AI transcript
0:00:00 Support for PropG comes from Vanta.
0:00:03 Building a business, achieving SOC2,
0:00:05 where ISO 27001 compliance can help you in bigger deals,
0:00:09 enter new markets, and deepen trust with customers,
0:00:11 but can also cost you real time and money.
0:00:14 Vanta automates up to 90% of the work
0:00:16 for the most in-demand frameworks,
0:00:18 helping businesses get compliant quickly.
0:00:20 And with over 300 integrations,
0:00:21 you can easily monitor and secure the tools
0:00:23 your business relies on.
0:00:25 Join over 6,000 fast-growing companies
0:00:27 that use Vanta to manage risk,
0:00:28 improve security in real-time.
0:00:30 Get $1,000 off Vanta by going to vanta.com/prophg.
0:00:35 That’s V-A-N-T-A.com/proph-g.
0:00:38 Support for the show comes from HubSpot.
0:00:43 More to-dos, less time,
0:00:45 and an infinite number of tools to keep track of.
0:00:47 Sometimes doing business has never felt harder.
0:00:50 But you don’t need a miracle to hit your goals.
0:00:52 You can just use HubSpot
0:00:54 because their all-in-one customer platform
0:00:56 can make growing your business infinitely easier.
0:00:58 Imagine this, high-quality leads, fast-closing deals,
0:01:01 wildly happy customers,
0:01:03 and more benchmark-breaking corridors.
0:01:05 It’s not a miracle, it’s HubSpot.
0:01:08 Visit hubspot.com to get started today.
0:01:11 Welcome to the PropG Pod’s Office Hours.
0:01:16 This is the part of the show
0:01:17 where we answer your questions
0:01:18 about business, big tech, entrepreneurship,
0:01:20 and whatever else is on your mind.
0:01:22 In last week’s Office Hours,
0:01:23 we answered your questions surrounding luxury, commerce,
0:01:25 the rise of the remote husband, and time management.
0:01:28 So what you’ve seen is, effectively,
0:01:31 everyone’s been crowded out.
0:01:32 This goes to a broader issue
0:01:34 in that I believe almost every industry
0:01:36 is turning into an oligopoly.
0:01:38 You will lose some professional trajectory.
0:01:41 You will lose some opportunity to develop relationships
0:01:43 that will pay off later in life by being remote.
0:01:46 I just think to myself, okay,
0:01:48 is this something I need to do,
0:01:49 or I have to do, or something I want to do,
0:01:51 and then I eliminate everything else.
0:01:54 Today, we’ll answer your questions
0:01:55 about AI and higher education,
0:01:57 the intersection of passion and talent,
0:01:59 and charitable giving.
0:02:01 So with that, first question.
0:02:03 (phone ringing)
0:02:06 – Hi, Scott.
0:02:07 I work in college student affairs,
0:02:09 and I’ve been both curious and concerned
0:02:11 about the rise of AI
0:02:12 and how it’s changing higher education as an industry.
0:02:15 Open AI just announced their new ChatGPT EDU product,
0:02:20 which feels like a play to legitimize
0:02:22 and maybe tame the untamed Wild West aspect of AI.
0:02:27 How do you think a product like ChatGPT EDU
0:02:30 will influence the rest of ed tech
0:02:32 which you criticized in the past?
0:02:34 Thanks for all the content.
0:02:36 I don’t always understand what you’re talking about,
0:02:38 but I always learned something.
0:02:40 – Okay, so a thoughtful question,
0:02:42 and let’s be clear,
0:02:43 I don’t always understand what I’m saying.
0:02:45 So look, ChatGPT EDU is a version of ChatGPT
0:02:49 built on its faster GPT-4O model.
0:02:52 God, talk about some shitty branding.
0:02:55 Specifically for universities.
0:02:56 According to Open AI, ChatGPT EDU
0:02:59 allows universities to responsibly deploy AI to students.
0:03:02 Yeah, that’s what they’re worried about.
0:03:04 Faculty researchers and campus operations.
0:03:06 Open AI has claimed it’s available
0:03:08 at an affordable rate for universities.
0:03:10 It’s smart, almost every software or media company
0:03:14 or even Apple has discounted rates for universities
0:03:17 because that is an audience
0:03:19 that will represent a fairly significant lifetime value
0:03:22 both in terms of economics and influence.
0:03:26 ChatGPT EDU also offers reliable administrative controls
0:03:29 robust data security and high usage limits.
0:03:32 Examples of ways you can use ChatGPT EDU
0:03:35 per Open AI’s release include personalized tutoring
0:03:38 for students, right grant applications,
0:03:40 assist professors with grading,
0:03:42 several universities including ASU,
0:03:44 University of Oxford, a bunch of them, UT Austin,
0:03:48 have been key players in shaping ChatGPT EDU.
0:03:50 Look, I like this.
0:03:51 I don’t think you can keep technology in a bottle
0:03:55 across any sector and also in education.
0:03:57 I remember that when I was in business school,
0:04:00 there was a little bit of debate around
0:04:02 whether we should be allowed to use spell check.
0:04:04 I just think you should give your students,
0:04:06 you want your students to be critical thinkers,
0:04:07 you want them to be just ninja warriors
0:04:10 and you want to essentially train them
0:04:11 to use every tool such that they are better
0:04:14 than their average bear, it can develop differentiation,
0:04:17 the currency and the margin that commands
0:04:20 in the marketplace such that they can do good things,
0:04:23 lead the world, save the dolphins.
0:04:24 And mostly, in my view, create economic security
0:04:26 for them and their families.
0:04:27 I think that’s why most people pursue higher education
0:04:30 other than the beer and football, which is why I went.
0:04:33 But I think that we want to give them
0:04:35 as many tools as possible.
0:04:36 I tell my students to use ChatGPT to the extent they want.
0:04:40 If it’s something comes back anodyne and bad,
0:04:43 and I believe I can notice something,
0:04:45 whenever I get really pissed off of my team
0:04:47 and I get shit that I think is just mediocre,
0:04:50 I say, what did ChatGPT write this?
0:04:52 Because it comes back like a computer wrote it, I find.
0:04:55 I find it’s a great tool for brainstorming.
0:04:58 So for example, if I’m looking for,
0:05:00 I don’t know, characteristics of income inequality
0:05:03 in Northern Europe versus Southern Europe,
0:05:06 it’ll write something up for me and it’ll give me examples.
0:05:08 And I don’t like most of them and I don’t like the way
0:05:09 it frames it, but it’ll give me two or three things
0:05:11 I haven’t thought of before.
0:05:12 I use it for brainstorming.
0:05:13 Will it get to the point where it can write in the voice of,
0:05:16 I don’t know, a Maureen Doubt or a JD Solinger, probably,
0:05:19 but I think it’s still a long way from there.
0:05:21 I think we let kids have at it and raise the standards,
0:05:25 have them expect higher quality work for them.
0:05:28 I think this makes a lot of sense.
0:05:29 Now as it relates to higher ed,
0:05:32 everyone’s saying Harvard’s out of business,
0:05:33 bullshit, Harvard will go from 55,000 applicants
0:05:36 to 45,000 and keep in mind they’re a corrupt institution.
0:05:39 It’s really a hedge fund just offering classes
0:05:41 and they’ll still just let in 1,500 kids.
0:05:43 So instead of admitting 5% they’ll admit 6%.
0:05:47 The elite schools aren’t in the business of educating.
0:05:50 We’re in the business of certifying.
0:05:51 Our value add is our brand and our admissions department,
0:05:55 which pre-screens people who are,
0:05:56 and only lets in freakishly remarkable people.
0:05:59 So if you could have a button on LinkedIn
0:06:02 that said freakishly remarkable,
0:06:03 it would give you graduates of elite colleges
0:06:05 or children of rich people,
0:06:07 which quite frankly in our economy
0:06:08 are good people to hire oftentimes.
