1
00:00:05,061 --> 00:00:07,745
So this is the first and the last slide

2
00:00:07,769 --> 00:00:12,095
each of my 6,400 students
for the last 15 years has seen.

3
00:00:12,119 --> 00:00:15,859
I do not believe you can build
a multibillion-dollar organization

4
00:00:15,883 --> 00:00:21,370
unless you are clear on which instinct
or organ you are targeting.

5
00:00:21,394 --> 00:00:24,483
Our species has a need for a superbeing.

6
00:00:24,507 --> 00:00:27,533
Our competitive advantage
as a species is our brain.

7
00:00:27,557 --> 00:00:30,700
Our brain is robust enough to ask
these really difficult questions,

8
00:00:30,724 --> 00:00:34,222
but, unfortunately, it doesn't have
the processing power to answer them,

9
00:00:34,246 --> 00:00:36,544
which creates a need for a superbeing

10
00:00:36,568 --> 00:00:38,997
that we can pray to
and look to for answers.

11
00:00:39,021 --> 00:00:40,306
What is prayer?

12
00:00:40,330 --> 00:00:42,608
Sending a query into the universe,

13
00:00:42,632 --> 00:00:45,404
and hopefully, there's some sort
of divine intervention --

14
00:00:45,428 --> 00:00:47,760
we don't need to understand
what's going on --

15
00:00:47,784 --> 00:00:49,940
from an all-knowing, all-seeing superbeing

16
00:00:49,964 --> 00:00:53,772
that gives us authority
that this is the right answer.

17
00:00:53,796 --> 00:00:56,509
"Will my kid be all right?"

18
00:00:56,533 --> 00:00:58,177
You have your planet of stuff,

19
00:00:58,201 --> 00:00:59,852
you have your planet of work,

20
00:00:59,876 --> 00:01:01,681
you have your planet of friends.

21
00:01:01,705 --> 00:01:03,199
If you have kids,

22
00:01:03,223 --> 00:01:06,318
you know that once something
comes off the rails with your kids,

23
00:01:06,342 --> 00:01:07,870
everything melts,

24
00:01:07,894 --> 00:01:10,531
and your universe,
to the summit, is your kids.

25
00:01:10,555 --> 00:01:13,439
"Will my kid be all right?"

26
00:01:13,463 --> 00:01:17,552
"Symptoms and treatment of croup"
in the Google query box.

27
00:01:17,576 --> 00:01:21,514
One in six queries presented to Google
have never been asked before

28
00:01:21,538 --> 00:01:22,862
in the history of mankind.

29
00:01:22,886 --> 00:01:28,294
What priest, teacher, rabbi, scholar,
mentor, boss has so much credibility

30
00:01:28,318 --> 00:01:30,864
that one in six questions
posed to that person

31
00:01:30,888 --> 00:01:32,639
have never been asked before?

32
00:01:32,663 --> 00:01:35,929
Google is our modern man's God.

33
00:01:35,953 --> 00:01:40,257
Imagine your face and your name
above everything you've put into that box,

34
00:01:40,281 --> 00:01:44,401
and you're going to realize
you trust Google more than any entity

35
00:01:44,425 --> 00:01:45,639
in your history.

36
00:01:45,663 --> 00:01:46,730
(Laughter)

37
00:01:46,754 --> 00:01:48,513
Let's move further down the torso.

38
00:01:48,537 --> 00:01:50,536
(Laughter)

39
00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:53,035
One of the other wonderful things
about our species

40
00:01:53,059 --> 00:01:56,553
is we not only need to be loved,
but we need to love others.

41
00:01:56,577 --> 00:01:59,535
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 --> 00:02:07,945
However, the best signal
that you might make it

44
00:02:07,969 --> 00:02:12,026
to be part of the number-one fastest
growing demographic in the world --

45
00:02:12,050 --> 00:02:14,459
centenarians, people
who live to triple digits --

46
00:02:14,483 --> 00:02:15,659
there are three signals.

47
00:02:15,683 --> 00:02:19,619
In reverse order: your genetics --
not as important as you'd like to think,

48
00:02:19,643 --> 00:02:21,919
so you can continue to treat
your body like shit

49
00:02:21,943 --> 00:02:23,830
and think, "Oh, Uncle Joe lived to 95,

50
00:02:23,854 --> 00:02:25,081
the die have been cast."

51
00:02:25,105 --> 00:02:26,802
It's less important than you think.

52
00:02:26,826 --> 00:02:28,389
Number two is lifestyle.

53
00:02:28,413 --> 00:02:30,680
Don't smoke, don't be obese
and prescreen --

54
00:02:30,704 --> 00:02:33,659
get rid of about two-thirds
of early cancers

55
00:02:33,683 --> 00:02:35,188
and cardiovascular disease.

