Pivot

Kara and Scott talk about the big players in Silicon Valley headed to the EU where they are debating new regulations on artificial intelligence. In more foreign affairs and tech, they talk about the US bringing charges against Huawei for federal racketeering. Airbnb was once a rare profitable "unicorn", but now, ahead of their expected IPO, they're in the red; Kara and Scott talk about how and whe...

Kara and Scott talk about what it means for Amazon to be paying (minimal) taxes, as Jeff Bezos is "going Hollywood", and the company battles with the government over JEDI. They also revisit Google's quiet dismissal of top executives -- the company's longtime head of HR left this week. This week, the FTC ordered the big tech companies -- Facebook, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Apple -- to hand over in...

Kara and Scott talk about The Oscar's and how the award is being rebranded. They discuss Uber's most recent earnings call and whether or not they'll actually be profitable next year. Kara thinks that while the January jobs report showed employment is up, it is a poor marker of success because of wage stagnation. In Friends of Pivot, New York Times columnist and Squawk Box host Andrew Ross Sorkin c...

Kara and Scott talk about technical difficulties at the Iowa caucuses. They disagree about whether Sheryl Sandberg's engagement announcement was a PR stunt or a personal moment. In listener mail they answer a question about One Medical's IPO and other concierge care companies poised to disrupt healthcare. Kara's win is Spotify acquiring The Ringer. Scott's fail is Casper's IPO. In predictions, Sco...

Kara and Scott talk about IBM's new CEO as the company struggles to keep up with cloud computing. They also discuss Zuckerberg's "new approach to social media", and breakdown Amazon's major earnings. In "Friends of Pivot" Jon Lovett, host of the Crooked Media podcast "Lovett or Leave It" says we should be prepared for the Trump campaign's major ad push. In wins and fails, Kara remembers Leila Jana...

Kara and Scott talk about the Congressional Budget Office projecting that the U.S. budget deficit will pass the $1 trillion threshold in 2020. They also get into tech earnings, who did well last quarter, and what we can expect going forward. In listener mail, Kara and Scott talk about Huawei Britain defying Trump's plea to ban their plans for 5G expansion. Kara's win is Michael Bloomberg's ad camp...

Kara and Scott talk about the spread of coronavirus and how it is affecting China. They discuss how the story of Kobe Bryant's tragic death played out on Twitter. Also, YouTube is now having their moderators sign a release acknowledging they could get PTSD from doing the work... Kara has thoughts. In listener mail, we get a question about players in the co-working space and how they are strategizi...

Scott co-hosts with Erica Anderson (Pivot's indomitable Executive Producer!) and they talk about the Saudi's hacking Jeff Bezos' phone. They talk about how Amazon has the power of its own nation and the implications of that. They talk Apple encryption part II, after a Reuters story revealed that the company had ended its plan to encrypt the iCloud at the request of the FBI. In listener mail, a for...

Kara talk about Google becoming the world's fourth trillion-dollar company ... and who is actually paying taxes on all of it? They discuss world leaders congregating at Davos. Donald Trump will be speaking as the Senate impeachment trial starts. In Friend of Pivot, Executive Producer and founder of "The Black List", Franklin Leonard says that with the influx of big tech companies producing films t...

Kara and Scott argue about whether the government should have the right to hack into phones of suspected criminals. In a reversal of strategy the historically secretive National Security Agency alerted Microsoft to a vulnerability in its operating system -- Scott think it's a brilliant branding move. In listener mail, Kara and Scott answer a computer science student's question about how to teach e...

Kara and Scott talk about Casper's S-1 and how it compares to other internet retail companies like Away and Warby Parker. We also get a rant out of Scott on Softbank's latest fail: their hotel chain OYO let-go a huge percent of their staff in Asia. In Friend of Pivot we hear from New York Magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi about whether Congress or Twitter has more power to reign in Trump. In wins and...

Kara and Scott talk about Facebook's decision not to change their political ad policies. They also discuss Facebook banning "deep fakes" and Teen Vogue's confusion over a Facebook sponsored content article. Kara has a rant for Facebook VP, Andrew Bosworth, about his Lord of the Rings reference and op-ed. In Listener Mail we hear from an Australian asking about big tech's response to natural disast...

