WEBVTT - Bloomberg Businessweek Weekend-August 1, 2020 0:00:00.960 --> 0:00:04.480 This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason 0:00:04.559 --> 0:00:08.080 Kelly from Bloomberg Radio. Hi. I'm Jason Kelly, and welcome 0:00:08.119 --> 0:00:10.840 to the weekend edition of Bloomberg Business Week. Over the 0:00:10.880 --> 0:00:12.600 next couple of hours, I'm going to bring you news 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:14.880 of the week, insights from the magazine, and more. And 0:00:14.920 --> 0:00:18.639 I say I not we I'm missing something this week. 0:00:18.680 --> 0:00:22.760 My partner, Carol Masser, she is taking a well deserved vacation. 0:00:22.960 --> 0:00:25.880 But as you'll hear throughout the show, I was joined 0:00:25.960 --> 0:00:29.080 throughout the week by Bloomberg anchor and a good friend 0:00:29.080 --> 0:00:33.000 of mine, reporter Scarlet Food. She was along for the 0:00:33.120 --> 0:00:36.440 Bloomberg Business Week Show. We had some great conversations this week. 0:00:36.520 --> 0:00:41.280 The cover story Americans, Well, they aren't making babies, and 0:00:41.800 --> 0:00:44.880 it's not just bad for maybe us as humans, it's 0:00:44.920 --> 0:00:48.440 bad for the economy. Plus why veteran investor Alan Patrick 0:00:48.479 --> 0:00:52.040 off he's betting on aging consumers with a new thirty 0:00:52.120 --> 0:00:55.520 two million dollar venture capital fund. And how do we 0:00:55.600 --> 0:00:59.320 stuff up and make sure that communities get the resources 0:00:59.360 --> 0:01:02.640 they need. We'll hear from Georgetown University professor Marcia Chaplin 0:01:02.760 --> 0:01:06.679 on her new book, It's called Franchise. The Golden Arches 0:01:06.720 --> 0:01:11.120 in Black America all about McDonald's and its role in 0:01:11.280 --> 0:01:15.520 racial diversity or lack thereof. An amazing look and an 0:01:15.560 --> 0:01:19.760 amazingly timely book as well. But first, the US reaching 0:01:19.800 --> 0:01:23.920 a grim milestone this week to be sure, coronavirus deaths 0:01:24.000 --> 0:01:28.759 topping one hundred and fifty thousand people. Well. Dr Bruce Farber, 0:01:28.840 --> 0:01:31.840 he's the chief of Infectious Diseases at north Well Health. 0:01:32.160 --> 0:01:34.840 He joined us to discuss where we stand with the 0:01:34.959 --> 0:01:38.679 virus and developments around a vaccine. We started off by 0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:41.560 talking about the shift in cases in the Northeast and 0:01:41.640 --> 0:01:44.920 the success in this part of the country at fighting 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:48.920 COVID nineteen. It's dramatically better than it was obviously months ago, 0:01:49.080 --> 0:01:51.440 and it sounds like it's dramatically better than it is 0:01:51.520 --> 0:01:54.160 in many parts of the country. We're sort of in 0:01:54.200 --> 0:01:56.240 the eye of the hurricane in the sense that things 0:01:56.240 --> 0:02:01.000 are quiet. Our healthcare facilities have single digited ations of 0:02:01.040 --> 0:02:04.880 COVID patients, not zero, but generally one to three per day. 0:02:05.280 --> 0:02:10.560 The total hospital census is dramatically down to double digits. Uh. 0:02:10.760 --> 0:02:13.760 Many of the chronic patients who are still around, the 0:02:14.520 --> 0:02:19.040 severe long term survivors that are struggling to get off ventilators. 0:02:19.160 --> 0:02:22.799 Um and uh, the number of sick patients being admitted 0:02:23.080 --> 0:02:27.639 is dramatically lower. UM. So things are good. Elective surgery 0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:32.400 has restarted. People are screened regularly before coming into the hospital. 