1
00:00:05,061 --> 00:00:09,513
So this is the first and the last slide
each of my 6400 students

2
00:00:09,513 --> 00:00:12,236
for the last 15 years have seen.

3
00:00:12,236 --> 00:00:15,883
I do no believe you can build
a multibillion dollar organization

4
00:00:15,883 --> 00:00:20,944
unless you are clear on which instinct
or organ you are targeting.

5
00:00:21,519 --> 00:00:24,507
Our species has a need for a superbeing.

6
00:00:24,507 --> 00:00:27,557
Our competitive advantage
as a species is our brain,

7
00:00:27,557 --> 00:00:30,706
our brain in robust enough to ask
these really difficult questions,

8
00:00:30,706 --> 00:00:34,084
but unfortunately it doesn't have
the processesing power to answer them,

9
00:00:34,084 --> 00:00:37,812
which creates a need for a superbeing
that we can pray to

10
00:00:37,812 --> 00:00:39,021
and look to for answers.

11
00:00:39,021 --> 00:00:40,103
What is prayer?

12
00:00:40,330 --> 00:00:42,632
Sending a query into the universe,

13
00:00:42,632 --> 00:00:45,216
and hopefully there's some sort of
divine intervention.

14
00:00:45,216 --> 00:00:47,250
We don't need to understand
what's going on

15
00:00:47,250 --> 00:00:50,010
from an all-knowing, all-seeing superbeing

16
00:00:50,010 --> 00:00:53,443
that gives us authority
that this is the right answer.

17
00:00:53,796 --> 00:00:56,396
Will my kid be all right?

18
00:00:56,533 --> 00:00:58,317
You have your planet of stuff,

19
00:00:58,317 --> 00:00:59,991
you have your planet of work,

20
00:00:59,991 --> 00:01:01,819
you have your planet of friends.

21
00:01:01,819 --> 00:01:03,336
If you have kids,

22
00:01:03,336 --> 00:01:06,454
you know that once something
comes off the rails with your kids,

23
00:01:06,454 --> 00:01:08,005
everything melts,

24
00:01:08,005 --> 00:01:10,665
and your universe,
to the summit, is your kids.

25
00:01:10,665 --> 00:01:13,512
Will my kid be all right?

26
00:01:13,512 --> 00:01:17,271
Symptoms and treatment of croup
in the Google query box.

27
00:01:17,526 --> 00:01:21,585
One in six queries presented to Google
have never been asked before

28
00:01:21,585 --> 00:01:22,964
in the history of mankind.

29
00:01:22,964 --> 00:01:26,273
What priest, teacher, rabbi,
scholar, mentor, boss

30
00:01:26,273 --> 00:01:28,318
has so much credibility

31
00:01:28,318 --> 00:01:30,888
that one in six questions
posed to that person

32
00:01:30,888 --> 00:01:32,552
have never been asked before?

33
00:01:32,749 --> 00:01:35,953
Google is our modern man's God.

34
00:01:35,953 --> 00:01:40,281
Imagine your face and your name
above everything you've put into that box,

35
00:01:40,281 --> 00:01:44,530
and you're going to realize you trust
Google more than any entitity

36
00:01:44,530 --> 00:01:45,946
in your history.

37
00:01:46,334 --> 00:01:48,178
Let's move further down the torso.

38
00:01:48,744 --> 00:01:50,185
(Laughter)

39
00:01:50,633 --> 00:01:53,059
One of the other wonderful things
about our species

40
00:01:53,059 --> 00:01:56,258
is we not only need to be loved
but we need to love others.

41
00:01:56,577 --> 00:01:59,559
Children with poor nutrition
but a lot of affection

42
00:01:59,559 --> 00:02:04,147
have better outcomes than children
with good nutrition and poor affection.

43
00:02:04,517 --> 00:02:07,969
However, the best signal
that you might make it

44
00:02:07,969 --> 00:02:12,050
to be part of the number-one fastest
growing demographic in the world --

45
00:02:12,050 --> 00:02:13,048
centenarians,

46
00:02:13,048 --> 00:02:14,779
people who live to triple digits --

47
00:02:14,779 --> 00:02:15,937
their are three signals.

48
00:02:15,937 --> 00:02:16,943
In reverse order,

49
00:02:16,943 --> 00:02:17,937
your genetics --

50
00:02:17,937 --> 00:02:19,867
not as important as you'd like to think.

51
00:02:19,867 --> 00:02:22,171
So you can continue to treat
your body like shit

52
00:02:22,171 --> 00:02:24,177
and think that, "Oh,
Uncle Joe lived to 95,

53
00:02:24,177 --> 00:02:25,337
the die have been cast."

54
00:02:25,337 --> 00:02:27,017
It's less important than you think.

55
00:02:27,017 --> 00:02:28,167
Number two is lifestyle.

56
00:02:28,167 --> 00:02:30,728
Don't smoke, don't be obese, prescreen --

57
00:02:30,728 --> 00:02:33,683
get rid of about two-thirds
of early cancers

58
00:02:33,683 --> 00:02:35,060
and cardiovascular disease.

