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Claire Miller
Support for the show comes from ServiceNow who is enabling people to do more meaningful creative work. The work they actually want to do. You know what people don't want to do? Boring, busy work. But now with AI agents built into the ServiceNow platform, you can automate millions of repetitive tasks in every corner of business. It, hr, customer service and more. And that means your people can focus on the work that they want to do. That's putting AI agents to work for people. It's your turn. Get started@servicenow.com AI agents foreign for the show comes from user testing. Your brand is only as strong as the decisions behind it. User testing's human insights engine helps marketing, product and business leaders make smarter, faster decisions with real human feedback. AI driven insights and the world's strongest participant network. Equip your team with the power to validate every decision co innovate at scale and build digital and in person experiences with confidence. The best brands don't guess, they test. See how@usertesting.com profg.
Snoop Dogg
Today at T Mobile I'm joined by a special co anchor.
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We up out of here.
Scott Galloway
See how you can save on wireless and streaming versus the other big guys. @t mobile.com/apple intelligence requires iOS 18.1 or later. Welcome to Office Hours with Pravji. This is the part of the show where we answer questions about business, big tech, entrepreneurship and whatever else is on your mind. Today we've got two great listener questions lined up. And then after the break, we're introducing something new. The Reddit hotline. Oh my God. It's not the red phone. It's not the bat phone. It's the Reddit hotline where we pull questions straight from Reddit. If you'd like to submit a question for next time, you can send a voice recording to office hours of propertymedia.com again, that's officehoursoffertymedia.com or if you prefer to ask on Reddit, post your question on the Scott Galloway subreddit. Scary. Which shit must be flying around on that thing. And we just might feature it in our next episode. By the way, just a little bit of insight. Let's, let's bring this back to me. So we did in south by Southwest we did a party or Vox did a party, which is basically where they feature all their quote unquote talent or lack thereof, their podcasters to try and get advertisers to advertise more on our podcasts. And they let out some information. Basically, Vox, like every other organization, holds on to information like nuclear codes because an asymmetry of information creates advantage for the people who have the information. But they did let out the following that one of our or our fastest growing segments of anything I do across this entire let's be honest, I'm a total podcast whore. I'm like, hey, hey stranger, what's your name? Another podcast? Sure, why not? But the pod that's doing or growing the fastest is actually office hours. And office hours of vision for office hours was when my mom and I I moved in with my mom for about eight months when she was very sick. And what one of the things we used to do was we would watch her favorite show, Frasier. And I based office hours on the Collins show on Frasier. Anyways, welcome. Hi, this is Dr. Crane and I'm listening. First question.
Brian
Hi Prof. G. This is Brian from New Jersey and I wanted to say thanks for doing such a great job offering an analysis on a wide range of topics and your genuine concern for people despite party politics. I'm involved with a small successful school adjacent to New York City that exists solely on tuition. Last week I heard you talking with Jess Tarlov about school choice, but the reality is not everyone who sends their children to a private school are doing so from a place of excess. The public schools in our area are overcrowded and parents have little to no say about what their children are learning or experiencing. Do you see any value, even if it was a means tested program, for some sort of voucher or tax incentive to take children from the public school and support smaller schools that run more efficiently. From my very slanted perspective, for a third of the money of public schools, we're doing a better job. And at the same time, if the public schools were getting 2/3 of the money not to have a child in the classroom, they could devote more resources to the children who are there. Thanks for listening and I really look forward to your answer.
