LinkedIn Plays Games & Hired.com Take Dirt Nap

This week, the boys discuss various topics including their upcoming trips, shoutouts to listeners, the NFL draft, AI girlfriends, and the shutdown of Hired.com. They also touch on LinkedIn's revenue growth despite a weaker hiring environment. LinkedIn has launched three in-app games to engage users and potentially monetize through a subscriptions model. The games aim to make the platform more sticky and increase user engagement. This move is part of LinkedIn's strategy to expand beyond recruiter seats and tap into the larger market of marketing and advertising spend. While the games may not have a significant impact on revenues, they are a step towards making LinkedIn a more captivating platform.

PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION - (AI-generated)

Joel Cheesman (00:30.244)

just two guys who are too legit to quit unless it's around an hour after lunchtime. Hey kids, you are listening to the Chad and Cheese podcast. I'm your co -host, Joel Hush Money Cheeseman.

Chad Sowash

This is Chad Sowash? Well, I should say almost Euro Chad Sowash. So what?

Joel Cheesman:

On this episode, LinkedIn crushes, Elon crashes and light them if you got them.

Yeah!

Let's do this.

Chad Sowash (01:08.22)

Oh, I'm feeling it my friend. I am feeling it. Here is, if you're watching, if you're watching on YouTube, you can see my background, unless there's way too much light and it's like over saturating, but there are mountains behind me. I mean, it is fucking crazy. And guess where I'm going tomorrow. Guess, guess. Big Nose Kate Distillery is here in Santa Fe. So.

Have Santa Fe.

Joel Cheesman (01:26.852)

Is it New Mexico somewhere? Okay.

Chad Sowash:

Actually hooked up with Mel, their CEO, and she's actually hooking us up. So we're gonna go over half a few drinks and check it out. So big nose Kate Western whiskey dist... That's right, that's right, baby.

Joel Cheesman (01:44.516)

There's the t -shirt everybody. If you're listening or watching got the t -shirt. Uh, good stuff. So I'm, uh, I could, I could maybe one up that I'm going to the Kentucky Derby, uh, this weekend, this weekend. So most no hat, I'm not going to show up my wife. Uh, she's got some head gear apparently, but I do have some fun suits. Uh, maybe I'll post some of those on LinkedIn, uh, for listeners. Definitely show up on Facebook. If you follow me there, I've got.

Chad Sowash (01:54.524)

Oh, well, hello. Do you have a hat? Do you have a hat?

We're going to, uh, Friday is, uh, the Oaks, which is, I think the younger Phillies, the younger horses. So I have a pink suit with horses on it. And then for the Derby, I have a, like a powder blue polka dot kind of thing going on. So, uh, it's, it's good stuff. So I've, I've been at the Derby a lot of times I'm from the area, but it's always been the infield, which is basically just drunks and boobies everywhere. Uh, so this will be my first time.

Uh huh. Oh, nice.

Chad Sowash (02:29.436)

Ha ha!

Chad Sowash (02:33.308)

Yeah. Uh.

Chad Sowash (02:38.908)

Yes. Yeah. Pretty much NASCAR for horse racing. Yes. Yes.

Yes, we're classing it up this year. We spent a little, little cabbage and, uh, we're gonna, we're gonna do it right. So I'm excited for that. I can't get too messed up though. Cause we got Vegas in our future, which we will get to, uh, in, uh, in the, in the latter segment of this, but let's get to.

Nice.

Chad Sowash (02:54.492)

Oh dude, yeah. Woo!

Chad Sowash (03:00.732)

Shout outs, baby. My first shout out, here it goes, goes to Deceibo. Have no clue who this fucking company is. But anyway, they are sending the following email out to people who are attending Unleash next week. Quote, Deceibo is heading over to Vegas for Unleash from May 7th to May 9th, and we're hosting an exclusive private breakfast with Josh Burson on May 8th. Here's the link to register.

Mm -hmm.

Chad Sowash (03:28.124)

If you're in to hear from the Taylor Swift of HR, yes, they call Josh Berson the Taylor Swift of HR. What the actual fuck? I mean, have they never heard of truth in advertising for God's sakes? What the hell?

The only thing they have in common is maybe body weight. He's a slight man for sure, but wow, that's a stretch. The Taylor Swift, oh man, I got nothing.

He's a little guy. Yeah, he's a little guy. Oh my God. Oh my God. Ridiculous.

All right. Uh, I'm going to shout out to our friends at hiring branch straight out of Montreal, uh, in Canada. Uh, as you might remember, uh, in January, the wife and I went up, took a train to Montreal, went to a Canadian's hockey game, uh, much to say, there's Boudreaux's, uh, you know, angst and they had ordered us jerseys, but they're nice jerseys, custom names and everything. And they hadn't come in yet. Now the jerseys, this is socialism for you.

