Brian Gongol
Podcast: Updated weekly in the wee hours of Sunday night/Monday morning. Subscribe on Stitcher, Spreaker, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or iHeartRadio
Brian Gongol: Al Roker, you know the jolly weatherman, got in trouble because he was Twittering about his jury service. You know, haha, really? Come on? Apparently he was using Twitter like many people are doing, particularly celebrities who feel that it's a good way of connecting to people. Iowa's own Ashton Kutcher is one of the most popular Twitterers out there. I don't think it's something to get crazily obsessed about. Use the tool, don't live through the tool is how I view. Ok, Al Roker goes there and starts talking about his jury service, and he's in hot water, and he may have been snapping some photos around the courthouse and sharing that through his twitter account. You just kind of sit there and think "Al, Al, buddy, buddy, come on" When you're in a courtroom, in a courthouse, it's probably best to just put the camera away. In general, this would not be a big deal but his decision was instantaneously shared with the universe. Twitter doesn't have a hold button. The internet universe doesn't really have a hold button either. There's no way of saying I'll do this now and share with the world after I sit and think about it. I'm guessing if Al Roker sat and thought about it, he wouldn't have put the pictures of other jurors wandering around the courthouse, but he didn't have a hold button. He just shared it and thanks to the internet, it was out there instantaneously to the entire universe. And because he was Al Roker, who has thousands and thousands of followers on Twitter. 21,000 people instantaneously heard about his jury service and saw these photos or at least had access to them. You know, in the past, before you had an internet, 21,000 people did not know what you were thinking the moment you thought it. This reiterates and reinforces an argument that I'd made a few months ago, the judgement economy becoming the dominant sector. You don't need a brain to do anything on Twitter.
That's right.
Brian Gongol: If you follow some of the people that you can follow on Twitter, you can see that it doesn't take a brain to put up some of the stuff you see on Twitter. But once you're there, a little bit of judgement goes a long way. And if you don't have judgement, that can punish you. it's almost like, it's not that judgement will reward you, but a lack of judgement will punish you. But it is no longer the knowledge of what to do as it is the judgement of how to apply it. Like saying to yourself "gee, maybe I should not post these photos of me on the internet for all the world to see, including potential future employers, or if you're a high school student, college admissions representatives." You know judgment, becoming more important all the time. Being Al Roker, not thinking through the process of maybe not sharing with the entire universe about my jury service. The other side of the judgment economy is this: when you are the people who are the founders of Facebook, and you have this company who is not necessarily that profitable, obviously it's very popular, but it's not really profitable to that huge degree yet. The company is recently valued of about $10 billion.
Brian Dean: So it's actually more valuable that General Motors who actually makes a product, and of course we now own. hahahahah
Brian Gongol: Yes, you know, ok, on that subject, slight detour here. We were in the office the other day, and my brother were chatting. So "how are the books looking?" Well we're making more money than GM. hahaha. Sad but true. We are profitable and we are afloat. So I guess we're a bigger company than GM in that regard. In the bottom line, we're a bigger company which is scary in itself. But you know, you get offered $10 billion dollars, that is the time to find that gigantic button that says "sell out." Punch that button. Here's the deal, no matter how smart you are, $10 billion dollars does not come along very often. If you think about sticking with it for a while longer, and think you'll make it a $20 billion powerhouse, I'd like to know what the marginal difference is to your life between 10 and 20 billion dollars. What are you going to buy with 20 billion than you are with 10. There's gotta be a limit to where you've had enough. You have to know when to sell out and the judgment economy portion of this equation is, if you get offered a whole lot of money, take the money and run. And that includes if you're in a boy band.
Brian Dean: Sure.
Brian Gongol: That includes if you appear on "America's Got Talent." I don't care what happens. You come up with a great idea and somebody offers you billions for it, take the money and run because in the long term, you're probably going to get overturned anyway. I have said it before and I will say it again, Twitter, Facebook and Google. Right now probably the three Internet companies people talk about most. I guarantee you that Twitter will not be the dominant microblogging website in ten years. In fact, I don't even think it will be in five years. I do not think Facebook will be the dominant social networking site in ten years - probably even five - and I don't think Google is going to be the dominant search engine in ten years. I think they will all be replaced within ten years. Take the money and run. And then go do the Mark Cuban thing and buy a basketball team or a baseball team and just amuse yourself.
Brian Dean: Or a car company.
Brian Gongol: Or a car company. They're all on sale now, cheap.