The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway - Stop Keeping Score

Episode Date: April 30, 2020

Scott Galloway discusses the need for a Corona Corps and also shares his conversation with Stephanie Ruhle, NBC News Business Correspondent and MSNBC Anchor, to hear how she’s navigated her career. And of course, Scott answers your questions and wraps up with Algebra of Happiness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episode 7, 007. Imagine a license to kill and the lamest person ever. And what would you have? Dog. James Dog. Da-na-da-da-da-dog. Roll the music, Griffin. In today's episode, we speak with Stephanie Ruhl, NBC News business correspondent and MSNBC anchor,

where she talks about making a career switch and why sticking to your moral compass is the key to success. We also answer your questions during office hours and we'll wrap up with our trademark algebra of happiness. But first, first, the United States needs a Corona Corps as the number of parents and students considering a gap year between high school and college this fall explodes. What is a Corona Corps? In 1959, Representative John Kennedy said young college graduates would find a full life in bringing technical advice and assistance to the underprivileged around the world. Some of the most important legislation of the 25 years post-World War II was shaped by leaders who shared a common bond bigger than any politics or party, and that is they'd served their country in uniform.

There's a saying that there's no atheists in foxholes. I think that might be true, but I'm certain there's no progressives or conservatives in foxholes. Just survival via the guy or gal next to you. The U.S. is desperate for more leaders who share a common bond, who have served in foxholes, who look at each other, look at their shared service, look at their bond first and their political party second. Specifically, we need a United States Corona Corps. Volunteers 18 to 22 will serve in a variety of roles to cauterize the spread of COVID-19. An army stands ready. Google searches for gap year are up 69% since March, and traffic to the gap year association is up 25% year to date. Gap year should be the norm, not the exception. People are dumping their kids

unprepared at institutions. A mix or a dangerous mix of social media and helicopter parenting has created a series of 18-year-old, mostly boys, who are supposed to be men but are still boys. They need another year. They need a gap year. The core would be trained in modern handheld technologies that provide facile, crisp communication and organization skills that arrest the geometric spread of the novel coronavirus. In addition, core members could become apprentices for jobs in key parts of the supply chain that we now deem essential. By the way, essential is Latin for someone we haven't paid shit for the last five years. There's a fear among parents that if they allow their kids to take a gap year,

that they end up on tour with the Biebs in a meth addict and never get back on track. That just isn't true. 90% of kids who defer and take a gap year. Actually, I would like to see the Biebs surrounded by meth addicts. That's a nice image. I like that. That brings me happiness. That brings me joy.

Meth, Justin Bieber equals happiness for the dog. It's just not true, though. 90% of kids who defer and take a gap year return to college and are more likely to graduate with better grades. The course should be an option for non-college-bound youth as well. The only metric that matters now, the only metric is reducing the apex of the recurrence in the fall. Why? If this shit comes back bigger and badder, FDR's fear will be realized, and that is fear will take hold of our nation

and we will lose our superpower as a nation, specifically our optimism. What is the math for reducing the apex of the recurrence? It's simple. Distancing times testing times tracing times isolation equals flattening. With an ageist COVID-19, the Corps would be a fighting force with powers of defense no other cohort has. The mortality rate among people under 25 infected with corona is low.

If they contract the virus, they would then qualify for an immunity badge that would likely, should virus occurrences become a static part of our life in the next several years, enhance their utility and earnings power. After 12 to 24 months in the Corps, years, enhance their utility and earnings power. After 12 to 24 months in the Corps, volunteers would receive a financial remission equivalent to 25 to 100% of tuition based on household income at their chosen university, putting higher education within the grasp of more households and reducing what has become an immoral burden on our youth, student debt, the ultimate continued transfer of wealth

in the history of mankind from young people to old people in this country. The cost, including $30,000 a year salary while in the core, would be approximately $50 billion. That amounts to just 2% of the funds allocated towards COVID-19 stimulus thus far. Put another way, for an additional 2%, we can purchase a warranty that significantly reduces the need or likelihood for another multi-trillion dollar stimulus. This is a great investment. Our current efforts to combat the virus have been a cocktail of incompetence and borrowing trillions from future generations to flatten the curve of wealth erosion among who are already rich. The PPP will go down as one of the most wasteful,