Scott Galloway
So let me be clear, and I want to acknowledge up front, there's no such thing as a perfect solution where everybody wins. I think you make a solid argument for why there are instances where vouchers probably help good people afford programs, maybe put some competition on the public schools When I look at so the US is strange. Our K12 is some of the worst in the modern or G7 economy, but our universities are some of the best and our education or our economy is beating everybody. So a lot of people would just do the analysis and say, well, shitty K through 12, that's sort of the Hunger Games. You have rich parents or you're excellent and somehow you find a way to a good college seems to be working for the US economy. The problem is, I think it results in a lot of obesity anxiety. Young people without the skills to thrive in this economy that don't have a lot of economic power and probably, I don't want to say get exploited, but leverage for minimum wage that should be $23 an hour, not $725 based on productivity or just inflation. So I feel as if the public school system is yet another example of not a direct conspiracy, but the accidental conspiracy of creating the bottom 90% who becomes very cheap inputs for shareholders of bigger companies that know how to manage the information economy and end up quite frankly just being exploited and paying a lot of money for shitty sugary food and then becoming obese and then being handed over to the diabetes industrial complex. So I don't. Part of that system though is I think that when I look at healthy societies where there's low childhood obesity, they have a private school option, but essentially there's just much more focus on the resources and measurements for good public schools. On average, American public school teachers make roughly 70,000 annually while their private counterparts make about 50K. So you're absolutely right. It appears that on average public schools are paying people 40% more because quite frankly, you end up with probably a more difficult situation with a lot of low income kids that probably bring a lot of anger. Maybe a single parent home where the parents can't be involved in the kid's life, whatever the excuse is. But public school teachers, the market is saying we need to pay them more and private schools don't have to pay as much. Despite this, private school students consistently score better on assessments in almost every subject. In some teachers, increased wages don't necessarily correlate with better outcomes. Why? Because the public school system is riddled with bureaucracy, quite frankly. And I think this kind of buttresses your point. In America, there are four times as many administrators in the public education system than there were in the 1950s and 2015. The New York State School Board association found that firing an incompetent teacher takes an average of 830 days and costs $313,000. The good news, school choice bills or laws that allow states to award vouchers to the parents of students in non public schools are on the rise. This is true even across party lines. A 2024 poll of registered voters found that 83% of Republicans, 69% of independents and 70% of Democrats say they strongly or somewhat support school choice. I am really torn on this because what I have seen is the net effect of school choice or vouchers just subsidizes wealthy people who were going to send their kids to public or to private schools anyways. And this is pulse marketing, but my kids were at this lovely private school in Gulfstream, Florida called gulfstream, that costs 18 or 20 grand. And the idea that we were going to give people in the local community we'd get $10,000 towards a school, I think all that would have done was of the 230 families, 200 of them would have just gotten a $2 million tax break and taken money away from Atlantic, the high school, which is actually a pretty good high school that they desperately need. Now, are there probably middle class families that would be able to attend a better school because of that $10,000 voucher? Yes. Is it good to have competition put on public schools? Yes. When we're talking about education though, I mean, it gets so complicated so fast. So the Department of Education is supposedly on the chopp, blocked. And I'm not one of these people that doesn't think the Department of Education should, you know, is this. It used to be sort of this virtue signaling everyone rallied around it. I think it should probably be much smaller. It's good at Pell Grants, it's good at figuring out student loans. It's probably done a lot of harm in terms of universal and mandatory testing where every teacher now studies to the test. It's created a lot of unnecessary stress in our public schools. Parents hate it, principals hate it, teachers hate it, students hate it. And I feel as if they again are trying to justify their own bureaucracy. So this is a long winded way of saying I see your point, but one, I'm on board with a dramatic decrease in the amount of bureaucracy through competition with public schools. I believe that teachers and principals should be fired and schools should be shut down if they're not performing and new ones should be propped up. But I think we've got to figure out a way to get more parents involved in public schools, because the number one signal of whether a school is successful isn't even resources, it's parental involvement. So trying to make public schools more attractive. And the way you do that I think is with a lack of bureaucracy. And also I just think it's going to take more resources and I don't think that skimming the most blessed families and the most involved parents off of the top and pulling them out of the public school system. I just think we're further cementing have and have not caste system. Having said that, I think it should be most of it should be left to the states and local governments trying to figure it out. One of the biggest problems we have in our society is that local schools are based on property tax revenue. So the wealthy neighborhoods have some private schools. The public school in Palo Alto and in Woodside is better than most private schools nationally because they have a lot of money from property taxes. So there has to be a leveling up. The problem is the leveling up isn't just about resources, it's about keeping dual parent households involved in the schools. This is a difficult, tough question. More competition, more holding the teachers unions and public schools accountable, not being afraid to shut them down, having a reasonable ratio of administrators, clearing out the bureaucracy such that you can fire teachers and bureaucrats. But also I'm just not down with taking more money for vouchers for the privatization of our education system. I think in general you've had an oligarchy that is trying to insert a profit motive into every single public service which ultimately just creates scale, a better service and then they start raising the rents on everybody. Appreciate the question. Question number two hey Scott, big fan of the podcast.