59
00:02:35,212 --> 00:02:38,937
The number one indicator or signal
that you'll make it to triple digits:

60
00:02:38,937 --> 00:02:42,075
how many people do you love?

61
00:02:42,702 --> 00:02:45,551
Caretaking is the security camera --

62
00:02:45,551 --> 00:02:48,495
we call the low-resolution
security camera in our brain,

63
00:02:48,495 --> 00:02:50,703
deciding whether or not
you are adding value.

64
00:02:50,703 --> 00:02:54,426
Facebook taps into our instinctive need
not only to be loved,

65
00:02:54,426 --> 00:02:55,620
but to love others,

66
00:02:55,620 --> 00:02:57,670
mostly through pictures
that create empathy,

67
00:02:57,670 --> 00:03:00,224
catalyze and reinforce our relationships.

68
00:03:00,224 --> 00:03:03,117
Let's continue our journey down the torso.

69
00:03:03,829 --> 00:03:05,868
Amazon is our consumptive gut.

70
00:03:06,281 --> 00:03:09,299
The instinct of more is hardwired into us.

71
00:03:09,896 --> 00:03:13,396
The penalty for too little
is starvation and malnurtition.

72
00:03:13,833 --> 00:03:14,978
Open your cupboards,

73
00:03:14,978 --> 00:03:16,153
open your closets,

74
00:03:16,153 --> 00:03:19,569
you have 10 to 100 x times
what you need.

75
00:03:19,569 --> 00:03:20,574
Why?

76
00:03:20,574 --> 00:03:22,548
Because the penalty for too little

77
00:03:22,548 --> 00:03:24,962
is much greater than
the penalty for too much.

78
00:03:25,314 --> 00:03:28,997
So more for less is a business strategy
that never goes out of style.

79
00:03:29,172 --> 00:03:30,796
It's the strategy of China,

80
00:03:30,796 --> 00:03:32,337
it's a the strategy of Wal-Mart,

81
00:03:32,337 --> 00:03:35,651
and now it's the strategy of the most
successful company in the world,

82
00:03:35,651 --> 00:03:36,708
Amazon.

83
00:03:36,708 --> 00:03:39,078
You get more for less into your gut,

84
00:03:39,078 --> 00:03:40,076
digest,

85
00:03:40,076 --> 00:03:42,911
send it to your muscular
and skeletal system of consumption.

86
00:03:42,911 --> 00:03:44,590
Moving further,

87
00:03:44,590 --> 00:03:47,061
once we know we will survive --

88
00:03:47,061 --> 00:03:48,123
the basic instinct --

89
00:03:48,123 --> 00:03:50,685
we move to the second
most powerful instinct,

90
00:03:50,685 --> 00:03:52,551
and that is to spread and select

91
00:03:52,551 --> 00:03:55,490
the strongest, smartest
and fastest seed

92
00:03:55,490 --> 00:03:57,236
to the four corners of the earth,

93
00:03:57,236 --> 00:03:59,390
or pick the best seed.

94
00:03:59,599 --> 00:04:01,346
This is not a timepiece.

95
00:04:01,346 --> 00:04:03,194
I haven't wound it in five years.

96
00:04:03,459 --> 00:04:06,817
It's my vain attempt to say to people
if you mate with me,

97
00:04:06,817 --> 00:04:08,789
your children are more likely to survive

98
00:04:08,789 --> 00:04:11,382
than if you mate with somebody
wearing a Swatch watch.

99
00:04:11,382 --> 00:04:12,554
(Laughter)

100
00:04:13,073 --> 00:04:17,202
The key to business is tapping into
the irrational organs.

101
00:04:17,488 --> 00:04:21,120
Irrational is Harvard Business School's
and New York Business School's term

102
00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:23,261
for fat profit margins

103
00:04:23,261 --> 00:04:24,503
and shareholder value.

104
00:04:24,789 --> 00:04:27,535
"High caloric [paste] for your children,"

105
00:04:27,535 --> 00:04:28,542
no?

106
00:04:28,542 --> 00:04:30,820
You love your choosy mom.

107
00:04:30,820 --> 00:04:32,878
Why choosy moms choose JIF:

108
00:04:32,878 --> 00:04:34,128
you love your kids more.

109
00:04:34,128 --> 00:04:37,171
The greatest algorithm for shareholder
creation from World War II

110
00:04:37,171 --> 00:04:38,532
to the advent of Google

111
00:04:38,532 --> 00:04:41,581
was taking an average product
and appealing to people's hearts.

112
00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:42,782
You're a better a mom,

113
00:04:42,782 --> 00:04:43,776
a better person,

114
00:04:43,776 --> 00:04:44,998
a better patriot

115
00:04:44,998 --> 00:04:47,975
if you buy this average soap
versus this average soap.

116
00:04:48,338 --> 00:04:51,773
Now the number one algorithm
for shareholder value isn't technology.

