to those platforms, think long and hard before you leave, because the greatest wealth generator in history is still the American corporation. So it's a situational thing. I don't like it when business schools and everyone just say, oh, start a business. You're lame if you go to work for another company. No. You're not. It's all situational. It's about where you are in your life, your financial needs, your financial obligations.
Kara Swisher · 29:51
Scott is advising
Scott Galloway · 29:54
It's it's Nuance.
Kara Swisher · 29:55
Alright. Bringing it into the Nuance. Oh, I love this.
Scott Galloway · 29:58
Nuance from the dog. That's right. He doesn't just howl at anything. He howls at the moon.
Kara Swisher · 30:04
Alright. Okay. Alright. Let's go on a quick break. When we come back, we'll hear from some friends of Pivot about what's coming up in the next quarter, and I'm sure they're gonna be nuanced. This
[Ad break]
Speaker · 30:55
we added that this magical substance can dramatically lower your cholesterol, improve your mood, and keep your weight stable?
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Speaker · 31:08
But what is fiber? How could one nutrient do all those amazing things? And how can you get enough? Is a powder you stir into some water gonna do it
[Ad break]
— Predictions segment begins —
Kara Swisher · 31:32
Scott, we're back. Now that we've looked back at our own predictions, let's hear... I don't make predictions, by the way. Let's hear... Except that I I egg Scott on. Let's hear from some friends of Pivot about what they expect in the coming months. To start, here's a prediction from Ina Fried of Axios.
Guest · 31:48
I think geopolitical issues are really what's gonna dominate the tech discussion for the next few months, particularly, obviously, Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It has a number of effects, some of which we've already started to see around content moderation, around where tech companies do business. But I think we'll see that deepen in the next couple of months. I think supply chain issues could crop up. Supply chains are already very strained, particularly semiconductors. And while Russia doesn't play a pivotal role in the broad tech ecosystem, they do provide some key raw materials that are needed for tech. So if there's any issues there, it could really challenge an already struggling supply chain. And the other piece to watch is China. China has kind of tried to sit on the sidelines here, but certainly, I think there's gonna be pressure from both sides for them to take a side in the Russia Ukraine conflict. And to the degree that they don't come out against Russia, I think that could further reinvigorate the discussion around The US and West decoupling from China, as well as China taking its own actions to become more independent. That's gonna happen over the long term probably anyway, but the Russia conflict could accelerate things.
Kara Swisher · 32:58
That's a very deep and substantive and nuanced argument from Ina Fried. Thank you, Ina. Black rocks, Larry Fink, says the Ukraine war is bringing out, bringing an end to globalization, which is interesting. Deglobalization could have some benefits. A disrupted energy market could speed up the transition to renewable energy. What? Thank you, Scott.
Scott Galloway · 33:18
Well, like, you know, I think she always has a thoughtful take on stuff. The deglobalization argument, it made for a good catchphrase, but we're deglobalizing on trade, and that is a lot of companies are saying we need a more heterogeneous supply chain. Proximity is more important. We need to do more Right,
Kara Swisher · 33:34
there's going be more domestic manufacturing in America.
Scott Galloway · 33:37
And more trade with our allies. I mean, the biggest if you want to talk about geopolitics, you have to understand energy. Because if you look at the last one hundred years, oil has had a lot more impact than the semiconductor, the internet. And what is, to a certain extent, even when Putin decided to launch this war and how he launched it, was a function of the energy markets. And what we're going through now is trying to figure out the relationship between liquefied natural gas and oil and Europe's needs and our needs. And so just there's more conversations right now, Kara, around how we transfer energy to different nations and how we transfer armaments.