Anonymous
I'm a young man looking to start investing and I want to hear more about your view on the Reddit stock. I know, I listened to the podcast on Monday. You said you were bullish on this stock. I tend to agree with you through my own research. Would love to hear more about your outlook on Reddit and what you see for the next 510 years with this stock.
Scott Galloway
Thanks Anonymous from unknown. Really appreciate the question. So my IPO recommendation of 2024 was Reddit and it was a simple analysis. I looked at the 10 most traffic sites in America and all of them except Wikipedia nonprofit traded for were worth between 600 billion and 3 trillion. And Reddit @ that time was toggling based on the metric you looked at somewhere between the third and the fifth most traffic site in America and was going public in a market cap of 5 billion because to that point they had not done a great job of monetizing that incredible attention. However, I believe over time you can Monetize attention. It just, I remember looking at at these charts 20 years ago where newspapers were 10% of attention but 30% of advertising and the Internet was 50% of attention but only 15% advertising. I remember, okay, this is pretty easy. Find the Internet companies that are commanding attention and eventually these things are going to calibrate and equalize. And I saw the same thing here. And the stock went out at, was priced I think at 35 or 38, shot to 60 and then went as high as 240 and has been cut in half with the drawdown. So as we're recording this, their stock has been cut in half in the past month after Q4 earnings that reported underwhelming user growth. But that's still up. I think that still means it's tripled or quadrupled since its IPO. Global daily active unique users rose 39% year on year to an average of 102 million. Just missing analyst expectations of 100 million. Why did it get hit so hard? The new meeting expectations in the Internet economy is blowing them away. That's the expectation. The expectation is that you're going to blow away expectations. Although Reddit was now or is now the sixth most visited website in the world, it's worth 50 to 60 times less than other sites in that same that command that same attention, including Google, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. So what do I think? I think this company is still a good long term hold. It's got a market cap now of 22 billion, which for a guy like me, one of my many flaws as investors. I anchor off the cheapest it's ever been. Yeah, it went public at a valuation of 5 billion. It traded to 7 or 8 billion that day and now it's at 21, but it peaked at 40. It's come down. I think Reddit is a good long term hold. I just think again if you buy into this notion that eventually monetization catches up with attention, it's going to. I think it's a good long term hold. Having said that, my general advice is the following. Low cost index funds because nobody can pick stocks over the long term and outperform the market. Even Warren Buffett will tell you that they were investing in an unusual time with a lack of information. And the asymmetry of information or ability to find alpha or stocks that were undervalued was much greater the likelihood of doing that than it is now. Warren Buffett, who got is arguably the best investor in history is telling people not to be stock pickers. So Having said that, I believe that you can take 30% or should take 30% of your money and have some fun and invest in single stocks or single asset classes where you think you have some sort of insight or you believe that they're undervalued and this might be that. What I would also suggest though is that 2/3 plus of your net worth is put in low cost index funds. And here's the bit of the wrinkle there. Make sure they're low cost index funds that aren't just solely focused on the U.S. the U.S. stock market is now at 98% in terms of value, meaning it's only been more expensive on a P E ratio 2% of its history. European value stocks are in the bottom 2%, meaning they've been more expensive on a PE basis or traded at higher levels for 98% of their history. This to me sends the mar says to me that the markets or the rivers or flows of capital are about to reverse. That was one of my big predictions for 2025 is I think that non US markets are going to outperform US markets anyways what you asked. I like Reddit. I think it's a nice long term hold. But just be careful believing that me or anybody else can give you advice on single stock picking. We can't. You want to have some fun. You want to try and find some alpha? Have at it. But keep the bulk of your firepower, your dry powder for low cost index funds that are diversified not only across the S and P, but across different geographies globally. Thanks for the question. We have one quick break and when we're back. Speaking of Reddit, we're diving into the depths, into the bowels of Reddit. Buckle up.
Claire Miller
Support for property comes from quints. It's almost that time of year, vacation season, so if you're in the market for some luxury wardrobe upgrades that'll make you look great without breaking the bank, you might want to check out Quint. Quint says they offer high quality travel essentials at fair prices, including lightweight shirts and shorts from $30 pants for any occasion and comfortable lounge sets. They also offer premium luggage options and durable duffel bags for your upcoming vacation. And you know who's tried out Quints? Our own Claire Miller, our producer. She's received some items from Quints and says that they're I don't know, what did you say about them, Claire?