even damaging bailouts in American history. Actually, that's not fair. I think it's a giant fucking fraud. We should be protecting people, not jobs. American small businesses were the wolves of the global economy. We've turned many of them into bitch poodles waiting at the door for government to come home and feed them. Woof. One of the truisms, one of the truisms in business and in life, greatness is in the agency of others. Let's fund a Corona Corps of young people who achieve true greatness for our country while developing skills, empathy, and grit. 2.7 million people served in Vietnam. 21% of those killed were 21 or younger. Let's assemble a fighting force of half a million 18 to 25-year-olds best suited to fight this foe. In the process, we might in fact mature a generation of leaders that with a shared

background of service and victory will bring a level of bipartisan cooperation we haven't seen since the 60s. We have an army of super soldiers standing ready. Let's arm them. So I love our next guest. Courageous, smart, does the work, hardworking. As a matter of fact, this person is a fairly famous host and has me on her show a lot and then called me a couple of weeks ago after I was on and said, that was total bullshit. I'm angry at you. And she was angry that I had called out her other guest, someone from big tech, and thought it was totally inappropriate.

And I disagreed and we're still friends and it worked out. But I remember, A, I was really rattled because I have a lot of respect for this person and take her seriously if she's upset. And B, I just appreciate the fact she's not afraid to call you on your cell and say that was bullshit and get really angry at you. Anyway, Stephanie Ruleuhl, in a quick footnote here, this was recorded pre-corona, so there's no mention of corona. If it seems a little dated, it is, but dated in this era is three weeks old. Stephanie Ruhl, a mom, NBC News correspondent, MSNBC anchor, and good friend. And most recently, you got the baller promotion. You're literally at the Super Bowl of mid-morning, whatever it is. You're at the Today Show.

What are you doing on the Today Show? Talk about your promotion. We'll soon find out. I had always been interested in the media forever since I was a kid like you. And two years into investment banking, I almost left to go to journalism school. And you were in institutional sales at Deutsche? I was. Credit Suisse and then Deutsche.

Yeah, structured credit derivatives. And you jumped to Bloomberg, right? Yeah, it was always kind of in the back of my head, media. And sort of after I was 30, I did a lot more public speaking and I did a tiny bit of TV. But after the financial crisis, I thought a ton about the difference between a job and a career. And especially if you're a woman, if I'm not going to take my kids to school and like really be away from them all those hours, I needed to do something I loved. You made a jump from institutional sales to you. I mean, when I met you, you were anchoring, you were co-anchoring.

Yeah. I mean, I took a 95% pay cut. And you were at Bloomberg five years? Five years. Five years, then made the jump, got kind of drafted up to NBC, bigger audience. Bigger audience. And I was anxious because I was leaving business, which I love, but I love big business. And I think business TV is amazing, but it's a really narrow lane.

And I think a lot of those amazing stories don't get told in a TV format. And then it just sort of the last three years, the president won. And there wasn't a lot of people in media who actually knew him or knew New York sensibility. But I've thought about it more and more. And I've thought so much about what we've talked about, income inequality, this huge divide, how people feel about corporate America. It's not about capitalism or socialism, but capitalism needs to change, needs to be adjusted. We need to start telling those stories and having more impact instead of saying, well, people only care about social things or cultural things. I want to figure out a way to tell more business things. So compare and contrast, I'm just curious. You and I both have been sort of

binge watching The Morning Show. What is the difference between The Morning Show and NBC in terms of culture? Is that an accurate depiction of a network and what happens behind the scenes? I mean, let's take out the whole Me Too part of it, but just the culture and the way they have so much intensity, so political, so crazy, so Machiavellian, so many narcissists. Is that a cartoon or is that really what it's like to work in television? Listen, that show is obviously far, far from reality. But the biggest realization or the hardest thing for me going from Wall Street to television is it is so mentally devastating to be in such a subjective career. Wall Street, you have a number next to your name, no matter what, right? In the beginning, it's hard and you're climbing. But once you build a

book of business, you have a scorecard. And at the end of the day, your number's next to your name, see ya. And in TV, there are so many factors outside of your control. And the thing that I appreciated the most, I guess, when I watched the morning show and then I felt it, and I'm small compared to these people, what it's like to live in a fishbowl. What it's like to go to work every day and be among teammates and you're building a show and you're talking about your families

