WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.802 [This talk contains graphic language Viewer discretion is advised] 00:00:04.972 --> 00:00:07.745 So, this is the first and the last slide 00:00:07.769 --> 00:00:12.095 each of my 6,400 students over the last 15 years has seen. 00:00:12.119 --> 00:00:15.859 I do not believe you can build a multibillion-dollar organization 00:00:15.883 --> 00:00:21.370 unless you are clear on which instinct or organ you are targeting. 00:00:21.394 --> 00:00:24.483 Our species has a need for a superbeing. 00:00:24.507 --> 00:00:27.533 Our competitive advantage as a species is our brain. 00:00:27.557 --> 00:00:30.700 Our brain is robust enough to ask these really difficult questions, 00:00:30.724 --> 00:00:34.222 but, unfortunately, it doesn't have the processing power to answer them, 00:00:34.246 --> 00:00:36.544 which creates a need for a superbeing 00:00:36.568 --> 00:00:38.997 that we can pray to and look to for answers. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:39.021 --> 00:00:40.306 What is prayer? 00:00:40.330 --> 00:00:42.608 Sending a query into the universe, 00:00:42.632 --> 00:00:45.404 and hopefully there's some sort of divine intervention -- 00:00:45.428 --> 00:00:47.760 we don't need to understand what's going on -- 00:00:47.784 --> 00:00:49.940 from an all-knowing, all-seeing superbeing 00:00:49.964 --> 00:00:53.772 that gives us authority that this is the right answer. 00:00:53.796 --> 00:00:56.509 "Will my kid be all right?" 00:00:56.533 --> 00:00:58.177 You have your planet of stuff, 00:00:58.201 --> 00:00:59.852 you have your planet of work, 00:00:59.876 --> 00:01:01.681 you have your planet of friends. 00:01:01.705 --> 00:01:03.199 If you have kids, 00:01:03.223 --> 00:01:06.318 you know that once something comes off the rails with your kids, 00:01:06.342 --> 00:01:07.870 everything melts, 00:01:07.894 --> 00:01:10.531 in your universe to the Sun that is your kids. 00:01:10.555 --> 00:01:13.439 "Will my kid be all right?" 00:01:13.463 --> 00:01:17.552 "Symptoms and treatment of croup" in the Google query box. 00:01:17.576 --> 00:01:21.514 One in six queries presented to Google have never been asked before 00:01:21.538 --> 00:01:22.862 in the history of mankind. 00:01:22.886 --> 00:01:28.294 What priest, teacher, rabbi, scholar, mentor, boss has so much credibility 00:01:28.318 --> 00:01:30.864 that one in six questions posed to that person 00:01:30.888 --> 00:01:32.639 have never been asked before? NOTE Paragraph 00:01:32.663 --> 00:01:35.929 Google is our modern man's God. 00:01:35.953 --> 00:01:40.257 Imagine your face and your name above everything you've put into that box, 00:01:40.281 --> 00:01:44.401 and you're going to realize you trust Google more than any entity 00:01:44.425 --> 00:01:45.639 in your history. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:45.663 --> 00:01:46.730 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:01:46.754 --> 00:01:48.513 Let's move further down the torso. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:48.537 --> 00:01:50.536 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:53.035 One of the other wonderful things about our species 00:01:53.059 --> 00:01:56.553 is we not only need to be loved, but we need to love others. 00:01:56.577 --> 00:01:59.535 Children with poor nutrition but a lot of affection 00:01:59.559 --> 00:02:04.147 have better outcomes than children with good nutrition and poor affection. 00:02:04.517 --> 00:02:07.945 However, the best signal that you might make it 00:02:07.969 --> 00:02:12.026 to be part of the number-one fastest growing demographic in the world -- 00:02:12.050 --> 00:02:14.459 centenarians, people who live to triple digits -- 00:02:14.483 --> 00:02:15.659 there are three signals. 00:02:15.683 --> 00:02:19.619 In reverse order: your genetics -- not as important as you'd like to think, 00:02:19.643 --> 00:02:21.919 so you can continue to treat your body like shit 00:02:21.943 --> 00:02:23.830 and think, "Oh, Uncle Joe lived to 95, 00:02:23.854 --> 00:02:25.081 the die have been cast." 00:02:25.105 --> 00:02:26.802 It's less important than you think. 