0:06:10 Sometimes they’re a lot of times they’re shitheads,
0:06:12 but they have a lot of contacts.
0:06:13 So anyways, I’m not even gonna go
0:06:16 into the whole NEPA bullshit,
0:06:18 but you effectively have elite colleges are gonna be fine.
0:06:21 Technology is not gonna disrupt them.
0:06:23 The online ed space, which I am in, has been a shit show.
0:06:28 I got this wrong.
0:06:29 It has not disrupted traditional education.
0:06:30 Those brands are the strongest brands in the world.
0:06:33 They say Apple or Coca-Cola are the strongest brands
0:06:36 in the world, bullshit.
0:06:37 Harvard, MIT and Stanford are the strongest brands
0:06:39 in the world, no one’s giving Apple $200 million
0:06:41 for their name on the side of a building
0:06:43 on the Cupertino campus.
0:06:44 These brands are really fortresses.
0:06:47 Now, are they gonna be disrupted?
0:06:48 Are there, is there an overdue reckoning?
0:06:51 Yeah, it’s not gonna come from students or applicants though.
0:06:53 It’s gonna come from donors.
0:06:55 These organizations have built these insatiable beasts
0:06:58 around all their bullshit of people, administrators,
0:07:00 thoughtful people, FIPS, formerly important people,
0:07:03 hanging out as the vice chancellor of something
0:07:05 before they run for Senate and lose again.
0:07:08 And the reckoning is gonna come from alumni who say,
0:07:10 “Fuck this, I am no longer going to fund
0:07:13 the zombie apocalypse of useful idiots on campuses
0:07:17 and pull their funding, which will require,
0:07:19 which will require a modification or a reduction
0:07:22 in their, or a rethinking of their cost structure.
0:07:25 They will turn to AI to relieve some,
0:07:28 some teachers of their administrative tasks
0:07:30 that they were smart.
0:07:31 They would cut 10, 20, 30% of the cost right now.
0:07:33 Where did, when the hell were we asked
0:07:35 to morph from being centers of excellence
0:07:37 to social engineers?
0:07:38 No one ever asked us to do that.
0:07:40 Anyway, where are you gonna see the biggest impact of AI?
0:07:43 Is leveling the playing field
0:07:45 across lower and middle income homes?
0:07:47 What do I mean by that?
0:07:49 I engage in this.
0:07:50 My kid has tutors.
0:07:51 I actually just told us he doesn’t want a tutor
0:07:53 and we’re like, okay.
0:07:54 And then we realize that he’s a kid,
0:07:55 which means he’s stupid.
0:07:56 And as I think about this,
0:07:57 I’m gonna force him to have continuous math tutor.
0:08:00 But tutors are expensive
0:08:02 and the reason they’re expensive is they’re effective.
0:08:04 And they help your kid get better grades,
0:08:05 help them do better on tests.
0:08:07 What this will be,
0:08:08 I think the biggest impact this is gonna have
0:08:10 on primary education is that ChatGPT and Anthropic
0:08:14 will be able to offer what are pretty reasonable facsimiles
0:08:18 of $150 an hour tutor for nearly free.
0:08:22 Now, you’re gonna have to monitor your kid more closely,
0:08:24 but I think they’re gonna be able to zero in
0:08:26 on where the kid is weak,
0:08:28 where he or she is strong and level them up,
0:08:31 even if they don’t have wealthy parents.
0:08:32 I think that’s a great thing.
0:08:33 Unfortunately, it’ll also lead to great inflation
0:08:36 and take the bar even higher.
0:08:37 I sometimes worry about my 16 year old
0:08:40 in the sense that you want your kid
0:08:41 to have just the right amount of stress.
0:08:43 You don’t want them to be totally carefree
0:08:45 and walking or sleepwalking through life
0:08:46 as I was at 16 and I give a shit.
0:08:48 But at the same time,
0:08:49 you don’t want them to be one of the part
0:08:50 of the anxious generation.
0:08:52 You want them to have just enough amount of stress.
0:08:54 But on the whole, on the whole,
0:08:57 ChatGPT isn’t gonna change the elite institutions.
0:09:00 They have brands that are almost impenetrable.
0:09:02 It will provide an opportunity for an overdue look
0:09:05 at cost cutting at an administrative level.
0:09:07 And I think the good part will be
0:09:09 that it’ll push tutorial
0:09:11 or the tutorial industrial complex will bring the cost down
0:09:14 and offer it up for middle-class and low-income homes.
0:09:16 Thank you so much for the thoughtful question.
0:09:20 Question number two.
0:09:21 – Hey Scott, I’m a big fan of the show and your latest book.
0:09:24 I’m 24 and working in advertising as a visual effects artist
0:09:27 at a small, but successful studio in New York.
0:09:30 I graduated two years ago with a degree in visual effects
0:09:33 and chose a job in advertising
0:09:34 over some lesser paying jobs in film and TV.
0:09:37 I’ve just read the chapter of your book
0:09:38 about finding your talent
0:09:39 and I’m trying to identify where I draw the line
0:09:41 between my own talent and passion.
0:09:43 I feel very lucky that I’ve begun a career in visual effects
0:09:46 and I like to think that I’ve got at least some talent for it,
0:09:48 given my ability to leverage my portfolio for jobs so far.
0:09:51 Call it if you’re burnout or diminishing passion or both,
0:09:54 but I’m wondering if you have any advice for young people
0:09:56 whose passion and talent seem to be awkwardly blurred together.
0:09:59 How do you go about separating them to avoid,
0:10:01 as you said in the book, letting the work spoil the passion?
0:10:04 And is there a way of balancing both on a schedule
0:10:06 you can’t control?
0:10:08 – So Ryan, if you’re doing something you’re good at
0:10:10 and you like, maybe you don’t even love it at this point,
0:10:13 it’s hard to find something you love at a young age
0:10:15 because generally at a young age,
0:10:17 it means you’re doing the shit work.
0:10:18 You’re doing the work that no one else wants to do.
0:10:21 You’re editing stuff, you’re writing the copy.
0:10:23 You’re, you know, your bosses get to show up late,
0:10:26 but you don’t.
0:10:27 I do that a lot and it’s something I hate
0:10:29 about myself and my newest resolution
0:10:31 is the same every year, be on time for stuff.
0:10:33 And I’m not, I don’t know if it’s because I like
0:10:34 the rush of being late or I’m just a narcissist,
0:10:37 but anyways, I don’t know how I got here.
0:10:39 It sounds to me like you’re kind of where you should be.
0:10:42 And that is you’re getting good at something
0:10:44 and ask yourself, could I be great at it?
0:10:46 And if you can be great at it,
0:10:48 would I can promise you with near certainty
0:10:50 or assure you or claim with near certainty?
0:10:53 I guess I guess a promise that’s 100% certainty
0:10:55 is that if you become great at it,
0:10:57 you’re gonna become increasingly passionate about it.
0:11:00 Because the accoutrements of being passionate
0:11:01 about something, the camaraderie, the economic security,
0:11:05 the prestige, the achievement, the ability,
0:11:08 or just the recognition when you produce something great
0:11:10 with a team of people, it feels really good.
0:11:13 I think it’ll make you passionate about whatever that is.
0:11:15 I think passion comes from mastery.
0:11:18 So, I mean, a couple of things.
0:11:20 One, look at the space you’re in and think,
0:11:22 am I learning a lot?
0:11:24 Am I learning a lot at this company?
0:11:25 Do I have senior level sponsorship?
0:11:27 Is the firm doing well?
0:11:28 Is it a good culture?
0:11:30 Do they pay me fairly?
0:11:31 Is there a path?
0:11:32 Has someone taken an irrational interest
0:11:35 or at least a real interest in my future
0:11:38 and it’s coaching me?