and your kids, and then the next thing you know, a story comes out about you on page six. That makes your whole—I mean, what that does to somebody's psyche. I don't think I would have had the confidence to have started in television at age 21 and still be there. Let's talk about that because I have not endured a fraction of the scrutiny and, quite frankly, bullshit and, quite frankly, lies that you've had to endure in a very public environment around, you know, crazy shit. But when it happens to me on Twitter or somewhere else, or someone says something negative, and there might be a kernel of truth in it, I'd like to say, it doesn't matter to me. I know who I am. The people who love me, love me. It really fucks with me. It really upsets me. The way I would describe it is, you know, that feeling when you get pulled over and you first

look in your rear view mirror and you see the sirens and it's like, it's like living like that. Yes. You're just like, how do you reconcile with that? And this is a follow-on because you are quite open and out there with your personal life, especially on Instagram. I feel as if I've grown up with your kids. I've watched your kids growing up. Obviously, I haven't grown up with them. I mean, there's got to be, there's a balance here, but you've chosen to be pretty out there.

I have. And I think the risk in doing that is nobody's perfect. Who gets to decide this is appropriate, this is moral, this is acceptable? When I've had people really go after me, I think what's made me get through it, I guess. Yeah. I mean, it hurts, but these are blessings. And I don't mean necessarily in some higher power religious way, but wow, that somebody is taking the time to write all that. What if they go through such a coordinated, concerted effort and it doesn't hit you?

Just get through it and think, great, you wanted it. You got your pound of flesh. You hurt me. You know there was tears shed in the shower. Right. Move on. I think that's the right reaction. I have the fraction of the public awareness, and I've actually taken some time recently to decide, do I want this? Because I talk a lot about algorithms for happiness. I think a pretty decent algorithm for happiness,

and this is going to sound crass, is to be rich and anonymous. Oh, the best of the best. I've found just as my Twitter following has grown, just as my awareness has grown, that there's a lot of people now that are in the business of calling you out, disagreeing with you, highlighting your deficiencies, and we all have them, really jumping all over your mistakes. And you like to play a big game about, I don't care. I'm not sure I have skin thick enough for it. Okay, but here's where you do. It's easy for people to come at you when they don't know you.

They've created a persona that they've decided who you are, and especially on social media. And if you say anything, if you veer outside that persona, you've now betrayed them. But what if you give them a human back? What if you say, yeah, I'll get on the phone with you. Meet me for coffee. Sure.

So that's an effective tactic. I'm on the other end of that. What I find is a lot of very powerful, famous people, if I write about them, they reach out to me and say, hey, can we have breakfast? And I say no. But that's because they think they can charm you. And they can. But you know what, Scott? You might be a little bit wrong because—

Just a little bit. Just a little bit. Every once Scott? You might be a little bit wrong because— Just a little bit. Just a little bit. Every once in a while, just a little bit, Stephanie. But you might be a little bit wrong because all I'm saying is it's easy to hate someone when you don't know them. Oh, 100%. But I make personal attacks, quite frankly, and I have a rule. I only do it when the person is much more powerful than me. Otherwise, it's just bullying.

What I can't stand is when media goes after other media personalities. I think that's just destructive. I think we need more journalists. I think we need to increase their esteem. It just makes no sense to me that journalists are in the business of decreasing the esteem of other people. But anyways- I also just think when you want to be critical, be critical of somebody's business. Yeah, their activities professionally. In the public sphere. So we're talking a little bit about Trump. What would you describe as Trump's superpower?

I've heard you say something along the lines that he's totally, that his superpower is that he's shameless, that that's actually a feature, not a bug. I think it is his superpower. Most of us live in self-doubt, insecurity. Think about all the doubt in your own head, right? The amount of time I'm just hating on everything I say or do occupies about 80% of my mind.

And I've got loads of imposter syndrome. You probably have a bit of it. Some of it for me is just common sense, though. Some of the doubts I have is just common sense, not imposter syndrome. But the Trumps don't. That is the president's superpower. I'm not saying we should emulate it. I'm saying we should acknowledge it. He is a master at embracing the shamelessness. Owning it. Owning it. But this goes back to the first thing you asked me,

own who you are. Yeah. But back to this notion of insecurity. I found actually a lot of my insecurities have grown as I've gotten older because I've become more thoughtful and more self-aware. And I don't like it. And it's a little bit as good, though. It's self-awareness and being more thoughtful. Do you find— A hundred percent. Do you find as you get older—I find as I'm getting older, I'm actually getting a little bit more—I don't know what the term is. I'm sure of myself.