Okay.

Chad Sowash (04:20.092)

Uh -huh.

Yeah.

Joel Cheesman (04:27.908)

The jerseys are already three or four months or five months after I visited. So these, these are awesome. Yours is like white, uh, like official Jersey with Chad Sowash and minus cheese on the back. I got the red Jersey. Now I don't know how douche it is to have Chad Sowash, uh, on your Jersey. That's kind of funny, but, uh, you don't, you don't give a shit, but yes, hiring branch. Thank you. Uh, Canadian such nice kind, uh, people, and we appreciate it. So shout out to the folks at hiring branch.

Whatever.

Chad Sowash (04:40.476)

Very nice. Very nice.

Chad Sowash (04:45.468)

Who cares? Who cares? I don't care.

Chad Sowash (04:55.292)

Love us.

Love us some hiring branch. And no, I can't skate. I cannot ice skate, especially backwards. That's just not happening. My next shout out to my sport, the NFL and the NFL draft. So getting to see these young men start their professional journey they've dreamed about for, I mean, since they've been little kids is just so awesome. And I wanted to share a couple of the press conference interviews. So.

Mm -hmm.

Chad Sowash (05:21.692)

The first one is Xavier Leggett, who was drafted by the Carolina Panthers. Check this out. It is, it's hilarious. It's awesome. You might, you might, you might. It's okay. Here we go.

Am I gonna cry? Am I gonna cry? Am I?

Chad Sowash (05:50.556)

I told him I'm gonna be ready. Okay. And then the second one, that one went viral on the socials and so did this one. This one's Kion Coleman who was drafted by the Buffalo Bills. Do this. Come on now. Come on technology, we can do this, we can do this. Here we go.

Yeah.

Chad Sowash (06:14.364)

All right.

Chad Sowash (06:39.516)

Oh my god!

Chad Sowash (06:45.308)

Oh my God, dude, I freaking love it. I love it. These kids, again, I call them kids. I mean, they're young men, but I mean, you can just see how happy they are. I mean, they're just, it's amazing. I can't tell you how many of these draft videos I've watched on TikTok. I just can't tell you. So anyway, shout out to the NFL Draft and these kids starting the journey in their professional career. And this is talent, man. This is talent.

Yep.

Joel Cheesman (06:58.404)

Mm -hmm.

Joel Cheesman (07:04.324)

Yeah.

Joel Cheesman (07:12.388)

Yeah, for sure. And like, those moments will be fleeting with NIL money. So these are kids that like have no money, grew up in probably really tough circumstances. And now they've made it. With NIL money, a lot of these kids are going to be making money and then going into the NFL. So these sort of magical moments, I fear will be fleeting with a lot of people. I couldn't...

Yeah. Yeah.

Chad Sowash (07:30.748)

Uh.

Oh yeah.

Chad Sowash (07:37.788)

This will be the last time, the last time that you actually see them literally come bright -eyed, bushy -tailed to a press conference. From now on, they're going to be trained. I mean, they're going to go through training in the NFL to pretty much just go by the company line, right? So this is like the last time we actually get to see them as real human beings, you know, in a good way. Yes, I love it.

Heartwarming, heartwarming. And they'll also probably get a girlfriend, a real girlfriend. My shout out goes to AI girlfriends, which have made quite a ruckus on the internets this week. Apparently Meta, Instagram, other social media sites are flooded now with AI girlfriend apps asking you to download and get a girlfriend. She's not a real person, but hey, for a lot of people that's okay. Now the problem is,

Oh yeah.

Jesus, no, no.

Chad Sowash (08:22.62)

I don't get it. Yeah.

Joel Cheesman (08:27.876)

the real women, the only fans, millionaires, they can't advertise on Facebook, Meta and Instagram because it's trafficking their laws around it. If it's not a real person, you can do it. So it's quite an uproar that the real, the real ladies out there can't get their time in the sun on, on your Facebook feed. So shout out to the AI girlfriends out there.

us.

Chad Sowash (08:36.572)

Ah.

Chad Sowash (08:50.588)

Ridiculous, ridiculous, ridiculous. Shout out to Free Stuff Kids. T -shirts by Aaron App, beer by Aspen Tech Labs, whiskey, you get two bottles, from Text Kernel, and if it's ya birthday, it's a little rum with plum. Go to ChadCheese .com/free and register to win like these people registered to win.

Mm -hmm.