00:02:26.826 --> 00:02:28.389 Number two is lifestyle. 00:02:28.413 --> 00:02:30.680 Don't smoke, don't be obese, and prescreen -- 00:02:30.704 --> 00:02:33.659 get rid of about two-thirds of early cancers 00:02:33.683 --> 00:02:35.188 and cardiovascular disease. 00:02:35.212 --> 00:02:38.776 The number one indicator or signal that you'll make it to triple digits: 00:02:38.800 --> 00:02:41.938 How many people do you love? 00:02:42.702 --> 00:02:45.527 Caretaking is the security camera -- 00:02:45.551 --> 00:02:48.471 we call the low-resolution security camera in our brain -- 00:02:48.495 --> 00:02:50.679 deciding whether or not you are adding value. 00:02:50.703 --> 00:02:54.340 Facebook taps into our instinctive need not only to be loved, 00:02:54.364 --> 00:02:55.567 but to love others, 00:02:55.591 --> 00:02:57.668 mostly through pictures that create empathy, 00:02:57.692 --> 00:03:00.200 catalyze and reinforce our relationships. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:00.224 --> 00:03:03.117 Let's continue our journey down the torso. 00:03:03.741 --> 00:03:05.869 Amazon is our consumptive gut. 00:03:06.201 --> 00:03:09.396 The instinct of more is hardwired into us. 00:03:09.777 --> 00:03:13.780 The penalty for too little is starvation and malnutrition. 00:03:13.804 --> 00:03:15.993 Open your cupboards, open your closets, 00:03:16.017 --> 00:03:19.410 you have 10 to 100x times what you need. 00:03:19.434 --> 00:03:20.597 Why? 00:03:20.621 --> 00:03:23.383 Because the penalty for too little is much greater 00:03:23.407 --> 00:03:25.290 than the penalty for too much. 00:03:25.314 --> 00:03:29.148 So "more for less" is a business strategy that never goes out of style. 00:03:29.172 --> 00:03:30.678 It's the strategy of China, 00:03:30.702 --> 00:03:32.320 it's a the strategy of Walmart, 00:03:32.344 --> 00:03:35.729 and now it's the strategy of the most successful company in the world, 00:03:35.753 --> 00:03:36.913 Amazon. 00:03:36.937 --> 00:03:39.081 You get more for less into your gut; 00:03:39.105 --> 00:03:42.887 digest, send it to your muscular and skeletal system of consumption. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:42.911 --> 00:03:44.566 Moving further, 00:03:44.590 --> 00:03:48.195 once we know we will survive, the basic instinct, 00:03:48.219 --> 00:03:50.661 we move to the second most powerful instinct, 00:03:50.685 --> 00:03:55.402 and that is to spread and select the strongest, smartest and fastest seed 00:03:55.426 --> 00:03:57.149 to the four corners of the earth, 00:03:57.173 --> 00:03:59.513 or pick the best seed. 00:03:59.537 --> 00:04:01.261 This is not a timepiece. 00:04:01.285 --> 00:04:03.375 I haven't wound it in five years. 00:04:03.399 --> 00:04:05.622 It's my vain attempt to say to people, 00:04:05.646 --> 00:04:08.765 "If you mate with me, your children are more likely to survive 00:04:08.789 --> 00:04:11.433 than if you mate with someone wearing a Swatch watch." NOTE Paragraph 00:04:11.457 --> 00:04:13.049 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:04:13.073 --> 00:04:17.464 The key to business is tapping into the irrational organs. 00:04:17.488 --> 00:04:21.224 "Irrational" is Harvard Business School's and New York Business School's term 00:04:21.248 --> 00:04:24.765 for fat profit margins and shareholder value. 00:04:24.789 --> 00:04:27.349 "High-caloric paste for your children." 00:04:27.373 --> 00:04:28.539 No? 00:04:28.563 --> 00:04:30.796 You love your choosy mom. 00:04:30.820 --> 00:04:34.010 Why choosy moms choose Jif: you love your kids more. 00:04:34.034 --> 00:04:37.131 The greatest algorithm for shareholder creation from World War II 00:04:37.155 --> 00:04:38.508 to the advent of Google 00:04:38.532 --> 00:04:41.632 was taking an average product and appealing to people's hearts. 