117
00:04:51,773 --> 00:04:53,116
Look at the Forbes 400,

118
00:04:53,116 --> 00:04:54,449
take out inherited wealth,

119
00:04:54,449 --> 00:04:55,483
take out finance,

120
00:04:55,483 --> 00:04:57,801
the number one source of wealth creation:

121
00:04:57,801 --> 00:04:59,853
appealing to your reproductive organs.

122
00:04:59,853 --> 00:05:00,849
The Lauders;

123
00:05:00,849 --> 00:05:03,562
the number one
wealthiest man in Europe --

124
00:05:03,562 --> 00:05:04,758
LVMH.

125
00:05:04,758 --> 00:05:05,878
Numbers two and three:

126
00:05:05,878 --> 00:05:07,359
H&M and Inditex.

127
00:05:07,359 --> 00:05:12,539
You want to target the most
irrational organs for shareholder value.

128
00:05:13,399 --> 00:05:14,402
As a result,

129
00:05:14,402 --> 00:05:15,563
these four companies --

130
00:05:15,563 --> 00:05:18,754
Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google
have disarticulated who we are.

131
00:05:18,888 --> 00:05:21,071
God love consumption sex.

132
00:05:21,291 --> 00:05:24,972
The proportion in your approach
to those things is who you are,

133
00:05:24,972 --> 00:05:28,661
and they have reassembeled who we are
in the form of for-profit companies

134
00:05:28,661 --> 00:05:30,280
at the end of the Great Recession,

135
00:05:30,280 --> 00:05:32,324
the market capitalization
of these companies

136
00:05:32,324 --> 00:05:34,524
was equivalent to the GDP of Niger,

137
00:05:34,524 --> 00:05:37,244
now it is equivalent to the GDP of India,

138
00:05:37,244 --> 00:05:39,421
having blown past Russia and Canada

139
00:05:39,421 --> 00:05:40,790
in '13 and '14.

140
00:05:40,790 --> 00:05:42,113
There are only five nations

141
00:05:42,113 --> 00:05:46,995
that have a GDP greater than the combined
capitalization of these four firms.

142
00:05:47,354 --> 00:05:49,492
Something is happening though.

143
00:05:50,066 --> 00:05:54,341
The conversation just a year ago
was which CEO was more Jesus-like,

144
00:05:54,341 --> 00:05:56,949
who was running for president?

145
00:05:56,949 --> 00:05:58,354
Now the worm has turned.

146
00:05:58,354 --> 00:06:00,323
Everything they're doing is bothering us.

147
00:06:00,486 --> 00:06:02,186
We're worried they're tax avoiders.

148
00:06:02,470 --> 00:06:05,823
Wal-mart, since the Great Recession,
has paid 64 billion dollars

149
00:06:05,823 --> 00:06:07,434
in corporate income tax;

150
00:06:07,434 --> 00:06:09,433
Amazon has paid 1.4.

151
00:06:09,788 --> 00:06:13,394
How do we pay our firefighters,
our soldiers and our social workers

152
00:06:13,394 --> 00:06:16,903
if the most successful companies
in the world don't pay their fair share?

153
00:06:16,903 --> 00:06:17,906
Pretty easy.

154
00:06:17,906 --> 00:06:21,679
That means the less successful companies
have to pay more than their fair share.

155
00:06:21,679 --> 00:06:23,509
Alexa, is this a good thing?

156
00:06:23,849 --> 00:06:25,841
This is despite that fact --

157
00:06:25,841 --> 00:06:26,860
(Laughter)

158
00:06:26,860 --> 00:06:29,717
This is despite the fact

159
00:06:29,717 --> 00:06:33,796
that Amazon has added the entire
market capitalization of Wal-Mart

160
00:06:33,796 --> 00:06:37,786
to its market cap in the last 19 months.

161
00:06:40,401 --> 00:06:41,433
Whose fault is it?

162
00:06:41,433 --> 00:06:42,507
It's our fault.

163
00:06:42,805 --> 00:06:46,513
We're electing regulators
who don't have the backbone

164
00:06:46,513 --> 00:06:48,653
to actually go after these companies.

165
00:06:48,964 --> 00:06:50,990
Facebook lies to EU regulators

166
00:06:50,990 --> 00:06:52,850
and says, "It would be impossible

167
00:06:52,850 --> 00:06:55,515
for us to share the data between
our core platform

168
00:06:55,515 --> 00:06:57,811
and our proposed acquisition of WhatsApp.

169
00:06:57,811 --> 00:06:59,322
Approve the merger."

170
00:06:59,322 --> 00:07:01,021
They approve the merger and then --

171
00:07:01,021 --> 00:07:02,021
spoiler alert --

172
00:07:02,021 --> 00:07:03,232
they figure it out.

173
00:07:03,232 --> 00:07:04,901
And the EU says, "I feel lied to,

174
00:07:04,901 --> 00:07:08,311
we're fining you 120 billion dollars,"

175
00:07:08,311 --> 00:07:12,267
about .6 percent of the acquisition price
of 19 billion dollars.

176
00:07:12,571 --> 00:07:15,198
If Mark Zuckerberg could
take out an insurance policy

177
00:07:15,198 --> 00:07:18,047
that the acquisition would
go through for .6 percent,

178
00:07:18,047 --> 00:07:19,190
wouldn't he do it?