0:11:39 All of these things are important to ask yourself
0:11:42 at a specific organization.
0:11:44 Separate that, the organizational components
0:11:46 to do I like this field?
0:11:48 Am I good at it?
0:11:49 Could I be great at it?
0:11:50 And it strikes me that your industry is gonna go
0:11:52 through tremendous disruption.
0:11:53 A friend of mine has invested in an Indian special effects
0:11:55 company that uses technology to bring down the cost.
0:11:58 I think they did a lot of the special effects for Dune
0:12:00 and instead of costing 10 million,
0:12:02 it costs three or four, seven, I don’t know what it is.
0:12:05 But your ability as a young person,
0:12:07 your brain is more agile, more neuroplastic,
0:12:10 whatever the term is to absorb new technologies
0:12:12 and then apply them or cut a swath between technology
0:12:15 and creativity and be great at visual effects
0:12:18 and be more efficient.
0:12:20 I think that is a fantastic seat.
0:12:23 So, I’d just be careful.
0:12:24 I think a lot of young people think,
0:12:26 “Well, I’m not loving my job or I find it difficult.”
0:12:29 Well, there’s a word for that, work.
0:12:31 And I don’t care how romantic the industry is.
0:12:33 If you’re gonna be good at something and really,
0:12:35 I think there’s just a ton of stress and work involved.
0:12:38 And it sounds to me like you found a good seat for yourself.
0:12:42 So, how do you balance both?
0:12:44 I don’t know, boss, I hate the word balance.
0:12:46 I think at the age of 24, this is what I would do
0:12:48 if I were you and I were blessed with a career
0:12:51 that it sounds like you’re pretty good at
0:12:53 and that is growing or I think visual effects
0:12:56 are gonna grow.
0:12:57 Just one quick side note,
0:12:59 design media for a smaller screen.
0:13:02 You don’t wanna be in the movie effects business.
0:13:03 The movie business is gonna get smaller and smaller.
0:13:05 The TV business is gonna be fine.
0:13:07 It’s gonna be a huge business but it’s not gonna grow.
0:13:09 But if you can be great at capturing people’s imagination
0:13:12 with effects or figure out a way to do things
0:13:14 for the small screen, specifically the phone,
0:13:16 that is champagne and cocaine.
0:13:18 Anyways, be the guy that really understands
0:13:21 the intersection between creativity, storytelling
0:13:23 and technology but it sounds to me, Ryan,
0:13:24 like you’re in a pretty good seat.
0:13:27 And also, don’t be hard on yourself.
0:13:28 Recognize that at the age of 24,
0:13:30 the majority of people have no fucking idea
0:13:31 what they wanna do.
0:13:32 You know what I was doing at 24?
0:13:34 I was deciding not to stay in investment banking
0:13:36 and moving back in with my mom
0:13:38 and I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do
0:13:40 with my life and then with my best friend
0:13:41 and my girlfriend said they were applying
0:13:43 to business school and I go,
0:13:44 “I’ll apply to business school then.”
0:13:46 With a 2.27 GPA from UCLA, I applied to business school.
0:13:49 Go figure, Ryan, definitely be that guy
0:13:51 who understands the intersection
0:13:53 of technology, creativity and storytelling.
0:13:56 Thanks for the question, Ryan.
0:13:58 We have one quick break before our final question.
0:13:59 Stay with us.
0:14:00 Support for the show comes from Betterment.
0:14:08 Even the most hardcore of us need to kick back
0:14:10 and chill every now and then.
0:14:11 But if you’re an investor,
0:14:12 chill is the last thing you want your money to be doing.
0:14:14 You want it to be pumping iron
0:14:16 and running marathons for you.
0:14:17 If you want your money performing at an Olympic level,
0:14:20 you might want to check out Betterment’s
0:14:21 Automated Investment and Savings app.
0:14:23 Betterment’s automated technology gives you advanced tools
0:14:26 that are built to help maximize returns.
0:14:28 Tools like diversified expert-built portfolios
0:14:30 of low-class ETFs, high-yield cash accounts
0:14:33 and automated investing technology,
0:14:35 including automated rebalancing.
0:14:37 Plus, Betterment can help with tax-efficient investing.
0:14:40 Strategies including their tax loss harvesting plus
0:14:43 and asset location can help minimize your taxes
0:14:46 and maximize your returns.
0:14:47 So whether you’re saving or investing,
0:14:49 your money should be working as hard
0:14:50 as it possibly can for you.
0:14:52 Consider Betterment, the automated investing and savings app
0:14:55 that makes your money hustle.
0:14:57 You can visit Betterment.com to get started.
0:14:59 You can learn more about high-yield cash accounts
0:15:01 at Betterment.com.
0:15:02 Investing involves risk, performance not guaranteed,
0:15:05 cash reserve offered through Betterment LLC
0:15:07 and Betterment Securities.
0:15:08 Betterment is not a bank.
0:15:10 Support for PropG comes from Babbel.
0:15:17 So you want to learn a new language?
0:15:18 Great, you have a few options.
0:15:20 You can uproot your life and move some more far away
0:15:22 to get the full immersion experience,
0:15:24 but I’m guessing that’s not on the cards for you.
0:15:26 You could hire a private tutor,
0:15:28 but that’s going to cost you several hundred bucks,
0:15:30 or you could try a language app,
0:15:32 but not all language apps are created equal.
0:15:34 So you might want to try Babbel.
0:15:37 Babbel is a science-backed language learning app
0:15:39 with lessons created by real people for real conversations.
0:15:41 Unlike other language apps,
0:15:43 Babbel doesn’t rely on artificial intelligence
0:15:45 to build its 10-minute lessons.
0:15:46 Instead, their lessons were developed
0:15:48 by more than 200 language experts
0:15:50 focused on teaching phrases and vocabulary
0:15:52 you can actually use.
0:15:54 One of our producers, Caroline, tried Babbel,
0:15:56 and she won’t stop speaking Italian.
0:15:59 It’s really annoying, but I guess that means
0:16:02 the app worked, here’s a special,
0:16:04 limited time offer for our listeners right now.
0:16:07 Get up to 60% off your Babbel subscription,
0:16:09 but only for our listeners at babbel.com/propg.
0:16:13 Get up to 60% off at babbel.com/propg,
0:16:16 spelled B-A-Double-B-E-L.com/propg.
0:16:21 Rules and restrictions may apply.
0:16:24 Support for PropG comes from Fundrise.
0:16:33 You know the adage, buy low, sell high,
0:16:36 it’s easy to say, hard to do.
0:16:38 For example, high interest rates
0:16:40 are crushing the real estate market right now,
0:16:42 demand is dropping and prices are falling
0:16:43 even for many of the best assets.
0:16:45 It’s no wonder the Fundrise flagship fund
0:16:47 plans to go on a buying spree,
0:16:49 expanding its billion dollar real estate portfolio
0:16:51 over the next few months.
0:16:52 You’re gonna add the Fundrise flagship fund
0:16:54 to your portfolio in just minutes
0:16:56 and with as little as $10
0:16:57 by visiting fundrise.com/propg.
0:17:00 Carefully consider the investment objectives,
0:17:02 risks, charges, and expenses
0:17:03 of the Fundrise flagship fund before investing.
0:17:06 This and other information can be found
0:17:08 in the fund’s prospectus at fundrise.com/flagship.
0:17:11 This is a paid advertisement.
0:17:13 (upbeat music)
0:17:16 – Welcome back, question number three.
0:17:21 – Hey Scott, this is Frank Paula from South Florida.
0:17:24 Just finished Algebra for Welk, loved it,
0:17:27 ended up sending it to both my 30 year old kids
0:17:30 with a couple of notations
0:17:31 on things they need to specifically look at.
0:17:33 What is a 65 year old business owner?
0:17:35 I’ll tell you a lot of stuff over in there.
0:17:37 Love the show and also love pivot.