Scott Galloway
They're super high quality, super comfortable. Feels like luxury without actually paying luxury prices. Got a pair of extremely nice sweatpants which is a bit of an oxymoron, but I love them. So yeah, super into quints.
Claire Miller
Well there you have it. For your next trip you can treat yourself to the luxe upgrades you deserve from quince. Go to quince.com profg for 365 day returns plus free shipping on your next order. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com profg to get free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com profg support for this show comes from Smartsheet. You know that feeling you get when you're just so into a task that the world around you goes quiet? Maybe you're out for a run and start feeling like you're flying. Or maybe you're playing guitar and an hour zipped by. Or maybe you're just so focused on a work task that you forget it's actually work this time. Stopping world quieting Focused feeling is called flow. In today's workplace, that state of flow is very hard to come by. There are all those different applications you have to toggle between, calls that could have been emails, and no one central place where you can tackle all your tasks. Except there is such a place. Smartsheet Smartsheet is the work management platform where your work progresses smoothly and efficiently, enabling teams to operate at their peak. Smartsheet isn't just a tool, it's a place where teams can operate in a state of flow no matter the scale or complexity of their work. Let time stop, let the world fall away. Smartsheet can handle the rest. Smartsheet where work flows visit smartsheet.com today to learn more. Support for Proph G comes from Nutrafol. Your relationship with your hair is a personal one and sometimes it's a love hate relationship, especially if you're dealing with thinning and shedding.
Scott Galloway
If you'd prefer to have a love.
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Scott Galloway
Welcome back. We asked and Reddit delivered. Let's bust right into it. All right. Armand8194 asks Scott, something you used to preach is exclusivity as a great marketing tactic. No is the sexiest word in the English language. I always say that. But recently you've been releasing more and more podcast content. Can you reconcile the two? Yeah. So it's a fair point. And that is. And I worry about this a lot. So we had Pivot, then I launched Prof. G, then Prof. G Markets. Now we have Raging Moderates. So I'm like aol in the 90s, when you'd stick your hand in a cereal box and you'd pull out a CD ROM of aol, I mean, it's like to resist is futile. And I do worry that the ubiquity of me that people are going to start to have a gag reflex like, oh, Jesus, this guy again. So what I'm trying to do is create more enterprise value. What do I mean by that? So my co host on Profiting Markets, Ed Ellison, does the interviews. Now my co host on Raging Moderates, Jess, does all the interviews. So I'm only on about half of the episodes. We're about to go daily. Speaking of, like, too much of anything is is not a good thing. We're about to go daily on Propaganda Markets because the markets are daily and I'm only going to be on twice a week. I'll do some, like, impromptu guest appearances. But what you're saying is absolutely true. I try and create scarcity across my speaking. I price my speaking fees at sort of an outrageous dollar amount because one, I don't want to work that hard and I only want to go to places I like. And two, as a signal. So scarcity is key. I'm very cognizant of that. I try and take time off, one, because I'm lazy, but b, so my co host on Pivot, Kara Swisher, does pretty much every episode. I take the month of August off. I take weeks off at a time. I'm doing a college tour with my son and they said, we'll set you up For a moment, I'm like, no, you won't just find a guest host. So I think it's important to have a little bit of scarcity value, and I'm very cognizant of it. And quite frankly, you're right. I'm worried that at some point I'm just going to dilute my brand equity and it's just going to be too much and people are going to get sick of dick jokes. I'm cognizant of it. Your theory goes to an important marketing theory, and that is the most profitable companies in history that have the greatest gross margins create the illusion of scarcity. I'm wearing a Panerai watch, which is $1,000 of movements, plastic and glass that they charge $11,000 for, because they've created this illusion that Panerais are scarce. They purposely constrict supply, such that when you see the watch you want, they can honestly say, well, we only have one. We have artificially reduced the supply of freshman seats at elite universities. I'm cognizant of the fact that I might be moving myself from what is kind of a scarcity luxury brand to a mass brand. And I'm trying to ensure that it's just not too much, Scott, all the time through co hosts and limiting or reducing some of my appearances. But you clearly have an instinct for marketing. The illusion of scarcity is so important in life. It's really important. In an interview, when you're interviewing with somebody, start asking them questions and act as if you're interviewing them and give them the impression that you might have another offer, that you are so good at what you do that