179
00:07:19,429 --> 00:07:21,247
Anticompetitive behavior.

180
00:07:21,622 --> 00:07:23,646
A two-and-a-half billion dollar fine,

181
00:07:23,646 --> 00:07:26,562
three billion of the cash flow,

182
00:07:26,562 --> 00:07:29,480
three percent of the cash
on Google's balance sheet.

183
00:07:29,631 --> 00:07:31,551
We are telling these companies

184
00:07:31,551 --> 00:07:33,692
the smart thing to do,

185
00:07:33,692 --> 00:07:35,680
the shareholder-driven thing to do,

186
00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:37,890
is to lie and to cheat.

187
00:07:38,018 --> 00:07:41,689
We are issuing ¢25 parking tickets

188
00:07:41,689 --> 00:07:44,889
on a meter that costs $100 an hour.

189
00:07:44,889 --> 00:07:47,618
The smart thing to do is like,
"job destruction!"

190
00:07:47,618 --> 00:07:50,590
Amazon only needs one person
for two at Macy's.

191
00:07:50,832 --> 00:07:53,498
If they grow their business
20 billion dollars this year,

192
00:07:53,498 --> 00:07:54,497
which they will,

193
00:07:54,497 --> 00:07:56,706
we will lose 53,000 cashiers and clerks.

194
00:07:56,706 --> 00:07:57,912
This is nothing unusual;

195
00:07:57,912 --> 00:08:00,327
this has happened all through our economy,

196
00:08:00,327 --> 00:08:02,613
we've just never seen
companies this good at it.

197
00:08:02,613 --> 00:08:04,915
That's one Yankee Stadium of workers.

198
00:08:04,915 --> 00:08:06,146
It's even worse in media.

199
00:08:06,306 --> 00:08:09,803
Facebook and Google grow their businesses
22 billion dollars this year --

200
00:08:09,803 --> 00:08:10,810
which they will --

201
00:08:10,810 --> 00:08:14,294
we're going to lose approximately
150,000 creative directors,

202
00:08:14,294 --> 00:08:16,362
planners and copywriters.

203
00:08:16,362 --> 00:08:18,620
Or we can fill up two-and-a-half
Yankee Stadiums

204
00:08:18,620 --> 00:08:21,918
and say, "You are out of work
courtesy of Amazon."

205
00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:25,421
We now get the majority of our news
from our social media feeds,

206
00:08:25,421 --> 00:08:29,611
and the majority of our news
coming off of social media feeds is ...

207
00:08:29,611 --> 00:08:30,775
fake news.

208
00:08:30,935 --> 00:08:32,775
(Laughter)

209
00:08:32,775 --> 00:08:36,402
I am not allowed to be politcal
or use curse words,

210
00:08:36,402 --> 00:08:37,985
or talk about religion in class,

211
00:08:37,985 --> 00:08:41,525
so I can definitely not say ...

212
00:08:41,525 --> 00:08:44,058
"Zuckerberg has become Putin's bitch."

213
00:08:44,058 --> 00:08:46,128
I definitely cannot say that.

214
00:08:46,307 --> 00:08:47,306
(Laughter)

215
00:08:47,306 --> 00:08:48,476
Their defense:

216
00:08:48,476 --> 00:08:50,363
"Facebook is not a media company,

217
00:08:50,363 --> 00:08:51,726
it's a technology company."

218
00:08:51,947 --> 00:08:53,645
You create original content,

219
00:08:53,645 --> 00:08:56,565
you pay sports leagues
to give you original content,

220
00:08:56,565 --> 00:08:58,192
you run advertising against it --

221
00:08:58,192 --> 00:08:59,643
boom, you're a media company.

222
00:08:59,643 --> 00:09:01,254
Just in the last few days,

223
00:09:01,254 --> 00:09:04,243
Sheryl Sandberg has repeated this lie

224
00:09:04,243 --> 00:09:05,881
that "we are not a media company."

225
00:09:05,881 --> 00:09:09,356
Facebook has openly embraced
the margins of celebrity

226
00:09:09,356 --> 00:09:11,754
and the influence of a media company,

227
00:09:11,754 --> 00:09:15,465
yet seems to be allergic
to the responsibilities

228
00:09:15,465 --> 00:09:16,765
of a media company.

229
00:09:17,178 --> 00:09:18,688
Imagine McDonald's.

230
00:09:19,389 --> 00:09:21,809
We find 80 percent of their beef is fake,

231
00:09:21,809 --> 00:09:23,391
and it's giving us encephalitis,

232
00:09:23,391 --> 00:09:25,318
and we're making terrible decisions.

233
00:09:25,880 --> 00:09:27,229
And we say, "McDonald's,

234
00:09:27,229 --> 00:09:28,653
we're pissed off."

235
00:09:28,653 --> 00:09:30,362
And they say, "Wait,

236
00:09:30,362 --> 00:09:31,608
wait,

237
00:09:31,608 --> 00:09:33,648
we're not a fast-food restaurant,

238
00:09:33,648 --> 00:09:35,748
we're a fast-food platform."

239
00:09:35,904 --> 00:09:37,684
(Laughter)

240
00:09:38,307 --> 00:09:40,622
These companies and CEOs wrap themselves

241
00:09:40,622 --> 00:09:44,552
in a neon-blue pink rainbow
and blue blanket

242
00:09:44,552 --> 00:09:46,472
to create an illusionist trick

243
00:09:46,472 --> 00:09:47,925
from their behavior each day,

244
00:09:47,925 --> 00:09:52,319
which is more indicative
of the spawn of Darth Vader and Ayn Rand.

245
00:09:52,420 --> 00:09:53,416
Why?

246
00:09:53,416 --> 00:09:56,643
Because we as progressives
are seen as nice but weak.

247
00:09:57,109 --> 00:10:00,486
If Sheryl Sandberg had written
a book on gun rights,

248
00:10:00,486 --> 00:10:02,913
or on the pro-life movement,

249
00:10:02,913 --> 00:10:05,917
would they be flying Sheryl to Cannes?

250
00:10:05,917 --> 00:10:06,923
No.

251
00:10:06,923 --> 00:10:09,075
And I'm not doubting
their progressive values,

252
00:10:09,075 --> 00:10:11,444
but it foots to shareholder value,

253
00:10:11,444 --> 00:10:13,536
because we as progressives
are seen as weak.

254
00:10:13,536 --> 00:10:14,536
They're so nice --

255
00:10:14,536 --> 00:10:15,892
remember Microsoft?

256
00:10:15,892 --> 00:10:17,348
They didn't seem as nice,

257
00:10:17,348 --> 00:10:21,812
and regulators stepped in much earlier
than the regulators now

258
00:10:21,812 --> 00:10:25,180
who would never step in
on those nice, nice people.

259
00:10:25,419 --> 00:10:27,184
I'm about to get on a plane tonight,

260
00:10:27,184 --> 00:10:29,926
and I'm going to have a guy
named Roy from TSA molest me.

261
00:10:29,926 --> 00:10:33,270
If I am suspected
of a DUI on the way home,

262
00:10:33,270 --> 00:10:35,743
I can have blood taken from my person.

263
00:10:36,554 --> 00:10:39,806
But wait, don't tap into the iPhone;

264
00:10:39,806 --> 00:10:41,170
it's sacred.

265
00:10:41,170 --> 00:10:42,553
This is our new cross.

266
00:10:42,553 --> 00:10:44,293
It shouldn't be the iPhone X,

267
00:10:44,293 --> 00:10:46,206
it should be called the iPhone cross.

268
00:10:46,206 --> 00:10:47,398
We have our religion;

269
00:10:47,398 --> 00:10:48,396
it's Apple.

270
00:10:48,396 --> 00:10:50,329
Our Jesus Christ is Steve Jobs,

271
00:10:50,329 --> 00:10:53,505
and we've decided this is holier
than our person, our house

272
00:10:53,505 --> 00:10:54,829
or our computer.

273
00:10:54,829 --> 00:10:57,278
We have become totally out of control

274
00:10:57,278 --> 00:11:00,976
with the gross idolatry
of innovation and of youth.

275
00:11:01,187 --> 00:11:03,682
We no longer worship
at the altar of character,

276
00:11:03,682 --> 00:11:04,785
of kindess,

277
00:11:04,785 --> 00:11:08,215
but of innovation and people
who create shareholder value.

278
00:11:08,465 --> 00:11:11,383
Amazon has become so powerful
in the marketplace

279
00:11:11,383 --> 00:11:13,014
it can conduct Jedi mind tricks.

280
00:11:13,014 --> 00:11:15,983
It can begin damaging other
industries just by looking at it.

281
00:11:15,983 --> 00:11:18,127
Nike announces they're
distributing on Amazon,

282
00:11:18,127 --> 00:11:19,222
their stock goes up,

283
00:11:19,222 --> 00:11:21,068
every other footwear stock goes down.

284
00:11:21,068 --> 00:11:24,034
When Amazon stock goes up
the rest of retail stocks go down

285
00:11:24,034 --> 00:11:27,276
because they assume what's good
for Amazon is bad for everybody else.

286
00:11:27,276 --> 00:11:31,819
They cut the cost on salmon 33 percent
when they acquired Whole Foods.

287
00:11:31,819 --> 00:11:34,877
In between the time they announced
the acquisition of Whole Foods

288
00:11:34,877 --> 00:11:35,879
and when it closed,

289
00:11:35,879 --> 00:11:38,261
Kroger, the largest
pure-play grocer in America,

290
00:11:38,261 --> 00:11:40,143
shed one-third of its value

291
00:11:40,143 --> 00:11:46,522
because Amazon purchased a grocer
one-eleventh the size of Kroger.

292
00:11:47,167 --> 00:11:48,375
I got very lucky.

293
00:11:48,518 --> 00:11:51,939
I predicted the acquisition
of Whole Foods by Amazon

294
00:11:51,939 --> 00:11:53,306
the week before it happened.

295
00:11:53,306 --> 00:11:54,367
This is me boasting.

296
00:11:54,367 --> 00:11:55,987
I said this publicly in the media,

297
00:11:55,987 --> 00:11:58,321
this was the largest
acquisition in their history,

298
00:11:58,321 --> 00:12:00,704
they'd never made
an acquisition over one billion,

299
00:12:00,704 --> 00:12:02,731
and people asked, "How did you know this?"

300
00:12:02,731 --> 00:12:06,180
So I'm letting this very impressive
audience in on the secret.

301
00:12:06,180 --> 00:12:07,242
How did I know this?

302
00:12:07,242 --> 00:12:08,833
I'm going to tell you how I knew.

303
00:12:09,333 --> 00:12:12,076
I bark at Alexa all day long

304
00:12:12,076 --> 00:12:14,012
and try to figure out what's going on.

305
00:12:14,012 --> 00:12:17,082
"Alexa, buy whole milk."

306
00:12:17,484 --> 00:12:19,723
(Alexa) I couldn't find
anything for whole milk,

307
00:12:19,723 --> 00:12:21,966
so I've added whole milk
to your shopping list.

308
00:12:22,526 --> 00:12:23,824
SG: Then I asked,

309
00:12:23,824 --> 00:12:26,754
"Alexa, buy organic foods."

310
00:12:26,939 --> 00:12:29,079
(Alexa) The top search result
for organic food

311
00:12:29,079 --> 00:12:30,827
is Plum Organic's baby food,

312
00:12:30,827 --> 00:12:32,237
banana and pumpkin.

313
00:12:32,237 --> 00:12:34,144
12 pack of four ounces each.

314
00:12:34,144 --> 00:12:35,767
It's 15 dollars total.

315
00:12:36,427 --> 00:12:37,634
Would you like to buy it?

316
00:12:37,634 --> 00:12:39,564
SG: And then, as often
happens at my age,

317
00:12:39,564 --> 00:12:40,555
I got confused.

318
00:12:40,740 --> 00:12:43,530
"Alexa, buy Whole Foods."

319
00:12:44,050 --> 00:12:47,608
(Alexa) I have purchased the outstanding
stock of Whole Foods Incorporated

320
00:12:47,608 --> 00:12:49,421
at 42 dollars per share.

321
00:12:49,421 --> 00:12:53,087
I have charged 13.7 billion
to your American Express card.

322
00:12:53,475 --> 00:12:54,855
(Laughter)

323
00:12:55,955 --> 00:12:57,335
I thought that'd be funnier.

324
00:12:57,515 --> 00:12:58,771
(Laughter)

325
00:12:59,087 --> 00:13:00,861
We've personified these companies,

326
00:13:00,861 --> 00:13:04,285
and just as when you're really angry
over every little thing someone does

327
00:13:04,285 --> 00:13:05,767
in your life and relationships,

328
00:13:05,767 --> 00:13:07,050
you've got to ask yourself,

329
00:13:07,050 --> 00:13:08,100
"What's going on here?

330
00:13:08,100 --> 00:13:10,112
Why are we so disappointed in technology?"

331
00:13:10,112 --> 00:13:12,872
And I believe it's because
the ratio of one-percent pursuit

332
00:13:12,872 --> 00:13:14,018
of shareholder value

333
00:13:14,018 --> 00:13:16,583
and 99 percent the betterment of humanity

334
00:13:16,583 --> 00:13:17,992
that technology used to play

335
00:13:17,992 --> 00:13:19,067
has been flipped,

336
00:13:19,067 --> 00:13:21,411
and now we're totally focused
on shareholder value

337
00:13:21,411 --> 00:13:22,430
instead of humanity.

338
00:13:22,430 --> 00:13:24,960
100,000 people came together
for the Manhattan Project

339
00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:26,422
and literally saved the world.

340
00:13:26,422 --> 00:13:27,720
Technology saved the world.

341
00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:31,593
My mother was a four-year-old Jew
living in London at the outset of the war.

342
00:13:31,915 --> 00:13:35,345
If we had not formed the footrace
towards splitting the atom,

343
00:13:35,345 --> 00:13:37,306
would she have survived?

344
00:13:37,306 --> 00:13:38,469
It's unlikely.

345
00:13:38,854 --> 00:13:40,184
25 years later,

346
00:13:40,184 --> 00:13:41,848
the most impressive accomplishment,


347
00:13:41,848 --> 00:13:44,608
arguably ever in all of humankind --

348
00:13:44,608 --> 00:13:45,748
put a man on the moon.

349
00:13:45,748 --> 00:13:48,950
430,000 Canadians, Britsh
and Americans came together,

350
00:13:48,950 --> 00:13:51,321
again with very basic technology,

351
00:13:51,321 --> 00:13:52,663
and put a man on the moon.

352
00:13:52,663 --> 00:13:56,294
Now we have the 700,000
best and brightest,

353
00:13:56,294 --> 00:13:59,683
and these are the best and brightest
from the four corners of the earth.

354
00:13:59,683 --> 00:14:04,051
They are literally playing with lasers
relative to slingshots,

355
00:14:04,051 --> 00:14:05,349
relative to the squirt gun.

356
00:14:05,349 --> 00:14:07,230
They have the GDP of India to work at.

357
00:14:07,474 --> 00:14:10,028
And after studying
these companies for 10 years,

358
00:14:10,028 --> 00:14:11,567
I know what their mission is.

359
00:14:11,823 --> 00:14:14,232
Is it to organize the world's information?

360
00:14:14,426 --> 00:14:15,683
Is it to connect us?

361
00:14:15,954 --> 00:14:18,419
Is it to create greater commonty of man?

362
00:14:18,843 --> 00:14:19,838
It isn't.

363
00:14:19,838 --> 00:14:21,655
I know why we have brought together --

364
00:14:21,655 --> 00:14:26,354
I know that the greatest collection
of IQ capital and creativity,

365
00:14:26,354 --> 00:14:30,362
that their soul mission is
to tell another fucking Nissan.

366
00:14:30,496 --> 00:14:31,760
My name is Scott Galloway,

367
00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:32,759
I teach at NYU

368
00:14:32,759 --> 00:14:34,071
and I appreciate your time.

369
00:14:34,071 --> 00:14:36,060
(Applause)

370
00:14:42,810 --> 00:14:44,153
Chris Anderson: Not planned,

371
00:14:44,153 --> 00:14:47,003
but you prompted
some questions in me, Scott.

372
00:14:47,003 --> 00:14:47,997
(Laughter)

373
00:14:47,997 --> 00:14:50,015
That was a spectacular rant.

374
00:14:50,564 --> 00:14:51,952
SG: Is this like Letterman?

375
00:14:51,952 --> 00:14:52,948
When you do well,

376
00:14:52,948 --> 00:14:54,320
he calls you onto the couch?

377
00:14:54,893 --> 00:14:58,316
CA: No, no, you're going to the heart
of the conversation right now.

378
00:14:58,584 --> 00:15:04,742
Everyone's aware that after years
of worshipping Silicon Valley,

379
00:15:04,742 --> 00:15:06,619
suddenly the worm has turned,

380
00:15:06,619 --> 00:15:08,003
and in such a big way.

381
00:15:08,346 --> 00:15:09,352
To some people here,

382
00:15:09,352 --> 00:15:11,806
it will just feel like you're piling on,

383
00:15:11,806 --> 00:15:15,007
you're kicking the kids who've
already been kicked to pieces anyway.

384
00:15:15,007 --> 00:15:17,262
Don't you feel any empathy
for them at all?

385
00:15:17,410 --> 00:15:18,807
CG: None whatsoever.

386
00:15:19,339 --> 00:15:21,286
Look, this is the issue.

387
00:15:21,682 --> 00:15:23,519
It's not their fault, it's our fault.

388
00:15:23,649 --> 00:15:25,721
They're for-profit companies.

389
00:15:25,731 --> 00:15:28,264
They're not concerned
with the condition of our souls.

390
00:15:28,264 --> 00:15:30,849
They're not going to take care
of us when we get older.

391
00:15:30,849 --> 00:15:34,640
We have set up a society that values
shareholder value over everything,

392
00:15:34,640 --> 00:15:37,075
and they're doing what they're
supposed to be doing,

393
00:15:37,075 --> 00:15:38,408
but we need to elect people,

394
00:15:38,408 --> 00:15:40,468
and we need to force
ourselves to force them

395
00:15:40,468 --> 00:15:42,088
to be subject to the same scrutiny


396
00:15:42,088 --> 00:15:44,157
that the rest of business
endures full-stop.

397
00:15:44,157 --> 00:15:45,983
CA: There's another narrative

398
00:15:45,983 --> 00:15:49,816
that is arguably equally
consistent with the facts,

399
00:15:49,816 --> 00:15:56,672
which is that there actually is good
intent in much of the leadership --

400
00:15:56,672 --> 00:15:58,406
I won't say everyone necessarily --

401
00:15:58,406 --> 00:15:59,913
many of the employees.

402
00:16:01,074 --> 00:16:03,283
We all know people who work
in those companies,

403
00:16:03,283 --> 00:16:05,644
and they still are pretty convincing

404
00:16:05,644 --> 00:16:07,115
that their mission is to do --

405
00:16:07,115 --> 00:16:09,059
so the alternative narrative

406
00:16:09,059 --> 00:16:12,334
is that there have been
unintended consequences here,

407
00:16:12,334 --> 00:16:14,391
that the technologies
that we're unleashing,

408
00:16:14,391 --> 00:16:17,869
the algorithms that we're attempting
to personalize the internet,

409
00:16:17,869 --> 00:16:19,203
for example,

410
00:16:19,203 --> 00:16:25,341
have a) resulted in weird effects
like filter bubbles

411
00:16:25,341 --> 00:16:26,859
that we weren't expecting,

412
00:16:26,859 --> 00:16:30,068
and b) made themselves vulnerable
to weird things like --

413
00:16:30,068 --> 00:16:31,073
oh, I don't know,

414
00:16:31,073 --> 00:16:32,658
Russian hackers creating accounts

415
00:16:32,658 --> 00:16:34,515
and doing things that we didn't expect.

416
00:16:34,515 --> 00:16:39,147
Isn't the unintended consequence
a possibility here?

417
00:16:39,788 --> 00:16:40,868
SG: I don't think --

418
00:16:40,868 --> 00:16:42,413
so I'm pretty sure statistically

419
00:16:42,413 --> 00:16:45,252
they're no less or better people
than any other organization

420
00:16:45,252 --> 00:16:46,784
that has 100,000 or more poeple.

421
00:16:46,784 --> 00:16:48,368
I don't think they're bad people.

422
00:16:48,368 --> 00:16:49,328
As a matter of fact,

423
00:16:49,328 --> 00:16:52,783
I would argue that there's a lot
of very civic-minded, decent leadership,

424
00:16:52,783 --> 00:16:53,970
but this is the issue.

425
00:16:53,970 --> 00:16:58,593
When you control 90 percent
points of share in a market search

426
00:16:58,593 --> 00:17:02,100
that is now bigger than the entire
advertising market of any nation,

427
00:17:02,100 --> 00:17:05,892
and you're primarily compensated
and trying to develop economic security

428
00:17:05,892 --> 00:17:07,895
for you and the families
of your employees,

429
00:17:07,895 --> 00:17:09,369
to increase that market share,

430
00:17:09,369 --> 00:17:12,426
you can't help but leverage
all the power at your disposal.

431
00:17:12,522 --> 00:17:14,578
And that is the basis for regulation,

432
00:17:14,578 --> 00:17:17,015
and it's the basis for truism
throughout history

433
00:17:17,015 --> 00:17:18,310
that power corrupts.

434
00:17:18,310 --> 00:17:19,409
They're not bad people,

435
00:17:19,409 --> 00:17:21,583
we've just let them get out of control.

436
00:17:22,342 --> 00:17:26,181
CA: So maybe the case
is slightly overstated?

437
00:17:26,181 --> 00:17:28,832
I know at least a bit --

438
00:17:28,832 --> 00:17:29,963
Larry Page for example,

439
00:17:29,963 --> 00:17:30,955
Jeff Bezos --

440
00:17:30,955 --> 00:17:33,491
I don't actually think
they wake up thinking,

441
00:17:33,491 --> 00:17:35,222
"I've got to sell a fucking Nissan."

442
00:17:35,422 --> 00:17:36,885
I don't think they think that.

443
00:17:36,891 --> 00:17:40,354
I think they are trying to build
something cool,

444
00:17:40,354 --> 00:17:42,407
and are probably,

445
00:17:42,407 --> 00:17:43,814
in moments of reflection,

446
00:17:43,814 --> 00:17:47,685
as horrified that some of the things
that have happened as we might be.

447
00:17:48,325 --> 00:17:51,554
So is there a different way
of framing this?

448
00:17:52,294 --> 00:17:57,444
To say that when your model is advertising

449
00:17:57,444 --> 00:18:02,144
that there are dangers there
that you have to take on more explicitly?

450
00:18:02,637 --> 00:18:06,290
SG: I think it's very difficult
to set an organization up

451
00:18:06,290 --> 00:18:07,298
as we do,

452
00:18:07,298 --> 00:18:09,501
to pursue shareholder value
above all else.

453
00:18:09,501 --> 00:18:10,797
They're not non-profits.

454
00:18:11,421 --> 00:18:14,954
The reason people go to work there
is they want to create economic security

455
00:18:14,954 --> 00:18:16,289
for them and their families,

456
00:18:16,289 --> 00:18:17,711
mostly first and foremost.

457
00:18:17,711 --> 00:18:19,004
And when you get to a point

458
00:18:19,004 --> 00:18:20,938
where you control so much
economic power,

459
00:18:20,938 --> 00:18:22,932
you use all the weapons at your disposal.

460
00:18:22,932 --> 00:18:24,541
I don't think they're bad people,

461
00:18:24,541 --> 00:18:27,661
but I think the role of government
and the role of us as consumers

462
00:18:27,661 --> 00:18:29,342
and people who elect our officials,

463
00:18:29,342 --> 00:18:31,445
is to ensure that there
are some checks here.

464
00:18:31,445 --> 00:18:33,887
And we have given
them the mother of all hall passes

465
00:18:33,887 --> 00:18:36,031
because we find them just so fascinating.

466
00:18:36,433 --> 00:18:37,711
CA: Scott, eloquently put,

467
00:18:37,711 --> 00:18:38,935
spectacularly put.

468
00:18:39,463 --> 00:18:43,588
Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos,
Larry Page, Tim Cook,

469
00:18:43,588 --> 00:18:44,712
if you're watching,

470
00:18:44,712 --> 00:18:47,770
you're welcome to come and make
the counter argument as well.

471
00:18:47,770 --> 00:18:48,980
Scott, thank you so much.

472
00:18:48,980 --> 00:18:49,987
SG: Thanks very much.

473
00:18:49,987 --> 00:18:51,438
(Applause)