Office Hours: The Future of WhatsApp Monetization, Should I Renovate My Home or Move? and How Scott Approaches Giving Money to Family and Friends

Scott gives his thoughts on how Meta can leverage WhatsApp, speaking to how he thinks it is the most under-monetized technology platform in the world. He then advises a listener who is deciding whether to renovate their home or move to a new house. He wraps up with a conversation on giving money to family and friends, specifically how he finds it rewarding and an act of love. Music: https://www.davidcuttermusic.com / @dcuttermusic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:01Scott Galloway?

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• 0:48Speaker 01

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• 1:16Scott Galloway?

  Welcome to the Prof G Pod's Office Hours. This is the part of the show where we answer your questions about business, big tech, entrepreneurship, and whatever else is on your mind. If you'd like to submit a question, please email a voice recording to [email protected]. Again, that's [email protected]. First question.

• 1:32Speaker 02

  Hey Prof, this is Anthony from Atlanta, now living in Italy. My question is about your 2024 predictions of Meta's growth through WhatsApp. Now living outside of the US myself, I see that WhatsApp is used pretty much everywhere, and I love it. I use it every single day. But when I go back to the States, I notice that basically half the people don't even know what it is, and nobody uses it. In the US, we're still so tied to iMessage and just SMS. I wonder if the growth of WhatsApp is going to be limited despite the fact that there's 3 billion users. Imagine most of that is outside of the US. Will that growth be limited to outside the US? Or will Meta make a push to have WhatsApp grow within the US? Which I hope so, because I love it, as long as they do it in a non-nasarious way.

• 2:14Speaker 02

  Love to hear your thoughts. Thank you. Happy New Year. Ciao from Italia.

• 2:18Scott Galloway?

  Anthony from Atlanta, congratulations on the lifestyle arbitrage. I'm fascinated by this notion of arbitraging your quality of life. I invested with this guy who helped me buy some Claims Against Bankrupt crypto platform, specifically FTX, and he's this super intelligent, smart guy, and he moved his family to this small town in Italy. And he said, okay, imagine a really nice life for 60% off. And I'm just fascinated by that. And I think the two cities that are going to register the biggest lifestyle arbitrage are Mexico and Madrid. I think I'm meeting a lot of people that are moving to both those nations and with remote work. And it sounds like, I'm curious if that's what you've done in Italy. And Italy's economy has been so stagnant that it really hasn't had the same sort of

• 3:00Scott Galloway?

  price appreciation in real estate that some of the other nations have registered. Okay, back to WhatsApp. As a reminder, Meta acquired WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2014. I don't think we should be talking about whether or not it's a growth issue. I think the issue here is that it's not about growth, it's about monetization. With 3 billion people, you don't need growth. I mean, you've kind of got everybody. Effectively, the way I think of WhatsApp is it's the world's largest telco. And when you look at AT&T and Verizon trading, and I don't know what they trade, at $70 or $100 billion, you think, okay, shouldn't this company be worth more? But what it needs to show is revenue growth. The head of WhatsApp, Will Cathcart, is that his name? Cathcart? I think of catheter. I think of catheter.

• 3:44Scott Galloway?

  Anyways, by the way, my dad constantly tells me that whoever invented the catheter should get a Nobel Prize. And also, speaking of my father, 93, he has a new friend. New friend, a guy named Max. Send me a picture. Never too old to make more friends as a dude, although it gets harder for us, and that literally made my weekend. Anyways, he told the head of WhatsApp said, "The goal is to make WhatsApp a household name. The conversation has moved from WhatsApp as the app I use outside the US when I travel. It's becoming significantly more mainstream." And I agree with that. How has the app evolved? Features including channels, let people follow status updates from influencers and stay on top of news from organizations, including The New York Times. Businesses now have access to paid tools to communicate with customers through the app.

• 4:28Scott Galloway?