00:04:41.656 --> 00:04:44.974 You're a better a mom, a better person, a better patriot 00:04:44.998 --> 00:04:48.314 if you buy this average soap versus this average soap. 00:04:48.338 --> 00:04:51.749 Now, the number one algorithm for shareholder value isn't technology. 00:04:51.773 --> 00:04:53.003 Look at the Forbes 400. 00:04:53.027 --> 00:04:55.459 Take out inherited wealth, take out finance. 00:04:55.483 --> 00:04:57.696 The number one source of wealth creation: 00:04:57.720 --> 00:04:59.829 appealing to your reproductive organs. 00:04:59.853 --> 00:05:04.734 The Lauders; the number one wealthiest man in Europe, LVMH. 00:05:04.758 --> 00:05:07.335 Numbers two and three: H&M and Inditex. 00:05:07.359 --> 00:05:12.635 You want to target the most irrational organs for shareholder value. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:13.362 --> 00:05:17.129 As a result, these four companies -- Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google -- 00:05:17.153 --> 00:05:18.864 have disarticulated who we are. 00:05:18.888 --> 00:05:21.181 God, love, consumption, sex! 00:05:21.205 --> 00:05:24.868 The proportion in your approach to those things is who you are, 00:05:24.892 --> 00:05:28.637 and they have reassembled who we are in the form of for-profit companies. 00:05:28.661 --> 00:05:30.509 At the end of the Great Recession, 00:05:30.533 --> 00:05:33.395 the market capitalization of these companies was equivalent 00:05:33.419 --> 00:05:34.572 to the GDP of Niger. 00:05:34.596 --> 00:05:37.220 Now it is equivalent to the GDP of India, 00:05:37.244 --> 00:05:40.599 having blown past Russia and Canada in '13 and '14. 00:05:40.623 --> 00:05:41.982 There are only five nations 00:05:42.006 --> 00:05:45.525 that have a GDP greater than the combined market capitalization 00:05:45.549 --> 00:05:47.266 of these four firms. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:47.290 --> 00:05:49.428 Something is happening, though. 00:05:49.915 --> 00:05:54.317 The conversation just a year ago was, which CEO was more Jesus-like? 00:05:54.341 --> 00:05:56.755 Who was running for president? 00:05:56.779 --> 00:05:58.220 Now the worm has turned. 00:05:58.244 --> 00:06:00.462 Everything they're doing is bothering us. 00:06:00.486 --> 00:06:02.446 We're worried they're tax avoiders. 00:06:02.470 --> 00:06:05.853 Walmart, since the Great Recession, has paid 64 billion dollars 00:06:05.877 --> 00:06:07.410 in corporate income tax; 00:06:07.434 --> 00:06:09.433 Amazon has paid 1.4. 00:06:09.788 --> 00:06:13.370 How do we pay our firefighters, our soldiers and our social workers 00:06:13.394 --> 00:06:16.879 if the most successful companies in the world don't pay their fair share? 00:06:16.903 --> 00:06:18.066 Pretty easy. 00:06:18.090 --> 00:06:20.629 That means the less successful companies have to pay 00:06:20.653 --> 00:06:21.970 more than their fair share. 00:06:21.994 --> 00:06:23.825 Alexa, is this a good thing? 00:06:23.849 --> 00:06:25.817 This is despite that fact -- NOTE Paragraph 00:06:25.841 --> 00:06:26.916 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:06:26.940 --> 00:06:28.856 This is despite the fact 00:06:29.619 --> 00:06:33.675 that Amazon has added the entire market capitalization of Walmart 00:06:33.699 --> 00:06:37.822 to its market cap in the last 19 months. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:40.423 --> 00:06:42.647 Whose fault is it? It's our fault. 00:06:42.671 --> 00:06:46.489 We're electing regulators who don't have the backbone 00:06:46.513 --> 00:06:48.940 to actually go after these companies. 00:06:48.964 --> 00:06:50.966 Facebook lies to EU regulators 00:06:50.990 --> 00:06:54.071 and says, "It would be impossible for us to share the data 00:06:54.095 --> 00:06:57.891 between our core platform and our proposed acquisition of WhatsApp. 00:06:57.915 --> 00:06:59.298 Approve the merger." 00:06:59.322 --> 00:07:03.109 They approve the merger and then -- spoiler alert! -- they figure it out. 00:07:03.133 --> 00:07:04.847 And the EU says, "I feel lied to. 00:07:04.871 --> 00:07:08.258 We're fining you 120 billion dollars," 00:07:08.282 --> 00:07:12.547 about .6 percent of the acquisition price of 19 billion dollars. 