0:17:39 Just listen to your last episode
0:17:41 talking about giving and the wonderful women in this world
0:17:45 that are doing it so kind-hearted,
0:17:47 you know, obviously so generously.
0:17:49 So my question’s around that.
0:17:51 You’re a charitable giver, you’ve mentioned that as well.
0:17:54 And I also believe that there’s no point
0:17:56 in kicking the stuff forward until the time I go
0:18:00 and giving it out there and working in the world.
0:18:03 Tell me a little bit about how you go about making decisions
0:18:06 with regards to the types of giving that you’ve done
0:18:09 now that you’ve kind of put away your chunk of change
0:18:11 that’s gonna support you through the balance of your life.
0:18:14 Again, love the show, looking forward to your answer.
0:18:17 – Brandt, thanks for the question.
0:18:18 First off, you sound like just such an impressive man.
0:18:21 You have a great voice, by the way.
0:18:22 You could have a second career in podcasting.
0:18:25 And this is what I call the mother of all good problems,
0:18:28 right, trying to figure out how to give away money
0:18:30 and what to do about it.
0:18:31 As a matter of, it’s interesting,
0:18:32 it is a bigger issue than people think.
0:18:33 UBS, I used to get invited every year
0:18:36 to this UBS generational wealth conference.
0:18:38 And basically it was a conference for rich kids.
0:18:40 So, think of the wealthiest names in the world.
0:18:44 You get to meet their kids
0:18:45 and I would talk about living a meaningful life.
0:18:49 I talk a little bit about brands and technology
0:18:52 and then they would spend an entire day on giving,
0:18:56 which I thought, I didn’t participate in it,
0:18:58 but I thought that was interesting
0:18:59 ’cause obviously wealthy people are very philanthropic.
0:19:03 I do think, and just to revisit what you referenced,
0:19:06 I do think there’s a virus in the United States of hoarding.
0:19:10 And that is, the problem with the numbers,
0:19:12 if you get to 10 million, you can imagine 30 million,
0:19:15 then you can imagine 100 million.
0:19:16 And because your life has consistently gotten better
0:19:19 along that scale as you increase your wealth,
0:19:21 you think that that scale is linear.
0:19:23 And that if you can get from 10 to 30 million,
0:19:25 your life’s gonna get three times as good.
0:19:27 And what Daniel Kahneman has shown us
0:19:28 is that the difference between zero and one million is huge.
0:19:31 The difference between one and 10 million is modest
0:19:33 and the difference between 10 and 50 million
0:19:35 is really negligible.
0:19:37 So, once you hit your number,
0:19:39 and a decent way to calculate your number
0:19:40 if you wanna be really conservative
0:19:42 is figure out how much money you need every year.
0:19:44 What is your burn?
0:19:45 Say you need a half a million dollars
0:19:47 to live really well a year, then times it by 25.
0:19:51 That means you would need 12 and a half million dollars
0:19:53 in savings and income.
0:19:55 Now, anything above that,
0:19:56 I think you could start thinking about giving away
0:19:59 or spending or going above that half a million dollars a year.
0:20:03 I’m a big spender, I like it.
0:20:05 Hey, big spender, I’m indulgent, I’m materialistic.
0:20:09 I love, I think I’m good at spending money.
0:20:11 You know what I hate?
0:20:11 I hate it when people who have money
0:20:13 can’t spend their money well.
0:20:14 I can’t tell you, speaking of Florida,
0:20:17 how many really wealthy people I know
0:20:18 and I go into their house, I’m like, ugh, my God.
0:20:21 I mean, fountains and stairways
0:20:23 and like shitty modern art
0:20:25 and pictures of themselves everywhere.
0:20:27 Oh, God.
0:20:28 I’m like, Jesus Christ,
0:20:30 can someone show these people how to spend their fucking money?
0:20:33 That’s not what you asked.
0:20:34 How do I approach giving?
0:20:35 I try to put it to something I’m passionate about
0:20:38 and I think I know something about
0:20:40 and then I want to change.
0:20:41 So my big thing is how men are struggling.
0:20:44 I have recently made a gift, if I think about,
0:20:47 14 or $15 million to the University of California,
0:20:50 Berkeley and UCLA for the development of programming
0:20:54 that’s more vocational,
0:20:55 that would have no entrance requirements,
0:20:57 not a traditional four year degree
0:20:58 that appeals to younger people, mostly younger men,
0:21:02 who no longer have access to wood shop, metal shop,
0:21:04 and auto shop that are thinking about specialty nursing
0:21:07 or construction or plumbing or electric
0:21:11 and can foot or can find skills that foot
0:21:14 to this enormous gap in the real economy
0:21:17 and that is the trades sector.
0:21:20 The trade sector is gonna lose five people
0:21:22 over the next 10 years for every two that go into it,
0:21:23 which means the cost of renovating
0:21:25 and having soapstone installed in your kitchen,
0:21:27 which I just had exceptionally expensive.
0:21:30 So those people are gonna have incredible pricing power.
0:21:32 Probably the biggest opportunity in our economy right now
0:21:35 is, in fact, to buy a trades business,
0:21:38 a small business, if you will.
0:21:39 Anyway, I’m passionate about that.
0:21:41 I really like the new chancellor
0:21:43 of the University of California, Berkeley, Rich Lyons,
0:21:45 he’s a wonderful guy, I’ve known him for 20 years,
0:21:47 so I trust him to deploy the capital prudently
0:21:51 and effectively, so that’s kind of my thing.
0:21:54 The other thing I’m passionate about
0:21:55 as it relates to young men is teen depression.
0:21:58 I’ve given a bunch of money to the Jed Foundation.
0:22:01 Is that fair?
0:22:02 I don’t know, get a couple hundred or 500 grand of them.
0:22:05 And then just a personal relationship.
0:22:07 I have a personal relationship with a kid named Scott Harrison
0:22:09 that I’ve known for 25 years
0:22:11 and he is building wells in sub-Saharan Africa.
0:22:14 Do I have a passion around water or people in Africa?
0:22:16 No, I’d probably rather give money to Americans.
0:22:19 I know if that sounds jingoistic, trust your instincts,
0:22:21 but I’m so inspired by Scott and him
0:22:24 and his personal story that I feel a friendship,
0:22:27 a kinship with him, so I wanna be supportive
0:22:30 of his amazing charity, charity water,
0:22:33 and he runs it so well that I’m confident
0:22:35 my money will be put to good use.
0:22:37 So how do I do it?
0:22:38 I find things that foot to my passions
0:22:40 are things I think are really important
0:22:43 that I have a specific interest in,
0:22:45 but let me finish where I started.
0:22:47 This is a great problem.
0:22:49 Congratulations on your success.
0:22:51 And I think it’s very American
0:22:53 to be thinking the way you’re thinking.
0:22:55 That’s all for this episode.
0:22:58 If you’d like to submit a question,
0:22:59 please email a voice recording
0:23:00 to officehours@proptimedia.com.
0:23:02 Again, that’s officehours@proptimedia.com.
0:23:05 This episode was produced by Caroline Shagren.
0:23:16 Jennifer Sanchez is our associate producer,
0:23:18 and Drew Burroughs is our technical director.
0:23:20 Thank you for listening to “The Propti Pop”
0:23:22 from the Vox Media Podcast Network.
0:23:24 We will catch you on Saturday for “No Mercy, No Malice”
0:23:26 as read by George Hahn.
0:23:28 And please follow our Propti Markets Pod
0:23:31 wherever you get your pods for new episodes
0:23:33 every Monday and Thursday.
0:23:34 By the way, our Propti Markets Pod
0:23:37 is already the number one pod in business in America.
0:00:03 Building a business, achieving SOC2,
0:00:05 where ISO 27001 compliance can help you in bigger deals,
0:00:09 enter new markets, and deepen trust with customers,
0:00:11 but can also cost you real time and money.