56
00:02:35,212 --> 00:02:38,776
The number one indicator or signal
that you'll make it to triple digits:

57
00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:41,938
How many people do you love?

58
00:02:42,702 --> 00:02:45,527
Caretaking is the security camera --

59
00:02:45,551 --> 00:02:48,471
we call the low-resolution
security camera in our brain,

60
00:02:48,495 --> 00:02:50,679
deciding whether or not
you are adding value.

61
00:02:50,703 --> 00:02:54,340
Facebook taps into our instinctive need
not only to be loved,

62
00:02:54,364 --> 00:02:55,567
but to love others,

63
00:02:55,591 --> 00:02:57,668
mostly through pictures
that create empathy,

64
00:02:57,692 --> 00:03:00,200
catalyze and reinforce our relationships.

65
00:03:00,224 --> 00:03:03,117
Let's continue our journey down the torso.

66
00:03:03,741 --> 00:03:05,869
Amazon is our consumptive gut.

67
00:03:06,201 --> 00:03:09,396
The instinct of more is hardwired into us.

68
00:03:09,777 --> 00:03:13,780
The penalty for too little
is starvation and malnutrition.

69
00:03:13,804 --> 00:03:15,993
Open your cupboards, open your closets,

70
00:03:16,017 --> 00:03:19,410
you have 10 to 100x times what you need.

71
00:03:19,434 --> 00:03:20,597
Why?

72
00:03:20,621 --> 00:03:23,383
Because the penalty
for too little is much greater

73
00:03:23,407 --> 00:03:25,290
than the penalty for too much.

74
00:03:25,314 --> 00:03:29,148
So "more for less" is a business strategy
that never goes out of style.

75
00:03:29,172 --> 00:03:30,678
It's the strategy of China,

76
00:03:30,702 --> 00:03:32,320
it's a the strategy of Walmart,

77
00:03:32,344 --> 00:03:35,729
and now it's the strategy of the most
successful company in the world,

78
00:03:35,753 --> 00:03:36,913
Amazon.

79
00:03:36,937 --> 00:03:39,081
You get more for less into your gut;

80
00:03:39,105 --> 00:03:42,887
digest, send it to your muscular
and skeletal system of consumption.

81
00:03:42,911 --> 00:03:44,566
Moving further,

82
00:03:44,590 --> 00:03:48,195
once we know we will survive,
the basic instinct,

83
00:03:48,219 --> 00:03:50,661
we move to the second
most powerful instinct,

84
00:03:50,685 --> 00:03:55,402
and that is to spread and select
the strongest, smartest and fastest seed

85
00:03:55,426 --> 00:03:57,149
to the four corners of the earth,

86
00:03:57,173 --> 00:03:59,513
or pick the best seed.

87
00:03:59,537 --> 00:04:01,261
This is not a timepiece.

88
00:04:01,285 --> 00:04:03,375
I haven't wound it in five years.

89
00:04:03,399 --> 00:04:05,622
It's my vain attempt to say to people,

90
00:04:05,646 --> 00:04:08,765
"If you mate with me,
your children are more likely to survive

91
00:04:08,789 --> 00:04:11,433
than if you mate with someone
wearing a Swatch watch."

92
00:04:11,457 --> 00:04:13,049
(Laughter)

93
00:04:13,073 --> 00:04:17,464
The key to business is tapping into
the irrational organs.

94
00:04:17,488 --> 00:04:21,224
"Irrational" is Harvard Business School's
and New York Business School's term

95
00:04:21,248 --> 00:04:24,765
for fat profit margins
and shareholder value.

96
00:04:24,789 --> 00:04:27,349
"High-caloric paste for your children."

97
00:04:27,373 --> 00:04:28,539
No?

98
00:04:28,563 --> 00:04:30,796
You love your choosy mom.

99
00:04:30,820 --> 00:04:34,010
Why choosy moms choose JIF:
you love your kids more.

100
00:04:34,034 --> 00:04:37,131
The greatest algorithm for shareholder
creation from World War II

101
00:04:37,155 --> 00:04:38,508
to the advent of Google

102
00:04:38,532 --> 00:04:41,632
was taking an average product
and appealing to people's hearts.

103
00:04:41,656 --> 00:04:44,974
You're a better a mom,
a better person, a better patriot

104
00:04:44,998 --> 00:04:48,314
if you buy this average soap
versus this average soap.

105
00:04:48,338 --> 00:04:51,749
Now, the number one algorithm
for shareholder value isn't technology.

106
00:04:51,773 --> 00:04:53,003
Look at the Forbes 400.

107
00:04:53,027 --> 00:04:55,459
Take out inherited wealth,
take out finance.