0:02:32.680 --> 0:02:35.720 When they come into the hospital for even treat and 0:02:35.760 --> 0:02:38.919 release things, they're often screened, and they're screened before any 0:02:38.960 --> 0:02:42.920 elective surgery. So things are good. They're certainly not normal, 0:02:43.080 --> 0:02:45.399 and I don't anticipate they will be for a long time, 0:02:45.800 --> 0:02:47.920 you know. Um. The New York Times has a map 0:02:48.040 --> 0:02:51.200 on its website that tracks the number of cases across 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:54.400 the country, and the northeast New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, 0:02:54.400 --> 0:02:56.959 and New England are in the best position. Right were 0:02:57.120 --> 0:03:02.000 light yellow versus dark red for Florida and California. However, 0:03:02.200 --> 0:03:06.080 New Jersey's transmission rate, according to Bloomberg a story on 0:03:06.160 --> 0:03:08.920 Top worldwide, has risen to one point one four, a 0:03:09.040 --> 0:03:12.200 thirteen week high. Dr Farber, do you think it's inevitable 0:03:12.280 --> 0:03:15.280 that New York City will also see a rise? I 0:03:15.320 --> 0:03:18.079 think it's uh. I don't know inevitable, but it's certainly 0:03:18.120 --> 0:03:20.839 a risk, and I think we're preparing for it. It's 0:03:20.880 --> 0:03:23.520 hard to stay locked down number one, and it's hard 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:26.800 to prevent people from reintroducing the virus from other parts 0:03:26.800 --> 0:03:29.960 of the country. And that's a reality. Although as you know, 0:03:30.080 --> 0:03:33.360 there's quarantines for what thirty one states and people coming 0:03:33.400 --> 0:03:36.760 in they are impossible to enforce, their difficult to monitor. 0:03:37.440 --> 0:03:39.560 And uh, we see a lot of people coming up 0:03:39.560 --> 0:03:42.520 from Florida, you know, who are nervous, and other states 0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:46.080 who have relatives and other people in the in the northeast, 0:03:46.160 --> 0:03:49.040 So you know, inevitable. I don't know, but it's certainly 0:03:49.040 --> 0:03:52.560 a risk and it's hard to imagine that, um there 0:03:52.560 --> 0:03:55.760 aren't going to be bumps along the way. Well, you know, 0:03:55.840 --> 0:03:59.640 it's interesting. Dr Farber and its Scarlet raised this as 0:03:59.640 --> 0:04:02.760 we were preparing for this segment very rightly. We were 0:04:02.840 --> 0:04:06.040 just talking about this party in Southampton. You know that 0:04:06.120 --> 0:04:10.520 the CEO of Goldman Sachs was the DJ four and 0:04:11.000 --> 0:04:14.880 you know, it's upset the Governor of New York pretty tremendously. 0:04:15.640 --> 0:04:19.880 There must be a lot of heightened interest, uh and 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:22.599 concern on the part of public officials. How are the 0:04:22.600 --> 0:04:25.520 public officials feeling about kind of where we are and 0:04:25.560 --> 0:04:28.560 what are they most worried about. I think people let 0:04:28.560 --> 0:04:31.640 their guard down quick Tranckically. I'm always amazed how intelligent 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:34.279 people know what they should be doing. But you know, 0:04:34.360 --> 0:04:36.640 a few months go by, they don't here as much, 0:04:36.760 --> 0:04:40.000 the hospitals aren't busy, and they let their guard down, 0:04:40.200 --> 0:04:42.880 and UM, it's not right. I agree with the governor 0:04:42.920 --> 0:04:46.800 in this instance. Um, you cannot have large parties. You know, 0:04:46.920 --> 0:04:49.880 you can't open up these bars. You can't have crowded 0:04:49.920 --> 0:04:53.760 restaurants and crowded parties and weddings and concerts. We're just 0:04:53.839 --> 0:04:55.680 not there yet, and I don't know when we're going 0:04:55.720 --> 0:04:57.640 to be there, but whenever that happens, there's going to 0:04:57.720 --> 0:05:00.719 be a clusters. We've certainly seen clusters just in a 0:05:00.720 --> 0:05:05.120 couple of local retirement parties and other birthday parties. Um, 0:05:05.600 --> 0:05:10.960 sometimes they're outside, but most often they're in enclosed spaces 0:05:11.279 --> 0:05:14.440 where people take off the mask to eat and drink. Okay, 0:05:14.520 --> 0:05:17.040 you can't have large parties, and a few people would 0:05:17.279 --> 0:05:21.279 compare school to partying, but can you have kids go 0:05:21.320 --> 0:05:24.080 back to school then? So, as you know, it's an 0:05:24.080 --> 0:05:28.839 extraordinary complicated issue. But I would summarize it by saying 0:05:28.839 --> 0:05:31.440 the safety of the schools is going to be predominantly 0:05:31.480 --> 0:05:35.080 dependent by how low the transmission rates are in the 