00:07:12.571 --> 00:07:15.174 If Mark Zuckerberg could take out an insurance policy 00:07:15.198 --> 00:07:17.920 that the acquisition would go through for .6 percent, 00:07:17.944 --> 00:07:19.303 wouldn't he do it? NOTE Paragraph 00:07:19.327 --> 00:07:21.145 Anticompetitive behavior. 00:07:21.622 --> 00:07:23.622 A two-and-a-half-billion-dollar fine, 00:07:23.646 --> 00:07:26.538 three billion of the cash flow, 00:07:26.562 --> 00:07:29.607 three percent of the cash on Google's balance sheet. 00:07:29.631 --> 00:07:32.943 We are telling these companies, "The smart thing to do, 00:07:33.596 --> 00:07:35.561 the shareholder-driven thing to do, 00:07:35.585 --> 00:07:37.900 is to lie and to cheat." 00:07:37.924 --> 00:07:41.572 We are issuing 25-cent parking tickets 00:07:41.596 --> 00:07:44.823 on a meter that costs 100 dollars an hour. 00:07:44.847 --> 00:07:45.927 The smart thing to do is lie. 00:07:45.957 --> 00:07:47.477 "Job destruction!" 00:07:47.507 --> 00:07:50.808 Amazon only needs one person for two at Macy's. 00:07:50.832 --> 00:07:54.473 If they grow their business 20 billion dollars this year, which they will, 00:07:54.497 --> 00:07:56.682 we will lose 53,000 cashiers and clerks. 00:07:56.706 --> 00:07:57.967 This is nothing unusual; 00:07:57.991 --> 00:08:00.303 this has happened all through our economy, 00:08:00.327 --> 00:08:02.589 we've just never seen companies this good at it. 00:08:02.613 --> 00:08:04.891 That's one Yankee Stadium of workers. 00:08:04.915 --> 00:08:06.282 It's even worse in media. 00:08:06.306 --> 00:08:08.416 If Facebook and Google grow their businesses 00:08:08.440 --> 00:08:10.615 22 billion dollars this year, which they will, 00:08:10.639 --> 00:08:14.270 we're going to lose approximately 150,000 creative directors, 00:08:14.294 --> 00:08:16.267 planners and copywriters. 00:08:16.291 --> 00:08:18.601 Or we can fill up two-and-a-half Yankee Stadiums 00:08:18.625 --> 00:08:22.016 and say, "You are out of work, courtesy of Amazon." NOTE Paragraph 00:08:22.040 --> 00:08:25.290 We now get the majority of our news from our social media feeds, 00:08:25.314 --> 00:08:29.587 and the majority of our news coming off of social media feeds is ... 00:08:29.611 --> 00:08:30.911 fake news. NOTE Paragraph 00:08:30.935 --> 00:08:32.622 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:08:32.646 --> 00:08:36.250 I am not allowed to be political or use curse words, 00:08:36.274 --> 00:08:37.961 or talk about religion in class, 00:08:37.985 --> 00:08:40.441 so I can definitely not say, 00:08:41.473 --> 00:08:44.034 "Zuckerberg has become Putin's bitch." 00:08:44.058 --> 00:08:46.284 I definitely cannot say that. NOTE Paragraph 00:08:46.308 --> 00:08:47.321 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:08:47.345 --> 00:08:48.524 Their defense: 00:08:48.548 --> 00:08:51.923 "Facebook is not a media company; it's a technology company." 00:08:51.947 --> 00:08:53.621 You create original content, 00:08:53.645 --> 00:08:56.541 you pay sports leagues to give you original content, 00:08:56.565 --> 00:08:59.679 you run advertising against it -- boom! -- you're a media company. 00:08:59.703 --> 00:09:01.230 Just in the last few days, 00:09:01.254 --> 00:09:05.863 Sheryl Sandberg has repeated this lie, that "We are not a media company." 00:09:05.887 --> 00:09:09.332 Facebook has openly embraced the margins of celebrity 00:09:09.356 --> 00:09:11.730 and the influence of a media company 00:09:11.754 --> 00:09:15.441 yet seems to be allergic to the responsibilities 00:09:15.465 --> 00:09:16.765 of a media company. 00:09:17.138 --> 00:09:18.746 Imagine McDonald's. 00:09:19.293 --> 00:09:21.722 We find 80 percent of their beef is fake, 00:09:21.746 --> 00:09:23.367 and it's giving us encephalitis, 00:09:23.391 --> 00:09:25.777 and we're making terrible decisions. 