108
00:04:55,483 --> 00:04:57,696
The number one source of wealth creation:

109
00:04:57,720 --> 00:04:59,829
appealing to your reproductive organs.

110
00:04:59,853 --> 00:05:04,734
The Lauders; the number
one wealthiest man in Europe, LVMH.

111
00:05:04,758 --> 00:05:07,335
Numbers two and three: H&M and Inditex.

112
00:05:07,359 --> 00:05:12,635
You want to target the most
irrational organs for shareholder value.

113
00:05:13,362 --> 00:05:17,129
As a result, these four companies --
Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google --

114
00:05:17,153 --> 00:05:18,864
have disarticulated who we are.

115
00:05:18,888 --> 00:05:21,181
God love consumption sex!

116
00:05:21,205 --> 00:05:24,868
The proportion in your approach
to those things is who you are,

117
00:05:24,892 --> 00:05:28,637
and they have reassembled who we are
in the form of for-profit companies.

118
00:05:28,661 --> 00:05:30,509
At the end of the Great Recession,

119
00:05:30,533 --> 00:05:33,395
the market capitalization
of these companies was equivalent

120
00:05:33,419 --> 00:05:34,572
to the GDP of Niger.

121
00:05:34,596 --> 00:05:37,220
Now it is equivalent to the GDP of India,

122
00:05:37,244 --> 00:05:40,599
having blown past
Russia and Canada in '13 and '14.

123
00:05:40,623 --> 00:05:41,982
There are only five nations

124
00:05:42,006 --> 00:05:45,525
that have a GDP greater
than the combined market capitalization

125
00:05:45,549 --> 00:05:47,266
of these four firms.

126
00:05:47,290 --> 00:05:49,428
Something is happening, though.

127
00:05:49,915 --> 00:05:54,317
The conversation just a year ago
was, which CEO was more Jesus-like,

128
00:05:54,341 --> 00:05:56,755
who was running for president?

129
00:05:56,779 --> 00:05:58,220
Now the worm has turned.

130
00:05:58,244 --> 00:06:00,462
Everything they're doing is bothering us.

131
00:06:00,486 --> 00:06:02,446
We're worried they're tax avoiders.

132
00:06:02,470 --> 00:06:05,853
Walmart, since the Great Recession,
has paid 64 billion dollars

133
00:06:05,877 --> 00:06:07,410
in corporate income tax;

134
00:06:07,434 --> 00:06:09,433
Amazon has paid 1.4.

135
00:06:09,788 --> 00:06:13,370
How do we pay our firefighters,
our soldiers and our social workers

136
00:06:13,394 --> 00:06:16,879
if the most successful companies
in the world don't pay their fair share?

137
00:06:16,903 --> 00:06:18,066
Pretty easy.

138
00:06:18,090 --> 00:06:20,629
That means the less successful
companies have to pay

139
00:06:20,653 --> 00:06:21,970
more than their fair share.

140
00:06:21,994 --> 00:06:23,825
Alexa, is this a good thing?

141
00:06:23,849 --> 00:06:25,817
This is despite that fact --

142
00:06:25,841 --> 00:06:26,916
(Laughter)

143
00:06:26,940 --> 00:06:28,856
This is despite the fact

144
00:06:29,619 --> 00:06:33,675
that Amazon has added the entire
market capitalization of Walmart

145
00:06:33,699 --> 00:06:37,822
to its market cap in the last 19 months.

146
00:06:40,423 --> 00:06:42,647
Whose fault is it? It's our fault.

147
00:06:42,671 --> 00:06:46,489
We're electing regulators
who don't have the backbone

148
00:06:46,513 --> 00:06:48,940
to actually go after these companies.

149
00:06:48,964 --> 00:06:50,966
Facebook lies to EU regulators

150
00:06:50,990 --> 00:06:54,071
and says, "It would be impossible
for us to share the data

151
00:06:54,095 --> 00:06:57,891
between our core platform
and our proposed acquisition of WhatsApp.

152
00:06:57,915 --> 00:06:59,298
Approve the merger."

153
00:06:59,322 --> 00:07:03,109
They approve the merger and then --
spoiler alert! -- they figure it out.

154
00:07:03,133 --> 00:07:04,847
And the EU says, "I feel lied to.

155
00:07:04,871 --> 00:07:08,258
We're fining you 120 billion dollars,"

156
00:07:08,282 --> 00:07:12,547
about .6 percent of the acquisition price
of 19 billion dollars.

157
00:07:12,571 --> 00:07:15,174
If Mark Zuckerberg could take out
an insurance policy

158
00:07:15,198 --> 00:07:17,920
that the acquisition would
go through for .6 percent,

159
00:07:17,944 --> 00:07:19,303
wouldn't he do it?

160
00:07:19,327 --> 00:07:21,145
Anticompetitive behavior.