Kara Swisher · 34:16
Yeah. I think that's a good time to be innovative, actually. Try to think of new things. I don't know if there's gonna
Scott Galloway · 34:20
open a
Kara Swisher · 34:21
a chip a chip manufacturing thing in America. But, you know, I had a discussion with Chamath Palihapiti. I know he can... He's had some issues recently, but nonetheless, he's very smart. He he was like, things that collapse give you an opportunity to come up with new ways to do things. Mhmm. And I don't think that's a big idea, but, you know, whether it's airlines, etcetera, etcetera. And I think, I don't know there's gonna be a chip plant in America, but how do we do these things? Where do we get them from? What prices are we willing to do? Where can we cut? I think it gives you... I I think crisis always gives a great opportunity, in this case, But it's... But she's right. This China thing is there's more and more... China is our rival. China is our... The The US rival, and they are... You know, we talk a lot about Russia, and there's a lot of that, but they're they're so far behind the real point. China's really the rival of The United States Of America. What does that mean? It doesn't mean, you know, a cold war by any stretch, but it certainly means to be thinking about that there's another power that has significant advantages that the way we have had. Anyway, we have to move on. Here's a prediction from Nicole Perlroth, the author of This Is How They Tell Me The World Ends.
Guest · 35:36
Okay. First, the bad news. Over the few weeks and months, I think we are going to experience Russian cyber attacks of critical infrastructure. The White House announced last week that Russian hackers are already in the planning stages of these attacks. And I think with the West continuing to tighten the screws on Russia with sanctions and the ban on oil and diamonds and vodka, it's inevitable at some point that Putin will retaliate with cyber attack. We know that they have the access, we've seen their capabilities. And I think what we as Americans don't realize is just how soft our underbelly is when it comes to cyber. So watch that space. I can't leave you there because it's too scary. So I'll leave you with some good news. I think until now cryptocurrency has really been a safe haven for cyber criminals, but not anymore. I think over the next few months, we're going to start seeing law enforcement and agencies like the IRS turn it around and exploit the public nature of the blockchain against cyber criminals. And I think we're going to see them start doing it at scale. So cyber criminals be afraid, be very afraid. That's all I got. Be good you two. I will see you on the other side.
Kara Swisher · 36:54
Oh, that's smart. Nicole is so smart.
Speaker · 36:56
She's smart.
Kara Swisher · 36:57
You know, she left the time. She's working as an adviser to CISA and stuff. Just a really smart person. I think she's right. I think we have to be very clear. We've talked about this extensively this year around cyber issues, and and we have to be really clear that we are vulnerable and we're dependent on these on these on these different technologies. Hackers... On the other side, though, hackers, the... Under the anonymous banner, see, they've taken down websites of Russian energy companies and news organization. They are also... The whole world is vulnerable in this area. And the question is how we do it. I would like to see at the end of this some sort of worldwide agreement around cyber attacks just the way we did it with nuclear. Right. I think it's really important. I don't know why we don't have that, but it's not... It is war. It is a war of a different kind, but it's just as devastating. It's not just as devastating, of course, not not buildings, but it's... It can be... It could it could have repercussions that are very significant around people's savings and their lives and the the safety of water and electricity, etcetera. So
Scott Galloway · 38:04
I'm a huge fan of Nicole's. I read a word, but there's just no getting around it. Nicole and other cybersecurity analysts got it wrong. Was Meaning? Well, was a lot of cybersecurity analysts said we're kind of waiting for cyber attacks from Russia that didn't materialize.
Kara Swisher · 38:18
Not yet. I'm sorry. Think she's right. I think we're very vulnerable. Don't think I they're busy having a shitty war doing a bad job.
Scott Galloway · 38:26
Think They have made a they conscious decision not to do this. The driving the tank is no one doing cyber attacks. They have decided, they have purposely made a decision to hold back, at least so far, because I believe we have closed the gap, and they are worried about counter attacks. So I think the security analysts around cyber here actually got it wrong. We've all been very surprised at the lack
Kara Swisher · 38:51
I'm going of on I'm going on the other side of this. I think we are very vulnerable.
Scott Galloway · 38:56
That's not what I'm arguing, Kara.
Kara Swisher · 38:58
To date To date.
Scott Galloway · 39:00
All the cybersecurity analysts predicted this would be a war of traditional armaments and cyberattacks. They were half right. The cyberattacks have not come. So the question is, why haven't they come?
Kara Swisher · 39:14
I think they will come.
Scott Galloway · 39:16
We'll see. I believe The US has actually significantly closed the delta. And I think that, whether privately or publicly, I think we have communicated Nicole talked about this our ability to shut down with a cyberattack those nuclear reactors. Sure. I think Russia has said, okay, just as we don't want to engage Russia directly with a no fly sound that includes taking out their missile batteries in Russian territory, I think the Russians have calculated that if we start doing cyberattacks, they will respond. And we might not like how they respond because to date, every... Everyone is surprised at the lack of cyberattacks coming out of Russia right now.