  And WhatsApp also has one of the world's most used stories products called Status, which allows users to post temporary text, photo and video updates. The amount of users continues to grow. Now more than 2 billion people use WhatsApp, up from 450 million when the app was acquired. Is it 3 billion or 2 billion? I don't know. I don't know. I thought it was 3, but no, this says 2. Meta hasn't reported exactly how much revenue WhatsApp generates, but in their Q3 earnings report, they said the family of apps' other revenue was 293 million in Q3, up 53%. But still at 1.2 billion, that's just nowhere near what they get from Instagram and the core platform. And that was driven by revenue growth from their WhatsApp business platform. So I just think you're gonna see, I think they're gonna figure out advertising and new features and they're gonna start charging for it and there'll be an outcry from this

• 5:13Scott Galloway?

  vocal minority of people who wanna keep WhatsApp free or get sick of the ads. But I would imagine the data and the GPS location and if they implement AI and basically they find out that you're using WhatsApp on your way to Italy and they can start sending you ads for cool Italian hotels and yeah, is it a valuation of your privacy? But so what? People have voted with their activity, their time and their wallets, and that is they're willing to give up a certain amount of their privacy in exchange for utility. And WhatsApp, I would argue, I would argue as a function of utility to lack of monetization or lack of tax on you, that WhatsApp is the mattress in a box company that's giving you a $1,000 mattress for 300 bucks, or when Uber was letting you take an Escalade to

• 5:56Scott Galloway?

  the airport for 18 bucks and it was costing them 100. WhatsApp, right now, in my view, is the most under-monetized technology platform in the world. And they're gonna start to bring that utility in line with its monetization. And I think this is gonna be one of the most fastest-growing revenue lines in technology. WhatsApp is the juggernaut largest telco in the world. It's not about growing the user base, it's about monetization. And I think they're about to turn on those jets. And Mark Zuckerberg is arguably, there is no one better at monetizing attention than Mark Zuckerberg. He is the attention wizard, if you will. Thanks for the question. Question number two.

• 6:36Speaker 04

  Hi, Professor G. I heard your call to action for questions related to things besides career advice. So I have a question about home renovation. I've been in my home for about seven years now. My husband and I bought it off foreclosure. It had holes in the ceiling and missing plumbing. We did a lot of that renovation work ourselves to fix those things. But the house still needs a lot of work. The kitchens and some of the bathrooms are over 20 years old. And the siding and the roof probably need to be redone within the next five to 10 years. We are, however, in, you know, one of the best areas for public school in the country.

• 7:21Speaker 04

  And the house is worth over a million dollars, probably, even in the state it's in. But I'm wondering whether it makes sense for us to put the money in to renovate this house or to move somewhere else that is already done and is going to work better for our family.

• 7:42Scott Galloway?

  Thanks for the question. I love this. I don't, I don't talk about this a lot, but one of my investment strategies, I just didn't know where to put my money last year. And, or for a few years now, I've had such a run up in tech stocks that I think, I'm trying to be smarter. I'm trying to not be as concentrated in kind of email and cooking or take my own advice. And I'm trying to diversify. I'm at a point in my life where if I lose 90% of my net worth, which I have done twice before because I was so over invested in tech, because that's what I know, I just don't want to go back there. And I'm running out of time to make it back. So I'm trying to diversify. And one of the ways I'm diversifying, and also, my second objective is I really want to enjoy my remaining time on this planet.

• 8:25Scott Galloway?

  I am 49, or 59, we're just gonna say 49. Nancy Reagan here, Nancy Reagan. But I read obituaries. I'm a bit obsessed with death and macabre, but it is sort of a point of inspiration for me, realizing that I believe our time here is finite. So one of my investment strategies is I have been buying homes in really wonderful places. Specifically, and this is not great, but I think income inequality is only gonna get worse around the world. As someone who studies economics and likes to think they understand trends and demographics, I think governments all over the world have been weaponized by rich people. Rich people have sort of run away with the amount of power they have. We were talking about Bill Ackman as an activist investor going after social issues

• 9:09Scott Galloway?

  and how rich people are now filling the void of government, simply because lower taxes mean less power to governments and more power to people. But I just see it continuing to get worse. So what does that have to do with real estate? I have bought homes in London, Palm Beach, New York, and Aspen. Kind of what I call a 0.1% real estate strategy, because I think the crazy rich people are only gonna get crazier and richer. But what I do is I buy homes that need to be renovated. And I take advantage of another flaw in our species, and that is these homes take my home in Palm Beach took three years to renovate, and it takes capital. I have capital, and also I have patience. One of the best ways to build wealth for a family and a couple, if you have some capital,