161
00:07:21,622 --> 00:07:23,622
A two-and-a-half-billion-dollar fine,

162
00:07:23,646 --> 00:07:26,538
three billion of the cash flow,

163
00:07:26,562 --> 00:07:29,607
three percent of the cash
on Google's balance sheet.

164
00:07:29,631 --> 00:07:32,943
We are telling these companies,
"The smart thing to do,

165
00:07:33,596 --> 00:07:35,561
the shareholder-driven thing to do,

166
00:07:35,585 --> 00:07:37,900
is to lie and to cheat."

167
00:07:37,924 --> 00:07:41,572
We are issuing 25-cent parking tickets

168
00:07:41,596 --> 00:07:44,823
on a meter that costs 100 dollars an hour.

169
00:07:44,847 --> 00:07:47,483
The smart thing to do is, like,
"Job destruction!"

170
00:07:47,507 --> 00:07:50,808
Amazon only needs one person
for two at Macy's.

171
00:07:50,832 --> 00:07:54,473
If they grow their business 20 billion
dollars this year, which they will,

172
00:07:54,497 --> 00:07:56,682
we will lose 53,000 cashiers and clerks.

173
00:07:56,706 --> 00:07:57,967
This is nothing unusual;

174
00:07:57,991 --> 00:08:00,303
this has happened all through our economy,

175
00:08:00,327 --> 00:08:02,589
we've just never seen
companies this good at it.

176
00:08:02,613 --> 00:08:04,891
That's one Yankee Stadium of workers.

177
00:08:04,915 --> 00:08:06,282
It's even worse in media.

178
00:08:06,306 --> 00:08:08,416
If Facebook and Google
grow their businesses

179
00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:10,615
22 billion dollars this year,
which they will,

180
00:08:10,639 --> 00:08:14,270
we're going to lose approximately
150,000 creative directors,

181
00:08:14,294 --> 00:08:16,267
planners and copywriters.

182
00:08:16,291 --> 00:08:18,601
Or we can fill up two-and-a-half
Yankee Stadiums

183
00:08:18,625 --> 00:08:22,016
and say, "You are out of work,
courtesy of Amazon."

184
00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:25,290
We now get the majority of our news
from our social media feeds,

185
00:08:25,314 --> 00:08:29,587
and the majority of our news
coming off of social media feeds is ...

186
00:08:29,611 --> 00:08:30,911
fake news.

187
00:08:30,935 --> 00:08:32,622
(Laughter)

188
00:08:32,646 --> 00:08:36,250
I am not allowed to be political
or use curse words,

189
00:08:36,274 --> 00:08:37,961
or talk about religion in class,

190
00:08:37,985 --> 00:08:40,441
so I can definitely not say,

191
00:08:41,473 --> 00:08:44,034
"Zuckerberg has become Putin's bitch."

192
00:08:44,058 --> 00:08:46,284
I definitely cannot say that.

193
00:08:46,308 --> 00:08:47,321
(Laughter)

194
00:08:47,345 --> 00:08:48,524
Their defense:

195
00:08:48,548 --> 00:08:51,923
"Facebook is not a media company,
it's a technology company."

196
00:08:51,947 --> 00:08:53,621
You create original content,

197
00:08:53,645 --> 00:08:56,541
you pay sports leagues
to give you original content,

198
00:08:56,565 --> 00:08:59,679
you run advertising against it --
boom! -- you're a media company.

199
00:08:59,703 --> 00:09:01,230
Just in the last few days,

200
00:09:01,254 --> 00:09:05,863
Sheryl Sandberg has repeated this lie,
that "We are not a media company."

201
00:09:05,887 --> 00:09:09,332
Facebook has openly embraced
the margins of celebrity

202
00:09:09,356 --> 00:09:11,730
and the influence of a media company,

203
00:09:11,754 --> 00:09:15,441
yet seems to be allergic
to the responsibilities

204
00:09:15,465 --> 00:09:16,765
of a media company.

205
00:09:17,138 --> 00:09:18,746
Imagine McDonald's.

206
00:09:19,293 --> 00:09:21,722
We find 80 percent of their beef is fake,

207
00:09:21,746 --> 00:09:23,367
and it's giving us encephalitis,

208
00:09:23,391 --> 00:09:25,777
and we're making terrible decisions.

209
00:09:25,801 --> 00:09:28,629
And we say, "McDonald's,
we're pissed off!"

210
00:09:28,653 --> 00:09:31,584
And they say, "Wait, wait --

211
00:09:31,608 --> 00:09:33,460
we're not a fast-food restaurant,

212
00:09:33,484 --> 00:09:35,717
we're a fast-food platform."