Joel Cheesman (09:14.82)

That's right, I think I heard you say plum. So that leads me to click this sound bite.

Yes.

Joel Cheesman (09:22.852)

That's right. Some of our lucky winners go to Desiree Goldie, our friend. Uh, we interviewed recently Amanda Hall, Amanda Hall, who, by the way, uh, sometimes you really make these folks day. Sometimes they really freak out and like, I can't believe you're texting me and that you're sending me stuff. So Amanda, uh, got beer from us and got a job offer the same day. So talk about, talk about a hurricane of good news, free beer from us.

Oh! She was just on it.

Chad Sowash (09:36.892)

Oh yeah.

Chad Sowash (09:41.66)

Uh huh. Yes.

Chad Sowash (09:51.868)

That is awesome.

And a new job. So Amanda, a shout out to you for sure on that. And then, and then our friend, Jonathan Godzilla or Zilla, however you want to say it, uh, is our, is our rum with plum winter because it was his birthday. And those other people that are celebrating another trip around the sun this week go to Annie Jarvis, Glen Hill, Garvich Sharma, Jerry Frank, Peter Shapira, Shana Berthold, Keegan Osipek, Stefan Jean.

Congrats, congrats Amanda.

Chad Sowash (10:01.564)

Yeah? Yeah.

Oh, birthday. Yeah.

Chad Sowash (10:20.572)

Last.

Sarah Addison, Bennett Sung, JT O'Donnell, AKA the mouth of Portsmouth, Robert Rayner, Alfonso Zamora, Herb Drew, Come on Eileen Kowalski, Lou Adler, and one of our favorites, I think it's fair to say, Joe Shaker, celebrating a birthday. By the way, I think he's good on betting the over on the Bears.

Oh Joey shaker that's awesome

Joel Cheesman (10:50.116)

this coming year. I think it's at eight and a half right now. The weapons they've added, I think that's an over for me. Just FYI.

Lot of weapons that they added and a lot of work for a lot of rookies. So yeah, and not to mention a rookie in the most important position being quarterback who touches the ball on every offensive play. So good luck, man. It's gonna be interesting. Oh yeah.

Mm -hmm.

Joel Cheesman (11:12.676)

I love his shade of nail polish, by the way. Caleb's got some good fashion sense on the nail polish.

I love a guy who is not afraid to show who he is. That's for damn sure. Yes, which you'll be doing next week at Unleash. We're going to Unleash America in Vegas on the 7th. We will be jumping off the stratosphere with Matt Bauer. That's right, Matt Bauer, the CEO of outhire .ai. You might see it here, kids. It's an over.

Totally secure in his manhood. Totally secure in his manhood. I won't be secure in my manhood, jumping off the strat, trust me.

Chad Sowash (11:47.772)

850 foot drop and we're going to be joined by Josh Gample, Josh Ramsey, Serge Bougereau, Joel Lagoly, Jason Putnam, Michelle Meehan and Russ Weaver. Then later that night we're hopping over to the minus five bar for Omar's Ice Castle. That's on the seventh. That's right baby, for Jopixel and Great Pea.

Mm -hmm.

Joel Cheesman (12:08.964)

Nice. Sold out.

Chad Sowash (12:16.348)

we're gonna be basking in the neon glow at the neon boneyard with our friends from Plum for neon nights. Now, come see us when we're at Unleash and who knows there are a few passes that Joel and I have, we might be able to get you into that one. It is already locked down, but Joel and I have a couple of free passes. So if you hit us right, you might get something. Then we're going.

Nice.

Joel Cheesman (12:38.34)

Oh

Chad Sowash (12:43.9)

to Scotland for true Glasgow and true Edinburgh and.

And guess who's joining us in Scotland, Joel. It's a long list of Scottish players. Oh yeah, they're all over the place. Plus Matt Alder. Yep, this is going to be a recruiting future in Ched and Cheese Joint, which is going to be a blast. May 21st at the Revolucion de Cuba in Glasgow. May 23rd, the Three Sisters Bar in Edinburgh.

All of our favorite Scots, yes.

Chad Sowash (13:16.86)

We already have some great practitioners that are lined up to be track leaders from PayPal, Lloyds of London, the Augeo, E &Y, AMS, Brooks Automation, the Scottish Government is going to show up and several more. So register for one or even both events at truscotland .com. That's T -R -U, scotland .com. Thanks to all the sponsors. Gotta love these sponsors because they're making this happen. Daxstra, Ashby.

Mm -hmm.

Chad Sowash (13:46.396)

solutions driven, gigged .ai, willow and poetry. That's right, Chad and Cheese meets, Recruiting Future in Scotland at True Glasgow and True Edinburgh. Don't miss it, don't miss it.