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:37.960 community in which the school is located. So clearly it's 0:05:37.960 --> 0:05:39.839 not going to be safe to open schools in southern 0:05:39.920 --> 0:05:42.719 Florida and Houston at the present time. In New York, 0:05:42.760 --> 0:05:44.800 that's a different story. I mean, it's as safe as 0:05:44.839 --> 0:05:47.040 it's going to be. At some point in time, we're 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:49.080 gonna have to open schools. We're not gonna have closed 0:05:49.080 --> 0:05:52.200 schools for years and years and years. And no matter 0:05:52.200 --> 0:05:55.000 how often optimistic you are about a vaccine, I don't 0:05:55.040 --> 0:05:57.560 think there's any realistic way this thing is coming to 0:05:57.600 --> 0:06:00.159 an end within the next year, even if we have 0:06:00.200 --> 0:06:03.320 a good vaccine. So I think it is safe to 0:06:03.880 --> 0:06:07.520 carefully open schools, but it's not going to be fail proof, 0:06:07.760 --> 0:06:09.599 and there are going to be outbreaks. There are going 0:06:09.640 --> 0:06:11.960 to be little clusters. They just have to be whacked 0:06:11.960 --> 0:06:14.520 down when they occur. You have to have good protocols, 0:06:14.560 --> 0:06:17.679 you have to have careful monitoring, you have to available testing, 0:06:18.040 --> 0:06:19.680 and you have to be prepared that it's not going 0:06:19.680 --> 0:06:22.479 to be perfect. And that's north Well Health chief of 0:06:22.480 --> 0:06:25.600 Infectious Diseases Dr Bruce Farber. We always learned so much 0:06:25.640 --> 0:06:30.000 from him, in part because he was in one of 0:06:30.040 --> 0:06:33.000 the systems that had to deal with COVID nineteen early 0:06:33.120 --> 0:06:35.320 early on in this epidemic. We know that the New 0:06:35.400 --> 0:06:39.080 York area was such a hotspot, really the epicenter of 0:06:39.160 --> 0:06:42.839 this disease outbreak early on. When we think about March, April, 0:06:43.040 --> 0:06:46.280 and May, it's a very different world right now here 0:06:46.320 --> 0:06:50.160 in the Tri State area, but very different outside of 0:06:50.160 --> 0:06:52.719 this area as well. You're listening to Bloomberg business Week. 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:55.920 Coming up. What veteran investor Alan patrick Off says he's 0:06:55.960 --> 0:06:59.039 doing in the third chapter of his life and why 0:06:59.080 --> 0:07:02.039 he says he's king startups, writing what he calls the 0:07:02.240 --> 0:07:05.840 Silver Tsunami. Yeah, it's an interesting one. This is Bloomberg. 0:07:07.760 --> 0:07:11.280 This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason 0:07:11.400 --> 0:07:14.520 Kelly from Bloomberg Radio. Well, today I'm bringing you some 0:07:14.520 --> 0:07:17.200 of the most important and informative conversations we had on 0:07:17.240 --> 0:07:20.640 our daily Bloomberg Business Week radio show. I was joined 0:07:20.640 --> 0:07:24.720 by Scarlett Food, Bloomberg Television and Radio anchor in Carol 0:07:24.800 --> 0:07:28.880 Master's absence, well famed investor Alan Patricoff. He's making his 0:07:29.040 --> 0:07:31.280 next big bet. He's made a lot of them over 0:07:31.320 --> 0:07:35.160 the years across the technology landscape. This new project, it's 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:37.680 a little bit different. He's teaming up with entrepreneur and 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:41.880 former Thrive Global president Abby Miller Levy. They're backing startups 0:07:41.880 --> 0:07:45.320 focused on aging consumers. They both joined us to discuss. 