213
00:09:35,741 --> 00:09:37,521
(Laughter)

214
00:09:38,307 --> 00:09:40,646
These companies and CEOs wrap themselves

215
00:09:40,670 --> 00:09:44,528
in a neon-blue pink rainbow
and blue blanket

216
00:09:44,552 --> 00:09:47,901
to create an illusionist trick
from their behavior each day,

217
00:09:47,925 --> 00:09:52,396
which is more indicative
of the spawn of Darth Vader and Ayn Rand.

218
00:09:52,420 --> 00:09:56,488
Why? Because we as progressives
are seen as nice but weak.

219
00:09:57,045 --> 00:10:00,399
If Sheryl Sandberg had written
a book on gun rights

220
00:10:00,423 --> 00:10:02,827
or on the pro-life movement,

221
00:10:02,851 --> 00:10:05,832
would they be flying Sheryl to Cannes?

222
00:10:05,856 --> 00:10:07,014
No.

223
00:10:07,038 --> 00:10:09,182
And I'm not doubting
their progressive values,

224
00:10:09,206 --> 00:10:11,278
but it foots to shareholder value,

225
00:10:11,302 --> 00:10:13,371
because we as progressives
are seen as weak.

226
00:10:13,395 --> 00:10:15,803
They're so nice -- remember Microsoft?

227
00:10:15,827 --> 00:10:17,324
They didn't seem as nice,

228
00:10:17,348 --> 00:10:21,621
and regulators stepped in much earlier
than the regulators now,

229
00:10:21,645 --> 00:10:25,330
who would never step in
on those nice, nice people.

230
00:10:25,354 --> 00:10:27,160
I'm about to get on a plane tonight,

231
00:10:27,184 --> 00:10:29,902
and I'm going to have a guy
named Roy from TSA molest me.

232
00:10:29,926 --> 00:10:33,107
If I am suspected of a DUI
on the way home,

233
00:10:33,131 --> 00:10:35,799
I can have blood taken from my person.

234
00:10:36,554 --> 00:10:39,622
But wait! Don't tap into the iPhone --

235
00:10:39,646 --> 00:10:41,066
it's sacred.

236
00:10:41,090 --> 00:10:42,529
This is our new cross.

237
00:10:42,553 --> 00:10:44,162
It shouldn't be the iPhone X,

238
00:10:44,186 --> 00:10:46,182
it should be called the "iPhone Cross."

239
00:10:46,206 --> 00:10:48,372
We have our religion; it's Apple.

240
00:10:48,396 --> 00:10:50,171
Our Jesus Christ is Steve Jobs,

241
00:10:50,195 --> 00:10:53,481
and we've decided this is holier
than our person, our house

242
00:10:53,505 --> 00:10:54,805
or our computer.

243
00:10:54,829 --> 00:10:57,346
We have become totally out of control

244
00:10:57,370 --> 00:11:01,163
with the gross idolatry
of innovation and of youth.

245
00:11:01,187 --> 00:11:03,658
We no longer worship
at the altar of character,

246
00:11:03,682 --> 00:11:04,839
of kindness,

247
00:11:04,863 --> 00:11:08,441
but of innovation and people
who create shareholder value.

248
00:11:08,465 --> 00:11:11,359
Amazon has become so powerful
in the marketplace,

249
00:11:11,383 --> 00:11:12,945
it can conduct Jedi mind tricks.

250
00:11:12,969 --> 00:11:15,959
It can begin damaging other industries
just by looking at them.

251
00:11:15,983 --> 00:11:19,147
Nike announces they're distributing
on Amazon, their stock goes up,

252
00:11:19,171 --> 00:11:20,977
every other footwear stock goes down.

253
00:11:21,001 --> 00:11:24,010
When Amazon stock goes up,
the rest of retail stocks go down,

254
00:11:24,034 --> 00:11:27,343
because they assume what's good
for Amazon is bad for everybody else.

255
00:11:27,367 --> 00:11:31,736
They cut the cost on salmon 33 percent
when they acquired Whole Foods.

256
00:11:31,760 --> 00:11:34,867
In between the time they announced
the acquisition of Whole Foods

257
00:11:34,891 --> 00:11:36,065
and when it closed,

258
00:11:36,089 --> 00:11:38,360
Kroger, the largest
pure-play grocer in America,

259
00:11:38,384 --> 00:11:40,119
shed a third of its value,

260
00:11:40,143 --> 00:11:46,522
because Amazon purchased a grocer
one-eleventh the size of Kroger.

261
00:11:47,167 --> 00:11:48,395
I got very lucky.

262
00:11:48,419 --> 00:11:51,836
I predicted the acquisition
of Whole Foods by Amazon

263
00:11:51,860 --> 00:11:53,204
the week before it happened.

264
00:11:53,228 --> 00:11:55,916
This is me boasting; I said
this publicly in the media.