Mm -hmm.

Joel Cheesman (13:59.524)

Very cool, very cool. So you said the government's gonna be there? Are we sure Stephen McGrath doesn't have any warrants out for his arrest? Like is it safe for him to be around government officials? Oh.

The yes, the government's going to be there. Scottish government's going to be there. I got nothing, dude. I don't know. I think he probably has some contacts within the government, so I think he'll be fine.

Yeah, Adam probably has some get out of jail free cards for Steven as part of his part of his employment. By the way, talk about those that are lightweights, Taylor Swift style. I'm a little worried about Sarah's jumping out of the strat. Are we sure that he's heavy enough to make it to the bottom and he's not just gonna like fly around like a whirly bird from a from a tree anyway?

He's gonna need it. Yeah.

Chad Sowash (14:39.58)

We'll let him go first. We'll let him go first First or last one of the two one of the first or last you're the first or last search You last

If you ain't first, you're last, baby.

Joel Cheesman (14:54.116)

All right, Chad Sowash, we got some breaking news that happened about 10 minutes before we got on the air. Uh, so sources are telling us that hired .com effectively shut down this week, laid off the entire team and said they're rolling the product into LHH, which is a global business unit of the Deco group. Uh, in case you missed it, hired had raised $133 million before being acquired by veterinary, which was acquired by a Deco.

What?

Chad Sowash (15:20.284)

Wow. Yes.

in 2018 for a reported $100 million, uh, hired founded in 2012, uh, with a great deal of fanfare, uh, and it's height was worth $500 million. Again, hire .com shutting down a few other sites. It's pretty clear that, uh, it's over. Uh, if you're looking to poach some people, check out those hired profiles on LinkedIn, because there's some people that are probably looking for a job next week.

cheese

Chad Sowash (15:50.332)

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, this, this just again, over and over and over there, there should be an organization who understands the business of recruiting and that's staffing, but a Deco obviously didn't know what the fuck they're doing. AMS with hourly, right? And Ronstadt with Monster. Those are just three. Okay. I mean, these, these are companies who understand the business of recruiting, of staffing, right? But apparently they have no fucking clue what to do and or how to productize and sell.

Chad Sowash (20:05.884)

Weird, weird wild stuff, weird wild stuff.

Joel Cheesman: 

All right. Let's go to LinkedIn. Shall we company that never gets any pub on, on the podcast. LinkedIn's revenue increased by 10 % despite a weaker hiring environment. Microsoft anticipates mid to high single digit revenue growth for LinkedIn in the next quarter, leveraging AI to enhance member experiences. What kind of experiences Chad Sowash, you might ask? Well,

Okay, okay. Oh my god, Jesus.

Chad Sowash (20:26.3)

Mm -hmm.

Chad Sowash (20:31.516)

What? What? What?

Look out, Wirtle. LinkedIn has officially, we talked about it, but they've officially launched three in -app games, Pinpoint, Queens, and Cross Climb, to engage users and potentially monetize through a subscriptions model. You'll be able to play each game once per day, and after your daily session, you'll get access to all kinds of metrics, including your high score and daily streak, different leaderboards, and who in your networks has also played. Chad Sowash, is this a silver bullet that...

Uh -huh.

Chad Sowash (20:58.588)

Uh -huh.

LinkedIn has been waiting for. What are your thoughts on the revenues and the games at LinkedIn?

Yeah. Yeah, I would have thought that their revenues would be, I mean, to see them get a 20 or a 10 % lift isn't bad because I mean, if you take a look at it, the jobs that are open and being creative or created are generally not in the LinkedIn population of users, right? So yeah, 10%, that's not a bad thing. The whole Wordle thing is interesting. And really we've talked about this over the last few weeks.

with, uh, with LinkedIn is they're trying to become more sticky. They want you to come back every single day. And what does Wordle have? Those motherfuckers, they get people back at least once a day. Right? So that is active and, and, and captivated audiences. Um, they, they want your average person to come back every day, uh, that will elevate their audience numbers and allow them to really focus on what we talked about before. Um, moving from, I shouldn't say moving from, but expanding from recruiter seats.

to the bigger total addressable market of marketing and advertising spend. They're looking at doing videos, they're looking at doing all these different things. What do you really need to make that work? They need users that are sticky, that are coming back every day, and guys like me and you who are on it every day, they know we're gonna be there, right? They need everybody else, right? We're the 20%. They need the 80 % who are not there every day, and they are hoping and gambling on something like this.

Joel Cheesman (22:21.028)

Yep. Yep.