0:07:45.480 --> 0:07:47.360 In all the years I've been in this business, I've 0:07:47.360 --> 0:07:51.680 never seen a idea resonates so effectively. And it's just 0:07:51.760 --> 0:07:54.800 a great experience to his partnering with Abby, who is 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:59.400 you know, been indoctrinated the wellness area for the last 0:07:59.440 --> 0:08:02.200 at least asked four or five years. And uh, I've 0:08:02.240 --> 0:08:06.240 been focused in this area for the last year, and 0:08:06.360 --> 0:08:09.920 together we're an incredible team. And I will tell you 0:08:09.960 --> 0:08:12.920 that the idea has just resonated based on all the 0:08:12.960 --> 0:08:18.880 media coverage and all the inbound inquiries we're getting today. Yeah, 0:08:19.400 --> 0:08:22.440 it's been very exciting. So Alan, take us back a 0:08:22.440 --> 0:08:25.520 little bit here, because you're talking about making investments in 0:08:26.160 --> 0:08:29.640 companies and financing products and services for an aging population 0:08:29.760 --> 0:08:33.720 and investing in these older entrepreneurs basically people over the 0:08:33.720 --> 0:08:36.600 age of what fifty five sixty? How did you come 0:08:36.679 --> 0:08:39.079 up with this idea? What happened to get you thinking 0:08:39.120 --> 0:08:42.560 about this opportunity? The idea came together because Abby has 0:08:42.559 --> 0:08:46.319 been working on this idea for a year, and I've 0:08:46.360 --> 0:08:48.760 been talking about it. She'd been doing something and she 0:08:48.840 --> 0:08:52.440 was preparing to launch. And through one of my sons 0:08:52.640 --> 0:08:55.000 who said, you know, Dad, you already get together with that. 0:08:55.679 --> 0:08:58.120 You knew both of us obviously, and he said, you're 0:08:58.160 --> 0:09:01.800 you're both focusing on the same area. And I guess 0:09:01.840 --> 0:09:03.439 you have to be honest and say, I got to 0:09:03.520 --> 0:09:06.719 it because my wife has Alzheimer's and has had it 0:09:06.840 --> 0:09:11.320 this is our eleventh year. So I've watched her slow deterioration. 0:09:11.400 --> 0:09:14.080 But I'm more so I've learned took the time to 0:09:14.200 --> 0:09:17.120 learn about the aging market and what the needs are, 0:09:17.160 --> 0:09:20.360 which are so different than what the millennial generation is 0:09:20.400 --> 0:09:22.960 and and you know, so much of our money is 0:09:23.000 --> 0:09:25.880 being spent a marketing dollars of being spent on the 0:09:26.400 --> 0:09:30.440 on the uh, younger generation of millennials, where the money 0:09:30.800 --> 0:09:33.400 the money is in the older generation who you know 0:09:33.480 --> 0:09:36.520 made it and uh and and now need all kinds 0:09:36.520 --> 0:09:40.400 of service. This was this whole concept came about pre COVID. 0:09:40.800 --> 0:09:44.360 COVID is just frosting on the cake. Frankly, Abby, you 0:09:44.360 --> 0:09:47.520 know your background, as Alan has so nicely teet it 0:09:47.600 --> 0:09:50.600 up for us is really just made for this. Tell 0:09:50.679 --> 0:09:54.320 us about the idea from your perspective and how you 0:09:54.440 --> 0:09:57.520 really locked in on this through your work at Thrive 0:09:57.600 --> 0:10:01.160 and soul Cycle among others. Well, thank you so much 0:10:01.200 --> 0:10:04.560 for having us today. We're we're thrilled to be with you. UM. 0:10:04.600 --> 0:10:07.560 You know, the the interesting thing for me as I 0:10:07.600 --> 0:10:11.079 looked at the space around UM aging an older adults, 0:10:11.080 --> 0:10:14.760 where there was so few startups, so few entrepreneurs who 0:10:14.840 --> 0:10:18.920 are designing new businesses for this consumer. And as Alan said, 0:10:19.000 --> 0:10:21.800 this consumer that is the fastest growing segment of our 0:10:21.800 --> 0:10:26.360 population UM, of our population, six of our network as 0:10:26.400 --> 0:10:28.760 a country UM, and less than ten percent of the 0:10:28.760 --> 0:10:33.400 marketing spend. So I was really excited to um, you know, 0:10:33.480 --> 0:10:37.880 think about how we can get more entrepreneurs interested in 0:10:37.920 --> 0:10:41.080 the older all this consumer because to date, I think 0:10:41.080 --> 0:10:43.920 there's very outdated images. And I'm sure you would agree 0:10:44.040 --> 0:10:48.000 on what it is to uh to age, particularly age 0:10:48.000 --> 0:10:50.760 in America, and Alan's the perfect example of at at age. 0:10:50.960 --> 0:10:53.679 Hope you don't mind Alan at age eight five. You know, 0:10:53.720 --> 0:10:56.600 Alan bike rides ten fifteen twenty miles a day, was 0:10:56.640 --> 0:10:59.880 in the ocean, you know, uh for for for a dip, 0:11:00.120 --> 0:11:02.520 just the other day, and you know, with prime time, 0:11:02.640 --> 0:11:05.679 this is his you know, next new venture, his next 0:11:05.720 --> 0:11:09.200 