265
00:11:55,940 --> 00:11:58,321
This was the largest
acquisition in their history,

266
00:11:58,345 --> 00:12:00,680
they'd never made
an acquisition over a billion,

267
00:12:00,704 --> 00:12:02,822
and people asked, "How did you know this?"

268
00:12:02,846 --> 00:12:06,065
So I'm letting this very impressive
audience in on the secret.

269
00:12:06,089 --> 00:12:07,284
How did I know this?

270
00:12:07,308 --> 00:12:09,278
I'm going to tell you how I knew.

271
00:12:09,302 --> 00:12:12,052
I bark at Alexa all day long

272
00:12:12,076 --> 00:12:13,988
and try to figure out what's going on.

273
00:12:14,012 --> 00:12:17,408
(Scott Galloway) Alexa, buy whole milk.

274
00:12:17,432 --> 00:12:19,699
(Alexa) I couldn't find
anything for whole milk,

275
00:12:19,723 --> 00:12:21,966
so I've added whole milk
to your shopping list.

276
00:12:22,463 --> 00:12:23,749
SG: Then I asked,

277
00:12:23,773 --> 00:12:26,915
(SG) Alexa, buy organic foods.

278
00:12:26,939 --> 00:12:29,082
(Alexa) The top search result
for organic food

279
00:12:29,106 --> 00:12:32,079
is Plum Organics baby food,
banana and pumpkin,

280
00:12:32,103 --> 00:12:34,120
12-pack of four ounces each.

281
00:12:34,144 --> 00:12:35,767
It's 15 dollars total.

282
00:12:36,419 --> 00:12:37,612
Would you like to buy it?

283
00:12:37,636 --> 00:12:39,635
SG: And then, as often happens at my age,

284
00:12:39,659 --> 00:12:40,819
I got confused.

285
00:12:40,843 --> 00:12:43,633
(SG) Alexa, buy Whole Foods.

286
00:12:44,050 --> 00:12:47,584
(Alexa) I have purchased the outstanding
stock of Whole Foods Incorporated

287
00:12:47,608 --> 00:12:49,397
at 42 dollars per share.

288
00:12:49,421 --> 00:12:53,282
I have charged 13.7 billion
to your American Express card.

289
00:12:53,306 --> 00:12:54,686
(Laughter)

290
00:12:55,884 --> 00:12:57,491
SG: I thought that'd be funnier.

291
00:12:57,515 --> 00:12:59,013
(Laughter)

292
00:12:59,037 --> 00:13:00,720
We've personified these companies,

293
00:13:00,744 --> 00:13:04,179
and just as when you're really angry
over every little thing someone does

294
00:13:04,203 --> 00:13:05,698
in your life and relationships,

295
00:13:05,722 --> 00:13:07,026
you've got to ask yourself,

296
00:13:07,050 --> 00:13:10,100
"What's going on here?
Why are we so disappointed in technology?"

297
00:13:10,124 --> 00:13:12,803
I believe it's because the ratio
of one-percent pursuit

298
00:13:12,827 --> 00:13:13,994
of shareholder value

299
00:13:14,018 --> 00:13:16,559
and 99 percent the betterment of humanity

300
00:13:16,583 --> 00:13:17,968
that technology used to play

301
00:13:17,992 --> 00:13:19,147
has been flipped,

302
00:13:19,171 --> 00:13:22,538
and now we're totally focused
on shareholder value instead of humanity.

303
00:13:22,562 --> 00:13:25,841
One hundred thousand people came together
for the Manhattan Project

304
00:13:25,865 --> 00:13:27,326
and literally saved the world.

305
00:13:27,350 --> 00:13:28,661
Technology saved the world.

306
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.

307
00:13:32,396 --> 00:13:35,501
If we had not formed the footrace
towards splitting the atom,

308
00:13:35,525 --> 00:13:37,213
would she have survived?

309
00:13:37,237 --> 00:13:38,400
It's unlikely.

310
00:13:38,854 --> 00:13:40,161
Twenty-five years later,

311
00:13:40,185 --> 00:13:44,618
the most impressive accomplishment,
arguably, ever in all of humankind:

312
00:13:44,642 --> 00:13:45,794
put a man on the moon.

313
00:13:45,818 --> 00:13:49,442
Four hundred thirty thousand Canadians,
British and Americans came together,

314
00:13:49,466 --> 00:13:51,297
again, with very basic technology,

315
00:13:51,321 --> 00:13:52,639
and put a man on the moon.

316
00:13:52,663 --> 00:13:56,270
Now we have the 700,000
best and brightest,

317
00:13:56,294 --> 00:13:59,739
and these are the best and brightest
from the four corners of the earth.

