Scott Galloway built several companies, lost at least one spectacularly, and spent the years between 25 and 45 doing almost nothing but work, and he’ll tell you directly how much that cost him.
Scott Galloway, an NYU Stern professor, bestselling author and serial entrepreneur, opens by arguing that AI is net positive for labor but that allowing trillion-dollar companies to regulate themselves is without precedent in American industry. He draws a brief comparison to pharmaceutical and aviation oversight before the conversation moves to the structural incentives that lead tech CEOs to prioritize shareholder value over the public good, and why he argues the problem is systemic rather than a matter of individual character.
The bulk of the conversation is biographical. Galloway traces his path from a childhood in Los Angeles marked by financial stress after his parents split when he was eight, through the mentors who helped fill the gap left by his father, including a neighbor who took him horseback riding for a decade, youth sports coaches who quietly covered the cost of his uniforms and a stockbroker named Cicero who taught him markets at 13. He describes graduating from UCLA with a 2.27 GPA and gaining admission to the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley on roughly $7,000 in total tuition across seven years, and makes the case that accessible public universities remain the greatest economic elevator in American history. His e-commerce incubator Brand Farm collapsed within six months of its 2000 launch, and what he took from it was that the market overrides individual performance in both directions. He then lays out his rule of threes, a framework for young men who have withdrawn from the world into screens, built around physical fitness, working outside the home and putting themselves in the company of strangers. The audience Q&A covers his definition of purpose as investing in something where you will never get a return but continue anyway, as well as his case for mandatory national service modeled on countries like Singapore and Israel.
Chapters:
0:00 Series kickoff with Scott Galloway
2:42 AI optimism and the case for regulation
8:17 Big tech incentives and self-regulation
12:44 Childhood, scarcity, and his mother’s sacrifice
15:51 Money addiction and the hamster wheel
21:13 The rule of threes for young men
26:16 Why men are falling behind women
31:22 Male mentorship and his father’s absence
33:48 UCLA, UC Berkeley, and public higher education
39:13 Higher education access and elite admissions today
43:59 Entrepreneurial journey and the dot-com crash
48:41 Mourning, resilience, and the dying’s biggest regret
49:39 Audience Q&A: the real cost of ambition
51:55 Finding purpose beyond financial return
54:46 National service and rebuilding connection
About the guest:
Scott Galloway is Professor of Marketing at NYU’s Stern School of Business and a serial entrepreneur. He has founded nine companies, including Prophet, RedEnvelope, L2 and SectionAI, and was named one of the world’s best business professors by Poets & Quants. Scott is the New York Times bestselling author of The Four, The Algebra of Happiness, Post Corona, Adrift: America in 100 Charts and The Algebra of Wealth. His most recent book, Notes on Being a Man, reached No. 1 on the New York Times Best Seller List. He has served on the boards of The New York Times Company, Urban Outfitters, Panera Bread and Ledger, among others. Through his podcasts, newsletter and YouTube channel, Scott reaches millions of people.
About the host:
One of the country’s most respected business journalists, Mathisen has hosted or co-hosted many of CNBC’s flagship programs, including Power Lunch and Nightly Business Report. He also served as Managing Editor of CNBC Business News and Vice President of Events Strategy. His reporting has spanned the tech bubble, 9/11, the 2008 financial crisis, and the Covid-19 pandemic, and he’s produced award-winning documentaries and interviews with leaders across business, sports, and government.
About Enduring Excellence:
Enduring Excellence is a speaker series presented by the University of Chicago Graham School and moderated by longtime CNBC anchor Tyler Mathisen. Through compelling, in-depth conversations, the series engages world-class executives, ground-breaking scholars, and cultural icons to explore a timeless yet timely question:
How do extraordinary leaders sustain purpose and impact across generations?
Learn more at: https://graham.uchicago.edu/enduring-excellence/
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