Kara Swisher · 39:53
Well, I think we have a much bigger landscape, as I said.
Scott Galloway · 39:56
We'll see. Surface of attack. I love that. What's the term you use? I love...
Kara Swisher · 39:59
Attack surface.
Scott Galloway · 40:00
Yeah. That's a good term. It's the name of my next book.
Kara Swisher · 40:03
It's Ever Criminals. I think she's right. This is... The government's getting its hands around this, but but there's also gonna be all these problems. Last week, hackers stole over 600,000,000 in cryptocurrency from a network behind Axie Infinity. So is... Government's gonna have to start hiring up on this area. If you wanna go... By the way, jobs, cybersecurity, like we talked about.
Scott Galloway · 40:23
100%. I mean, crypto's been really interesting in the sense that this was supposed to be the perfect storm of good things for crypto. Governments deciding that you couldn't... Crashing currencies, inability to transfer funds, government stepping in and providing sanctions and freezing assets, volatility, inflation. This felt like the perfect storm of the narrative for why crypto should be so strong. And Bitcoin went down and it has recovered. But it hasn't had what I call its, quote unquote, big moment. But what they do like is the regulation. They do need regulation. In fact, the criminal element of crypto has been exaggerated. I think, actually, as a percentage of volume, the amount of illegal activity in crypto has actually declined.
Kara Swisher · 41:12
Yes. They are. Sure.
Scott Galloway · 41:13
And I think, quite frankly, I think the worst thing to happen to Web three, like the worst thing that's happened to a lot of things over the last several years, involves the name Trump. I think when Melania Trump, a first lady Oh, yeah. Holds an NFT auction, and it ends up that there are fraudulent wallets trying to create market manipulation and bid this thing up
Kara Swisher · 41:32
points out the problems.
Scott Galloway · 41:33
Yeah. And then... And I don't know if you've... If you look, but at that moment, I don't know if it's related or unrelated but NFT volume has really checked back, and it peaked about the moment where our first lady pulled off what seems to be
Kara Swisher · 41:47
Former first lady.
Scott Galloway · 41:48
Our former first lady. I've never understood people's affection for her. Think it's because it's like
Kara Swisher · 41:54
Oh, I think she's an awful
Scott Galloway · 41:55
she's terrible. Character. Because she was standing next to someone even worse, everyone's like, oh, no. She's smart, she's a good first lady.
Speaker · 42:02
And then she would
Kara Swisher · 42:03
make a face at him. You know, I almost didn't like her more because... No. I know that's not true. It's because she kept making face at him and laughed. I'm like, woah. She sits there, and then she makes faces at him? Like, what? No. Oh, she's not my friend because she makes faces at him. That's kinda shitty to be a wife and do that. Just leave him or not. That's my feeling on her.
Scott Galloway · 42:20
But anyways, NFTs and... I think Melania kind of... Melania is the worst thing to happen to NFTs in in my sense
Kara Swisher · 42:26
Alright.
Scott Galloway · 42:27
For a while. I'm actually bullish on NFTs. But crypto's big moment... I mean, the crypto Taliban has gone oddly quiet. The people who are like crypt... Well, the Bitcoin maximalists who were on Twitter every day attacking everybody if you didn't say Bitcoin was going to a million dollars a coin
Kara Swisher · 42:44
Yeah.
Scott Galloway · 42:44
Have gone quiet, which is strange. I don't know if they're just waiting in live.
Kara Swisher · 42:48
I don't know what's going This is typical for the beginning. This has happened at the beginning of the Internet. Anyway, here's one from Ronnie Mala of Recode. Here's our next one.
Guest · 42:56
I think we're gonna see a resurgence in unionizing. We've already had nine out of 10 of the Starbucks locations that have voted vote to form a union. And in the coming weeks, a 160 more are slated to do so. And I get that it's always tantalizing to think that union membership and the protections it affords are gonna come back, especially after being in decline for decades. But I I do think there's something different about this moment in time. You know, these Starbucks stores, while they have just, like, 20 or 30 people each punch way above their weight in terms of the public consciousness. The people working these jobs became adults amid, like, huge inequality, these big social movements like Black Lives Matter, not to mention a global pandemic. And I don't think they're afraid to demand better.