Joel Cheesman (22:30.788)

Yeah. I mean, I hate to say it, but it's, it's pretty smart. Uh, they need people like my wife. Uh, they have a billion users. I think maybe 200 million are on the site on any kind of regular basis. If you're not in recruiting or sales and marketing, you're probably on LinkedIn once or twice a year, updating your profile, adding a credential. Uh, and then you're done. People love this word. They love posting it on Facebook and the socials about, Hey, it only took me three tries to get the word.

It is.

Chad Sowash (22:51.612)

Mm -hmm. Oh, they do. It's easy. Yeah. Yeah.

So if they create a nice little social share thing on this, like, yeah, people will do it. People love this game shit. I'm not into it, but I know a lot of people are. In terms of the money thing, like we talked about this before, the recipe for LinkedIn is working like a charm. It's get rid of the competition, put up the moat. And I know moat has been criticized. Moat's a thing. Moat is a thing. If you can't easily duplicate it, moat is a thing. You can't just build a bridge across a moat. So.

Yep. Yeah.

Joel Cheesman (23:28.356)

Kill the competition, get rid of the fake profiles, which I think they're trying to do. And then you become a monopoly and then you can start raising prices. So until, until Elon's LinkedIn killer comes along and gives them some competition, they're going to continue to ratchet up the prices and you Mr. And Mrs. Recruiter are going to keep paying those prices because that's what you're going to do. And as long as you keep paying it, their revenues are going to go up.

That's hard.

Chad Sowash (23:42.428)

Mm -hmm.

Joel Cheesman (23:55.428)

And this is what we're seeing on, on that side of the house.

Yeah.

So I wonder if they're just gonna allow the tech, which I mean is like the networking tech, just to stay the dilapidated, you know, 20 year old tech, which is what it is today. The matching sucks, the usability, I mean, it's just way too complex. And for many people who don't use it on a daily basis, it's hard to fucking navigate to do just the basic things that you wanna do other than posting, right? So yeah, I wonder because there is much more.

Yeah.

Joel Cheesman (24:21.796)

Mm -hmm.

Chad Sowash (24:26.556)

marketing and advertising dollars that are out there. They can, again, HR is very slow to change. They do hear their recruiters whine, whether they use LinkedIn or not, don't take away my seats. Don't take away my seats. So they might feel like they really don't have to put the money and or time into the recruitment aspect of it. They're gonna focus on where the big money is. And, you know, I don't know, but all I gotta say is the tech sucks.

Mm -hmm.

Joel Cheesman (24:40.644)

Mm -hmm.

Chad Sowash (24:56.604)

If they can make the advertising and the marketing and advertising piece good for them, I mean, the recruiter seat side of the house might just have to, you know, work with bailing wire and duct tape for the rest of their lives.

Yeah. I mean, it won't be the first time a monopoly has fallen down on innovation, uh, in the history of commerce. But I mean, look, we talked about this with indeed with their healthcare channel and their tech channel, right? Like if, if LinkedIn can just get 10 % more nurses to use LinkedIn because of these games, they can go to every healthcare facility in the country and say, Oh,

Yes.

Chad Sowash (25:22.556)

Yeah. Yep. Yep.

Chad Sowash (25:29.276)

Uh -huh.

Joel Cheesman (25:35.556)

In terms of nurses, we have an engagement of X. We have this many monthly active users that are nurses. And you know what? Hospital systems are going to pull out the blank check and pay whatever LinkedIn says because they can show some of those numbers, which they cannot right now. And if they can show tech, uh, tech people coming onto the platform and other segments, then they just create new money channels, uh, to fill the coffers. But you're right. Uh, you're a monopoly and there are little ways to dial it up.

And this, I think is one of the ways to dial it up. We'll have to see if it works.

Chad Sowash (27:07.1)

Whew, we got it.

Listen to the sponsors, everybody, because there's no show without sponsors.

Joel Cheesman (27:19.908)

All right, Chad Sowash, you ready for a little Elon news?

No. No.

Where are you going to get it? Anyway. All right. Uh, some, some, uh, some, some headlines this week from Elon, uh, I'll read them and you can comment on what struck your struck your curiosity or not. Uh, so here we go. Number one, man furious after cyber truck breaks down repeatedly in first month. Number two, Elon teases XTV saying site will be the everything app. Number three, Elon chuckles at post comparing LinkedIn users with zombies.

god i know i know i know

Chad Sowash (27:33.788)

Mm?

Joel Cheesman (27:56.164)

And the last one, Tesla's senior director of HR leaves making another executive departure, just another week and all things Elon, your thoughts.