Kara and Scott talk about how Trump has been escalating US conflict with Iran on Twitter. They also discuss how politics were downplayed at the Golden Globes, but big tech took a lot of snark -- especially from our favorite rebel Sascha Baron Cohen. Kara's win is Richard Plepler, the former CEO/Chairman of HBO moving his production company to Apple. In fails, it turns out that New York City offere...

Kara and Scott are back to talk about a suite of new regulations in California that will give consumers agency over their data and gig workers more protection. They also talk about Tesla's big stock spike. In fails, Sharon Stone was kicked off the Bumble dating app. And Kara brings some optimistic predictions to the show -- she thinks handheld phone devices will be a thing of the past by 2030. Lea...

Kara and Scott look back at the 2010s and the biggest stories of the decade with the help of some friends. With cameos from Colorado Senator Michael Bennett, Girls Who Code Founder/CEO Reshma Saujani, and Former HBO CEO/Chairman Richard Plepler, they break down the moments in tech, leadership, politics and media that defined the time. Plus Kara and Scott reflect on some of their own personal growt...

Kara and Scott talk about what impeachment might mean for business. Also they talk about Peter Thiel's influence behind the scenes at Facebook and their political ad policies. Meanwhile, SoftBank is on an on-going disaster. A personal win for Kara is Amazon banning third-party sellers from using FedEx (after her recent tweet-storm). Which brings Scott to predict that FedEx will get acquired in the...

Kara and Scott talk about the "Phase One" trade agreement between the US and China and what it means for big tech. It's the anniversary of the tragic Sandy Hook shooting and Kara and Scott talk about how tech could mitigate gun violence and how people are buying "ghost guns" online. In listener mail, we get a question about whether Amazon will buy rights to stream NFL games when their contracts wi...

Kara and Scott talk about Congress' hearing on regulating end-to-end encryption on messaging apps. They discussJack Dorsey's tweet storm about building a small internal open source team. We get updates on leadership at Away. In Friend of Pivot, we hear from legendary fashion and media icon Joanna Coles on what Amazon wants out of the fashion industry. Scott's win is the Silicon Valley finale. Kara...

Kara and Scott talk about a letter Scott wrote to the board about concerns at Twitter. They discuss Uber's data report on sexual assault that occurred in their rides. In fails, Kara and Scott get into a new story about the brutal culture at Away. Aviation gin's "sequel" to the Peloton ad is everybody's win! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kara and Scott talk about leaderships shifts at Google -- Larry and Sergey are out and Sundar Pichai is in. In Friend of Pivot we hear from French lawyer, Dan Shefet about France's newly approved "digital service tax". Also, Pelosi announced that Section 230 won't carry over into trade deals with Mexico and Canada. Kamala Harris is the winner this week -- she may not be president in 2020, but Scot...

Welcome to Pivot 2x! Our first twice weekly episode. Kara and Scott talk about the future of Twitter as Jack Dorsey announces he's off to live in Africa. They discuss the streaming wars and how movies fared on on platform versus in movie theaters. In listener mail they talk about the failures of logistics companies (specifically FedEx). Prediction: Twitter loses value next year and an activist inv...

Kara and Scott talk about Uber getting kicked out of its biggest EU market, London. They parse out the ad, media and digital strategy of Michael Bloomberg in his quest for the White House. In Friend of Pivot, Kara and Scott have different takes on Google's recent firings of 4 employee labor organizers. In wins, Pivot welcomes Sacha Baron Cohen to the resistance for his speech about regulating soci...

Kara and Scott talk about how Apple CEO Tim Cook, let Trump get away with lying about being responsible for building a 2013 factory. They also talk about how a Facebook executive says the company wants the government to regulate political ads. Also, Scott thinks HBO Max is making a big mistake by diluting its brand and bundling non-prestige television. Friend of Pivot, Arielle Duhaime-Ross, the ho...

Kara and Scott talk about all the Silicon Valley companies rolling out credit cards and checking accounts. Google is also partnering with a Catholic non-profit that has clinics and hospitals around the country. In that new project called 'Nightingale', Google will collect patient data in its cloud computing and use AI to give treatment recommendations. We're skeptical. In Listener Mail, Kara and S...

Kara and Scott talk about former Twitter employees who were spying on user data for Saudi Arabia. They also talk about a big leak of internal Facebook emails that further shows Facebook's conniving use of data. A year out from the 2020 election, a new progressive PAC is trying to beat Donald Trump in the digital ad space. Kara and Scott agree it's a drop in the bucket. Scott bids a farewell to his...