Kara Swisher · 43:41
Well, that... What do you think, Scott? We've talked about this. You've talked about the weakness of... I think the Starbucks thing is interesting.
Scott Galloway · 43:47
A union helped pay my way through college. I was a part of a union at San Vicente Foods where I was a box boy. I'm a fan of unions. She's wrong. It's a blip. In my view, if you look at the Western nations that have unions, their membership on average is down 40 to 70%. Unions just are a failed construct. And a mix of outdated economics, corruption, lack of coordination among the unions, the ability of management and shareholders to atomize employees, income inequality, poor regulation that doesn't raise minimum wage. I think that the strongest union in the world needs to be the federal government that gives people dignity and work and raises minimum wage, but I just I think they'll have
Kara Swisher · 44:32
to list that
Scott Galloway · 44:33
I don't
Kara Swisher · 44:33
think that's gonna happen. All right, but what replaces that? I want you to give me a solution instead of telling me an old thing doesn't work.
Scott Galloway · 44:41
Oh, okay. Federal funding of vocational programs, taxing endowments, forcing colleges to increase freshman year enrollments, raising minimum wage to $15 and then $20 in the next three years, universal basic income, restoring the child tax credit. Should I go on, Kara? Should I go on?
Kara Swisher · 44:59
Alright. Okay. But with unions, what... How do... How... What is the new version of a union? Is that is that is that... That's what that is?
Scott Galloway · 45:06
It's called the US fucking government, the most noble organization in the world that puts a floor on what people can make. This is about money.
Kara Swisher · 45:14
Yeah. I agree with the minimum wage. We talked about these Triple We
Scott Galloway · 45:18
have tripled CO compensation. The Nasdaq is up fivefold, and minimum wage since 2009 has exploded from $7.25 to $7.25.
Kara Swisher · 45:25
Yep. Agree.
Scott Galloway · 45:27
Minimum wage. Unions are ineffective. On the whole, unions have gotten their asses kicked up and down Main Street for the last thirty years.
Kara Swisher · 45:36
The federal government raises What
Scott Galloway · 45:37
we need to do is all be members of a union. We all need to pay our dues to the government, including wealthy people, and say, Okay, union called the US government. Everyone in America, if they decide to work and there's dignity in work, makes at least $15 and then $20 an hour over I mean, I just don't think it's that complicated. And we need to train. Over 50 of Germans have some sort of certification or vocational training. In The US, it's less than 10% because we're all drunk on this notion my kid's going to go to MIT and go to work for Google. Two thirds of kids don't end up in college.
Kara Swisher · 46:06
Not all of this is strong government. In our use. But... Okay. Alright. Okay. Alright. Alright.
Scott Galloway · 46:11
I like Scott. Every parent thinks their kid's gonna end up at MIT
Kara Swisher · 46:14
and go to work for Google. I don't care. I don't care. I don't care. If my son wants to work in a restaurant, I'm good with it. My other son wants... No. I don't... Not every parent does. I'm sorry.
Scott Galloway · 46:25
Okay. Near
Kara Swisher · 46:26
every I'm not. I don't... I I talk to lots of parents. I don't think every parent does. I think that's a that's a cartoon of parents. I don't think that's the case.
Scott Galloway · 46:34
We... I think we have created in this nation a fairly narrow path of what we define as success, and I think it creates tremendous stress in households.
Kara Swisher · 46:42
I would agree, but I think there are a lot of people pushing back, including young people and their parents. I'm gonna push back on you. You're pushed back on every one of these.
Scott Galloway · 46:50
These people appreciate pushback. They don't need us. These are all super successful people.
Kara Swisher · 46:54
Okay.
Scott Galloway · 46:55
So far, I agree with Ina. I'm on the same side as Ina. Everybody else everybody else is from. Dan. Oh, unions are making a comeback. Well, wouldn't that be nice? Wouldn't that be nice?
Kara Swisher · 47:05
Alright. Okay. Thank you, mister glass half empty. Alright. Alright. Lastly, Matt Bellany, one of my favorites, a puck with a prediction that's near and dear to my heart.