0:00:14 Vanta automates up to 90% of the work
0:00:16 for the most in-demand frameworks,
0:00:18 helping businesses get compliant quickly.
0:00:20 And with over 300 integrations,
0:00:21 you can easily monitor and secure the tools
0:00:23 your business relies on.
0:00:25 Join over 6,000 fast-growing companies
0:00:27 that use Vanta to manage risk,
0:00:28 improve security in real-time.
0:00:30 Get $1,000 off Vanta by going to vanta.com/prophg.
0:00:35 That’s V-A-N-T-A.com/proph-g.
0:00:38 Support for the show comes from HubSpot.
0:00:43 More to-dos, less time,
0:00:45 and an infinite number of tools to keep track of.
0:00:47 Sometimes doing business has never felt harder.
0:00:50 But you don’t need a miracle to hit your goals.
0:00:52 You can just use HubSpot
0:00:54 because their all-in-one customer platform
0:00:56 can make growing your business infinitely easier.
0:00:58 Imagine this, high-quality leads, fast-closing deals,
0:01:01 wildly happy customers,
0:01:03 and more benchmark-breaking corridors.
0:01:05 It’s not a miracle, it’s HubSpot.
0:01:08 Visit hubspot.com to get started today.
0:01:11 Welcome to the PropG Pod’s Office Hours.
0:01:16 This is the part of the show
0:01:17 where we answer your questions
0:01:18 about business, big tech, entrepreneurship,
0:01:20 and whatever else is on your mind.
0:01:22 In last week’s Office Hours,
0:01:23 we answered your questions surrounding luxury, commerce,
0:01:25 the rise of the remote husband, and time management.
0:01:28 So what you’ve seen is, effectively,
0:01:31 everyone’s been crowded out.
0:01:32 This goes to a broader issue
0:01:34 in that I believe almost every industry
0:01:36 is turning into an oligopoly.
0:01:38 You will lose some professional trajectory.
0:01:41 You will lose some opportunity to develop relationships
0:01:43 that will pay off later in life by being remote.
0:01:46 I just think to myself, okay,
0:01:48 is this something I need to do,
0:01:49 or I have to do, or something I want to do,
0:01:51 and then I eliminate everything else.
0:01:54 Today, we’ll answer your questions
0:01:55 about AI and higher education,
0:01:57 the intersection of passion and talent,
0:01:59 and charitable giving.
0:02:01 So with that, first question.
0:02:03 (phone ringing)
0:02:06 – Hi, Scott.
0:02:07 I work in college student affairs,
0:02:09 and I’ve been both curious and concerned
0:02:11 about the rise of AI
0:02:12 and how it’s changing higher education as an industry.
0:02:15 Open AI just announced their new ChatGPT EDU product,
0:02:20 which feels like a play to legitimize
0:02:22 and maybe tame the untamed Wild West aspect of AI.
0:02:27 How do you think a product like ChatGPT EDU
0:02:30 will influence the rest of ed tech
0:02:32 which you criticized in the past?
0:02:34 Thanks for all the content.
0:02:36 I don’t always understand what you’re talking about,
0:02:38 but I always learned something.
0:02:40 – Okay, so a thoughtful question,
0:02:42 and let’s be clear,
0:02:43 I don’t always understand what I’m saying.
0:02:45 So look, ChatGPT EDU is a version of ChatGPT
0:02:49 built on its faster GPT-4O model.
0:02:52 God, talk about some shitty branding.
0:02:55 Specifically for universities.
0:02:56 According to Open AI, ChatGPT EDU
0:02:59 allows universities to responsibly deploy AI to students.
0:03:02 Yeah, that’s what they’re worried about.
0:03:04 Faculty researchers and campus operations.
0:03:06 Open AI has claimed it’s available
0:03:08 at an affordable rate for universities.
0:03:10 It’s smart, almost every software or media company
0:03:14 or even Apple has discounted rates for universities
0:03:17 because that is an audience
0:03:19 that will represent a fairly significant lifetime value
0:03:22 both in terms of economics and influence.
0:03:26 ChatGPT EDU also offers reliable administrative controls
0:03:29 robust data security and high usage limits.
0:03:32 Examples of ways you can use ChatGPT EDU
0:03:35 per Open AI’s release include personalized tutoring
0:03:38 for students, right grant applications,
0:03:40 assist professors with grading,
0:03:42 several universities including ASU,
0:03:44 University of Oxford, a bunch of them, UT Austin,
0:03:48 have been key players in shaping ChatGPT EDU.
0:03:50 Look, I like this.
0:03:51 I don’t think you can keep technology in a bottle
0:03:55 across any sector and also in education.
0:03:57 I remember that when I was in business school,
0:04:00 there was a little bit of debate around
0:04:02 whether we should be allowed to use spell check.
0:04:04 I just think you should give your students,
0:04:06 you want your students to be critical thinkers,
0:04:07 you want them to be just ninja warriors
0:04:10 and you want to essentially train them
0:04:11 to use every tool such that they are better
0:04:14 than their average bear, it can develop differentiation,
0:04:17 the currency and the margin that commands
0:04:20 in the marketplace such that they can do good things,
0:04:23 lead the world, save the dolphins.
0:04:24 And mostly, in my view, create economic security
0:04:26 for them and their families.
0:04:27 I think that’s why most people pursue higher education
0:04:30 other than the beer and football, which is why I went.
0:04:33 But I think that we want to give them
0:04:35 as many tools as possible.
0:04:36 I tell my students to use ChatGPT to the extent they want.
0:04:40 If it’s something comes back anodyne and bad,
0:04:43 and I believe I can notice something,
0:04:45 whenever I get really pissed off of my team
0:04:47 and I get shit that I think is just mediocre,
0:04:50 I say, what did ChatGPT write this?
0:04:52 Because it comes back like a computer wrote it, I find.
0:04:55 I find it’s a great tool for brainstorming.
0:04:58 So for example, if I’m looking for,
0:05:00 I don’t know, characteristics of income inequality
0:05:03 in Northern Europe versus Southern Europe,
0:05:06 it’ll write something up for me and it’ll give me examples.
0:05:08 And I don’t like most of them and I don’t like the way
0:05:09 it frames it, but it’ll give me two or three things
0:05:11 I haven’t thought of before.
0:05:12 I use it for brainstorming.
0:05:13 Will it get to the point where it can write in the voice of,
0:05:16 I don’t know, a Maureen Doubt or a JD Solinger, probably,
0:05:19 but I think it’s still a long way from there.
0:05:21 I think we let kids have at it and raise the standards,
0:05:25 have them expect higher quality work for them.
0:05:28 I think this makes a lot of sense.
0:05:29 Now as it relates to higher ed,
0:05:32 everyone’s saying Harvard’s out of business,
0:05:33 bullshit, Harvard will go from 55,000 applicants
0:05:36 to 45,000 and keep in mind they’re a corrupt institution.
0:05:39 It’s really a hedge fund just offering classes
0:05:41 and they’ll still just let in 1,500 kids.
0:05:43 So instead of admitting 5% they’ll admit 6%.
0:05:47 The elite schools aren’t in the business of educating.
0:05:50 We’re in the business of certifying.
0:05:51 Our value add is our brand and our admissions department,
0:05:55 which pre-screens people who are,
0:05:56 and only lets in freakishly remarkable people.
0:05:59 So if you could have a button on LinkedIn
0:06:02 that said freakishly remarkable,
0:06:03 it would give you graduates of elite colleges
0:06:05 or children of rich people,
0:06:07 which quite frankly in our economy
0:06:08 are good people to hire oftentimes.
0:06:10 Sometimes they’re a lot of times they’re shitheads,
0:06:12 but they have a lot of contacts.
0:06:13 So anyways, I’m not even gonna go
0:06:16 into the whole NEPA bullshit,
0:06:18 but you effectively have elite colleges are gonna be fine.