00:09:25.801 --> 00:09:28.629 And we say, "McDonald's, we're pissed off!" 00:09:28.653 --> 00:09:31.584 And they say, "Wait, wait -- 00:09:31.608 --> 00:09:33.460 we're not a fast-food restaurant, 00:09:33.484 --> 00:09:35.717 we're a fast-food platform." NOTE Paragraph 00:09:35.741 --> 00:09:37.521 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:09:38.307 --> 00:09:40.646 These companies and CEOs wrap themselves 00:09:40.670 --> 00:09:44.528 in a neon-blue pink rainbow and blue blanket 00:09:44.552 --> 00:09:47.901 to create an illusionist trick from their behavior each day, 00:09:47.925 --> 00:09:52.396 which is more indicative of the spawn of Darth Vader and Ayn Rand. 00:09:52.420 --> 00:09:56.488 Why? Because we as progressives are seen as nice but weak. 00:09:57.045 --> 00:10:00.399 If Sheryl Sandberg had written a book on gun rights 00:10:00.423 --> 00:10:02.827 or on the pro-life movement, 00:10:02.851 --> 00:10:05.832 would they be flying Sheryl to Cannes? 00:10:05.856 --> 00:10:07.014 No. 00:10:07.038 --> 00:10:09.182 And I'm not doubting their progressive values, 00:10:09.206 --> 00:10:11.278 but it foots to shareholder value, 00:10:11.302 --> 00:10:13.371 because we as progressives are seen as weak. 00:10:13.395 --> 00:10:15.803 They're so nice -- remember Microsoft? 00:10:15.827 --> 00:10:17.324 They didn't seem as nice, 00:10:17.348 --> 00:10:21.621 and regulators stepped in much earlier than the regulators now, 00:10:21.645 --> 00:10:25.330 who would never step in on those nice, nice people. NOTE Paragraph 00:10:25.354 --> 00:10:27.160 I'm about to get on a plane tonight, 00:10:27.184 --> 00:10:29.902 and I'm going to have a guy named Roy from TSA molest me. 00:10:29.926 --> 00:10:33.107 If I am suspected of a DUI on the way home, 00:10:33.131 --> 00:10:35.799 I can have blood taken from my person. 00:10:36.554 --> 00:10:39.622 But wait! Don't tap into the iPhone -- 00:10:39.646 --> 00:10:41.066 it's sacred. 00:10:41.090 --> 00:10:42.529 This is our new cross. 00:10:42.553 --> 00:10:44.162 It shouldn't be the iPhone X, 00:10:44.186 --> 00:10:46.182 it should be called the "iPhone Cross." 00:10:46.206 --> 00:10:48.372 We have our religion; it's Apple. 00:10:48.396 --> 00:10:50.171 Our Jesus Christ is Steve Jobs, 00:10:50.195 --> 00:10:53.481 and we've decided this is holier than our person, our house 00:10:53.505 --> 00:10:54.805 or our computer. 00:10:54.829 --> 00:10:57.346 We have become totally out of control 00:10:57.370 --> 00:11:01.163 with the gross idolatry of innovation and of youth. 00:11:01.187 --> 00:11:03.658 We no longer worship at the altar of character, 00:11:03.682 --> 00:11:04.839 of kindness, 00:11:04.863 --> 00:11:08.441 but of innovation and people who create shareholder value. NOTE Paragraph 00:11:08.465 --> 00:11:11.359 Amazon has become so powerful in the marketplace, 00:11:11.383 --> 00:11:12.945 it can conduct Jedi mind tricks. 00:11:12.969 --> 00:11:15.959 It can begin damaging other industries just by looking at them. 00:11:15.983 --> 00:11:19.147 Nike announces they're distributing on Amazon, their stock goes up, 00:11:19.171 --> 00:11:20.977 every other footwear stock goes down. 00:11:21.001 --> 00:11:24.010 When Amazon stock goes up, the rest of retail stocks go down, 00:11:24.034 --> 00:11:27.343 because they assume what's good for Amazon is bad for everybody else. 00:11:27.367 --> 00:11:31.736 They cut the cost on salmon 33 percent when they acquired Whole Foods. 00:11:31.760 --> 00:11:34.867 In between the time they announced the acquisition of Whole Foods 00:11:34.891 --> 00:11:36.065 and when it closed, 00:11:36.089 --> 00:11:38.360 Kroger, the largest pure-play grocer in America, 00:11:38.384 --> 00:11:40.119 shed a third of its value, 00:11:40.143 --> 00:11:46.522 because Amazon purchased a grocer one-eleventh the size of Kroger. NOTE Paragraph 00:11:47.167 --> 00:11:48.395 I got very lucky. 00:11:48.419 --> 00:11:51.836 I predicted the acquisition of Whole Foods by Amazon 00:11:51.860 --> 00:11:53.204 the week before it happened. 00:11:53.228 --> 00:11:55.916 This is me boasting; I said this publicly in the media. 