A hundred percent. I'm ashamed of past behavior. It's not that I'm getting old and tired, but it's more when I was younger, I had to fight so much to get a shot or get ahead. The only thing I knew how to do was fight. And I never gave anybody the benefit of the doubt. And I wasn't a team player because I assumed I wasn't going to have this shot for long. And I was too young and stupid to realize when you're always breaking glass, people are bleeding. You don't have to fight every fight. And now it's not a matter of, I'm not going to hit you back. What if I hugged you? What if I actually smothered you with some

level of love? Then what would happen? You know what I do instead? I nurture my grudges like pets. I love them and watch them grow and just wait to act on them. I'm more the mob boss with a long memory. Okay. Someone who truly wrongs you, there's nothing better to do than ignore them.

Yeah. Well, no, the best revenge is to live an amazing life. And ignore them. Yeah. Well, no, the best revenge is to live an amazing life. And ignore them. Yeah. So who are your professionally, who do you really admire in your field or outside your field? What would you like to be doing in 10 years? There are so many, many, many, many people I admire. The people I actually admire the most are the people who I think have the most impact and get the least attention because that's so foreign for me. Yeah.

Right? So- You need the affirmation. I need public affirmation. I'm not happy to be a quiet warrior. So I'm embarrassed by it, but I know that my self-confidence and self-worth comes from other people telling me I did a good job. Affirmation.

Okay. But here's the thing. That is an exhausting way to live your life. And so it's not that there's a giant famous superstar that I aspire to be. What I aspire to have is peace and happiness. That sounds way too Gandhi. It's not though. Give me a job though. Let me throw some out there.

I don't have a job. Here's what I know. I know. And we talk about like, what's your political ideology? I never had one. I want to live an awesome life. You're a moderate. And I want my, no, but there's nothing that I'm tied to, right? Yes, I'm a moderate. That's the definition of a moderate. Yes. I want to live an awesome life,

and I want the people around me to live an awesome life. In my job, I'd love to try to create content that makes people better and smarter. And it makes me sad that in the world of media, nastiness is what makes people super famous. A hundred percent. So I'm still waiting. What would be a dream job? Hosting Meet the Press, being the anchor for the nightly news? I think Bill Maher has a dream job.

That's a great job. I think Bill Maher has a dream job. Does he have a dream job or does he have a dream brain? I think that guy's incredible. Both. Yeah. There aren't a lot of female voices with that sort of snark. Okay, think that guy's incredible. Both. Yeah. There aren't a lot of female voices with that sort of snark.

Okay, so then this is the only caveat. Yeah. I'd love to have a platform like that, but I'd love to do it in a more joyful way. I guess that's the only thing. I'm a super fan of his, but I'm also like, you live such a blessed life. Smile a little more. Right. Maybe one of the reasons people say get anti-media or elites is how jaded we are. Charlie

Rose had the greatest platform. And I got to see it because I was at Bloomberg and that's where he shot his show. Obviously, I'm taking all the Me Too aside, but I'm talking about his platform. He got to live the life of a truly curious person. Again, no sex involved, but musicians, artists, political leaders, business people, and he was a sponge who got to just drink it in. So think of all the people Charlie interviewed, and then add sort of the pop culture cool of what Bill Maher does. I can't think of anything better.

Okay, quick questions, and we'll wrap up. Favorite TV show of the last 12 months? Right now it's The Morning Show. The Morning Show? Oh, Schitt's Creek. Schitt's Creek. You love Schitt's Creek? Yes. I've heard about that.

Oh, my gosh, it's amazing. And by the way, I gave you the recommendation of Fleabag, so you're welcome. You did. It's one. Best piece of advice you've ever received? Play your own game. Okay. You're not competing against anybody else but yourself. So set your own goals. Don't get into this kind of natural competitive nature where you feel bad because there's always someone with more money or more success. Don't count anybody's money. Don't count anybody's success. If somebody gets a huge job that you don't, one of three things happened. They are way better than you thought. Sorry.