0:06:21 Technology is not gonna disrupt them.
0:06:23 The online ed space, which I am in, has been a shit show.
0:06:28 I got this wrong.
0:06:29 It has not disrupted traditional education.
0:06:30 Those brands are the strongest brands in the world.
0:06:33 They say Apple or Coca-Cola are the strongest brands
0:06:36 in the world, bullshit.
0:06:37 Harvard, MIT and Stanford are the strongest brands
0:06:39 in the world, no one’s giving Apple $200 million
0:06:41 for their name on the side of a building
0:06:43 on the Cupertino campus.
0:06:44 These brands are really fortresses.
0:06:47 Now, are they gonna be disrupted?
0:06:48 Are there, is there an overdue reckoning?
0:06:51 Yeah, it’s not gonna come from students or applicants though.
0:06:53 It’s gonna come from donors.
0:06:55 These organizations have built these insatiable beasts
0:06:58 around all their bullshit of people, administrators,
0:07:00 thoughtful people, FIPS, formerly important people,
0:07:03 hanging out as the vice chancellor of something
0:07:05 before they run for Senate and lose again.
0:07:08 And the reckoning is gonna come from alumni who say,
0:07:10 “Fuck this, I am no longer going to fund
0:07:13 the zombie apocalypse of useful idiots on campuses
0:07:17 and pull their funding, which will require,
0:07:19 which will require a modification or a reduction
0:07:22 in their, or a rethinking of their cost structure.
0:07:25 They will turn to AI to relieve some,
0:07:28 some teachers of their administrative tasks
0:07:30 that they were smart.
0:07:31 They would cut 10, 20, 30% of the cost right now.
0:07:33 Where did, when the hell were we asked
0:07:35 to morph from being centers of excellence
0:07:37 to social engineers?
0:07:38 No one ever asked us to do that.
0:07:40 Anyway, where are you gonna see the biggest impact of AI?
0:07:43 Is leveling the playing field
0:07:45 across lower and middle income homes?
0:07:47 What do I mean by that?
0:07:49 I engage in this.
0:07:50 My kid has tutors.
0:07:51 I actually just told us he doesn’t want a tutor
0:07:53 and we’re like, okay.
0:07:54 And then we realize that he’s a kid,
0:07:55 which means he’s stupid.
0:07:56 And as I think about this,
0:07:57 I’m gonna force him to have continuous math tutor.
0:08:00 But tutors are expensive
0:08:02 and the reason they’re expensive is they’re effective.
0:08:04 And they help your kid get better grades,
0:08:05 help them do better on tests.
0:08:07 What this will be,
0:08:08 I think the biggest impact this is gonna have
0:08:10 on primary education is that ChatGPT and Anthropic
0:08:14 will be able to offer what are pretty reasonable facsimiles
0:08:18 of $150 an hour tutor for nearly free.
0:08:22 Now, you’re gonna have to monitor your kid more closely,
0:08:24 but I think they’re gonna be able to zero in
0:08:26 on where the kid is weak,
0:08:28 where he or she is strong and level them up,
0:08:31 even if they don’t have wealthy parents.
0:08:32 I think that’s a great thing.
0:08:33 Unfortunately, it’ll also lead to great inflation
0:08:36 and take the bar even higher.
0:08:37 I sometimes worry about my 16 year old
0:08:40 in the sense that you want your kid
0:08:41 to have just the right amount of stress.
0:08:43 You don’t want them to be totally carefree
0:08:45 and walking or sleepwalking through life
0:08:46 as I was at 16 and I give a shit.
0:08:48 But at the same time,
0:08:49 you don’t want them to be one of the part
0:08:50 of the anxious generation.
0:08:52 You want them to have just enough amount of stress.
0:08:54 But on the whole, on the whole,
0:08:57 ChatGPT isn’t gonna change the elite institutions.
0:09:00 They have brands that are almost impenetrable.
0:09:02 It will provide an opportunity for an overdue look
0:09:05 at cost cutting at an administrative level.
0:09:07 And I think the good part will be
0:09:09 that it’ll push tutorial
0:09:11 or the tutorial industrial complex will bring the cost down
0:09:14 and offer it up for middle-class and low-income homes.
0:09:16 Thank you so much for the thoughtful question.
0:09:20 Question number two.
0:09:21 – Hey Scott, I’m a big fan of the show and your latest book.
0:09:24 I’m 24 and working in advertising as a visual effects artist
0:09:27 at a small, but successful studio in New York.
0:09:30 I graduated two years ago with a degree in visual effects
0:09:33 and chose a job in advertising
0:09:34 over some lesser paying jobs in film and TV.
0:09:37 I’ve just read the chapter of your book
0:09:38 about finding your talent
0:09:39 and I’m trying to identify where I draw the line
0:09:41 between my own talent and passion.
0:09:43 I feel very lucky that I’ve begun a career in visual effects
0:09:46 and I like to think that I’ve got at least some talent for it,
0:09:48 given my ability to leverage my portfolio for jobs so far.
0:09:51 Call it if you’re burnout or diminishing passion or both,
0:09:54 but I’m wondering if you have any advice for young people
0:09:56 whose passion and talent seem to be awkwardly blurred together.
0:09:59 How do you go about separating them to avoid,
0:10:01 as you said in the book, letting the work spoil the passion?
0:10:04 And is there a way of balancing both on a schedule
0:10:06 you can’t control?
0:10:08 – So Ryan, if you’re doing something you’re good at
0:10:10 and you like, maybe you don’t even love it at this point,
0:10:13 it’s hard to find something you love at a young age
0:10:15 because generally at a young age,
0:10:17 it means you’re doing the shit work.
0:10:18 You’re doing the work that no one else wants to do.
0:10:21 You’re editing stuff, you’re writing the copy.
0:10:23 You’re, you know, your bosses get to show up late,
0:10:26 but you don’t.
0:10:27 I do that a lot and it’s something I hate
0:10:29 about myself and my newest resolution
0:10:31 is the same every year, be on time for stuff.
0:10:33 And I’m not, I don’t know if it’s because I like
0:10:34 the rush of being late or I’m just a narcissist,
0:10:37 but anyways, I don’t know how I got here.
0:10:39 It sounds to me like you’re kind of where you should be.
0:10:42 And that is you’re getting good at something
0:10:44 and ask yourself, could I be great at it?
0:10:46 And if you can be great at it,
0:10:48 would I can promise you with near certainty
0:10:50 or assure you or claim with near certainty?
0:10:53 I guess I guess a promise that’s 100% certainty
0:10:55 is that if you become great at it,
0:10:57 you’re gonna become increasingly passionate about it.
0:11:00 Because the accoutrements of being passionate
0:11:01 about something, the camaraderie, the economic security,
0:11:05 the prestige, the achievement, the ability,
0:11:08 or just the recognition when you produce something great
0:11:10 with a team of people, it feels really good.
0:11:13 I think it’ll make you passionate about whatever that is.
0:11:15 I think passion comes from mastery.
0:11:18 So, I mean, a couple of things.
0:11:20 One, look at the space you’re in and think,
0:11:22 am I learning a lot?
0:11:24 Am I learning a lot at this company?
0:11:25 Do I have senior level sponsorship?
0:11:27 Is the firm doing well?
0:11:28 Is it a good culture?
0:11:30 Do they pay me fairly?
0:11:31 Is there a path?
0:11:32 Has someone taken an irrational interest
0:11:35 or at least a real interest in my future
0:11:38 and it’s coaching me?
0:11:39 All of these things are important to ask yourself
0:11:42 at a specific organization.
0:11:44 Separate that, the organizational components
0:11:46 to do I like this field?
0:11:48 Am I good at it?
0:11:49 Could I be great at it?
0:11:50 And it strikes me that your industry is gonna go
0:11:52 through tremendous disruption.