00:11:55.940 --> 00:11:58.321 This was the largest acquisition in their history, 00:11:58.345 --> 00:12:00.680 they'd never made an acquisition over a billion, 00:12:00.704 --> 00:12:02.822 and people asked, "How did you know this?" 00:12:02.846 --> 00:12:06.065 So I'm letting this very impressive audience in on the secret. 00:12:06.089 --> 00:12:07.284 How did I know this? 00:12:07.308 --> 00:12:09.278 I'm going to tell you how I knew. 00:12:09.302 --> 00:12:12.052 I bark at Alexa all day long 00:12:12.076 --> 00:12:13.988 and try to figure out what's going on. NOTE Paragraph 00:12:14.012 --> 00:12:17.408 (Scott Galloway) Alexa, buy whole milk. NOTE Paragraph 00:12:17.432 --> 00:12:19.699 (Alexa) I couldn't find anything for whole milk, 00:12:19.723 --> 00:12:21.966 so I've added whole milk to your shopping list. NOTE Paragraph 00:12:22.463 --> 00:12:23.749 SG: Then I asked, NOTE Paragraph 00:12:23.773 --> 00:12:26.915 (SG) Alexa, buy organic foods. NOTE Paragraph 00:12:26.939 --> 00:12:29.082 (Alexa) The top search result for organic food 00:12:29.106 --> 00:12:32.079 is Plum Organics baby food, banana and pumpkin, 00:12:32.103 --> 00:12:34.120 12-pack of four ounces each. 00:12:34.144 --> 00:12:35.767 It's 15 dollars total. 00:12:36.419 --> 00:12:37.612 Would you like to buy it? NOTE Paragraph 00:12:37.636 --> 00:12:39.635 SG: And then, as often happens at my age, 00:12:39.659 --> 00:12:40.819 I got confused. NOTE Paragraph 00:12:40.843 --> 00:12:43.633 (SG) Alexa, buy whole foods. NOTE Paragraph 00:12:44.050 --> 00:12:47.584 (Alexa) I have purchased the outstanding stock of Whole Foods Incorporated 00:12:47.608 --> 00:12:49.397 at 42 dollars per share. 00:12:49.421 --> 00:12:53.282 I have charged 13.7 billion to your American Express card. NOTE Paragraph 00:12:53.306 --> 00:12:54.686 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:12:55.884 --> 00:12:57.491 SG: I thought that'd be funnier. NOTE Paragraph 00:12:57.515 --> 00:12:59.013 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:12:59.037 --> 00:13:00.720 We've personified these companies, 00:13:00.744 --> 00:13:04.179 and just as when you're really angry over every little thing someone does 00:13:04.203 --> 00:13:05.698 in your life and relationships, 00:13:05.722 --> 00:13:07.026 you've got to ask yourself, 00:13:07.050 --> 00:13:10.100 "What's going on here? Why are we so disappointed in technology?" 00:13:10.124 --> 00:13:12.803 I believe it's because the ratio of one-percent pursuit 00:13:12.827 --> 00:13:13.994 of shareholder value 00:13:14.018 --> 00:13:16.559 and 99 percent the betterment of humanity 00:13:16.583 --> 00:13:17.968 that technology used to play 00:13:17.992 --> 00:13:19.147 has been flipped, 00:13:19.171 --> 00:13:22.538 and now we're totally focused on shareholder value instead of humanity. NOTE Paragraph 00:13:22.562 --> 00:13:25.841 One hundred thousand people came together for the Manhattan Project 00:13:25.865 --> 00:13:27.326 and literally saved the world. 00:13:27.350 --> 00:13:28.661 Technology saved the world. 00:13:28.685 --> 00:13:32.372 My mother was a four-year-old Jew living in London at the outset of the war. 00:13:32.396 --> 00:13:35.501 If we had not won the footrace towards splitting the atom, 00:13:35.525 --> 00:13:37.213 would she have survived? 00:13:37.237 --> 00:13:38.400 It's unlikely. 00:13:38.854 --> 00:13:40.161 Twenty-five years later, 00:13:40.185 --> 00:13:44.618 the most impressive accomplishment, arguably, ever in all of humankind: 00:13:44.642 --> 00:13:45.794 put a man on the moon. 00:13:45.818 --> 00:13:49.442 Four hundred thirty thousand Canadians, British and Americans came together, 00:13:49.466 --> 00:13:51.297 again, with very basic technology, 00:13:51.321 --> 00:13:52.639 and put a man on the moon. NOTE Paragraph 00:13:52.663 --> 00:13:56.270 Now we have the 700,000 best and brightest, 00:13:56.294 --> 00:13:59.739 and these are the best and brightest from the four corners of the earth. 00:13:59.763 --> 00:14:03.843 They are literally playing with lasers relative to slingshots, 00:14:03.867 --> 00:14:05.154 relative to the squirt gun. 00:14:05.178 --> 00:14:07.450 They have the GDP of India to work at. 00:14:07.474 --> 00:14:10.004 And after studying these companies for 10 years, 00:14:10.028 --> 00:14:11.684 I know what their mission is. 00:14:11.708 --> 00:14:14.332 Is it to organize the world's information? 00:14:14.356 --> 00:14:15.861 Is it to connect us? 00:14:15.885 --> 00:14:18.809 Is it to create greater comity of man? 00:14:18.833 --> 00:14:19.995 It isn't. 00:14:20.019 --> 00:14:21.915 I know why we have brought together -- 00:14:21.939 --> 00:14:26.248 I know that the greatest collection of IQ capital and creativity, 00:14:26.272 --> 00:14:28.126 that their sole mission is: 00:14:28.286 --> 00:14:30.416 to sell another fucking Nissan. NOTE Paragraph 00:14:30.466 --> 00:14:34.213 My name is Scott Galloway, I teach at NYU, and I appreciate your time. NOTE Paragraph 00:14:34.237 --> 00:14:38.580 (Applause) NOTE Paragraph 00:14:42.654 --> 00:14:44.129 Chris Anderson: Not planned, 00:14:44.153 --> 00:14:47.113 but you prompted some questions in me, Scott. NOTE Paragraph 00:14:47.137 --> 00:14:48.208 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:14:48.232 --> 00:14:50.540 That was a spectacular rant. NOTE Paragraph 00:14:50.564 --> 00:14:51.929 SG: Is this like Letterman? 00:14:51.953 --> 00:14:54.869 When you do well, he calls you onto the couch? NOTE Paragraph 00:14:54.893 --> 00:14:58.560 CA: No, no, you're going to the heart of the conversation right now. 00:14:58.584 --> 00:15:04.718 Everyone's aware that after years of worshipping Silicon Valley, 00:15:04.742 --> 00:15:06.596 suddenly the worm has turned 00:15:06.620 --> 00:15:08.154 and in such a big way. 00:15:08.178 --> 00:15:11.583 To some people here, it will just feel like you're piling on, 00:15:11.607 --> 00:15:14.997 you're kicking the kids who've already been kicked to pieces anyway. 00:15:15.021 --> 00:15:17.386 Don't you feel any empathy for them at all? NOTE Paragraph 00:15:17.410 --> 00:15:18.807 SG: None whatsoever. 00:15:19.259 --> 00:15:21.206 Look, this is the issue: 00:15:21.682 --> 00:15:23.495 it's not their fault, it's our fault. 00:15:23.519 --> 00:15:25.635 They're for-profit companies. 00:15:25.659 --> 00:15:28.206 They're not concerned with the condition of our souls. 00:15:28.230 --> 00:15:30.818 They're not going to take care of us when we get older. 00:15:30.842 --> 00:15:34.584 We have set up a society that values shareholder value over everything, 00:15:34.608 --> 00:15:37.051 and they're doing what they're supposed to be doing. 00:15:37.075 --> 00:15:38.444 But we need to elect people, 00:15:38.468 --> 00:15:40.552 and we need to force ourselves to force them 00:15:40.576 --> 00:15:42.247 to be subject to the same scrutiny 00:15:42.271 --> 00:15:44.399 that the rest of business endures, full stop. NOTE Paragraph 00:15:44.423 --> 00:15:46.145 CA: There's another narrative 00:15:46.169 --> 00:15:49.792 that is arguably equally consistent with the facts, 00:15:49.816 --> 00:15:56.648 which is that there actually is good intent in much of the leadership -- 00:15:56.672 --> 00:15:58.423 I won't say everyone, necessarily -- 00:15:58.447 --> 00:16:00.018 many of the employees. 00:16:00.042 --> 00:16:03.116 We all know people who work in those companies, 00:16:03.140 --> 00:16:06.906 and they still are pretty convincing that their mission is to -- 00:16:06.930 --> 00:16:10.168 so, the alternative narrative is that there have been 00:16:10.192 --> 00:16:12.264 unintended consequences here, 00:16:12.288 --> 00:16:14.382 that the technologies that we're unleashing, 00:16:14.406 --> 00:16:18.984 the algorithms, that we're attempting to personalize the internet, for example, 00:16:19.008 --> 00:16:25.317 have A, resulted in weird effects like filter bubbles 00:16:25.341 --> 00:16:26.835 that we weren't expecting; 00:16:26.859 --> 00:16:29.925 and B, made themselves vulnerable to weird things like -- 00:16:29.949 --> 00:16:32.645 oh, I don't know, Russian hackers creating accounts 00:16:32.669 --> 00:16:34.644 and doing things that we didn't expect. 00:16:34.668 --> 00:16:39.700 Isn't the unintended consequence a possibility here? NOTE Paragraph 00:16:39.724 --> 00:16:40.930 SG: I don't think -- 00:16:40.954 --> 00:16:42.486 I'm pretty sure, statistically, 00:16:42.510 --> 00:16:45.376 they're no less or better people than any other organization 00:16:45.400 --> 00:16:46.937 that has 100,000 or more people. 00:16:46.961 --> 00:16:48.569 I don't think they're bad people. 00:16:48.593 --> 00:16:50.222 As a matter of fact, I would argue 00:16:50.246 --> 00:16:53.066 that there's a lot of very civic-minded, decent leadership. 00:16:53.090 --> 00:16:54.254 But this is the issue: 00:16:54.278 --> 00:16:58.517 when you control 90 percent points of share in a market, search, 00:16:58.541 --> 00:17:02.076 that is now bigger than the entire advertising market of any nation, 00:17:02.100 --> 00:17:05.810 and you're primarily compensated and trying to develop economic security 00:17:05.834 --> 00:17:07.866 for you and the families of your employees, 00:17:07.890 --> 00:17:09.345 to increase that market share, 00:17:09.369 --> 00:17:12.498 you can't help but leverage all the power at your disposal. 00:17:12.522 --> 00:17:14.439 And that is the basis for regulation, 00:17:14.463 --> 00:17:16.919 and it's the basis for the truism throughout history 00:17:16.943 --> 00:17:18.286 that power corrupts. 00:17:18.310 --> 00:17:19.513 They're not bad people; 00:17:19.537 --> 00:17:21.769 we've just let them get out of control. NOTE Paragraph 00:17:22.310 --> 00:17:26.344 CA: So maybe the case is slightly overstated? 00:17:26.368 --> 00:17:28.688 I know at least a bit -- 00:17:28.712 --> 00:17:30.686 Larry Page, for example, Jeff Bezos -- 00:17:30.710 --> 00:17:33.379 I don't actually believe they wake up thinking, 00:17:33.403 --> 00:17:35.231 "I've got to sell a fucking Nissan." 00:17:35.255 --> 00:17:36.764 I don't think they think that. 00:17:36.788 --> 00:17:42.344 I think they are trying to build something cool, and are probably, 00:17:42.368 --> 00:17:43.688 in moments of reflection, 00:17:43.712 --> 00:17:47.583 as horrified that some of the things that have happened as we might be. 00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:51.655 So is there a different way of framing this, 00:17:52.294 --> 00:17:57.491 to say that when your model is advertising, 00:17:57.515 --> 00:18:02.022 that there are dangers there that you have to take on more explicitly? NOTE Paragraph 00:18:02.637 --> 00:18:07.274 SG: I think it's very difficult to set an organization up as we do, 00:18:07.298 --> 00:18:09.477 to pursue shareholder value above all else. 00:18:09.501 --> 00:18:10.798 They're not non-profits. 00:18:10.822 --> 00:18:14.385 The reason people go to work there is they want to create economic security 00:18:14.409 --> 00:18:15.783 for them and their families, 00:18:15.807 --> 00:18:17.107 mostly first and foremost. 00:18:17.131 --> 00:18:20.424 And when you get to a point where you control so much economic power, 00:18:20.448 --> 00:18:22.844 you use all the weapons at your disposal. 00:18:22.868 --> 00:18:24.454 I don't think they're bad people, 00:18:24.478 --> 00:18:27.619 but I think the role of government and the role of us as consumers 00:18:27.643 --> 00:18:29.318 and people who elect our officials 00:18:29.342 --> 00:18:31.490 is to ensure that there are some checks here. 00:18:31.514 --> 00:18:34.030 And we have given them the mother of all hall passes 00:18:34.054 --> 00:18:36.106 because we find them just so fascinating. NOTE Paragraph 00:18:36.130 --> 00:18:39.288 CA: Scott, eloquently put, spectacularly put. 00:18:39.312 --> 00:18:44.706 Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Larry Page, Tim Cook, if you're watching, 00:18:44.730 --> 00:18:47.709 you're welcome to come and make the counterargument as well. 00:18:47.733 --> 00:18:48.961 Scott, thank you so much. NOTE Paragraph 00:18:48.985 --> 00:18:50.146 SG: Thanks very much. NOTE Paragraph 00:18:50.170 --> 00:18:52.541 (Applause)