Mm -hmm.

Chad Sowash (28:06.46)

Well, we just were talking about LinkedIn, so let's go back to it. So Musk is worrying about LinkedIn and he should be worrying about threads as data from Aptopia shows that threads is seeing more daily users in the US than Twitter. Now, that's one of the things. I mean, there's a lot of sleight of hand that happens with Musk. This also the XTV and let's be clear kids, if you type in x .com into your browser, it takes you to twitter .com. So this is Twitter TV.

Hmm.

Chad Sowash (28:36.156)

Twitter is losing trust. He wants this everything app. If you want an everything app, you have to have trust and they're losing users. They're losing trust. And he's hoping that these smoke and mirrors actually help and bring people back to the platform, much like LinkedIn's games. And last but not, I mean, the whole HR thing, he doesn't, he thinks HR is extraneous anyway, I believe. I don't think he really gives two shits about HR.

But the the Cybertruck issue he cares about that Less than four thousand cyber cyber trucks have been delivered Which is I thought I thought was a very low number And then watching them break down and get stuck is all the rage on social media I saw one in town here just the other day in Santa Fe and it's just ugly as fuck. It looks like a block of wood

with aluminum panels attached. I mean, I know it's more than that, but that's what it looks like. I mean, the first time I saw it, I thought, wow, that is kind of space agey and whatnot. But when I finally saw one close up and I got a good look at it, it was like, man, this thing is ugly as fuck. I mean, it'd be like driving a block of wood.

Mm -hmm.

Joel Cheesman (29:51.524)

And coming from a military guy who probably drove a Hummer at some point in his life, uh, you know, and the popularity of those, um, I'll take the other side of the Cybertruck. I saw it in Phoenix twice. I think it's bad -ass. Uh, my wife won't let me buy one or even think about it. So it's, it's what it is, what it is. They need, they need to gift a Cybertruck to every rapper and pro athlete in the country and watch this thing, like go nuts. So it's just going to take a few celebrities to be in this thing. That's going to make it pop.

Oh yeah, yep, that's my first vehicle actually, was a Humvee. Yep.

Joel Cheesman (30:21.54)

Now they have to figure out the whole breakdown. I read a story where someone, if you, they say, don't take it through a car wash. Something about the lake. It's just weird. That's like, they say wash it yourself. Cause it.

They're recalling them all because of acceleration, the accelerator sticking. I mean, it's like, what the fuck? Yeah.

That's, that's a problem too. Yeah. Yeah. That that's, that makes car wash problems seem really, really, um, little in comparison. So cyber truck, I think it's bad -ass, uh, whatever we'll see Twitter, Twitter. A lot of people don't remember this in 2016 Twitter aired some Thursday night football games. They're not airing them anymore. Uh, shockingly people didn't understand. I got to, I got a smart TV download Twitter app. I watched from my computer. I just don't get it.

Yes, God.

Joel Cheesman (31:05.188)

So I'm not sure how XTV it's almost just silly to say XTV. It better, it better have good porn if it's called XTV. That's all I'm, that's all I'm saying. Uh, so, so I think that's one of his frivolous bullshit comments, uh, like he made about autonomous vehicles over a decade ago, but it was going to happen, uh, really, really soon in terms of LinkedIn man, like put up or shut up. You're going to talk shit about LinkedIn and it's not cool. And it's people are zombies on like.

Smokin' Smokin' Marriors.

Chad Sowash (31:16.924)

XXXTV.

Chad Sowash (31:21.66)

Mm.

Joel Cheesman (31:35.108)

Let's see something like, let's see you do some LinkedIn competitor shit. I don't know what it's like. You did jobs that hasn't really set the world on fire. Uh, let's see a profile thing. So like just, just put up or shut up, uh, in terms of LinkedIn. Now the, the one thing I did think was interesting is laying off, uh, HR executive. And the reason I think it's important is because people do watch what Elon does. And when he lays off 80 % of his tech team,

Mm -hmm.

The year, the year of efficiency kicks in and multiple tech companies start laying off a lot of tech people. If he is in Silicon Valley, wherever saying we laid off HR, we didn't miss a beat. You don't need HR. We have automation or whatever it is. People are going to listen whether you agree with it or not. And they're going to say, do we really need an HR department? And if Elon can say, you don't need an HR department. Yes. Guess what? A lot of companies are going to go say.

Oh yeah, we don't need an HR department. And you're going to see, you're going to see this trend happen where HR executives are like, Oh shit, Elon put me out of a job because he's, he told the world that you don't need an HR department. So that's the one thing that I would watch in regards to our space. Uh, hopefully people will ignore it and just say, it's just an executive. Cause it's kind of mysterious. They don't know if she resigned, if she was fired, like it's, it's sort of veiled in mystery. What happened.