They're a fraud and they're going to get found out in a year. No reason for you to dump on them. Or three, they're just blessed. They're hooked up. And that's not going to change. So acting on spite is the worst thing you can do with your time. Stephanie Rule. So the thing I'm going to thing you can do with your time. Stephanie Ruhl. So the thing I'm going to compliment you before we sign up, one of the things or the thing I think I love most about you is you generally seem to be dancing as if no one's watching you.

You seem to be pretty fearless. You don't run stuff through a political filter. You don't run stuff through a nice filter. When you're in this council culture, it's a risk. I think for the most part it's a good risk and people like it. It's in this council culture, it's a risk. I think for the most part, it's a good risk and people like it. It's a big ROI, but it's like investing. It's high beta. There's some risks there, but you take those risks every day. I definitely take those risks. I'm dancing like nobody's watching because I can't believe I got invited to this party.

And at some point, somebody's going to tap me on the shoulder. Well, that was nauseating. Somebody's going to tap me on the shoulder. Stop it with the feel good shit. No, but that's it. Somebody's going to tap me on the shoulder and say, why did we let you in the VIP lounge? You're out.

You're on Fox. Congratulations. Now you're on Fox. I also just think you can be unfiltered if you're coming from a good place. If your intentions are good.

If your intentions are good, you can be unfiltered. Stephanie, thank you so much. I love working with you. You're an inspiration. I love working with you. Thank you for being here. Congrats on all your success. We'll see you on the Today Show and also on the Nightly News. Support for this show comes from Constant Contact. You know what's not easy? Marketing. And when you're starting your small business, while you're so focused on the day-to-day,

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Go to ConstantContact.ca for your free trial. ConstantContact.ca. Okay, we're back and it's time for Office Hours or NYU as I like to call it, my office 30 minutes if you email me repeatedly and I decide I have the time. Anyways, we'd love to take your questions about anything from business tech and just life advice. If you'd like to submit a question, please email a voice recording to officehours at section4.com. That's officehours at section4.com. Question number one. Roll it. Hey, Prof G.

What's going on, my brother? Hey, quick question for you. I'm a degreed engineer, but I found out pretty quickly it wasn't for me. So I spent three years as an engineer. Now I'm in technical sales, and I like it much better. But that being said, I am building a side project that has long-term potential to become my sole business, and that would be my goal. There are still things that I still feel very incompetent on when it comes to the business side. What would you recommend for

someone in my position? So this is sort of, this question requires kind of 50 shades of gray, by the way, a marginal movie, neither of them were that hot. I didn't want to see other of these people. Fuck. I mean, seriously, come on. Let's at least make them hot for God's sakes. Anyways. So look, how well is your side hustle going? I find that side hustles are nothing but distractions such that you're shitty at both things, your core job and your side hustle. And I just don't buy this whole economy of side hustles. If you're in a good job or it's good enough to warrant 40 hours a week, then it's probably worth being great at it. And a lot of jobs are great opportunities to build wealth. The greatest

platform of wealth creation is the US corporation. So my sense is when people have side hustles, it's like, okay, either make it your main hustle or focus on work and go from good to great at it. But anyways, in terms of your business, you need to make a decision, right? There's a couple decisions. Do you stick where you are? And if you do stick where you are, should you double down on your current job, your nine to five, make it a nine to seven and get promoted and be better at it? Or is your side hustle worth taking the leap and starting a business? I actually think starting a business in a recession, which we're about to go into, is a great time to start a business because everything's cheaper. People are cheaper, office space is cheaper, capital's more expensive. And in some ways that's a good thing because you

can't wallpaper over a bad idea with cheap capital. So every business I've started that succeeded has one thing in common, and that is that I started it during a recession. In terms of going back to school, answer whether or not your core business deserves more of your time or your day job, or whether the side hustle warrants you maybe quitting, focusing on it full-time, bringing in a partner to round out some of your deficiencies. In terms of business schools, apply, see where you get in. That's a huge variance here, or the fulcrum of your decision is kind of the school you get into

because we're a very brand-sensitive society and brands matter among top 20 business schools. Anyways, Eric, some decisions ahead of you. Thanks for the question. Role number two. Hi, Professor Galloway. My name is Asiya, and I'm a student at NYU. I'm currently working on building a startup. I was wondering what are some tips