you are interviewing them. Why? Because my human capital is scarce and a lot of people want to rent it. You don't want to be too available to potential romantic partners. You have to have lines that say, okay, this is unacceptable, or don't be too available. Scarcity. Yeah, I think your instincts are right on. You want to maintain, again, any high margin product equals the illusion of scarcity. Thank you for the question. All right, next question. Scott, when you hear or come up with your dirty jokes, where is the line where you think, ooh, that is too far? Okay, so I am generally a profane or vulgar person, but there's a strategy behind it, and that is all. Strategy comes down to one question. What can we do that is really hard? Or put another way, what can we do that our competition can't do? Amazon and Netflix spend tens of billions of dollars on infrastructure and fulfillment and on content because Their competitors can't because they don't have access to cheap capital. So they're like, okay, Netflix goes, If we spend $18 billion on content, Peacock just can't do it. Hulu can't do it. Disney can't do it. Even HBO can't do it. And so that's where they go and they focus on this kind of brute force spending strategy. Where I have decided to go in terms of trying to differentiate my podcast is, quite frankly, one of the reasons I am really crude is that one, CNBC can't tell dick jokes. And I want to be known as provocative and profane. I also think that if you're funny and profane, it kind of softens the beach and people become more open to new ideas. Also, I want to appeal to younger people. And quite frankly, young men respond to my type of profanity. Sometimes I go too far. Sometimes I can hear myself the words coming out and thinking, you know, that's a little bit much. I've had parents write in and say, I'd like to play this with my kids, but I've stopped because you're so Crude. I've had CEOs call me and say, I would have sent this clip to the entire company, but I can't be seen or heard sending out something with this type of profanity. I also. My kind of heroes are comedians that were social commentators and were also really profane. Whether it was Richard Pryor or Lenny Bruce or I think Bill Burr is a genius, these guys are not afraid to be profane and vulgar. So, one, it's genuine. I'm a profane and vulgar person. Two, I want to appeal to young men. I want. I want my content to resonate with them such that they'll listen to some of the lessons I have about what I hope is a positive vision of masculinity. And also, just purely strategically, it is clear when you listen to the show, this is not your father's cnbc. Appreciate the question. And just so you know, the other day I walked into my son's room to have the sex ed talk, and I walked in with, you know, with a condom and a banana. And he said, what's the banana for? And I'm like, well, I can't get hard on an empty stomach. That's good. Thanks for the question. Hey, Scott, they say wealth typically lasts about three generations. Are you doing anything different in the way you are raising your children to prepare them for the advantages they will have entering the market and how to contextualize them? Are you even considering this as a concern or is it overblown? Oh, no, it's a huge concern. I'm worried. If my parents had been wealthy and I knew that was sort of a backstop or a hammock, the only two things I know I would have had in my life if my parents were rich, were a Range Rover and a cocaine habit. My motivation didn't come from wanting to be successful or wanting to have a positive impact on the world. My motivation was I grew up without money. It was humiliating for me and my mom and I was very focused on, okay, what can I control? I can control how hard I work and the risks I take because I want economic security. My kids probably don't have that same fire. I think about it a lot. I think about not spoiling them. When you fly somewhere nice, you've worked hard, you want to fly business or first class. And then I see my 14 year old playing with this flat seat and I see a 7 year old woman roll by, I'm going to coach and I think this is just wrong. And I say to my partner, the kid should not be in business. And she says, well, fine, if you want to fly with coach and coach with them, have at it. Because they don't allow kids alone back in coach. So the reality is my kids know they have money. The good news is that I find a kid's approach to money or anything else is that the parents have less impact than you think. And that is as parents we like to think we're engineers. We're not, we're shepherds. And that is we get to choose the land they graze on, point them in the right direction, decide what they eat. But the sheep comes to you. And what I have found is one of my sons, he won't even let me buy stuff for him. I'll take him out and I'll say, hey, we went to Sunspiel, this great kind of British brand that's sort of supposed to be the casual brand for James Bond. And I wanted to buy him a cashmere hoodie and it was £230. He's like, I'm not buying this. I'm like, no, you're not buying it. I am. He's like, no, no, no, I'm not going to spend this kind of money on it. He just is physically uncomfortable with spending money. And I don't know where he got that because even when I didn't have money, I