Mm -hmm.

Chad Sowash (32:54.268)

Right.

Joel Cheesman (32:59.012)

Uh, to this person, but I do think it's a trend to watch if he comes out and says, you don't need HR. That's probably bad for HR.

Yeah, I don't think that matters at all because many of the companies look at HR and they do see it as a cost center, which I've said in many cases is bullshit. But when you start taking a look at compliance and that motherfucker who takes a shit ton of government funding, taxpayer dollars, I guarantee you he with SpaceX, he has a robust HR team, compliance team.

Mm -hmm.

Joel Cheesman (33:25.348)

Mm -hmm.

Joel Cheesman (33:35.268)

Yeah.

auditing team, I guarantee you, because that company does not exist without taxpayer dollars, period. Doesn't exist.

All right, let's get into unions. Hotel workers that are unionized in 18 US and Canadian cities will rally on May day for significant pay raises as negotiations begin with Marriott International, Hilton Worldwide Holdings, and Hyatt Hotels Incorporated. The talks will cover about 40 ,000 workers seeking to reverse pandemic era staffing cuts and secure higher wages. Chad Sowash, what's good for the auto workers?

Yes.

Chad Sowash (34:11.356)

Mm -hmm.

Joel Cheesman (34:14.948)

is probably good for the hotel folks too. What are your thoughts?

Yep. Yeah. I mean, having a collective voice is really the only way to go for hospitality workers. And I'm sure those 40 ,000 hospitality workers heard Sean Fain, the president of the UAW, talking about out of control CEO and executive pay versus everyday American workers getting the scraps. Plus the UAW in Domler trucks last Friday struck a tentative deal, which includes a minimum pay raise of 25 % for union employees. So these workers,

are seeing the power of collective bargaining. And I mean, if you take a look at the Marriott International CEO, Anthony, was it Copiano? That is one hell of an Italian name. I love that. His total compensation via salary .com says it's 18 million and that's 506 times the median employee pay. It's out of control. So when it comes down to once again, back,

In 1978, CEO pay in the US has skyrocketed from 78 to today, 1200 % while worker increases a mere 15 % in the exact same time period. So this all affects, you know, from the trickle down, AKA supplied side economics era, the money went to the top and it never trickled down. And that's what's fueling all this dissension within the corporate ranks. So.

Mm -hmm.

Chad Sowash (35:45.724)

for all those people who are using and talking about the unions are corrupt, you know, whole line of propaganda and thinking, look at the fucking numbers because without union representation, these workers are getting fucked and getting paid poverty wages and also understaffed, right? So this is something that we need. We went way too far in one direction.

Mm -hmm.

Chad Sowash (36:09.852)

Now we've got to try to rebalance. So if it does go all the way over in the other direction to try to get it to balance, I see that's the only way to do it.

Yeah.

Joel Cheesman (36:21.38)

So the pandemic happens, no one travels and layoffs happen. The ones that are left, the company says, look, to make it, you're going to have to take some cuts. You're going to have to swallow some pain, but when it comes back, we'll be fine. Right. So just like the auto auto industry in 2008, but this is 10 years later. Yeah. Okay. Well, we'll take the deal.

We'll, we'll do the what's good for the business. We want you to survive and thrive. And I still want to have a job. So I'll, I'll take whatever concessions I need. Fast forward, you know, two, three, four years later, the company hasn't made good on returning salaries back to where they were. And by the way, uh, inflation is really high for, for folks that are, that are doing the jobs that actually really suck at hotels. By the way, guests are assholes. Like the fact that people deal with that, uh, should get, get pay anyway.

Staff per occupied room is down 13 % since 2019, according to the union. So they're doing more work for less pay and something's got to give. And I think the auto workers are a blueprint for like, how do we get the corporations to actually pay us a fair wage and get us to where we should be after the pandemic? And I think just like the auto workers, they're going to get what they ask for.

Fuck.

Chad Sowash (37:26.588)

Yeah. Yeah.

Joel Cheesman (37:44.516)

Um, I also think there's, there's evidence to say that, that, uh, although Airbnb is robust in terms of revenues, but I think, I think brand wise, like I'm off Airbnb. I don't know about you, but like I, it was fun for awhile, but I like to have a front desk. I liked, yeah, you love it. You love it. So, but I, I, I'm off it. I won't stay at an Airbnb.

Oh, I love it. I love it. I love it. Yeah.