or advice that you can give as I move forward in this path? So we're going to need a bigger boat, Asiya. I'm not going to be able to summarize tips for entrepreneurs. I think there's some basics. Going back to the earlier comments in the opening. Greatness is in the agency of others. Almost every business I've started, I've started with a partner that's more operations focused, more technology focused, as I tend to be kind of the marketing and kind of face of the business that's either serving the clients as I did a profit brand strategy or raising money as I did a red envelope or at L2. I don't know what I was doing there. I was mostly just taking credit for other people's hard work, which is a

skill, which is a skill. But at Sia, there's a couple of things. One, see if you can find a good partner that rounds out your skills. It's very hard to start a business, I think, on your own. Two, focus on revenues, not expenses. A rookie move is to think that spending money and getting office space and building a beautiful site is what makes a business. No, revenues make a business. See if you can get to revenues immediately because that's a great test of the marketplace. And also dispel the notion or disavow yourself from the notion you're going to be comfortable selling and calling people who don't want to hear from you and working around the clock. I mean, around the clock such that at the end of the month, you can write a check to the company instead of writing or signing the back of a check. So really decide if you have the risk appetite, the financial wherewithal. I started my first business when my girlfriend was working and paying our rent. Otherwise I couldn't have done it. Do you have the resources to be that committed? Do you have the will to be that committed? And also look at your opportunity costs because we romanticize entrepreneurship and coming out of NYU, you're probably going to have

a decent number of corporate opportunities. So look, if you write up the specific business opportunity and give me a little bit more detail and send it to scottatstern.nyu.edu, I'll try and provide you with a more thoughtful answer. But this is a tough one. In general, I think we have a tendency to romanticize entrepreneurship. And that is we diminish the value of going to work for someone else, especially when you're younger, because you learn a lot and they'll pay for you to have that mole removed. The best of luck to you, Asiya, and staying in touch. I'm just around the corner. Question number tres. Numero tres. Number three. Hi, Scott. My name's Amy, and I'm an FMCG marketer living in London and working specifically on the Luxe brand, which you might know given your UK heritage.

I've got two questions for you today. The first is in relation to something you said a few weeks back, which is that your listenership on this specific podcast skews very heavily male or young male and I'm wondering in essence what why you think that might be the second question I've got is off the back of Max from Manchester and all that you shared in relation to your forecast on the nature of advertising but I'm interested to hear what your advice would be to a consumer goods marketer, both in this current period, for however long it may be, but specifically for the world that we emerge in after this crisis. Given the nature of big tech at the moment, for instance, would you advise that smart move someone in my position would be to apply to jobs at Amazon and be very focused

in that way. Thanks very much, Amy. Thoughtful couple of questions. So the first question, why do we skew younger and male? And a couple of things. One, I think there is an underserved white space, if you will, of heterosexual men talking about their feelings. I think other demographics are more in touch with their feelings. And if you can talking about their feelings. I think other demographics are more in touch with their feelings. And if you can talk about your feelings, that's a white space. And I think men respond to that. The second is I think my vulgarity and frat bro humor sort of appeals to young men, as does I tend to over-index in terms of my subject matter around the markets and technology, which tends to skew more male. And also in this a

little bit more controversial, I think there's been a feminization of our universities and media where we have decided that all masculinity equates to toxicity. And I think there's an opportunity for people to embrace their masculinity, which I try to do. And I don't, I'm not even sure what that means, but I think being politically correct is somehow seen as being feminine. And what I found is in fact, that there's a lot of women who aren't politically correct. And there's a lot of men who are desperate for what I'd call unfiltered viewpoints. And I think there's a difference between creating a workplace that is progressive and having media or content that's delivered in a, what I'll call, raw, hard-hitting, inappropriate, irreverent way. You don't want

irreverent places of work. You don't want irreverent workplaces. But irreverent media, there's an opportunity for it. And I think young men respond to that. Anyways, I'm not entirely sure. I'd like a more balanced viewership. The good news is we have a very young viewership, which means advertisers love us. I took too much time on that. Okay, CPG marketing. So the question is around marketing. I've always felt that the faculty at the marketing department at NYU is basically training kids to go to Kraft, Heinz, or General Foods and be laid off two years later. There is a very good career path in CPG marketing, but we need to provide different skills around the platforms. How do you sell on Amazon? How do you become more data-driven?

How do you develop a supply chain that's more agile? So I think there's still a wonderful opportunity in CPG marketing. I just think the skill set have changed. If you can, in fact, if you're under the age of 35 and have an opportunity to go to work for Amazon, Apple, Facebook, or Google, you should probably do it in the short term unless you had a great job, say, for example, producing a podcast, Griffin, bitch, Jesus Christ, turned your back on me, broke my heart. But anyways, anyways, back to you, back to you, Amy. There will be opportunities in CPG marketing, but the skillset is going to have to change. And traditional brand marketer is Latin for data-driven ways to spend more money in advertising and collect false awards from the ad agency who you are overpaying. That shit is over. But being the guy or gal that really

understands the fulcrum or the intersection between data and brand building, there's still going to be, these are big companies, there's still going to be a lot of opportunity. But at the same time, look, if you have an opportunity to go work for an unregulated monopoly, which these companies are, which means they will unfairly kill competition, which means they will unfairly garner a greater share of wealth leading to historic income inequality that's only repaired through war, famine, or revolution, yeah, be a part of that fucking nightmare. Just kidding. Thank you. Thank you for the question, Amy. We love your questions. Again,

please submit them to officehoursatsection4.com. Oftentimes, I don't read these in advance. These are meant to be authentic. They may not be right, but our heart is in the right place. Okay, algebra of happiness. Last week, we talked about functional speed, and that is while everybody else is sitting on their hands, turning the jets on and trying to make progress professionally. And one of the keys to strategy that I learned or advantage from the great Professor Sonia Marciano at the Stern School and the Wharton School and the Yale School, she teaches at about a million different schools, is the notion of variance. And the point around functional speed is that when the majority of America was working 40 hours a week, now some people are working zero or 10 hours a week, and some people are working 80. That's the opportunity to shine. When there's a lot of variance that creeps into your category, that's the opportunity. Anyways, what we're going to talk about is the opportunity to make similar progress or outsize progress in this crisis around relationships. So we're in a crisis. I look back

on Katrina. I look back on 9-11. My big regret was my intention was there. I thought I want to do something more and I didn't. And one thing I'm fairly certain advising people is that looking back on this crisis, you'll wish you had done more or taken advantage of the crisis in the sense that a crisis is a terrible thing to waste. And one of the transitions from being, I think, a child to an adult is not keeping score. And what do I mean by that? And that is when we grow up, we tend to look at relationships as transactional. And that is we think, am I getting enough from my boyfriend? Should I stay with him? If I let my wife's parents hang out with us, does that mean my parents need to hang out? Will I clean the sink? I clean the dishes. Well, you're not as nice to my friends as I am to yours. This is an exceptional opportunity

for the repair and strengthening of relationships. This is an exceptional opportunity for the repair and strengthening of relationships. This is an opportunity to put all the bullshit aside. Do you have a strained relationship with your parents? Are you not as close with your siblings as you should be? Have you lost a certain level of trust and intimacy with your spouse? Reinvesting, putting the scorecard aside, expressing love, expressing generosity, expressing affection in a crisis can repair, in weeks can repair years of keeping score or whatever haunts you. All these Zoom calls I've been doing with my friends, I think, why did I lose touch with this person? I reverse engineer it to some perceived slight on one end or the other, or some petty jealousy or whatever it might've been, all this bullshit. And it's been wonderful

to reconnect and resubmit those relationships, reaching out to friends, checking in, finding out how they're doing, being generous. Do you know someone that's financially struggling and you're not? Well then fuck, give them some money or offer them some money. Are you checking in on your parents? Are you taking advantage of that all-important flip to where you start taking care of them instead of expecting them to take care of you? It just shocks me how many impressive people I know that turn into whiny bitches when they start talking to their parents. Stop keeping score. This is the opportunity. Rep repair and reinforcing of relationships. The happiest people at the end of their lives are the ones with the deepest, most meaningful relationships. This is an opportunity to be happier. This is an opportunity to restore and repair.

Our producers are Caroline Shagrin. By the way, she just corrected me. I pronounced her name incorrectly. That's how the dog rolls. He does not know the names of the people he works with. Hello. And Drew Burrows, the infinitely handsome tech guy. If you like what you heard, please follow, download, and subscribe. Thank you for listening.

We'll catch you next week with another episode of The Prof G Show from Section 4 and Westwood One Podcast Network.