0:11:53 A friend of mine has invested in an Indian special effects
0:11:55 company that uses technology to bring down the cost.
0:11:58 I think they did a lot of the special effects for Dune
0:12:00 and instead of costing 10 million,
0:12:02 it costs three or four, seven, I don’t know what it is.
0:12:05 But your ability as a young person,
0:12:07 your brain is more agile, more neuroplastic,
0:12:10 whatever the term is to absorb new technologies
0:12:12 and then apply them or cut a swath between technology
0:12:15 and creativity and be great at visual effects
0:12:18 and be more efficient.
0:12:20 I think that is a fantastic seat.
0:12:23 So, I’d just be careful.
0:12:24 I think a lot of young people think,
0:12:26 “Well, I’m not loving my job or I find it difficult.”
0:12:29 Well, there’s a word for that, work.
0:12:31 And I don’t care how romantic the industry is.
0:12:33 If you’re gonna be good at something and really,
0:12:35 I think there’s just a ton of stress and work involved.
0:12:38 And it sounds to me like you found a good seat for yourself.
0:12:42 So, how do you balance both?
0:12:44 I don’t know, boss, I hate the word balance.
0:12:46 I think at the age of 24, this is what I would do
0:12:48 if I were you and I were blessed with a career
0:12:51 that it sounds like you’re pretty good at
0:12:53 and that is growing or I think visual effects
0:12:56 are gonna grow.
0:12:57 Just one quick side note,
0:12:59 design media for a smaller screen.
0:13:02 You don’t wanna be in the movie effects business.
0:13:03 The movie business is gonna get smaller and smaller.
0:13:05 The TV business is gonna be fine.
0:13:07 It’s gonna be a huge business but it’s not gonna grow.
0:13:09 But if you can be great at capturing people’s imagination
0:13:12 with effects or figure out a way to do things
0:13:14 for the small screen, specifically the phone,
0:13:16 that is champagne and cocaine.
0:13:18 Anyways, be the guy that really understands
0:13:21 the intersection between creativity, storytelling
0:13:23 and technology but it sounds to me, Ryan,
0:13:24 like you’re in a pretty good seat.
0:13:27 And also, don’t be hard on yourself.
0:13:28 Recognize that at the age of 24,
0:13:30 the majority of people have no fucking idea
0:13:31 what they wanna do.
0:13:32 You know what I was doing at 24?
0:13:34 I was deciding not to stay in investment banking
0:13:36 and moving back in with my mom
0:13:38 and I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do
0:13:40 with my life and then with my best friend
0:13:41 and my girlfriend said they were applying
0:13:43 to business school and I go,
0:13:44 “I’ll apply to business school then.”
0:13:46 With a 2.27 GPA from UCLA, I applied to business school.
0:13:49 Go figure, Ryan, definitely be that guy
0:13:51 who understands the intersection
0:13:53 of technology, creativity and storytelling.
0:13:56 Thanks for the question, Ryan.
0:13:58 We have one quick break before our final question.
0:13:59 Stay with us.
0:14:00 Support for the show comes from Betterment.
0:14:08 Even the most hardcore of us need to kick back
0:14:10 and chill every now and then.
0:14:11 But if you’re an investor,
0:14:12 chill is the last thing you want your money to be doing.
0:14:14 You want it to be pumping iron
0:14:16 and running marathons for you.
0:14:17 If you want your money performing at an Olympic level,
0:14:20 you might want to check out Betterment’s
0:14:21 Automated Investment and Savings app.
0:14:23 Betterment’s automated technology gives you advanced tools
0:14:26 that are built to help maximize returns.
0:14:28 Tools like diversified expert-built portfolios
0:14:30 of low-class ETFs, high-yield cash accounts
0:14:33 and automated investing technology,
0:14:35 including automated rebalancing.
0:14:37 Plus, Betterment can help with tax-efficient investing.
0:14:40 Strategies including their tax loss harvesting plus
0:14:43 and asset location can help minimize your taxes
0:14:46 and maximize your returns.
0:14:47 So whether you’re saving or investing,
0:14:49 your money should be working as hard
0:14:50 as it possibly can for you.
0:14:52 Consider Betterment, the automated investing and savings app
0:14:55 that makes your money hustle.
0:14:57 You can visit Betterment.com to get started.
0:14:59 You can learn more about high-yield cash accounts
0:15:01 at Betterment.com.
0:15:02 Investing involves risk, performance not guaranteed,
0:15:05 cash reserve offered through Betterment LLC
0:15:07 and Betterment Securities.
0:15:08 Betterment is not a bank.
0:15:10 Support for PropG comes from Babbel.
0:15:17 So you want to learn a new language?
0:15:18 Great, you have a few options.
0:15:20 You can uproot your life and move some more far away
0:15:22 to get the full immersion experience,
0:15:24 but I’m guessing that’s not on the cards for you.
0:15:26 You could hire a private tutor,
0:15:28 but that’s going to cost you several hundred bucks,
0:15:30 or you could try a language app,
0:15:32 but not all language apps are created equal.
0:15:34 So you might want to try Babbel.
0:15:37 Babbel is a science-backed language learning app
0:15:39 with lessons created by real people for real conversations.
0:15:41 Unlike other language apps,
0:15:43 Babbel doesn’t rely on artificial intelligence
0:15:45 to build its 10-minute lessons.
0:15:46 Instead, their lessons were developed
0:15:48 by more than 200 language experts
0:15:50 focused on teaching phrases and vocabulary
0:15:52 you can actually use.
0:15:54 One of our producers, Caroline, tried Babbel,
0:15:56 and she won’t stop speaking Italian.
0:15:59 It’s really annoying, but I guess that means
0:16:02 the app worked, here’s a special,
0:16:04 limited time offer for our listeners right now.
0:16:07 Get up to 60% off your Babbel subscription,
0:16:09 but only for our listeners at babbel.com/propg.
0:16:13 Get up to 60% off at babbel.com/propg,
0:16:16 spelled B-A-Double-B-E-L.com/propg.
0:16:21 Rules and restrictions may apply.
0:16:24 Support for PropG comes from Fundrise.
0:16:33 You know the adage, buy low, sell high,
0:16:36 it’s easy to say, hard to do.
0:16:38 For example, high interest rates
0:16:40 are crushing the real estate market right now,
0:16:42 demand is dropping and prices are falling
0:16:43 even for many of the best assets.
0:16:45 It’s no wonder the Fundrise flagship fund
0:16:47 plans to go on a buying spree,
0:16:49 expanding its billion dollar real estate portfolio
0:16:51 over the next few months.
0:16:52 You’re gonna add the Fundrise flagship fund
0:16:54 to your portfolio in just minutes
0:16:56 and with as little as $10
0:16:57 by visiting fundrise.com/propg.
0:17:00 Carefully consider the investment objectives,
0:17:02 risks, charges, and expenses
0:17:03 of the Fundrise flagship fund before investing.
0:17:06 This and other information can be found
0:17:08 in the fund’s prospectus at fundrise.com/flagship.
0:17:11 This is a paid advertisement.
0:17:13 (upbeat music)
0:17:16 – Welcome back, question number three.
0:17:21 – Hey Scott, this is Frank Paula from South Florida.
0:17:24 Just finished Algebra for Welk, loved it,
0:17:27 ended up sending it to both my 30 year old kids
0:17:30 with a couple of notations
0:17:31 on things they need to specifically look at.
0:17:33 What is a 65 year old business owner?
0:17:35 I’ll tell you a lot of stuff over in there.
0:17:37 Love the show and also love pivot.
0:17:39 Just listen to your last episode
0:17:41 talking about giving and the wonderful women in this world
0:17:45 that are doing it so kind-hearted,
0:17:47 you know, obviously so generously.
0:17:49 So my question’s around that.