Guest · 47:17
I have a Tom Cruise prediction for you. I predict that Top Gun Maverick, which comes out on May 27, will be the biggest opening weekend of Tom Cruise's career. Yes. Biggest. That is not accounting for inflation, of course. But the biggest opening weekend he's had has been War of the World, which is just $64,000,000. And I think that Top Gun is huge with boomers, huge with Gen X. All they gotta do is get some millennials interested in this thing, and it is going to be way higher than that. That is my prediction. Big win for Tom Cruise. Big win for Paramount.
Kara Swisher · 47:52
Okay. Alright. Wow. Matt, I would agree with you. Thank you. He was also saying that they've got a red, state, blue state winner here, and pent up demand is for this is through the roof. I would agree. I cannot... Matt, let's go together to go see this. I'll I'll fly out to Los... I think you live in Los Angeles. I am very excited to see this six times. I love Topgod. I will see it in the theater. There's no way you could see it anywhere else. But Matt, as usual, because he and I disagree because he's he, you know, he... He's a little bit more pro theater. I think theaters are still, you know, is not gonna be as significant, And you pick and choose. There's so much great stuff on on streaming. We were... When we got to this Airbnb last night, we found a movie that Ryan Reynolds was doing, The Adam Project on Netflix. Really cute, adorable, etcetera. So as much as I love this prediction, and I agree with it, I think we're still in the same situation with Hollywood and movie theaters, and you've gotta start to get used to that, happening. It's a new world out there. It's a... You know, speaking of war of the worlds. Go ahead, Scott.
Scott Galloway · 48:58
I agree. Like, f 15 or raptor planes and America and flag and
Kara Swisher · 49:02
Maverick. He's mad. He's he's been... He's never been an admiral. That kind
Scott Galloway · 49:06
of thing. I think I think Tom Cruise is the best actor who's never won an Oscar. And I think that his looks and his action film success take an academy that is that is quite frankly a little bit... It just has a tendency to like more artsy films. But if anyone sees his performance in Magnolia, if anyone sees his performance
Kara Swisher · 49:26
couple of them.
Scott Galloway · 49:27
He was breathtaking and born on the July 4. I think he's the best actor who hasn't won an Academy Award. And because he's such a huge star and because, quite frankly, he's just so good looking, I think the Academy has overlooked him. He's not gonna get it for this. It's just not the kind of movie. Yeah. But, yeah, I'll I'll I'll go with you. I'll see it twice. I think it's... I'm excited about it too.
Kara Swisher · 49:47
Well, you know what's interesting about him? He's... I have a lot of distaste for his personal stuff. A lot. A lot. Like, he's... He always manages to top himself in nutty things, he says. And... But I see every Mission Impossible. I I I have a real problem because I love all his... He's a bad
Scott Galloway · 50:02
guy though. He's just weird.
Speaker · 50:03
He's not a bad guy.
Kara Swisher · 50:04
I... At the Scientology, just... Yeah.
Scott Galloway · 50:06
Okay. They're... Okay. He's weird.
Kara Swisher · 50:08
He's hot. It's more than weird. It's it's more than weird. In any... If you read extensively on it, it's more than weird. So... But that said, I really do like these Mission Impossible movies. I loved them in... Oh, the one I keep forgetting the name of, where he's in the future, and he... And it's...
Speaker · 50:26
The s t tomorrow. No.
Kara Swisher · 50:28
No. No. That one I
Scott Galloway · 50:28
like.... Report?
Kara Swisher · 50:30
Morality report. My favorite movie. I get over and over again.
Scott Galloway · 50:32
It's a really good film.
Kara Swisher · 50:33
And so here's the deal. I think you're right. I think he's a great actor. I really do. I don't think he gets enough.
Scott Galloway · 50:39
He was great. Did you see Tropic Thunder with Ben Stiller?
Kara Swisher · 50:42
Yes. Tropic Thunder. That was amazing.
Scott Galloway · 50:43
In that.
Kara Swisher · 50:44
Go go back and see Taps. I can't believe how many Tom Cruise movies I see.
Scott Galloway · 50:48
He's a guy.
Kara Swisher · 50:48
And so therefore
Scott Galloway · 50:50
He's a movie star.