new entrepreneur venture. So I think for us, we're really 0:11:09.240 --> 0:11:14.280 excited about finding founders and entrepreneurs who are designing for 0:11:14.640 --> 0:11:19.240 a much more up to date view of what aging 0:11:19.280 --> 0:11:22.040 looks like. Yeah, and health, of course, health care and 0:11:22.040 --> 0:11:24.880 wellness is just one part of it. I've seen home builders, 0:11:24.920 --> 0:11:29.479 for instance, UM not just target the senior living population, 0:11:29.559 --> 0:11:32.439 but the active adult population, so folks who are over 0:11:32.480 --> 0:11:34.800 the age of fifty five but who are still very 0:11:34.800 --> 0:11:38.680 physically active, like Allen UM. Talk a little bit here 0:11:38.720 --> 0:11:43.080 about why there aren't other VC funds who are targeting 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:45.040 the same demographic the way you guys are. I mean, 0:11:45.080 --> 0:11:48.400 this all makes great sense, and the numbers are behind you. 0:11:48.400 --> 0:11:50.400 You would think that more people would be doing this. 0:11:52.000 --> 0:11:54.360 You know, we'll be ask we get that question often, 0:11:54.480 --> 0:11:57.800 and I don't want to clean pride of ownership because 0:11:57.880 --> 0:12:00.040 a lot of vcs have had what they called a 0:12:00.080 --> 0:12:03.640 silver tsunami as a bullet point on their investment teams. 0:12:03.679 --> 0:12:05.440 I mean, it's hard to talk to any health or 0:12:05.440 --> 0:12:10.200 wellness related UH venture capital fund that isn't eyeing this 0:12:10.320 --> 0:12:13.440 population because to your point on the data. I think 0:12:13.480 --> 0:12:17.720 what's prevented UM having more involvement in the space is 0:12:17.960 --> 0:12:20.319 you know, first or rather what I think is one 0:12:20.360 --> 0:12:23.600 of our advantages is really being specialized, so for you know, 0:12:23.679 --> 0:12:26.760 for us to really understand, you know, how to reach 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:29.240 this consumer both through B two B as well as 0:12:29.240 --> 0:12:32.840 B to see UM, how to UM you know, look 0:12:32.920 --> 0:12:35.400 at this consumer, you know in their headergy to genety. 0:12:35.480 --> 0:12:38.480 Since a very diverse audience UM, I think is something 0:12:38.559 --> 0:12:42.240 that is a real advantage for prime time UM. And 0:12:42.320 --> 0:12:45.360 at the same time, UM, you know, it's not really 0:12:45.400 --> 0:12:48.319 the VCS faults at the same time, because there actually 0:12:48.360 --> 0:12:52.160 haven't been as many startups focusing on this audience because 0:12:52.200 --> 0:12:54.520 if the majority of founders are people in their twenties 0:12:54.559 --> 0:12:57.800 and thirties, they're typically solving for the user needs that 0:12:57.840 --> 0:13:00.760 are supposest to them. And so what we're seeing though, 0:13:00.800 --> 0:13:03.320 and it's been interesting, you know, I've been tracking this 0:13:03.320 --> 0:13:06.040 this segment for you know, at least a year now, 0:13:06.080 --> 0:13:07.959 and I've been working on this idea for a few 0:13:08.000 --> 0:13:10.800 of these for a few years. But really since November 0:13:10.800 --> 0:13:13.760 when Allen and I met kind of teamed up UM, 0:13:13.760 --> 0:13:16.600 we've seen really a steady increase in the number of 0:13:16.640 --> 0:13:20.800 business plans and an early stage businesses that have come 0:13:20.840 --> 0:13:24.440 across our our inboxes and it's only accelerated with COVID. 0:13:25.280 --> 0:13:28.120 And I think part of that is that more founders. Well, 0:13:28.160 --> 0:13:29.960 first of all, to take a little what the COVID 0:13:30.080 --> 0:13:33.400 COVID impacts had to to to dramatic sides and both 0:13:33.400 --> 0:13:36.480 supply and demand. Abbie, let me start with you. We 0:13:36.480 --> 0:13:39.360 were talking earlier about the opportunities here. Have you made 0:13:39.400 --> 0:13:44.640 the investment yet in this fund? Absolutely? So, you know, 0:13:44.760 --> 0:13:48.439 this is uh something. While we we just closed our 0:13:48.480 --> 0:13:50.800 first closing of the fund, it is still open until 0:13:50.800 --> 0:13:55.560 October for strategic investors. But um, we have made foreign 0:13:55.559 --> 0:13:58.560 investments to date UM and are about to close on 0:13:58.600 --> 0:14:01.120 two additional ones. And I think it's really a sign 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:05.920 of just the momentum in the space. While we're specialized 0:14:05.960 --> 0:14:09.479 and focused on the older Delta's consumer, we're pretty diversified 0:14:09.520 --> 0:14:12.680 from the spector perspective. So our investments we've made to 0:14:12.760 --> 0:14:18.440 date are in financial services, telemedicine, UM, e commerce and media, 0:14:18.920 --> 0:14:22.000 so you know, really across the board. UM. You know, 0:14:22.120 --> 0:14:25.360 as we look at opportunities for founders, and that's entrepreneur 0:14:25.480 --> 0:14:29.280 and former Thrive Global president Abby Miller Levy, joined by 0:14:29.360 --> 0:14:34.600 veteran investor Alan patrickof well known inventure capital and political circles. 0:14:35.040 --> 0:14:38.600 I'm fascinated by what they're doing, in part because you 0:14:38.760 --> 0:14:41.520 gotta watch someone like Alan Patrick off over decades and 0:14:41.560 --> 0:14:45.360 decades he has not just seen but participated in the 0:14:45.400 --> 0:14:49.880 growth of venture capital, betting on some very well known startups. 0:14:49.920 --> 0:14:52.880 And now he's looking at a new market and that 0:14:53.000 --> 0:14:56.360 bears some attention. You're listening to Bloomberg business Week. Coming up, 0:14:56.400 --> 0:14:59.800 how the pandemic is impacting the travel industry. We'll hear 0:14:59.800 --> 0:15:07.560 from Travaco CEO Axel Helfa. This is Bloomberg. This is 0:15:07.600 --> 0:15:11.560 Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason Kelly from 0:15:11.640 --> 0:15:13.600 Bloomberg Radio. What does that bring you? Some of the 0:15:13.680 --> 0:15:17.280 most important and informative conversations I had along with Scarlet 0:15:17.280 --> 0:15:20.800 Food on our daily Bloomberg Business Week radio show. This week, 0:15:20.840 --> 0:15:24.720 Carol Masser is on vacation. Will travel, Speaking of vacation 0:15:24.880 --> 0:15:29.120 continues to be, unfortunately one of the industry's hit hardest 0:15:29.160 --> 0:15:32.920 by the pandemic. International travel, of course, is one of 0:15:32.920 --> 0:15:36.920 the areas that is suffering mightily. Will Travago CEO Axel Helfa. 0:15:37.000 --> 0:15:39.560 He was back with us. He joined us from Germany 0:15:39.600 --> 0:15:42.200 to talk about why, and we started by asking him 0:15:42.240 --> 0:15:46.240 about his backyard in Germany is unfortunately significantly better than 0:15:46.320 --> 0:15:50.520 what we've seen last earnings. Um so UM, there is 0:15:50.600 --> 0:15:53.440 quite a bit of travel activity. The health situation is 0:15:53.480 --> 0:15:57.120 relatively speaking stable. And just to give you give you 0:15:57.160 --> 0:16:02.280 an idea, if we compare the travel um environment in Germany. UM, 0:16:02.480 --> 0:16:06.480 all leisure nature destinations like beaches and mountains are getting 0:16:06.520 --> 0:16:10.400 close to last year's volume, whereas city trips and international 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:16.200 are around fifty so still significantly down. That is incredible. 0:16:16.240 --> 0:16:19.240 I just think about how many people here. Um. Jason's 0:16:19.280 --> 0:16:21.200 working from home. So many of our colleagues are working 0:16:21.200 --> 0:16:23.400 from home. No one's taken it any time off in 0:16:23.440 --> 0:16:27.080 the last four or five months. Because you're working from home. 0:16:27.120 --> 0:16:28.840 You want to stay productive. You're just grateful to have 0:16:28.880 --> 0:16:32.960 a job at this point, Axel, who is taking these vacations? 0:16:32.960 --> 0:16:39.320 Are companies m granting vacations the way they were every year? Yeah, 0:16:39.360 --> 0:16:43.040 I mean people are taking vocations, but and and in 0:16:43.120 --> 0:16:46.600 particularly families are obviously desperate and the difficult situation to 0:16:46.680 --> 0:16:49.680 also get some rest in the summer, which is also 0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:51.880 something that you see across Europe, but not to the 0:16:51.960 --> 0:16:55.320 same extent than in Germany. And I think to be honest, 0:16:55.320 --> 0:16:58.200 in particular, in a situation where a lot of people 0:16:58.200 --> 0:17:00.560 are working from home with all the stress that is 0:17:00.600 --> 0:17:02.920 related to that, it is important to take a break. 0:17:02.960 --> 0:17:06.960 And we, for example UM have have basically introduced a 0:17:07.040 --> 0:17:10.000 mandatory vocation of one week in August for our employees 0:17:10.040 --> 0:17:11.840 to make sure that they do get some rest and 0:17:11.880 --> 0:17:14.960 also do take some time off. Well. I wondered about 0:17:15.000 --> 0:17:17.720 that actual sort of the running of the company, because 0:17:17.760 --> 0:17:20.280 obviously we talked to you so much about sort of 0:17:20.320 --> 0:17:23.880 what you're seeing in terms of trends and and travel 0:17:24.040 --> 0:17:27.280 on on the parts of so many people around the world. 0:17:27.280 --> 0:17:30.080 But I do wonder, like what the challenges have been 0:17:30.520 --> 0:17:35.640 for you running your operation there. I that's difficult. Way 0:17:35.680 --> 0:17:39.560 we have to start. So the in in March, basically 0:17:39.560 --> 0:17:42.760 our revenue collapsed too close to zero in April and 0:17:43.480 --> 0:17:46.200 UM at that point in time, clearly, UM, I mean 0:17:46.200 --> 0:17:50.640 you're initially obviously in paralysis. So what is going on? UM, 0:17:50.800 --> 0:17:55.200 what what shall we do? And UM The thought that 0:17:55.200 --> 0:17:57.080 that it was really helpful to us was that we 0:17:57.240 --> 0:18:00.080 very early on accepted that the traveler would disappear or 0:18:00.080 --> 0:18:02.960 at least temporarily, and said, okay, how will the world 0:18:02.960 --> 0:18:05.800 look in the future, And we we define three phases 0:18:05.880 --> 0:18:10.000 of recovery, no traveling, some traveling with the restrictions, which 0:18:10.000 --> 0:18:11.840 is basically where we are right now, and then the 0:18:11.840 --> 0:18:14.520 new normal, whatever that will look like, and work backwards 0:18:14.520 --> 0:18:16.920 and said, okay, what do we need to do for 0:18:17.000 --> 0:18:20.800 the traveler, for our customer and UM and what do 0:18:20.840 --> 0:18:23.400 we need to prepare for And so despite the fact 0:18:23.440 --> 0:18:26.200 that the timing of all these phases is completely uncertain, 0:18:26.200 --> 0:18:28.920 it gives you a stability and also a clear focus 0:18:29.520 --> 0:18:32.120 and UH and focus and structure is what in these 0:18:32.200 --> 0:18:36.359 uncertain times is extremely helpful. UM to give guidance and 0:18:36.480 --> 0:18:39.560 also also emotional support, to be honest to all of us. 0:18:40.080 --> 0:18:41.840 That's a really great way of breaking it down. And 0:18:41.880 --> 0:18:43.479 I want to pick up down that point. If we're 0:18:43.520 --> 0:18:46.040 in the some travel phase right now and eventually we'll 0:18:46.080 --> 0:18:48.480 get to the new normal, what are you seeing in 0:18:48.480 --> 0:18:51.119 the some travel phase now that will become part of 0:18:51.119 --> 0:18:54.200 the new normal. Will people avoid cities, Will people avoid 0:18:54.240 --> 0:18:58.400 the United States? Will they choose to go on vacations 0:18:58.400 --> 0:19:01.720 that are local and reached by car as opposed to 0:19:01.760 --> 0:19:05.080 by plane or by boat. So what we do do 0:19:05.160 --> 0:19:08.520 see right now and and most pronounced obviously in Germany 0:19:08.600 --> 0:19:11.160 is there the situation is very stable, but pretty much 0:19:11.560 --> 0:19:14.840 in most of the markets, UM is that that the 0:19:14.960 --> 0:19:18.080 first destination and the first vacation that that people and 0:19:18.160 --> 0:19:21.720 travelers want to do is is really to the nature beaches, 0:19:22.040 --> 0:19:26.680 normal summer vacation destinations and just get a break and UM. 0:19:27.000 --> 0:19:29.800 So that that's something clearly a trend and they're What 0:19:29.960 --> 0:19:32.560 you also can see is that destinations that can reach 0:19:32.640 --> 0:19:36.639 by car and even more importantly left by car in 0:19:36.680 --> 0:19:40.560 case something would happen UM are clearly favored by many 0:19:40.600 --> 0:19:43.919 many travelers. The