was very comfortable spending money. I was, I haven't had a spending problem, but I'VE always been, I like to think, someone who enjoys life and is not afraid to spend money, whereas my other son is like, we'll pop up and go, can I have two then? And we just haven't treated them that much differently. I think about this a lot. I'm going to put some money aside so they can always have access to housing, always have access to education. But my plan is to spend it all before I go. My approach to spending is pretty promiscuous. I spend a lot of money every year. I meet with my team at Goldman, I look at how much money I made, I already have my number and any additional money above that in terms of net worth, I either spend it or I give it away because I want to make sure my kids have some advantage. Housing, access to education. But I don't believe in dynastic wealth. I know a lot of rich kids. I wouldn't say they're any more fucked up than other kids, but they're no less fucked up than other kids. So I don't think you're really giving much advantage to your kids with extraordinary wealth. Is it a competitive environment? Do you want them to have some of the opportunities that you've worked so hard to give them? Yeah, I want my kid to be able to live where he wants to live, to pick the career he wants to pick, which is obviously extraordinary advantage. But just being blunt, I'm going to offer that to my children. I think you use money with your kids to lever up or lever down. If one of my kids decides to teach public school, I'm going to probably give him a decent amount of money. If one is doing nothing and kind of just ne'er do well or, you know, I'm not going to give that kid any money. So I think you have some control over it. Not a lot, but it is something I think about all the time. And my approach, my way of expressing concern about this problem is I am spending money like a fucking gangster in the 50s just diagnosed with ass cancer. Hello. Hello. What? Vegas Daddy's in. Da dog is in. I start from yes, that's all for this episode. If you'd like to submit a question, please email a voice recording to officehoursoftymedia.com that's office hourspropertymedia.com or if you prefer to ask on Reddit, just post your question on the Scott Galloway subreddit and we just might feature it in our next Reddit hotline segment. What a thrill. Foreign this episode was produced by Jennifer Sanchez. Our intern is Dan Shalon Drew Burrows is our Technical Director.
Claire Miller
Thank you for listening to the Prophecy.
Scott Galloway
Pod from the Vox Media Podcast Network. We will catch you on Saturday for no mercy, no malice as read by George Hahn. And please follow our Property Markets pod wherever you get your pods for new.
Claire Miller
Episodes every Monday and Thursday.
Snoop Dogg
Today at T Mobile I'm joined by a special co anchor.
What up everybody? It's your boy Big Snoop deal.
Double G Snoop where can people go to find great deals?
Head to T mobile.com and get four iPhone 16s with Apple Intelligence on us plus four lines for 25 bucks.
That's quite a deal Snoop. And when you switch to T Mobile you can save versus the other big guy's comparable plan fans plus streaming respect.
When we up out of here see.
Scott Galloway
How you can save on wireless and streaming versus the other big guys at t mobile.com/apple intelligence requires iOS 18.1 or later.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway Episode Summary: "The Reddit Hotline Is Open: Scott on Generational Wealth, Dirty Jokes & A Bull Case for Reddit" Release Date: March 26, 2025
In this dynamic episode of The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway, host Scott Galloway delves into a range of pressing topics, from educational reform and stock market insights to branding strategies and generational wealth. The episode also introduces an exciting new segment, the Reddit Hotline, fostering direct engagement with listeners. Below is a comprehensive summary of the episode's key discussions, insights, and conclusions.
[01:35] Scott Galloway:
Scott kicks off the episode by welcoming listeners to Office Hours with Pravji, a segment dedicated to answering questions about business, big tech, entrepreneurship, and personal life. He introduces the Reddit Hotline, a new feature allowing questions sourced directly from Reddit, encouraging broader audience participation.
New Segment Announcement:
Scott invites listeners to submit their questions via voice recordings to officehours@profgmedia.com or through the Scott Galloway subreddit. He humorously notes the diverse and potentially wild range of questions that might come through.
Question from Brian ([03:40]):
Brian from New Jersey, involved with a tuition-dependent school near New York City, raises concerns about overcrowded public schools and limited parental influence. He inquires about the potential value of voucher or tax incentive programs to support smaller, more efficient schools, suggesting that public schools could reallocate resources to better serve existing students.
Scott's Response ([04:46] - [11:30]):
Acknowledgment of Complexity:
Scott emphasizes that there is no perfect solution where everyone wins. He recognizes the merit in vouchers potentially helping good families afford better programs and introducing competition into public schools.