318
00:13:59,763 --> 00:14:03,843
They are literally playing with lasers
relative to slingshots,

319
00:14:03,867 --> 00:14:05,154
relative to the squirt gun.

320
00:14:05,178 --> 00:14:07,450
They have the GDP of India to work at.

321
00:14:07,474 --> 00:14:10,004
And after studying
these companies for 10 years,

322
00:14:10,028 --> 00:14:11,684
I know what their mission is.

323
00:14:11,708 --> 00:14:14,332
Is it to organize the world's information?

324
00:14:14,356 --> 00:14:15,861
Is it to connect us?

325
00:14:15,885 --> 00:14:18,809
Is it to create greater comity of man?

326
00:14:18,833 --> 00:14:19,995
It isn't.

327
00:14:20,019 --> 00:14:21,915
I know why we have brought together --

328
00:14:21,939 --> 00:14:26,248
I know that the greatest collection
of IQ capital and creativity,

329
00:14:26,272 --> 00:14:30,472
that their sole mission is:
to sell another fucking Nissan.

330
00:14:30,496 --> 00:14:34,213
My name is Scott Galloway, I teach at NYU,
and I appreciate your time.

331
00:14:34,237 --> 00:14:38,580
(Applause)

332
00:14:42,654 --> 00:14:44,129
Chris Anderson: Not planned,

333
00:14:44,153 --> 00:14:47,113
but you prompted
some questions in me, Scott.

334
00:14:47,137 --> 00:14:48,208
(Laughter)

335
00:14:48,232 --> 00:14:50,540
That was a spectacular rant.

336
00:14:50,564 --> 00:14:51,929
SG: Is this like Letterman?

337
00:14:51,953 --> 00:14:54,869
When you do well,
he calls you onto the couch?

338
00:14:54,893 --> 00:14:58,560
CA: No, no, you're going to the heart
of the conversation right now.

339
00:14:58,584 --> 00:15:04,718
Everyone's aware that after years
of worshipping Silicon Valley,

340
00:15:04,742 --> 00:15:06,596
suddenly the worm has turned

341
00:15:06,620 --> 00:15:08,154
and in such a big way.

342
00:15:08,178 --> 00:15:11,583
To some people here, it will just feel
like you're piling on,

343
00:15:11,607 --> 00:15:14,997
you're kicking the kids who've already
been kicked to pieces anyway.

344
00:15:15,021 --> 00:15:17,386
Don't you feel any empathy
for them at all?

345
00:15:17,410 --> 00:15:18,807
SG: None whatsoever.

346
00:15:19,259 --> 00:15:21,206
Look, this is the issue:

347
00:15:21,682 --> 00:15:23,495
it's not their fault, it's our fault.

348
00:15:23,519 --> 00:15:25,635
They're for-profit companies.

349
00:15:25,659 --> 00:15:28,206
They're not concerned
with the condition of our souls.

350
00:15:28,230 --> 00:15:30,818
They're not going to take care of us
when we get older.

351
00:15:30,842 --> 00:15:34,584
We have set up a society that values
shareholder value over everything,

352
00:15:34,608 --> 00:15:37,051
and they're doing what
they're supposed to be doing.

353
00:15:37,075 --> 00:15:38,444
But we need to elect people,

354
00:15:38,468 --> 00:15:40,552
and we need to force
ourselves to force them

355
00:15:40,576 --> 00:15:42,247
to be subject to the same scrutiny

356
00:15:42,271 --> 00:15:44,399
that the rest of business
endures, full stop.

357
00:15:44,423 --> 00:15:46,145
CA: There's another narrative

358
00:15:46,169 --> 00:15:49,792
that is arguably equally
consistent with the facts,

359
00:15:49,816 --> 00:15:56,648
which is that there actually is good
intent in much of the leadership --

360
00:15:56,672 --> 00:15:58,423
I won't say everyone, necessarily --

361
00:15:58,447 --> 00:16:00,018
many of the employees.

362
00:16:00,042 --> 00:16:03,116
We all know people who work
in those companies,

363
00:16:03,140 --> 00:16:06,906
and they still are pretty convincing
that their mission is to --

364
00:16:06,930 --> 00:16:10,168
so, the alternative narrative
is that there have been

365
00:16:10,192 --> 00:16:12,264
unintended consequences here,

366
00:16:12,288 --> 00:16:14,382
that the technologies
that we're unleashing,

367
00:16:14,406 --> 00:16:18,984
the algorithms that were attempting
to personalize the internet, for example,

368
00:16:19,008 --> 00:16:25,317
have A, resulted in weird effects
like filter bubbles

369
00:16:25,341 --> 00:16:26,835
that we weren't expecting;

370
00:16:26,859 --> 00:16:29,925
and B, made themselves vulnerable
to weird things like --

371
00:16:29,949 --> 00:16:32,645
oh, I don't know, Russian
hackers creating accounts

372
00:16:32,669 --> 00:16:34,644
and doing things that we didn't expect.