second thing that you can observe is 0:19:44.000 --> 0:19:48.640 that apartments and the vacation houses are more popular than 0:19:48.680 --> 0:19:53.720 before because a certain segment of travelers is preferring to 0:19:53.840 --> 0:19:57.359 be really on their own on vacation. And in the 0:19:57.440 --> 0:19:59.399 US and particularly what we've seen is that there is 0:19:59.440 --> 0:20:04.080 a lot more are um um interstate travel UM so 0:20:04.320 --> 0:20:07.840 going to closer destinations that are better known and that 0:20:07.960 --> 0:20:11.560 just feel safer. And I do think and we overall 0:20:11.600 --> 0:20:15.040 think that there's trend. Two, more local travel will continue 0:20:15.119 --> 0:20:18.560 for the foreseeable future, whether it will remain and stay 0:20:18.640 --> 0:20:20.680 for the very long term, I think that's too early 0:20:20.720 --> 0:20:24.679 to be to be seen. But International Longhould Travel, I 0:20:24.680 --> 0:20:27.680 think will be will be muted for um for quite 0:20:27.720 --> 0:20:30.439 some time. And that's Travago CEO Axel half A joining 0:20:30.520 --> 0:20:33.800 Scarlett Food and Me from Germany on the heels of 0:20:33.960 --> 0:20:36.359 his earnings, giving us a sense of how travel looks 0:20:36.400 --> 0:20:39.360 in different parts of the world. And some themes are 0:20:39.400 --> 0:20:43.840 emerging here as we look at when people start traveling 0:20:43.880 --> 0:20:45.959 and where they're going to go, and the answer is 0:20:46.119 --> 0:20:49.560 they're getting back slowly and they're staying pretty close to home. 0:20:49.880 --> 0:20:52.720 You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week. We talked to someone 0:20:52.760 --> 0:20:56.080 else who's very familiar with the travel business. He's the 0:20:56.119 --> 0:21:00.520 former chief ethics officer of ARABBNB. But we were talking 0:21:00.560 --> 0:21:04.040 about home sharing. We were talking about integrity. That's coming 0:21:04.119 --> 0:21:10.200 up next. This is Rupert. This is Bloomberg Business Week 0:21:10.320 --> 0:21:14.520 with Carol Masser and Jason Kelly from Bloomberg Radio. Well 0:21:14.560 --> 0:21:16.119 today and bringing you some of the most important and 0:21:16.119 --> 0:21:20.040 informative conversations from our daily radio show this week. And 0:21:20.080 --> 0:21:22.919 we talked a little bit about travel with Axel Hetha 0:21:23.240 --> 0:21:26.080 earlier in the show, just a few minutes ago. So 0:21:26.119 --> 0:21:29.359 another big name in the travel business, certainly one that 0:21:29.440 --> 0:21:32.880 has become very popular over the past few years, is Airbnb, 0:21:33.160 --> 0:21:37.040 the famous home sharing service, the unicorn that everyone's waiting 0:21:37.119 --> 0:21:40.359 to go public. We caught up Scarlett Foo and I 0:21:40.400 --> 0:21:44.119 did with the former top lawyer at Airbnb is a 0:21:44.119 --> 0:21:47.200 guy named Rob Chestnut. He also was a top lawyer 0:21:47.240 --> 0:21:50.639 at eBay. He's a former federal prosecutor, and we weren't 0:21:50.680 --> 0:21:53.920 talking to him about his jobs at any of those places, 0:21:54.200 --> 0:21:57.280 at least not directly. We're talking about a new book 0:21:57.600 --> 0:22:00.600 that he's put out. It's called Intentional int Aegrity, How 0:22:00.640 --> 0:22:04.320 smart companies can lead an ethical revolution. And this conversation, 0:22:04.440 --> 0:22:08.480 interestingly happened during a week where big tech executives were 0:22:08.560 --> 0:22:12.680 on Capitol Hill, the leaders of the biggest technology companies 0:22:12.720 --> 0:22:17.919 in the world virtually zooming in or webexing into Capitol 0:22:18.000 --> 0:22:21.000 Hill to face a lot of scrutiny from lawmakers about 0:22:21.080 --> 0:22:25.040 their role in society, their lack of competition, and what 0:22:25.160 --> 0:22:28.680 they've been doing along the way. Amid a lot of investigations, 0:22:28.720 --> 0:22:31.960 a lot of big, almost existential questions about the role 0:22:31.960 --> 0:22:34.640 of technology in our lives. One of the core issues 0:22:35.080 --> 0:22:38.159 is what effect all of this technology is having on 0:22:38.240 --> 0:22:41.800 us as humans, but also how these companies are run, 0:22:42.119 --> 0:22:44.760