• 9:52Scott Galloway?

  is to buy a place, fix it up, sell it, and because if you're married, you get up to $500,000, the first $500,000 in gains are tax-free, which is incredible, as long as you own it for two years, and then wash, rinse, and repeat. So I go, I'm doing what you do. I'm doing, I buy homes, I fix them up, and then I get to enjoy them for a little while, and then ideally, I'm going to sell them. Generally, what I have found, generally what I have found is it goes specifically to your question, that you are better off staying and fixing it up and making it buyer-ready. And then either selling it or staying there and enjoying it and enjoying your life, if you will. Why? Because $100,000 of well-spent renovation will usually get

• 10:34Scott Galloway?

  150 to maybe even 200,000 in incremental value. And that is, there are a lot of people out there, people have more money than time right now across America, especially at a home that's $1 million. And that is, people would rather pay 100 or 200 grand more than do that shit themselves. They don't want to wait a year or two year to fix the plumbing. Typically, the best return on investment, the best return on investment is investments in kitchen and bathrooms. But you should absolutely, unless I'm missing something here, maybe even take out a second if you need the money, interest rates are starting to come down, and be on site, actively manage, hire and fire those contractors and show up and ask why the tile and the seam on the soapstone on your kitchen counter isn't

• 11:16Scott Galloway?

  perfect. Be on site, be all over your vendors, price them out. There's nothing like an owner at the home managing vendors and service people to get good work at a good value, in my view. We have one quick break before our final question. Stay with us.

• 11:37Scott Galloway?

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• 12:40Scott Galloway?

  Support for the show comes from Vanta. As AI adoption grows, so does your company's security risks and requirements. New frameworks, audits, and vendors keep piling on, but your team isn't getting any bigger. Most compliance tools promise automation, but you're really stuck doing all the work by hand, chasing screenshots, validating controls, and playing catch-up when audit season comes around again. Vanta works differently. The regentic trust platform is built to scale with you, not slow you down. With over 1,400 automated tests across 400-plus integrations, Vanta collects evidence and monitors your controls year-round, cutting your audit prep by 82%. Plus, you can access the Vanta agent everywhere you work, whether your team is in Vanta every day or living in tools including Claude or Cursor. Want proof?

• 13:25Scott Galloway?

  Over 16,000 fast-growing companies like Ramp, Ryder, and Harvey save time and resources while scaling fast with Vanta. Learn more at vanta.com/profg and get $1,000 off. That's spelled V-A-N-T-A dot com slash prof G for $1,000 off. Support for the show comes from Vanta. As AI adoption grows, so does your company's security risks and requirements. New frameworks, audits, and vendors keep piling on, but your team isn't getting any bigger. Most compliance tools promise automation, but you're really stuck doing all the work by hand, chasing screenshots, validating controls, and playing catch-up when audit season comes around again. Vanta works differently.

• 14:09Scott Galloway?

  The regentic trust platform is built to scale with you, not slow you down. With over 1,400 automated tests across 400-plus integrations, Vanta collects evidence and monitors your controls year-round, cutting your audit prep by 82%. Plus, you can access the Vanta agent everywhere you work, whether your team is in Vanta every day or living in tools including Claude or Cursor. Want proof? Over 16,000 fast-growing companies like Ramp, Ryder, and Harvey save time and resources while scaling fast with Vanta. Learn more at vanta.com/profg and get $1,000 off. That's spelled V-A-N-T-A dot com slash prof G for $1,000 off.

• 14:55Scott Galloway?

  Welcome back. Question number three.

• 14:57Speaker 05

  Hey, Prof G. My name is Amir. I live in New Hampshire. I don't recall if you have any siblings. I think you've spoken about a sister once or twice, but my question is about the obligation of siblings to each other financially. You've been eloquent and open about your relationship with your mom and your dad, and your views on them are quite clear. What is your point of view about the obligation to look after your less fortunate siblings financially? My wife and I are both successful and financially secure, but have siblings who have not been as fortunate. We often feel torn in terms of having more versus our siblings. We do help them, but probably not to the extent that we could. Would love to hear what you think about this issue. Thanks. Big fan of the shows, all of them.