Kara Swisher · 50:50
He is
Scott Galloway · 50:51
really a movie He
Kara Swisher · 50:53
really is. And he still is... I even like the Jack Reacher ones even though he was totally
Speaker · 50:56
But wrong for
Kara Swisher · 50:57
let me let me just sideline here for a second. So sorry about Bruce Willis. Did you hear the news? I again, lost someone I was. He has aphasia. He's retiring from acting. It's a forced retirement because he has aphasia, and as someone who had very temporary aphasia when I had my stroke, I don't know what the circumstances are. It's typically around a stroke or another neural neural issue that you... Impairment that you have. He he has... We can't speak... You can't communicate. Mhmm. And I had it for about twenty minutes when I had my stroke, and it was terrifying. He's gonna be retiring, and I... Bruce Willis has given me more pleasure in the movie theater, just the movie theater, around the Die Hard movies, and the way he talks and his fast talking, and even going back to when he did television. I just think he's he's a really interest... I always like a Bruce Willis movie, and I feel bad. Another act... I'm an action star person, so I I wish him well, and I'm sorry for his family. So
Scott Galloway · 51:58
that's There you go. Yeah. I remember There
Kara Swisher · 51:59
you go.
Scott Galloway · 52:00
In my senior year in college, used to hang out with my friends, and every Wednesday night, we'd go over to my friend John Kimble's house, and we'd make taco salad and watch Moonlighting.
Kara Swisher · 52:09
Oh, moonlighting. That's the one. He was with civil shepherd.
Scott Galloway · 52:12
Let's be honest. It's shocking I'm not gay, isn't it? Aren't you
Kara Swisher · 52:14
a little surprised?
Scott Galloway · 52:15
Aren't you a little surprised?
Kara Swisher · 52:17
I I think you're gay in spirit. How's that? Gay in spirit?
Scott Galloway · 52:20
Garrett? I'm Garrett.
Kara Swisher · 52:22
You're you're gay adjacent.
Scott Galloway · 52:24
My ex used to say, gay by day straight by night. I'm sure that's gonna trigger people. Anyways.
Kara Swisher · 52:28
Oh, don't worry about it. The gays don't get that offensive. Don't worry. Especially because you got George Hahn by your side. Gee Hahn. You're surrounded. You're surrounded. Yeah. Did you take him to the CNN opening? Did you... Are you
Scott Galloway · 52:39
Are you kidding? He was invited before me. No. No. No. He took me.
Kara Swisher · 52:44
I don't
Scott Galloway · 52:45
He took
Kara Swisher · 52:45
me to
Scott Galloway · 52:46
the CNN opening. He's the belle of the ball there.
Kara Swisher · 52:48
I love that guy.
Scott Galloway · 52:50
Great. Twitter photo of him in a suit without his shirt on, and it got, like, 50,000 likes.
Kara Swisher · 52:56
He did during the Timothee Chalamet. He looks good. Alright, Scott. One more quick break. We'll be back for our quarterly wins and fails.
— Predictions segment ends —
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Kara Swisher · 54:44
Okay, Scott. We're back. It's time to pick our wins and fails for q one. There's plenty of news to pick from. The mess with Spotify and Joe Rogan. Oh, remember that? Mhmm. True social launching without Trump and going down still. Massive layoffs and CEO resignation at Peloton. The largest tech deal ever, Microsoft buying Activision for nearly $70,000,000,000. There was a lot of m and a action in the video game world this quarter. Other companies had their spats against the wall. BuzzFeed, Virgin Galactic, and Trump group are having a hard time. Oh, so sorry on that last one. And, of course, all the changes from Russia's invasion of Ukraine. So, Scott, what's your win and fail? And I... Let's do it very quickly.
Scott Galloway · 55:22
Well, my fail is the, obviously, the invasion of Ukraine, and not for the reasons you think. I mean, obviously, the death and destruction are unfathomable. But I believe just looking at this unemotionally, Russia's decision to go into Ukraine has not only not created a buffer, it's created an enemy on their border. I think there are a lot of Ukrainians who were sympathetic to Russia or didn't think of Russia as their enemy who now believe that they are their enemy, in fact. And I think every day that this conflict goes on... And by the way, I don't think America, I hate to say this, is in a hurry to see this conflict end because I think every day that it goes on, Russia cedes geopolitical power to the West. I think it has unified NATO. For the first time, Republican Democrats seem to agree. I think China is actually stepping back a little bit a little bit from election.