Unless I absolutely have to, uh, now you stay longer at places than, than maybe I do, but I think there's a little bit of a reaction like Airbnb wasn't the killer, which was probably part of like, Hey, Airbnb is breathing down our neck. We need to make concessions in terms of salaries. I think, I think that fear is, is, was largely bloated and exaggerated from what the reality is. So yeah, I mean, so the cities we're talking about Boston, uh, cities in California, Baltimore, Toronto, these are big cities. And if, if they win.

Mm -hmm.

Uh, hopefully you see a movement just like we have with, with the auto workers in Tennessee and other places.

Chad Sowash (38:45.404)

Yeah, and it's interesting, we talk about concessions for salaries. It's everybody below the executive ranks, right? Why are the workers always getting fucked? That's the question. And again, as a Sean Fain comes out and says, hey, look, I know what's happening. This is what's happening. Everybody's looking at him going, yeah, that's exactly what's happening. That's why you need to join in unions. So I really see the UAW getting stronger. We've been talking about this and all these other unions are going to continue to gain momentum.

because many of these individuals have to work more than one job because they are getting paid poverty wages. And that to me is just, that's just inhumane.

Mm -hmm.

Joel Cheesman (39:25.572)

Inhumane, unlike our sponsorship advertisements, which are very people friendly. We'll be right back.

Oh yeah.

Very humane.

Joel Cheesman (39:40.74)

All right, Chad Sowash, the Biden administration plans to reclassify marijuana as a schedule three controlled substance, recognizing its medical benefits. This move follows recommendations from the department of justice and could lead to easier access for research and changes in the cannabis industry. Despite this reclassification, marijuana will remain illegal under federal law for recreational use, but a step in the right direction. I suspect your thoughts.

Yeah.

Chad Sowash (40:09.084)

Yes. Yeah. My thoughts are a little reefer madness. I think I want to share, I want to share something with, with, with the, the listeners and yeah, especially those watching on YouTube. So here we go. Watch this. This is a reefer madness from a 1936. This was actually a movie kids.

The kids.

Chad Sowash (40:37.628)

innocently.

Chad Sowash (40:47.772)

It's in hell.

Chad Sowash (40:54.972)

Vicious.

Chad Sowash (41:09.084)

Those women. Ugh!

Joel Cheesman (41:19.3)

Not sure how women being looser and hornier is a way to get people to not smoke it.

Oh yeah.

Chad Sowash (41:27.612)

He's going over the edge.

Joel Cheesman (41:37.22)

hahahaha

Suicide.

Chad Sowash (41:57.404)

God.

Joel Cheesman (42:04.868)

So, is he having a heart attack? That's...

before it's too late, reefer madness kids. So that was the kind of bullshit propaganda in the 1930s, right? So I have never, and you tell me, I've had discussions with many of my friends around this. I've never seen somebody smoke weed or do weed and get aggressive, get violent, never, or suicidal. None of that, none of that happens. It's ridiculous.

Uh -huh.

Joel Cheesman (42:28.004)

suicidal.

Joel Cheesman (42:31.972)

No, no. Look, every film back then had to pass through government filter. And you don't think the tobacco companies didn't have something to say about the making of that movie. Yeah, totally ridiculous. But look, I had no idea. Marijuana up until this legislation was the same category as fentanyl, heroin. Like no common sense person would say that fentanyl is on the same.

Yes.

Chad Sowash (42:57.244)

oxycodone ke - cocaine

Yeah. Allen same level. It's less cocaine is less apparently, uh, than the marijuana. So this to me is a logical thing. Let's be frank. It's smart to do, uh, an election season. Uh, if I'm Joe Biden, I want more younger people in these States that summer swing States. Uh, hello, Michigan. Um, that would probably be a favorable to this. Um, I haven't talked about, uh, my time at the sphere, uh, with fish. I don't.

Oh yeah.

Joel Cheesman (43:29.636)

I don't know. Uh, look, there was some hot messes. There was some hot messes at the sphere, uh, for fish. So be responsible, be responsible kids. Uh, you can't overdo it, but you can't overdose and there's no hangover. So, so there's that, uh, by the way, whiskey sales down beer, like beer wine, like the kids are, the kids are doing gummies and edibles and not doing, uh, the whiskey stuff, which, which for me, frankly,

Yes.

You can't remember what.

Uh huh. Oh, god, yeah.

Chad Sowash (43:47.164)

Yes.

Chad Sowash (43:52.412)

Mm -hmm.

Joel Cheesman (43:58.916)

is great news. It means cheaper whiskey and more available whiskey. So as far as I'm concerned, we out.

Yes.

Chad Sowash (44:07.132)

Amen. We out.