• 15:42Scott Galloway?

  I love this question. People talk about sex now very openly. People talk about political rifts. They talk about mental illness. I mean, there are very few taboos anymore. One taboo: people don't talk about money. They don't talk about openly and honestly how much they have and how it's or don't have, how it's impacting their relationships, their marriage. And I think it's important to talk openly about money. This is a deeply personal question, and I think it's something that I don't think there is a right way. I think there's just got to be your way and what you and your wife feel comfortable with. My drive for money is all about women.

• 16:23Scott Galloway?

  When I was younger, I figured out that guys with money were able to attract a broader selection set of mates, and I wanted to be one of those people. I wanted to find someone more interesting and better-looking than me. And that meant as a guy, you had to find, you had to make money. And then the real motivation for making money and the requirement and the sacrifice required to make a lot of money was I wanted to take care of my mom. And... I financially support my father, not because he doesn't have money, but he has such a weird relationship with money that the idea of him telling him he's now spending money on his assisted living facility would just freak him out so much.

• 17:02Scott Galloway?

  It would cause him so much stress and agita that it's easier for me just to pay for it. And my relationship with my sister, my sister is very successful financially. Her and her husband are successful. But on occasion, I have given, I don't want to say help them because they never ask and they don't need help, but I will do stuff for them that involves money. And I do it for me. I just find it so rewarding. It makes me feel strong. It makes me feel masculine. There's probably a power dynamic there, which is, I don't think I demand any, I don't think I use it for control.

• 17:47Scott Galloway?

  But I'm doing a lot of virtue signaling right now here, but anyways, I'm going to. I spoke to a former employee of mine that used to work with me at L2, and she's going through a lot, dying mother, new job, two kids, you know, typical sandwich generation that kind of falls to the woman who's both working, taking care of aging parents and kids. And she was just the star at this company, at L2. And just in the middle of the conversation, I said, would it help if I gave you some money? And I know how crass and weird that sounds, but I find that money is nothing but the transfer of work and time to people.

• 18:26Scott Galloway?

  And what more wonderful thing to give to people you care about than work and time and money and make their life a little bit easier? So I'm blessed in that my sibling is really successful, so she's never needed money. But I like, on occasion, having the opportunity to give money. I think it's incredibly rewarding. And to have money and financial security in our society is to have people want to help your kids, it's to give you health care, it's to create more options for you. So to a certain extent, to have money in America is to be loved. So to a certain extent, if you can give money to people and help them. You know, you're sort of, I think it's sort of an expression of love, if you will. They say,

• 19:10Scott Galloway?

  "Don't lend money to friends," or whatever. I think that's total bullshit. But just some best practices, or what I'll call my practices. I don't loan money. Actually, is that not true? A friend of mine just borrowed a million bucks from me. That's not true. But he's, this is to renovate a house. I'll get it back. He lent me a million dollars about 10, 15 years ago, so it was just the right thing to do. In general, though, when my friends are not doing well, or I have an opportunity, I don't loan it. I give it. I don't give them money that would have an impact on my life. None of this money, I assume I will never get it back. I don't want to resent them. I don't want them to feel, I don't want it to strain the relationship. So if you're in a position, and this is a position of privilege, but if you're in a position to help your siblings, what I would suggest is you come up with a reason

• 19:55Scott Galloway?

  to give them the money. You know, you can give away up to, I think it's $15,000 to $16,000 as a gift, with no taxable ramifications to them. So to say to them, "Look, we've had a great year. Would it help if we gave you," and you could give up to, if there's four of you, $64,000, I believe, tax-free to them. What I would not do is start giving them money regularly, because you don't want them to become dependent upon it. I'm not even saying, "Do it for them. Do it for yourself." It feels just fucking awesome. Thanks for the question. That's all for this episode. Again, if you'd like to submit a question, please email a voice

• 20:32Scott Galloway?

  recording to [email protected]. This episode was produced by Caroline Chagrin. Jennifer Sanchez is our associate producer, and Drew Burrows is our technical director. Thank you for listening to the Prop G Pod from the Vox Media Podcast Network. We will catch you on Saturday for No Mercy, No Malice, as read by George Hahn, and on Monday with our weekly market show.

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