Kara Swisher · 56:12
See them ruin themselves.
Scott Galloway · 56:12
Think Europe is gonna move more towards climate or towards energy independence. There's gonna be renewed vigor to figure out renewable... Renewals. So I just think geopolitically, this was a miscalculation. That is my loss. My win, Kara, is I have someone in my household who I care a great deal about who caught COVID late in the game. And here's the thing, we're not worried. And that is because of vaccines. Double vaxxed and boosted, someone I love a great deal, I don't have to the stress and anxiety that I would have been feeling right now if this had all gone down pre vaccine would have been enormous. And so American ingenuity, American science is the amount of death, disease, disability, and general despair that this innovation has avoided that we will never appreciate. Supposedly, if we didn't have these vaccines, they estimate another one to two million Americans would be dead. Yeah. The vaccine, my life, I continue on with my life, my loved ones are going to be just fine because of science and truth. And science is the closest thing we have to a truth. And the best product of the last fifty years in the West isn't the iPhone, It's these vaccines. So my my winner is vaccines.
Kara Swisher · 57:37
Alright. Nice. I like that. Those are two very thoughtful wins and fails. I would say... You know, I have very similar thing. Obviously, the fail is Russia and this invasion. But I gotta say Facebook came in. It's not it's not comparable. But if I had to pick a news event... I think Facebook has come in at the last minute with, once again, manages to win the win the crown, grab the crown for really bad behavior, bad corporate behavior. And that they tried to make a pivot with Meta, and, of course, speaking of pivots, everyone was onto that game. This... And it gets in the way of that, by the way. I bet they have a lot of people, good people at Facebook, trying to make good things, and it's just... It's an insult to those people who work there. So I think they have managed once again to fail, which is something they do with alarming frequency. Obviously, truth... Social was a fail, but we always thought it was gonna be. What a what a what a ridiculous scam that has been. And for the positives, I think if I'm thinking of a news story, Microsoft buying Activision. I think it was really smart. I just... I I have a lot of... I just had an interesting discussion with Brad Smith there about some of the legislation in Europe. I think this is a company that's finally found its niche and it's... It knows who it is, and I I think this Activision deal is very smart,
Speaker · 58:55
and Mhmm.
Kara Swisher · 58:56
We don't quite understand it, you know, yet, and I think they're they're doing all the right things, and it's gonna be one of the most... It's... It is one of the most valuable companies in the world Mhmm. And I think they're handling themselves with a lot of smart, very smart group of people running that company right now, long time people, but I'm sort of... I'm... I am surprised how impressed I am with them. I think I think that's it. I think that's it. I think that's what I would say. Anyway, it's been a very interesting quarter. I can't believe all that news in this one quarter. It's crazy how much news there is. I'm sure there's gonna be plenty of news and lots of things we didn't expect every day that's happened. Well, that's been a great boon Mhmm. And for our show, especially the good news. It's lots... Gives us lots to talk about, and we really appreciate all your feedback, and we thank you so much for our predictors even though Scott crashed them. Nonetheless...
Scott Galloway · 59:47
I feel bad now. Was I really that harsh?
Kara Swisher · 59:50
No. No. It's okay. You just get mad about unions. It gets your dander. Okay. That's the show. We'll be back on Tuesday with our guest, doctor Lori Santos of the happiness lab. Scott, you're gonna like that one.
Scott Galloway · 1:00:02
I go to a Happiness Lab. It's called my beer fridge.
Kara Swisher · 1:00:04
Okay. News changes, but Scott remains the same. Alright. Read us out.
Scott Galloway · 1:00:08
Today's show was produced by Lara Naiman, Evan Engel, and Taylor Griffin. Ernie Intertaud engineered this episode. Thanks also to Drew Burrows and Mia Silverio. Make sure you subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening to Pivot from New York Magazine and Box Media. We'll be back next week and next quarter for another breakdown of all things tech and business. COVID has come to the Galloway household, but there is an absence of fear. Thank you, US government. Thank you, science. Thank you, universities. Thank you, Moderna.