Current State of US Education:
He critiques the US K-12 system as one of the worst among G7 economies, despite the strength of American universities and overall economic performance. Scott links poor K-12 education to broader societal issues like economic insecurity and lack of skills among young people.
Public vs. Private Schools:
Scott points out that public school teachers earn significantly more than their private counterparts ($70K vs. $50K annually), yet private school students often perform better academically. He attributes this to bureaucracy in the public system, which hampers efficiency and accountability.
Bureaucratic Challenges:
Highlighting inefficiencies, Scott notes that the public education system has seen a quadruple increase in administrators since the 1950s, leading to high costs and slow responses to underperformance.
School Choice Popularity and Personal Experience:
Scott discusses the rising support for school choice across political lines but expresses skepticism about its effectiveness. He shares his personal experience with his private school, Gulfstream, questioning whether voucher programs would merely subsidize wealthy families without significantly improving public schools.
Parental Involvement and Resources:
He underscores the importance of parental involvement as a key indicator of a school's success, suggesting that reducing bureaucracy could make public schools more attractive to parents.
Local Funding Issues:
Scott highlights the disparities in public school quality due to reliance on property tax revenue, using Palo Alto and Woodside as examples of affluent areas with superior public schools.
Final Thoughts:
While Scott sees potential in reducing bureaucracy and increasing competition, he remains cautious about voucher programs worsening the socio-economic divide. He advocates for leaving most educational reforms to states and local governments to better address unique community needs.
Notable Quote:
"The public school system is yet another example of the accidental conspiracy of creating the bottom 90% who become very cheap inputs for shareholders of bigger companies."
— Scott Galloway ([05:30])
Question from Anonymous ([11:30]):
A young investor seeks Scott's insights on Reddit's stock, mentioning that Scott previously expressed a bullish stance and wishes to understand his long-term outlook.
Scott's Analysis ([11:49] - [16:14]):
Initial Recommendation and IPO Performance:
Scott recommended Reddit's IPO in 2024, noting that Reddit was among the top traffic sites in America but was undervalued at its $5 billion market cap. Despite initial stock surges and subsequent volatility, Scott maintains a positive long-term outlook.
Monetization of Attention:
Drawing parallels with the newspaper and internet advertising models from 20 years prior, Scott believes Reddit will eventually monetize its vast user attention effectively, similar to how advertising evolved to better capture internet engagement.
Current Valuation and User Growth:
At the time of recording, Reddit's stock had experienced significant fluctuations but remained a strong performer with a current market cap of $22 billion. Global daily active users had risen 39% year-over-year, slightly missing analyst expectations.
Competitive Positioning:
Scott argues that Reddit is undervalued compared to other high-traffic sites like Google and Facebook, suggesting ample room for growth as Reddit enhances its monetization strategies.
Investment Strategy Advice:
While endorsing Reddit as a long-term hold, Scott advises a balanced investment approach. He recommends allocating about 30% of one's portfolio to low-cost index funds while allowing a portion for single-stock investments where there is confidence and insight.
Global Market Outlook:
Scott predicts that non-US markets are poised to outperform US markets, aligning with his broader investment philosophy focused on diversification and global exposure.
Notable Quote:
"Reddit is a good long-term hold because eventually monetization catches up with attention."
— Scott Galloway ([12:15])
[16:14] Scott Galloway:
Scott transitions to the new Reddit Hotline segment, emphasizing the show's intent to engage more deeply with the Reddit community. He teases an in-depth exploration of Reddit's inner workings and its impact on various sectors.
Question from Armand8194 ([19:46]):
Armand questions Scott on reconciling his previous advocacy for exclusivity as a marketing strategy with his increasingly broad podcast content. He mentions the potential risk of diluting brand equity due to expanding content output.
Scott's Response ([19:46] - [30:42]):
Balancing Scarcity and Ubiquity:
Scott acknowledges the tension between maintaining exclusivity and expanding content reach. He compares his situation to AOL in the '90s, highlighting concerns about overexposure leading to audience fatigue.
Strategic Content Distribution:
To preserve brand value, Scott introduces co-hosts for different segments—Ed Ellison for Prof. G Markets and Jess for Raging Moderates—thereby distributing hosting responsibilities and reducing his personal overexposure.
Scarcity as a Marketing Tool:
He elaborates on the importance of creating an illusion of scarcity, drawing parallels to luxury brands like Panerai watches and elite university freshman seats. This strategy helps maintain high brand value and exclusivity.
Maintaining Brand Equity:
Scott ensures that despite expanding content, the core principles of scarcity and high-margin offerings remain intact. He emphasizes limiting his appearances and leveraging co-hosts to avoid brand dilution.
Strategic Use of Profanity:
Discussing his use of profanity, Scott explains it as a strategic differentiator that sets his podcast apart from more sanitized competitors like CNBC. This approach aims to soften critical discussions and appeal to a younger demographic.
Notable Quote:
"The illusion of scarcity is so important in life. It's really important."
— Scott Galloway ([21:30])
Question from Anonymous Listener ([30:42]):
An anonymous listener inquires about the boundaries Scott sets when incorporating dirty jokes into his podcast content, questioning where he draws the line.
Scott's Response ([30:42] - [30:54]):
Profanity as Strategic Differentiation:
Scott defends his use of profanity, stating that it's a deliberate strategy to distinguish his podcast from competitors. He believes that being provocative and vulgar makes the content more engaging and relatable, particularly to younger listeners.
Balancing Humor and Professionalism:
While acknowledging that sometimes he crosses the line, Scott maintains that the use of dirty jokes serves to soften critical or complex discussions, making them more accessible and entertaining.
Influence of Comedic Icons:
He cites comedians like Richard Pryor, Lenny Bruce, and Bill Burr as inspirations for his blend of social commentary and profanity, arguing that this approach fosters a more open reception of new ideas.
Notable Quote:
"If you're funny and profane, it kind of softens the brush and people become more open to new ideas."
— Scott Galloway ([25:00])
Question on Generational Wealth ([30:54]):
A listener poses a profound question about the sustainability of generational wealth, questioning whether Scott is taking steps to ensure his children benefit from their advantages without falling into the typical pitfalls associated with inherited wealth.
Scott's Response ([30:54] - [30:54]):
Concerns About Wealth Longevity:
Scott expresses significant concern about wealth typically lasting only three generations. He fears that unearned advantages could lead to complacency and lack of motivation in his children.
Personal Parenting Approach:
Reflecting on his upbringing without financial security, Scott emphasizes the importance of instilling a strong work ethic and economic independence in his children. He strives to avoid spoiling them, ensuring they understand the value of money and hard work.
Selective Financial Support:
While Scott provides for his children's education and housing, he avoids creating a safety net that could hinder their drive to succeed. He intends to use his wealth to offer opportunities rather than direct financial support that could lead to entitlement.
Encouraging Financial Responsibility:
Scott shares anecdotes illustrating his children's different attitudes toward spending, highlighting his efforts to teach them financial prudence and independence.
Notable Quote:
"I don't believe in dynastic wealth. I know a lot of rich kids. I wouldn't say they're any more fucked up than other kids, but they're no less fucked up than other kids."
— Scott Galloway ([28:30])
Scott wraps up the episode by reiterating the resources available for listener engagement, encouraging submissions for future Reddit Hotline segments. He highlights the collaborative efforts behind the podcast, mentioning the production team and expressing gratitude to the audience.
Final Thoughts:
Throughout the episode, Scott Galloway seamlessly blends thoughtful analysis with candid personal reflections, providing listeners with actionable insights and a deeper understanding of complex issues. His strategic use of profanity and brand management techniques are examined in the context of maintaining engagement and exclusivity, while his perspectives on education and generational wealth offer valuable commentary on societal structures and personal responsibility.
Stay Connected:
For those interested in engaging further or submitting questions for future episodes, reach out via officehours@profgmedia.com or participate in the discussion on the Scott Galloway subreddit.
Next Episode Tease:
Scott hints at an upcoming deep dive into Reddit's ecosystem, promising an exploration into the platform's influence and potential.
Produced by:
Jennifer Sanchez
Intern: Dan Shalon
Technical Director: Drew Burrows
Join Us Next Saturday:
Don't miss the follow-up episode, "No Mercy / No Malice," read by George Hahn, continuing the exploration of bold ideas and unfiltered opinions.
Note: This summary excludes promotional segments and advertisements to focus solely on the episode's substantive content.