373
00:16:34,668 --> 00:16:39,700
Isn't the unintended consequence
a possibility here?

374
00:16:39,724 --> 00:16:40,930
SG: I don't think --

375
00:16:40,954 --> 00:16:42,486
I'm pretty sure, statistically,

376
00:16:42,510 --> 00:16:45,376
they're no less or better people
than any other organization

377
00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:46,937
that has 100,000 or more people.

378
00:16:46,961 --> 00:16:48,569
I don't think they're bad people.

379
00:16:48,593 --> 00:16:50,222
As a matter of fact, I would argue

380
00:16:50,246 --> 00:16:53,066
that there's a lot of very
civic-minded, decent leadership.

381
00:16:53,090 --> 00:16:54,254
But this is the issue:

382
00:16:54,278 --> 00:16:58,517
when you control 90 percent
points of share in a market search

383
00:16:58,541 --> 00:17:02,076
that is now bigger than the entire
advertising market of any nation,

384
00:17:02,100 --> 00:17:05,810
and you're primarily compensated
and trying to develop economic security

385
00:17:05,834 --> 00:17:07,866
for you and the families
of your employees,

386
00:17:07,890 --> 00:17:09,345
to increase that market share,

387
00:17:09,369 --> 00:17:12,498
you can't help but leverage
all the power at your disposal.

388
00:17:12,522 --> 00:17:14,439
And that is the basis for regulation,

389
00:17:14,463 --> 00:17:16,919
and it's the basis for the truism
throughout history

390
00:17:16,943 --> 00:17:18,286
that power corrupts.

391
00:17:18,310 --> 00:17:19,513
They're not bad people,

392
00:17:19,537 --> 00:17:21,769
we've just let them get out of control.

393
00:17:22,310 --> 00:17:26,344
CA: So maybe the case
is slightly overstated?

394
00:17:26,368 --> 00:17:28,688
I know at least a bit --

395
00:17:28,712 --> 00:17:30,686
Larry Page, for example, Jeff Bezos --

396
00:17:30,710 --> 00:17:33,379
I don't actually believe
they wake up thinking,

397
00:17:33,403 --> 00:17:35,231
"I've got to sell a fucking Nissan."

398
00:17:35,255 --> 00:17:36,764
I don't think they think that.

399
00:17:36,788 --> 00:17:42,344
I think they are trying to build
something cool and are probably,

400
00:17:42,368 --> 00:17:43,688
in moments of reflection,

401
00:17:43,712 --> 00:17:47,583
as horrified that some of the things
that have happened as we might be.

402
00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:51,655
So is there a different way
of framing this,

403
00:17:52,294 --> 00:17:57,491
to say that when your model
is advertising,

404
00:17:57,515 --> 00:18:02,022
that there are dangers there
that you have to take on more explicitly?

405
00:18:02,637 --> 00:18:07,274
SG: I think it's very difficult
to set an organization up as we do,

406
00:18:07,298 --> 00:18:09,477
to pursue shareholder value
above all else.

407
00:18:09,501 --> 00:18:10,798
They're not non-profits.

408
00:18:10,822 --> 00:18:14,385
The reason people go to work there
is they want to create economic security

409
00:18:14,409 --> 00:18:15,783
for them and their families,

410
00:18:15,807 --> 00:18:17,107
mostly first and foremost.

411
00:18:17,131 --> 00:18:20,424
And when you get to a point where
you control so much economic power,

412
00:18:20,448 --> 00:18:22,844
you use all the weapons at your disposal.

413
00:18:22,868 --> 00:18:24,454
I don't think they're bad people,

414
00:18:24,478 --> 00:18:27,619
but I think the role of government
and the role of us as consumers

415
00:18:27,643 --> 00:18:29,318
and people who elect our officials

416
00:18:29,342 --> 00:18:31,490
is to ensure that there
are some checks here.

417
00:18:31,514 --> 00:18:34,030
And we have given
them the mother of all hall passes

418
00:18:34,054 --> 00:18:36,106
because we find them just so fascinating.

419
00:18:36,130 --> 00:18:39,288
CA: Scott, eloquently put,
spectacularly put.

420
00:18:39,312 --> 00:18:44,706
Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos,
Larry Page, Tim Cook, if you're watching,

421
00:18:44,730 --> 00:18:47,709
you're welcome to come and make
the counterargument as well.

422
00:18:47,733 --> 00:18:48,961
Scott, thank you so much.

423
00:18:48,985 --> 00:18:50,146
SG: Thanks very much.

424
00:18:50,170 --> 00:18:52,541
(Applause)