Scott Galloway on Protests, Alcohol’s Collapse, and His Impact | Office Hours

Episode Overview

• An analysis of the age and demographic gap in recent political protests, specifically the "No Kings" movement, and the reasons behind low youth participation.
• A discussion on the current downturn in the alcohol industry, offering strategic advice for a new Scotch whisky distillery launching in a challenging market.
• A personal reflection on how the speaker measures his own impact, moving beyond simple metrics to include qualitative influence on policy and individual lives.

Key Concepts

• Political Protest Demographics: The "No Kings" protest, despite being one of the largest single-day demonstrations in U.S. history, skewed significantly older and whiter (median age 44). The speaker attributes the lack of youth engagement to a decline in civic education in schools and the cause not being perceived as "fashionable" or emotionally engaging to younger generations.
• The Alcohol Industry's Downturn: The alcohol industry is experiencing a significant dip, with top companies losing a combined $830 billion in market value over four years. This is driven by changing habits, as younger people are drinking less alcohol and shifting towards other substances like psychedelics and ketamine.
• Starting a Business in a Downcycle: The best time to start a business is not just in a downcycle, but when the market is bottoming out. This period allows for lower input costs and forces the business to become lean and resilient. Companies that can succeed in a tough environment are well-positioned for exponential growth when the market recovers.
• Measuring Personal and Professional Impact: The speaker measures his impact in two ways. The first is a crude but direct financial metric (net worth). The second, more substantive measure, is qualitative: seeing his ideas and language adopted by policymakers, receiving feedback from people whose lives have been positively affected, and his ability to attract and retain talented people to scale his message.

Quotes

• At 03:03 - "I think the problem is, I think we fucked up. I think we took civics out of high school curricula and replaced it with computer science, hoping all our kids would be Mark Zuckerberg..." - Explaining the potential reason for a lack of civic engagement and protest participation among young people.
• At 08:18 - "The best time to start a business, is not when it's in a downcycle, but bottoming." - Offering strategic advice on timing the launch of a new venture in a challenging market.
• At 15:25 - "My super power is an ability to attract and retain people more talented than myself." - Reflecting on what he believes is the key to achieving scalable impact beyond being a sole contributor.

Takeaways

• To foster greater civic engagement, prioritize and reintegrate comprehensive civics education into school curricula to give younger generations a stronger foundation and connection to political processes.
• When launching a business in a contracting market, maintain extreme financial discipline ("throw nickels around like they're manhole covers") to build a resilient "warrior" company that is poised to thrive when the market eventually turns.
• Measure your impact not just by quantifiable metrics like likes or revenue, but by the qualitative influence you have on important conversations and your ability to build a team that can amplify your mission.