0:17:51 You’re a charitable giver, you’ve mentioned that as well.
0:17:54 And I also believe that there’s no point
0:17:56 in kicking the stuff forward until the time I go
0:18:00 and giving it out there and working in the world.
0:18:03 Tell me a little bit about how you go about making decisions
0:18:06 with regards to the types of giving that you’ve done
0:18:09 now that you’ve kind of put away your chunk of change
0:18:11 that’s gonna support you through the balance of your life.
0:18:14 Again, love the show, looking forward to your answer.
0:18:17 – Brandt, thanks for the question.
0:18:18 First off, you sound like just such an impressive man.
0:18:21 You have a great voice, by the way.
0:18:22 You could have a second career in podcasting.
0:18:25 And this is what I call the mother of all good problems,
0:18:28 right, trying to figure out how to give away money
0:18:30 and what to do about it.
0:18:31 As a matter of, it’s interesting,
0:18:32 it is a bigger issue than people think.
0:18:33 UBS, I used to get invited every year
0:18:36 to this UBS generational wealth conference.
0:18:38 And basically it was a conference for rich kids.
0:18:40 So, think of the wealthiest names in the world.
0:18:44 You get to meet their kids
0:18:45 and I would talk about living a meaningful life.
0:18:49 I talk a little bit about brands and technology
0:18:52 and then they would spend an entire day on giving,
0:18:56 which I thought, I didn’t participate in it,
0:18:58 but I thought that was interesting
0:18:59 ’cause obviously wealthy people are very philanthropic.
0:19:03 I do think, and just to revisit what you referenced,
0:19:06 I do think there’s a virus in the United States of hoarding.
0:19:10 And that is, the problem with the numbers,
0:19:12 if you get to 10 million, you can imagine 30 million,
0:19:15 then you can imagine 100 million.
0:19:16 And because your life has consistently gotten better
0:19:19 along that scale as you increase your wealth,
0:19:21 you think that that scale is linear.
0:19:23 And that if you can get from 10 to 30 million,
0:19:25 your life’s gonna get three times as good.
0:19:27 And what Daniel Kahneman has shown us
0:19:28 is that the difference between zero and one million is huge.
0:19:31 The difference between one and 10 million is modest
0:19:33 and the difference between 10 and 50 million
0:19:35 is really negligible.
0:19:37 So, once you hit your number,
0:19:39 and a decent way to calculate your number
0:19:40 if you wanna be really conservative
0:19:42 is figure out how much money you need every year.
0:19:44 What is your burn?
0:19:45 Say you need a half a million dollars
0:19:47 to live really well a year, then times it by 25.
0:19:51 That means you would need 12 and a half million dollars
0:19:53 in savings and income.
0:19:55 Now, anything above that,
0:19:56 I think you could start thinking about giving away
0:19:59 or spending or going above that half a million dollars a year.
0:20:03 I’m a big spender, I like it.
0:20:05 Hey, big spender, I’m indulgent, I’m materialistic.
0:20:09 I love, I think I’m good at spending money.
0:20:11 You know what I hate?
0:20:11 I hate it when people who have money
0:20:13 can’t spend their money well.
0:20:14 I can’t tell you, speaking of Florida,
0:20:17 how many really wealthy people I know
0:20:18 and I go into their house, I’m like, ugh, my God.
0:20:21 I mean, fountains and stairways
0:20:23 and like shitty modern art
0:20:25 and pictures of themselves everywhere.
0:20:27 Oh, God.
0:20:28 I’m like, Jesus Christ,
0:20:30 can someone show these people how to spend their fucking money?
0:20:33 That’s not what you asked.
0:20:34 How do I approach giving?
0:20:35 I try to put it to something I’m passionate about
0:20:38 and I think I know something about
0:20:40 and then I want to change.
0:20:41 So my big thing is how men are struggling.
0:20:44 I have recently made a gift, if I think about,
0:20:47 14 or $15 million to the University of California,
0:20:50 Berkeley and UCLA for the development of programming
0:20:54 that’s more vocational,
0:20:55 that would have no entrance requirements,
0:20:57 not a traditional four year degree
0:20:58 that appeals to younger people, mostly younger men,
0:21:02 who no longer have access to wood shop, metal shop,
0:21:04 and auto shop that are thinking about specialty nursing
0:21:07 or construction or plumbing or electric
0:21:11 and can foot or can find skills that foot
0:21:14 to this enormous gap in the real economy
0:21:17 and that is the trades sector.
0:21:20 The trade sector is gonna lose five people
0:21:22 over the next 10 years for every two that go into it,
0:21:23 which means the cost of renovating
0:21:25 and having soapstone installed in your kitchen,
0:21:27 which I just had exceptionally expensive.
0:21:30 So those people are gonna have incredible pricing power.
0:21:32 Probably the biggest opportunity in our economy right now
0:21:35 is, in fact, to buy a trades business,
0:21:38 a small business, if you will.
0:21:39 Anyway, I’m passionate about that.
0:21:41 I really like the new chancellor
0:21:43 of the University of California, Berkeley, Rich Lyons,
0:21:45 he’s a wonderful guy, I’ve known him for 20 years,
0:21:47 so I trust him to deploy the capital prudently
0:21:51 and effectively, so that’s kind of my thing.
0:21:54 The other thing I’m passionate about
0:21:55 as it relates to young men is teen depression.
0:21:58 I’ve given a bunch of money to the Jed Foundation.
0:22:01 Is that fair?
0:22:02 I don’t know, get a couple hundred or 500 grand of them.
0:22:05 And then just a personal relationship.
0:22:07 I have a personal relationship with a kid named Scott Harrison
0:22:09 that I’ve known for 25 years
0:22:11 and he is building wells in sub-Saharan Africa.
0:22:14 Do I have a passion around water or people in Africa?
0:22:16 No, I’d probably rather give money to Americans.
0:22:19 I know if that sounds jingoistic, trust your instincts,
0:22:21 but I’m so inspired by Scott and him
0:22:24 and his personal story that I feel a friendship,
0:22:27 a kinship with him, so I wanna be supportive
0:22:30 of his amazing charity, charity water,
0:22:33 and he runs it so well that I’m confident
0:22:35 my money will be put to good use.
0:22:37 So how do I do it?
0:22:38 I find things that foot to my passions
0:22:40 are things I think are really important
0:22:43 that I have a specific interest in,
0:22:45 but let me finish where I started.
0:22:47 This is a great problem.
0:22:49 Congratulations on your success.
0:22:51 And I think it’s very American
0:22:53 to be thinking the way you’re thinking.
0:22:55 That’s all for this episode.
0:22:58 If you’d like to submit a question,
0:22:59 please email a voice recording
0:23:00 to officehours@proptimedia.com.
0:23:02 Again, that’s officehours@proptimedia.com.
0:23:05 This episode was produced by Caroline Shagren.
0:23:16 Jennifer Sanchez is our associate producer,
0:23:18 and Drew Burroughs is our technical director.
0:23:20 Thank you for listening to “The Propti Pop”
0:23:22 from the Vox Media Podcast Network.
0:23:24 We will catch you on Saturday for “No Mercy, No Malice”
0:23:26 as read by George Hahn.
0:23:28 And please follow our Propti Markets Pod
0:23:31 wherever you get your pods for new episodes
0:23:33 every Monday and Thursday.
0:23:34 By the way, our Propti Markets Pod
0:23:37 is already the number one pod in business in America.
Scott speaks about ChatGPT Edu, specifically how it will affect higher education and the edtech industry. He then gives advice on how to balance talent with passion as it relates to the Algebra of Wealth. He wraps up by sharing his approach to charitable giving.
Music: https://www.davidcuttermusic.com / @dcuttermusic
Subscribe to No Mercy / No Malice
Buy “The Algebra of Wealth,” out now.
Follow the podcast across socials @profgpod:
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices