The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast - Gary Vaynerchuk - How To Win In Life & Shift Your Mindset For Success
Episode Date: May 13, 2024#699: Today, we're sitting down with Gary Vaynerchuk, also known as "GaryVee." Gary is a serial entrepreneur, the Chairman of VaynerX, and a 5x New York Times Best Selling Author. He is a leading glob...al mind on what's next in culture, relevance, and the internet. We sit down for a conversation about the importance of marketing and branding, and what companies are doing wrong when it comes to building a customer base. We also discuss motivation, how to cultivate a no-excuses approach, and how to shift your mindset to set you up for success.  To connect with Gary Vee click HERE To Pre-Order Day Trading Attention click HERE To connect with Lauryn Bosstick click HERE To connect with Michael Bosstick click HERE Read More on The Skinny Confidential HERE To Watch the Show click HERE For Detailed Show Notes visit TSCPODCAST.COM To Call the Him & Her Hotline call: 1-833-SKINNYS (754-6697) This episode is brought to you by The Skinny Confidential This episode is brought to you by Cymbiotika Cymbiotika is a health supplement company, designing sophisticated organic formulations that are scientifically proven to increase vitality and longevity by filling nutritional gaps that result from our modern day diet. Use code SKINNY to receive 15% off your subscription at cymbiotika.com This episode is brought to you by Dreamland Baby Use code SKINNY at checkout for 20% off sitewide & free shipping at dreamlandbabyco.com This episode is brought to you by Primally Pure If you're tired of discomfort during your menstrual cycle, try the Cycle Soothing Spray from Primally Pure at primallypure.com/SKINNY and use code SKINNY for 15% off your order. This episode is brought to you by Nutrafol Nutrafol is the #1 dermatologist recommended hair growth supplement, clinically shown to improve your hair growth, thickness, and visible scalp coverage. Go to nutrafol.com and use code SKINNYHAIR to save $10 off your first month's subscription, plus free shipping. This episode is brought to you by Thrive Market Thrive Market is the go-to for all of your grocery and household essentials- and it's all conveniently delivered to your doorstep. Get 30% off your first order, plus a free $60 gift at thrivemarket.com/skinny or use code SKINNY at checkout. This episode is brought to you by Betterhelp BetterHelp is online therapy that offers video, phone, and even live chat-only therapy sessions. So you don’t have to see anyone on camera if you don’t want to. It's much more affordable than in-person therapy & you can be matched with a therapist in under 48 hours. Our listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com/skinny. Produced by Dear Media
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And he's a serial entrepreneur.
A very smart cookie.
And now Lauren Everts and Michael Bostic are bringing you along for the ride.
Get ready for some major realness.
Welcome to The Skinny Confidential, him and her.
I fucking sat and wrote this book in 2008.
And I wish you knew how nobody believed me.
Not my publisher.
Not my ghostwriter.
Not the audience.
People, shit, go look at the Amazon reviews when I first put this out.
Literally people wrote things like this snake oil salesman's trying to tell you
you're going to make $100,000 a year on YouTube.
What a joke.
Think about what a joke that comment is now.
Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the Skinny Confidential, him and her show. Today,
we have a special episode that feels very full circle for Lauren and I personally,
with our friend Gary Vaynerchuk, also known as Gary V. This one's been a long time coming. This is the original Serial Entrepreneur.
And in this episode, you will find takeaway after takeaway after takeaway.
The reason this feels so full circle to us is we've known Gary for a long time.
It's been almost a decade.
And the very first time we actually got on a mic together, Lauren and I, was on his show,
The Ask Gary Vee Show.
That was in March of 2016, almost eight years ago. And that was the first week that this show also launched. So it's kind of this real full circle moment where we haven't had a bunch of interactions, at least on
the podcast with Gary. And so to have him on after all this time feels kind of, like I said, like a
full circle moment. Gary Vee is a five-time New York Times bestselling author. He's the leading
global mind
on what's next in culture and the internet. I also find it super interesting that his book that he
just read, which we'll get into, is sort of going to be the curriculum. Do you know what I mean?
Like for, I feel like schools, for the future, for the youth. For anyone that cares about garnering
attention online, building a brand online, building, you know, a business online, this is going to be the one.
In this episode, we'll talk about the no excuses approach, advice for those who can't find a passion, the common denominator of unhappy rich people, how he maintains his crazy energy, and also how to bring value to your audience.
We also talk a lot about self-awareness in this episode and how to really be the best
version of yourself. I think that you'll find that this show really encompasses what we're all about.
Yep. And I'm sure many of you are familiar with Gary and I've seen a lot, but I think there's
also a lot of personal stuff in this episode that he hasn't touched on before. So for those
that are Gary Vee fans, as I'm sure many of you are, there's maybe some different things in here
as well. Lauren and I both admire Gary immensely, have so for years. With that, Gary Vaynerchuk, Gary Vee, welcome to Skinny
Confidential, him and her show. This is the Skinny Confidential, him and her.
This is full circle for me because my dad gifted me Crush It. I want to say 14 years ago,
right before I launched the skinny confidential
i read it i highlighted it i dog-eared it then after implementing it you came to me i want to
say eight years down the line and i got to be in your book crushing it and then i was on your show
and now we're interviewing you it's a weird moment it's a's a family affair. I was saying how you're like the
internet's dad. Like your students or your kids are growing up. In like a real way. Yeah. You
know, it's like, I mean, I was at DoorDash yesterday. This kid's 32. He came up to me at a
Super Bowl party. I stopped by yesterday when I was in San Francisco. And he's like, you and I had
a call when I was 14. I cold emailed you
in Hong Kong
and said,
can I speak to you
about entrepreneurship?
You said yes.
I'm really good
at remembering shit,
like really good,
especially not names
but visuals and moments.
I couldn't recall it.
I don't like bullshitting.
I couldn't recall it.
This dude's like,
actually the full story
was at a Super Bowl party
this year
at Michael Rubin's
Fanatic Super Bowl party,
the bougie one.
This woman comes up to me excuse me his wife and goes
you need to meet someone I'm like of course she goes you so he says like she's like telling the
story he's like I was 14 Hong Kong you made me believe in entrepreneurship all the way through
and then she goes this is the co-founder of DoorDash. And we were hanging out yesterday. We were chopping it up.
And not only I'm in a very wild part of my career,
like watching all of you,
like really when you've been putting out as much content
about what you thought would happen,
and then it happened,
and it's impacting so many people,
and it's positive,
and you get to be in the airports
or literally on the way here like
we're working on the be friends theme song and music for the cartoons that are coming out
and the music group the team that brought them in they're like they're the hottest they're the best
they're winning they've done all these shows and then they start the meeting with gary our company
took off because we read your book and the people that introduced us didn't even know that it's like
i'm in this incredible period because i'm still young right i'm still like in my journey yet to your point i've been
on this kick for 15 years and a lot of people that were like 19 are now 34 and they you know
28 are now 43 like and then like watching y'all and so many others who i know a book or a video
changed the course of their careers.
God, it's humbling beyond belief.
I think what stands out for me is that that book was so different than anything that was
on the market.
Especially then.
It was so avant-garde and it was like the discipline and the hard work and putting in
the reps and the consistency.
And it's like, it is all the things that happened.
And the thesis.
People will become famous and build businesses
around the things they're interested in at scale.
And people shit on me heavy when that book came out.
It came out in 09.
I wrote it in 08.
This is like 15 years ago now.
That's when we were right when we were getting out of school.
How did you have a nose for that?
Looking back, because now you have the perspective.
It was, you know,
like, I don't know, like, why does he have such great hair and so fucking handsome?
Like, you're born with shit.
I'm born with some sort of
ability. I don't know. Like,
I'm born with some sort of ability to have
a very good sense of what people
are going to do before they understand they're
even going to do it. I've always been good at that.
That's how I built my dad's wine store. I knew that Australian and New Zealand wines were going to do before they understand they're even going to do it. I've always been good at that. It's how I built my dad's wine store.
I knew that Australian and New Zealand wines were going to get hot.
Spanish wines.
And like nobody in the wine industry saw it.
Like I'm very good at that.
I mean, think about your careers.
You know that I was the loudest on Musical.ly.
Always.
Like this is what I do.
I'm that guy.
There is, I was just thinking,
I've told you before we started, like there were so many places that we could take this interview.
We've been so aware of your content and been so critical in our careers and the development.
And I was thinking the last time we sat down, it was actually the very first thing I ever did
publicly ever was your show. He snuck on. I snuck on. I forgot. I don't know if I was mic'd up.
I fucked it up for you. He snuck on the show. I snuck on. I got invited and Michael was like, no, no, no, I'm coming on with you.
Listen, I'm going to take the shot, you know, if I can take the shot.
I remember now.
I was like, what?
And we had matching leather jackets.
I'm like, what's going on?
It was a little strange looking.
Yeah.
I found it.
It was episode 191 and it was March in 2016.
The reason that date's so important is that was the same exact week we launched this show.
The very first episode ever.
And you played such a critical part
because we would drive back and forth to San Diego from LA,
San Diego, LA all the time.
And we would listen to the Ask Gary Vee show,
you and some other guys.
And it was like, I remember trying to think,
I've always been a kind of an operator behind the scenes guy.
But I remember listening to you on that show.
I'm like, oh, I like that format.
Like I could do that.
You know, it's interesting.
I'm an operator.
You know, like the thing that's always been weird about me
is that I always love when people come to Vayner, like influencers or other people, we do a lot of
that. We always trying to give love just like I did with all with you. I continue to do that.
Even at this place of my career, like random 15 minute meeting with some kid that's like,
I love it. I love the come up. The amount of people that come into VaynerMedia
and are like, what the fuck is this? And I'm like, what do you mean? They're like, what is this? I'm like, this is my company VaynerMedia. They're like, huh?
Like the amount of people that think like I'm an influencer or a personality or a motivational
speaker or an author, like the reason operators always fuck with me is because I'm an operator.
The second part of what I was going to tell you, which is, it was a real moment in my life
personally, was I read the book with Lauren and I started talking a lot and it was a real moment in my life personally was I read the book with Lauren and I started
talking a lot and it was a lot of talk. And I'm like, wait a minute, I came and saw you in your
office and you talk, but what people don't realize about you is what you actually do most of the
time is operate massive businesses all over the place. And that's your main, like the thing people
see is the side thing. And I saw that with you and I was like, okay, shut the fuck up more.
Go do the thing.
Yes, you can talk along the way about the thing, but go do the thing actually.
And it was a moment, like as a young guy, I was looking around, there's all sorts of
people on the internet and it's like, who do you listen to?
And I remember like you were the North Star.
I was like, oh, this guy you can listen to because he actually is doing the thing when
a lot of people are talking about the thing, but not actually doing it.
It's why VaynerMedia has become one of the largest independent
agencies in the world. Literally 15 years ago, I started VaynerMedia. I was in the wine retail
business running my dad's wine store. And in 15 short years, we built a 2000 person global agency
for Procter & Gamble and Pepsi and Fanatics. We're it. I was just in Miami at Possible Con.
Everyone knows in advertising, the madmen,
the people that do the advertising for BMW
and for the Gap and for Exxon, the biggest, that world,
everyone knows they're on call that I'm coming to get them.
And the reason we're winning is that,
now that social media, organic creative,
is the starting point of marketing. Organic social media, organic, creative is the starting point of marketing.
Organic social media,
the reason I wrote Day Trading Attention,
which is the follow-up to Jab, Jab, Jab, Ray Hook.
The reason I wrote it is because as we sit here today,
the single most important thing in all of marketing is first and foremost, organic social media.
Then everything else.
The reason to even have a podcast is more about the clips, organic social media. Then everything else. The reason to even have a podcast
is more about the clips for organic social
than the podcast itself.
Like I literally did DailyVee
and I did ask DailyVee and DailyVee
for the social media clips,
not for the long form.
I even still do podcasts as a guest
because Dustin's sitting right there,
de-rocking it and we're gonna clip it
and there's gonna be three or four or seven things.
Social media organic.
More important than commercial.
More important than your email newsletter.
More important than a billboard.
More important than hiring Beyonce
to be in your Super Bowl spot.
Big shout out Verizon.
More important to anything else.
If you are not the best in the world
at organic social media and the way I define that
as, because I know you two have been paying attention for a long time, is I'm one of the
few humans that equally has 5 million followers on LinkedIn as I have 15 million followers on TikTok.
I'm talking cross-platform. I'm talking YouTube shorts. I'm talking Snap Spotlight. I'm talking
Instagram. I'm talking YouTube proper, YouTube shorts. I'm talking podcast. I'm talking Snap Spotlight. I'm talking Instagram. I'm talking YouTube proper, YouTube shorts.
I'm talking podcast.
I'm talking newsletter.
I'm talking for real, for real.
And so, yeah, I mean, I think it's just a fun time
to be on this show because you were saying right before,
you know, you said, you know, you're so sweet.
Like, I love you guys.
Like, you're like, what's a win for you, Gary?
I said, whatever's best for your audience right now, right? And and you said our audience is starting to figure out that like everyone could be an
influencer and i said fuck man you don't even you couldn't even imagine how that hit for me i'm like
i fucking sat and wrote this book in 2008 and i wish you knew how nobody believed me not my
publisher not my ghostwriter not my my fucking, not the audience.
People, shit, go look at the Amazon reviews when I first put this out.
Literally, people wrote things like this snake oil salesman's trying to tell you
you're going to make $100,000 a year on YouTube.
What a joke.
Think about what a joke that comment is now.
I think people, they're scared of the unknown and it was the unknown.
And what I like about you personally is that you always go for the unknown and it was the unknown. And what I like about you personally is that you
always go for the unknown. Everyone is so scared of the uncertainty and the unknown and what they
don't know and they don't like it and they fear it. So they hit against it. They don't like change
either. Right. And then other things that happen, especially for influencers and creators, is they
get good at something and they want to hold on. The reason so many people fucked up the TikTok
moment was they got a million followers on Instagram and they wanted to stay there because it felt cozy because their ego liked the blue
check mark and the million followers so they didn't start setting up shop on TikTok because
they didn't want to start at zero. I get fired up to start at zero. I'm pumped like you know like
it's true like I love having 60 people watching me on Twitch right now
while I stream from my office on mute
because everything is private information
and all my friends and people.
How many people are watching?
60, like I'm just putting it on to test, 42, like 28.
Like, you know, but could I get more?
Sure, as Dustin knows, like if I go on Instagram live
for two seconds and say, come over here to dance 400,
but like, I'm not Clix, I'm not Booga,
I'm not Kaisa, I'm not Aiden Ross.
I don't have the time right now to sit in front
and stream for 15 hours a day.
Do I think I could do that well?
I sure do.
I think I can gab with audience for 15 straight hours
and crush, but that's not in the cards for me right now.
I'm operating.
I'm building an enormously big IP called VFriends
and I'm building the biggest advertising agency in the world. I'm operating. I'm building an enormously big IP called VFriends and I'm building the biggest advertising agency in the world. I'm busy. And that, so when I saw that as a full circle moment,
I was like, oh, okay, there's a way to do this long form content and go and speak and do all
the things that we all do, but you can still be a great operator. And this just reinforces the
main thing. And there's a lot of people out there selling a lot of stuff
I'm sure, you know, in get rich quick schemes
and what to do and I was like, if they're just selling you
on the idea that they're selling you on something
and they don't have the actual infrastructure,
you gotta be really careful.
That's my biggest argument in marketing right now.
There's a lot of marketing professors and pontificators.
I'm like, if you're so good, why doesn't your book sell?
Like, to your point, get Rich Crick,
we all know that, that's played out.
Like people still get away with it,
but like people are getting smarter than that
and they're not as loud and as noisy as they used to be.
It smells, there's something that smells about it.
More importantly, it's just a simple question.
Like if you're so good at marketing,
why doesn't your shit sell?
Right.
Like every author that writes a marketing book
that the book doesn't crush is a weird situation like if you're supposed
to be so good at marketing why doesn't your book sell what would you say to someone i can't wait
to hear what you would say to someone that says i'm too busy to create content because you have
the 60 million companies i'm looking at this list guys i'm gonna i'm gonna read it in in the
beginning of this episode.
It's going to take half the episode.
Yeah, please don't do that.
Please go off on what you would say to someone.
I'm too busy to create content.
You don't believe in demand creation.
What does that mean?
You don't believe that creating new customers
or consideration for what you're doing is important.
Do you know companies that are really great at sales,
but they're also bad at marketing
and branding? If you're a sales organization, that means it's not coming to you. You're going
out and hunting. I love sales and I love when companies do both. Yes. But if you're only about
sales, it means you don't know how to market and brand because when you know how to market and
brand, it comes to you. So when I hear that, I'm like,
oh, that person doesn't understand
that content on social networks in April of 2024
is the single most important thing in the world to do great
to get people to come to you versus you go chasing it.
They're too busy oftentimes operating and selling
when if they understood that branding and marketing
would accomplish the selling and free up time to operate VaynerMedia
doesn't even do RFPs anymore this is very nerdy marketing talk but requests
for proposal we don't do it we don't need to
give me the business because you know we're the best that's a good game it's a
lot more fun when you go out to the club when it's coming to you versus you running after it.
Yeah, because there's no desperate energy.
No shit.
Yeah.
You know, it's funny too.
That's what you want.
By the way, that's what you want with men.
Of course.
That's what you want when you're being chased as a woman.
Of course.
Come to me, bitch.
Of course.
You know what too?
I also like personally,
I think Lauren and I both realize
we're really bad at the sell.
Me too. By the way, I don't like selling either. No, I don't like it I both realize we're really bad at the sell. Me too.
By the way, I don't like selling either.
No, I don't like it.
I really don't like it.
It's why I like marketing and branding so much.
Yeah, I like it.
Think about what just happened in the meta here.
Gary, what would be a win for you?
Eh, let me do branding.
Let me bring value to the audience.
Then of course they're going to want to buy the kid's book.
Then of course they're going to want to buy...
I don't want to...
What am I going to say?
Buy my book?
No shit.
When people go do the Today Show or podcast,
like when they, I'm like, what the fuck are they doing?
No, the audience, what do you think?
Nobody understands?
Like you go do a podcast, you have a new book coming out.
What do you think they want to happen?
Of course you'd want your book to do well.
For me, my book's going to do well.
There's no scenario where my book is not going to do well.
And why is that? And how is that from a micro level?
Like how do you look at it?
When you are ready to launch a book, how do you look at it?
Do I have something to say
that's gonna create more of you two?
The reason day trading intention is fun for me,
I don't know if you've gotten to skim it or read it yet.
Yeah.
Okay, it's because even you two that are winning,
there's real shit in there that you don't know.
Oh yeah. No, no, no, for sure. By the way, I have all your books. It's not just this but it's all your books
That's it. Anyone can open your book and highlight I write books on the concept of marketing and branding and the current world
That are good for even the people at the highest levels
Which then of course is going to matter for the people that are just starting out which was the waitress you yeah i write books that both will crush for you when you were waitressing
and crush for you right now in the midst of you building your empire you know epic that is for me
you also don't write books for money of course not it's not enough money in it for me but it
seems like you do it because you... I want to be historically correct.
You also can't. And I want to impact.
I want...
The intoxicate...
To me,
a billion dollars
isn't intoxicating.
You two looking at me
with the admiration
through your four eyes
is the intoxication.
Admiration
is a trillion dollars.
Has it changed
over this two decades?
It's always been the same.
It's always been the same.
It's always been the same.
It's always been the same.
My favorite people to interact with are the kids i grew up with
that knew me for real for like you know everyone now is like oh gary you're you're not you're you're
it's different now because you got the money i'm like you don't know me you don't know 27 year old
me that was exactly this person making 61 000 a year well i do want to say something else to you
we've been swimming in the same waters for a long time now. And with that, and you know this too, you get to meet a lot of people and everybody
talks and everybody knows each other. And not only do we know people that you've partnered with,
but we know people that have worked with you and for you. And of all these years, I've never heard
anyone say a bad word about you. She just sang your praises today. And I mean that as a real compliment. Yeah, I mean it's how I live my life.
I couldn't imagine Dustin, Lara, Sam Heaps,
D-Rock, like any,
like I, and by the way,
even sometimes when people leave
when it's a little murky,
maybe I wasn't candorous enough.
That's why I wrote 12 and a half
to talk about
the only kryptonite
I think I've had
in people relationships
was I wasn't candorous enough
to some people. What is candorous? I couldn't deliver candor. I couldn't be like,
hey, Dustin, I need you to do that. Like, if I love you, but Gary V is the most candorous.
Yeah. On stage, in a podcast, in book form, crush candor. Gary Vaynerchuk, if I like you
and you're not doing a great job at work, I dance around it.
So how does that then, what do you think the impact of that is?
It created sloppy exits. 99.9% of people are going to say remarkable things about me. The
point one that could be like, eh, I couldn't tell them they stunk and I surprised them when I fired
them. And so I have resentment towards me. And so that, that stings because what
you just said that what you just delivered is everything to me. The way people that actually
know me actually spend time with me actually talk about me means the world to me. But I think it's,
it's important because again, like coming up and figuring this out, and it's very fast-paced, and there's a lot going on, especially in this world. I don't think, especially a lot of young people starting here, they don't realize this can span decades, especially if you're building something on a personal brand. And you have to not only protect the business, but you have to protect your reputation and the way you are with people, because you never know if that intern becomes the executive.
What you're alluding to is a lot of people look up to a lot of people, but 88% of them
are pieces of shit.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Exactly.
And people are hypocrites and they talk about being nice on camera and then everybody works
for them, hates them.
Yeah.
That's what we're talking about.
Or you meet some people.
And you know, once you get in the circles, you get to the truth.
Well, and you podcast with someone that you think is A, B.
The best.
And you see the way they treat people in the office or the way they treat their own.
And you're like, oh, that's so, it's so disheartening.
It's devastating.
Never meet your heroes.
Yeah, sometimes.
Agreed.
I mean, some are great.
Agreed.
Some are great.
88% versus 12% is a disappointing thing for all of us.
The creator side, right?
Yeah.
You start to see people that are starting to kind of make it and they're getting the traction.
And then all of a sudden they start to believe their own hype.
Of course.
Humility is the missing ingredient for almost everyone
because most people are grounded in insecurity versus actual confidence.
Talk about that.
Well, the reason I think I'm nice is because I'm confident.
It's not super complicated.
Most people have bad behavior from their own insecurities.
Where do you think that comes from with you?
The luck of the DNA drawn, epic parenting.
My mom crushed it,
but I also know that I have siblings
and cousins and friends,
and I have children.
I see how the world works.
It's not just parenting.
It's not just environment.
Like I got very fortunate that it was part of my DNA,
and then it got reinforced by a mother
who really believed in kindness, who instilled that I was the best my DNA and then it got reinforced by a mother who really believed in kindness,
who instilled that I was the best,
so I believed her,
but not that bullshit delusional,
you're the best.
You're the best, she told me, son.
But then when I did things wrong,
consequences.
Modern parenting has fucked up.
That's why I wrote Mimi in the Middle.
If you tell your kids they're the best,
that's awesome.
If that becomes delusion
and you don't have ramifications and consequences for their poor behavior, then they become delusional kind of entitled delusional
It's a fine line. Yes the entitlement in our society in first world countries like america parts of western europe
Rich china and other places is a fucking cancer
Do you get pushback at all at this point in your
career? Like there was a, we did an episode one time on hustle culture and it was like a big,
like a hot button issue. And you know, our perspective is you got to put in the fucking
work. Like you, you have, I think, I think, you know, what happened there in my career was
somebody wrote a medium article called hustle porn and put me as the, I didn't even know if
they did that. That happened. And so what happened was there was a moment there that it got a lot of heat and i started to but it
was easy for me two things happened with that one the most remarkable thing was i talked about it
once on a podcast and because there were so many things that weren't true about me in the article
and i said that i felt bad for the person that wrote it not for me and then that person reached
out to me recently,
and I sent it to Sid and Andy because it was a big moment on our team, Gary, at the time,
and he apologized and said I was right on the podcast.
I didn't even know that that happened.
That he used me.
So for me, that's what actually sparked people
throwing me into that convo
because if you read Crush It!,
I don't talk about working 18 hours a day.
I talk about having the capacity to work 18 hours a day when it's your hobby
When you love it
Do you understand that I would not work one hour a day if I didn't like it
I got d's and f's for a reason. I did not like school and
I believe that i'm part of the very rare club as a matter of fact gary at vfriends.com if you're part of this club
Because I know there's not that many people so I don't think my inbox will get flooded.
Don't email me otherwise.
Please.
I got too much email.
But if you're one of these people, email me.
Are you part of the...
I never opened my book.
I never did a single piece of homework
and I never studied for an hour or more
in your entire four years of high school.
Please email me
because you and I are part of a...
I am an all- time remarkably poor student.
From freshman year to high school
at North Hunterdon High School
in New Jersey,
I did not do one piece of homework
in four years of high school.
I never submitted a book report.
I did my Scantron as A, B, C, D, E,
like complete random.
And I never studied once,
not an hour in four years of high school.
My capacity to work hard when I don't like it is zero.
My job, my career is my hobby.
I treat working the way people treat skiing
and vacationing and cooking
and watching Star Wars and playing video games.
It is my great hobby.
So when people tried to throw the hustle thing at me,
I was like, the receipts exist, go watch my content.
I don't work 18 hours a day to make a million dollars
for what?
When people are like, Gary, work life,
I just said this on another podcast,
first time I ever said this, they're like,
yeah, but Gary, I work nine to five,
I have great work-life balance.
I'm like, do you like your job?
Nah, I'm like, you don't have good work-life balance.
You have 40 hours a week that you are fucking miserable i also disagree you do have to hustle like what do people like not not
disagree with you but disagree that people are mad about we are fully agreeing that becomes let
me tell you what that's about that's similar that's similar to why cancel culture is getting
canceled that was the manipulation of a word when the word hustle meant hard work, we all agreed on it.
What happened was
society manipulated
the word hustle
into work so hard
in such an unhealthy manner
that you will get sick
or suicidal
all for the chase of money.
Yes.
My definition of hustle is
hard work is one of the ingredients
to make something happen.
That'd be like saying to everyone, good news. You don't need to go to the gym or eat right.
And everything is going to be awesome physically. Not true. Sure. So that was just the slang word
of, this is why this is the biggest issue with cancel culture. It doesn't factor in intent. If somebody makes a misstep,
but they didn't want to,
and they like you,
and they didn't mean it,
why should they be fired and eliminated from society?
It was so out of whack,
which is why it didn't last long.
There's a reason we're having a correction
and why it was just a blip.
It's not sustainable.
It's not right.
Yeah, it's why, like, honestly, we never,
I mean, and again, and I think it comes comes with having like a lot of people in that moment were maybe new or just
getting started finding their foot we've been doing this for so long now not as long as you
but that it felt like a blip in time 100 and i kept looking like this is there's no way you can
sustain this way and people would get frustrated that we wouldn't take it more seriously but i'm
like it's it's not how are you not allowed by the way i stopped using hustle during that time
and just used hard work and work ethic.
You wanna cancel work ethic?
Knock yourself, I don't give a shit
what they wanna cancel.
It has nothing to do with me.
Yeah.
Like, it's just, here's the problem with what?
Life, right now.
Everyone has such audacity that they think
everyone should see the world the way they see it.
Oh, please, go off.
I have deep conviction of how I see things.
I'm me, I'm Gary Vee, I write these.
But when I tell you,
I totally understand why people don't see it the same way.
I have conviction that organic social media
is the single most important starting point to marketing.
I equally spend my career, seven hours, 10 hours a day,
because I split it between be friends and Vayner,
with people who think a TV commercial
is the most important thing.
I think I'm right.
I think they're stuck in yesterday, but guess what?
I'm not mad at them.
I don't hate them.
I don't think they're stupid.
I think they'll be proven to be wrong.
I don't think in 2024, spending $4 million
on making a commercial for television on a
non-streaming service on network TV or cable is a good idea.
I think it's actually the stupidest idea.
But I'm not mad at anyone if they see it differently.
What's a bad day look like for you?
One of the things I'm struggling with right now is that with 2,000 employees and I'm so
HR driven, the pet team, the people and talent team,
always tell me when something bad has happened
to an employee anywhere.
This is a big part of me wanting to be the human CEO I am.
To the point where I'm actually debating
maybe not doing it anymore.
Because now at 2000, when it was 50 people, 80 people,
and everybody was 22, we were cruising.
Nobody's parents were dying, everyone was 22.
Nobody's parents were dying, nobody lost a baby, nobody had kids, like we were cruising. I was parents were dying. Everyone was 22. Nobody's parents were dying. Nobody lost a baby.
Nobody had kids.
We were cruising.
I was like, I'm the best.
Meaning I'd have to hear about it once every few months
and I would lean in.
Now at 2,000 people, many of which are 40, 50, 30,
things happen.
People's siblings die.
People's parents die.
People lose a baby.
People get sick.
People themselves get sick and hurt.
We had an incredible teammate get murdered,
murdered in Brazil, I think, Colombia.
So the weight of a day-to-day negative thing
of people I care about that work with me, heavy.
So a bad day for me would be getting bad news
about somebody in one of my companies
that's happened to them
because I'm very emotional.
And so I take things on.
I'm able to corporalize.
That's what I'm great at.
I can deal with it.
But I would tell you,
my bad days are only left for cancer,
death, terminal illness,
car wreck, burnt house down,
losing money. somebody saying i stink
like fuck that shit i want you to talk about that a bit because you've said that for a very long
time and i think a lot of people starting out with that perspective you know some people get
as we've become parents and been married all this i really like lean into like
same theory like if something happened to her or my kids, like that's a real thing.
You look, you're losing a little money.
Like even let's go to the full extreme.
You guys are really in it right now.
You're on the precipice of building your empire, right?
What if we went to dead zero tomorrow?
Devastating.
You've worked really hard.
I'd figure it out.
Of course, that.
You have to have that.
You have to have that.
You can't, you can't be scared.
You know why?
Because you have no choice.
Right.
Like, I don't understand.
People think they have optionality to step backs.
Everyone's so scared of losing, they've lost.
Everybody is so scared of losing that is listening to this right now
that they've already lost because of the fear of losing.
What about the forever student?
Oh, right.
Like they just read about it and never do about it.
Yeah.
I mean, they're the forever student.
Like, I don't know.
Like I was that about health and wellness from 28 to 38.
I was talking to myself for a decade about,
I have to get into better shape.
I have to eat better.
Fuck.
I have all these goals and dreams.
I'm not going to live to a hundred if I don't fucking,
if I keep eating foie gras and fucking never go to the gym.
And then at 38 and a half
I finally got serious about it
and I've started taking my health
more serious over the last 10 years of my life.
That's how I feel about all of it.
I understand the forever student. I wasn't
with my health and wellness from 28 to 38.
It's about fear. It's about,
I used to say when I was 34
that I didn't have time to work out.
34 year old Gary compared to 48-year-old Gary with time.
That guy is a puss.
Why is he a puss?
Talk to him.
It's not that I work that much more or less.
My efficiency is like a fucking gangster.
You know what my calendar looks like?
No, can we see it?
Yeah.
This is actually my dream to see your calendar.
Wait, do you have something in there that says 445 to 446?
It's very real to me.
Like shower in there.
My efficiency, me learning as an operator that every one out.
Here's a big one for all the entrepreneurs out there.
Every hour meeting you have is actually a 30 minute meeting.
Please, can you actually talk about that from a very detailed standpoint?
I need all these tips.
The reason I have so many 15 minute meetings is almost every 30 minute meeting is actually
a 15 minute meeting.
But you putz around on dumb shit that doesn't matter or pleasantries that aren't required
at that moment.
Like, I'm so excited.
This is great.
How do you stop?
And like eating the pineapple for a few minutes and like making a coffee and all of a sudden
it's like 2.09. Let's do, here's my favorite one. 13 people in a meeting. Let's do intros for a few minutes and like making a coffee. And all of a sudden it's like 209.
Let's do, here's my favorite one.
13 people in a meeting.
Let's do intros for a fucking hour.
No.
I mean like fuck that shit.
I give you an example.
I had, I was speaking to some banks the other day and they were trying to schedule hours
every time.
Like no, 30.
Because the point is like on the hour, everyone does the round of introductions.
How was the weekend?
And you also lose momentum in the conversation. It's like, let's just get to the point. everyone does the round of introductions. How was the weekend? And you also lose momentum in the conversations.
It's so fucking weird.
Like, let's just get to the point.
How do you hard stop it, though?
It's like going to the gym
for an hour,
but not doing
a single exercise properly.
You don't have to hard stop it
because people get to the point.
Yeah, but I want to know
how you get out of 12 to 12.15.
Someone's still talking.
What do you do?
Say, I apologize.
I have to go to my next meeting.
Just straight up.
You're also, in my role,
as I'm the conductor of almost every meeting.
Like everyone, don't forget, it's also scheduled from 12 to 12, 15. People see it. People know,
right? You know, like, I don't know. They show up ready. Yeah. Like I'm like, listen, I'm,
I'm bad at interrupting when I'm the podcast host. I'm definitely going to interrupt in a meeting if
we're trying to move shit along. So you're like, sorry, I have to go to my next meeting. Bye.
I mean, it's even weirder than that. I think back to the point I'm making,
which is if this meeting is 12 to 12, 15 at 12, 13, everyone's brains is like this meeting is
two minutes long. Like there's no, like, it's not like someone's going to pontificate about
anything. Like, I don't know. Okay. I'm going to, I'm going to take those 15 minute meeting
tips. And it also, what I, what I like about seeing your calendar too, is you can tell you've
also carved out time that's personal. Yes, of course. Now, I don't do a whole lot of personal
between like 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. Like a minimum day for me is 10 hours of operating, no lunch.
I barely go to the bathroom. It's 10 hours, right? Every day, every day, every day. And by the way,
that's the minimum. There's plenty of 8 a.m. to 11.m and all that listen i love what i do but i'm in or i'm out like on the weekends i'm see ya
vacations see ya jets game double see ya like you could tell me the world's burning down i'm like
this game's not over yet you know like like i i carve out that time and and i've definitely
evolved in ebbs and flows with your personal life of like there's times where you could triple down on work there's times like you find different variables
in different chapters of your life there's no system i also have no ideology to my work ethic
like i'm also comfortable changing my mind tomorrow and never working again it's a fluid
situation like it is what it is i focus focus on one thing, enjoyment, satisfaction, happiness,
and currently this is working, but if it changes, it changes.
At the time of this recording, Lauren and I are on the go. We're out here in LA. We've been out
here for the last week doing all sorts of interviews, catching up with the dear media
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So when people come to you at this point, you've talked to thousands of people and they say,
Gary, I'm not happy with what I'm doing. I don't like my bid. I don't have passion.
What is the main theme that you're recognizing with those people and what is the response to them?
Lack of accountability or optimism. And they're looking for answers,
but often what they're looking for
is affirmation for their excuses.
And the reason they like me
is I don't want to do that for them
because everyone else is doing that for them
and it's fucking them up.
What most people want
is for you to agree
to why they got unlucky
or why it's not going well.
If you look carefully at what's happening,
a lot of us are creating entitlement and nepotism
for people we love by acknowledging things that aren't true.
Like for example,
the thing that's really playing out in society right now
is the real pandemic is non-accountability, right?
So right now you have an entire,
let's just use our country
for a little bit.
It's Biden's fault.
It's Trump's fault.
It's Republicans' fault.
It's Democrats' fault.
It's my spouse's fault.
It's mom,
now the other big one.
It's mom's fault.
It's dad's fault.
It's everyone's fault.
What about this?
Like the thing that
I'm usually trying to be,
like usually where I go,
depending on the tone
and tenor of the person.
You know,
some people love
a gym trainer that like really grinds you like,
you know,
like people like that.
Other people like one that's a little bit more like your therapist slash
trainer.
Everybody likes different things from different relationships.
What I tend to try to do is look at the person that's coming at me,
whether randomly at an airport or somebody I really care about and be like,
what style of communication can I give right now that brings them the most value?
For some people it's like, look, that's real trauma.
Like somebody comes to me that I don't know.
And like, this happens to me a lot.
Like that I don't know them, but they consume my content.
And I'm like in line to get a coffee and like,
Gary, can I speak to you?
I'm like, you know, I'm pretty me, I'm me.
I'm like, sure.
They're like, look man, like my dad was an alcoholic
and like sexually abused me. I can't be like, look man, my dad was an alcoholic and sexually abused me.
I can't be like, yo bro, who gives a fuck?
That's not appropriate.
You need to come with real compassion in that moment.
That's something I can't fully understand.
I'm not all knowing.
To me that needs extreme sympathy and compassion.
But if that's a 45 minute convo, not a one minute convo,
then at some point the story with that person,
especially if it's the 18, let's say it's an employee
and I'm in hour 18 over three years with them.
At some point in that convo, it starts to transition
into like, you are aware that other people have also
gone through this traumatic experience
and through therapy, meditation, health and wellness,
mentally and emotionally, physically, they've been able to get on the other side. Humans are
remarkable. I mean, there's people that literally were in concentration camps during the Holocaust,
watched their parents get shot and then escaped the Holocaust because America freed them,
came to America and started their families. You know how insane that is?
So like look, I don't-
It's a wild concept to think about now, especially-
Yeah, let me say it again.
Like actually I've never used this analogy
because this is a very real story.
There were many people that spent many years
in concentration camps as children,
physically watched their parents die,
and then escaped,
left their country in Eastern Europe and came to America and became the starter of the new family tree.
If they can overcome that,
everyone listening to this podcast with whatever fucked up mom and dad
neighborhood,
somebody fucking them.
Like people come to me like,
Gary,
I can't do it anymore.
My business partner stole a million dollars from me.
I'm like,
fuck you. Like, yes, you can. So now how me like, Gary, I can't do it anymore. My business partner stole a million dollars from me. I'm like, fuck you. Yes, you can. Now, how you start that conversation isn't
always like, rah, rah, rah, I got you. Sometimes it takes four hours of compassion before you can
start to transition the energy to accountability and capability. What do I say? You're capable.
Politics is such a hot topic, right? You don't like what's going on in America? You're capable. You don't like, politics is such a hot topic, right?
You don't like what's going on in America?
Go to Sweden.
I don't know.
If you're so distraught right now
listening to this
and you think America's the worst,
I have great news.
Australia is lovely.
And so to me,
why are you going to complain
when you're in control?
Ah, you like that feeling.
People don't want to be accountable.
I think complaining gives people sometimes an identity.
It gives them the short-term endorsement hit.
It gives them a short-term excuse.
It gives them a band-aid.
It gives them a jolt of, I don't suck.
Life is as basic as it comes. It gives them a band-aid. It gives them a jolt of, I don't suck.
Life is as basic as it comes.
Insecurity, self-confidence, everything else is secondary.
Yeah, it's interesting too because the message is very clear, and I couldn't agree more.
But there's also this thing that's like, well, easy for you to say, Gary V. point of privilege,
Lorna Michael point of privilege.
And it's just like it's another bump along the road.
Only because they don't have context.
Of course.
Sure, easy for me, Gary.
Let's talk about Gary.
I immigrated from the Soviet Union.
I grew up in a household where my dad worked every minute,
where my mom starting,
who's the greatest of all time,
but very early on said,
you take care of your sister.
I've only had responsibility.
I've only had stress and pressure on my head
my whole life.
Started working at my dad's liquor store at 14. At 16, I'm already a financial impact on the business. Now I've only had stress and pressure on my head my whole life. Started working at my dad's liquor store at 14.
At 16, I'm already a financial impact
on the business. Now I've got that.
I've only had, and I've never had
a vacation in my fucking life.
How about that? I didn't take one as a kid
and by the time I was grown and I went,
every vacation I've ever taken in my entire adult life,
I've had to think about responsibilities that were
happening while I was on the fucking beach.
So I promise you, I wasn't on a fucking vacation. So I promise you I wasn't on fucking vacation.
Yeah, that's one thing.
So thank you, enjoy, like fuck you.
How about you, fourth kid in your family,
never had the responsibility.
Everyone took care of you in the fucking family.
You got it good.
You're the oldest, right?
Yes, like fuck that shit.
Like as if nobody else has, like everybody has something.
Everybody has something.
The thought that I
have it, like the thought that other people
have it better than me,
that is stupid. Why would anyone
think that? You don't know about
people's lives. You know how many people have had
atrocious things happen that they've never had the
strength to say out loud? Nobody on earth knows.
There's, everyone's walking around
with secrets. Everyone has skeletons.
Everyone has trauma
everyone has pain like like no i don't think it's a point of privilege plus what are we defining
success that's the thing the stupidest fucking thing i know on earth is that people define
people of privilege with money money has no correlation to happiness you know unlike you
guys are grown now you're in circles you know unlimited amount of people we know with money are more unhappy 100% and by the way you don't know yet you'll find out if you get there and
if you don't get there you won't know like i don't know like am i supposed to think lebron's
lucky because he's a fucking athletic freak i know that i wasn't born as an athletic freak but i don't
know what's going on lebron's life like I'm supposed to believe that Beyonce has it so fucking awesome I don't know what's going on in Beyonce's life how are
you going to teach your kids this I want to know for my own like what are you doing that you and
this book too you could talk about this as well like what are you doing for your kids you're just
having conversations but don't forget I'm not going to be the best best like there's different
vessels I'm going to be my kid's dad I definitely I'm definitely not going to be the best vessel like there's different vessels I'm going to be my kid's dad
I definitely
I'm definitely not
going to be Gary V
I might be very effective
for your kids
by the way
I might be the perfect person
for your kids one day
they'll be like
this is somebody
we knew for a long time
they're going to think
they may think I'm cool
it's happening right now
for so many of my friends
they're 15 to 20 year old
they're
the amount of texts
I get from friends
saying my son just texted me a fucking video from you.
Oh.
That I've been telling him for nine years,
but he hasn't listened.
But he texted me and be like,
dad,
we should do this.
You're like,
motherfucker,
I've been telling you this because sometimes you need an outside voice.
Sometimes Oprah did it for people.
Even though mom was saying it the whole time.
I can't be that.
I'm going to be dad for my kids.
Yeah.
What am I telling them? I'm doing dad shit. But I also know be that. I'm going to be dad for my kids. What am I telling them?
I'm doing dad shit.
But I also know that dad shit is only going to be 50% of it.
Because people, humans, when they grow up, dad, mom can only have so much leverage on them.
So I can do dad shit there.
I try to do dad shit for the internet.
Older brother shit.
No, you're the godfather.
The godfather of the internet.
I try to do it.
I try to leave positive contributions.
And then I'm also okay if I'm not the right vessel.
Yeah.
I'm going to be very calm if for the people,
like I'm comfortable.
I mean, my sister, my sister and I are very close.
She always laughs because people know my brother.
I talk about more because I usually talk about business.
As you two know, I don't talk about my personal life.
So usually my sister's always like,
nobody knows that we always have.
Your sister's the middle.
Yeah, and I grew up with my sister
much more than I grew up with AJ.
How much younger is AJ?
11 years.
I went to college, AJ was seven.
So I, now I was also like 18 going on 11
and he was seven going on 17.
So we've always met in the middle.
But you know, my sister,
I have a real fun relationship with,
we're incredibly close. And like, she's like, What's the gap? real fun relationship with. We're incredibly close.
And like, she's like.
What's it got?
Three and a half.
We grew up together.
And like, we grew up different than AJ.
AJ had a little bit better because I came to the wine store and blew it the fuck up.
Let's just call it what it is.
So we grew up, we have different stories.
We have our childhood together.
You said something so smart, though.
You said on your Instagram that the way that you look at giving the kids the internet is you want to instill self-confidence.
Oh, you're talking about it.
Yeah, I'll get to that in a minute.
Let me finish this thought.
My sister even, like, had an epiphany with me in the last five years.
Like, the way she viewed me, my dad, like, mom.
Like, and that's, like, mom, like, and that's like, somebody, like, so like, what I'm trying to say is that like,
I'm humble enough to know that for some people,
like there's people listening right now,
that I was literally the guy for.
I was the single human being.
Many people come up to me and say,
you are my true father figure.
You are my true big brother figure.
It's humbling.
I know that I have the gift of gab,
like many billions of people have.
I don't think that makes me special
There's many other people right now on the internet pro left right really everybody people hit with the music musicians
Right like fucking what do you think like fucking like it's so fascinating to watch like who inspires who breaks through who gets through?
Your fucking head that is something I think you're born with it's a communication concept, right? So I cool
I'm happy with that.
But I'm also okay when I'm not.
Most people don't have the guts for this.
But some people come up to me occasionally and be like,
I don't buy your shit.
I'm like, okay.
I'm like, first of all, I'm not selling you anything.
Not asking anything of you.
And two, like, that's awesome.
Like, I get it.
Like, maybe I'm too high energy.
You don't like the cursing.
You don't like competitiveness.
That's amazing.
I'm glad that a different kind of voice resonates for you like
usually when I'm met with that normally on DM or comments rarely in person but when I'm met with it
in person I always tell them like I hope you do find the person that hits for you for me that was
my mom it was never Joe Namath it was never Jay-z like for me the person that broke through was my mom
I think the people that call you out like that
They'll want your attention and when you give them the attention they immediately back down and say sorry i've seen it happen
Yeah, of course and and that's fine too and i'm empathetic to that. I just want to be acknowledged. Yeah, of course
I get it every listen. I live with
Compassion and sympathy and empathy running through my blood.
It is my natural state.
It's how I see the world.
I'm so grateful and humbled by the luck of the draw
of my DNA and parenting and circumstance.
If I was born here and not in Russia,
I'd be a different person.
I lived in a studio apartment.
I remember living in a studio apartment in Queens,
the size of this room,
with more family members
than are in the room right now.
Six in the room now.
Do you understand how grateful I am
to be able to have a nice dinner?
Red Lobster on my 10th birthday
was like going to fucking Europe.
I wore a suit from Kmart that my mom bought
for fucking eight bucks for my 11th or 10th birthday because we went to Red Lobster.
I went to one,
I went to two family vacations in my entire life,
both to Disney World.
The first time we stayed in the Holiday Inn,
not the fucking where Mickey Mouse is.
We stayed in the fucking Holiday Inn.
How the fuck am I not going to be grateful for everything?
I was fortunate to grow up that way.
And every time I had nothing,
I was always happy. So of course I live a life realizing money's not happiness. We didn't have
it and I was the happiest. Now I'm around unlimited people with unlimited money and
they're fucking miserable. You think I'm confused? I'm definitely not confused.
What do you think the common denominator is that makes those people with the money unhappy?
They're insecure and they thought money was going to close the gap.
Yeah.
They thought the pretty girl was going to close the gap.
They thought the watch was going to close the gap.
They thought the handbag was going to close the gap.
They thought the zip code 90210 was going to close the gap.
They thought the followers were going to close the gap.
They thought the blue check mark was going to close the gap.
They thought the Grammy was going to close the gap.
They thought the BMW,
they thought something,
nothing's going to,
no thing is going to fucking close your gap.
If you are emotionally insecure, you are vulnerable to, you are vulnerable. And oftentimes the person
that made you insecure was either your mom or dad, which is a whole brain fuck. So say like in your
scenario, and I think in our scenarios, we were all fortunate to have parents that like really
instilled a lot of confidence and told us we could do whatever we put our minds to. So we kind of
had that, but for someone who didn't grow up with that and has those things,
how do you help them get there?
Find people that do it for you
or content that does it for you.
I watched my father,
who did not have self-esteem being built into him,
transform under his time
being with me at the liquor store.
I'm proud to sit here and say
I had a dramatic emotional impact on my father.
And how did he manifest?
I didn't know that.
I've never heard you talk about that. Because I don't talk talk i'm trying to give you something. Nobody else has here you go
Yeah, I mean tell us about i'll tell you I believe I believe i've never said it because it's not really for me to say
But I feel like my father's and I relationship is at the right place for me to say this
I believe that if my father was sitting here, he would tell you
That the 22 year old kid that came full-time to work in that store and really six years earlier than
that that over the course of me being with him so much between 14 years old and 34 that I
fundamentally changed the way he viewed himself and how do you think you did that for him by telling
him the truth what do you mean telling him the truth by when we drove to the liquor store and I
could see my dad didn't realize how remarkable what he had done was.
I'm like, dad, do you know how many people come to America with a hundred bucks?
Like he was shitting on himself.
He spent all his time and energy
on what was going wrong.
I was like, what about this?
By changing his perspective.
Dustin, do you believe that I've had
a positive impact on your perspective?
I know who Dustin was when he started.
That's no surprise.
And I think anyone that's in your orbit, I mean, we know D he started. That's no surprise. I think anyone
that's in your orbit,
I mean, we know D-Rock too.
Yeah, I mean,
D-Rock would sit here right now
and be like,
I had a profound change.
Like, yes.
But I think I'm surprised
because I have a similar dynamic
with my dad
that you had that kind of impact
on your dad
because that's a different
kind of impact.
That's a different one.
It was, you know, look,
I think it is more unusual
for the child
to do that for the parent.
But I also think I'm a supernova of positivity. Like I think I'm different.
I think I'm passionate about it. Back then I didn't even know what I was doing. I was meaning
now I'm aware that I am that person. Then it was just, I was a child. I just, it's like,
it's the purest form. Like, I don't know how not to look at everything from a positive,
practical way. Was there ever a strange dynamic when your dad had obviously laid the foundation and
built so much, but then you kind of came in and rip roared it and took it to the next.
Was there ever like a weird dynamic of him looking at you being like, my son is now like
proud of you, obviously because of everything, but also surpassing, you know, the kind of
we can do a whole fucking documentary on it.
We went from a place of where my father and I competed with each other and had
weird dynamics about it to a part in our life now where he literally walks
around earth every day with a hat that says proud dad of Gary V.
Sweet.
Yeah.
And,
and he brings up something I said to him all the time.
This is his favorite thing to say.
Well,
it's not that cute.
I love it,
but he also has two other children.
I prefer my dad mix it up a little bit.
But like my dad always brings this up.
He brought it up yesterday
when I spoke to him in between meetings in San Francisco.
He said, son, it's really nice.
I said something to my dad one day when we were driving
and it was about how Wine Library
was going to be the biggest
wine store in new jersey and i said dad i'm gonna build such a big wine store for you
and i'm gonna be so good at it that everyone's gonna stop competing with us because they're
gonna all know that they're fighting for second place that i I'm going to be so good and this is going to be so good
and I'm going to build the biggest thing
and everyone's going to be fighting for second place
because what my dad used to be worried about
is what you guys are giving me flowers for.
While I was building Wine Library,
I was telling the industry in interviews
what I was doing.
I was like, the internet's going to win
and email market and he would get upset.
He'd be like, don't tell everyone your secrets.
And I would say, dad, you don't understand.
I'm so much better than them.
I'm going to tell them what I'm doing,
but they're not going to execute on it.
And it was this like really gangster moment
when I was like 24, three or whatever,
that like was a real, I remember it vividly the second I said it. It was like, ooh when I was like 24, three or whatever that like was a real,
I remember it vividly the second I said it,
it was like,
Ooh,
it was like a,
you know,
like it was being like a rapper where you have a bar that you just know you're going to be known for forever.
And it was just me and him.
We used to compete a lot.
It was a real challenge because I was building the business and I would
struggle with him coming in and be like,
I'm like,
dad,
I'm doing it now. At the time, I didn't understand when coming in and be like I'm like dad I'm
doing it now at the time I didn't understand when I was 22 full-time back from college now don't
forget I was there since I was 14 so I've been there every summer in high school and college
like I was there 100 days a year but now I'm there 365 days a year when I was 22 my dad was 44
four years younger than I am now whoa it's weird that's a trip and so and so i was
like at the time of 22 i'd be like dad like you're like let me like you're good like like i mean the
thought like i'm 48 i think i said earlier i'm like in the i'm like just starting like like so
you know for my dad it was you know he was thrilled because the business went from four
to 10 to 17 to 25 to 30.
Like, I fucking annihilated it.
Changed the course of our lives.
You brought it online, right?
Is that like the big-
Brought it online.
That was the whole punchline.
But he lost his identity as the man.
And I didn't want him micromanaging
because I'm like, I'm fucking giving up
my fucking 20s for you. Because I didn't, I also had my own resentment. I didn't own him micromanaging because I'm like, I'm fucking giving up my fucking 20s for you
because I also had my own resentment.
I didn't own any piece of the business,
and he wasn't paying me a lot.
I love when people are like,
don't listen to Gary Vee.
He inherited a winery.
I'm like, okay, let's start from the top.
It's a wine store in New Jersey.
I inherited nothing,
and as a matter of fact,
there are very few people on earth
that will give 150 hours a week
for 12 straight years,
give up their entire childhood, all their fun of their 20s, and work every day to build a
business for their parents. Very few. I sit in very rare air. When people try to razz me at
don't listen to this guy, I'm like, you don't know. You're complimenting me because I sit
on an island with very few other human beings.
It's interesting to watch you and know you for as long as we've known you though. When you talk
about your parents, you get very emotional. I do.
And I look at it as like still to this day, making your parents proud is probably one of
the biggest driving factors in your life. 100%. And not only is that true,
I just love them different.
Well, that's what I was saying. My dad's 80 now and we talk about this and Lauren's lost a parent.
And when you start to think, oh, you're going to lose this business or have a business,
all that stuff, it pales in comparison. When I think about losing my dad and I'll get emotional
if I think too much or with her or losing her, that's the stuff that like- Oh, dude,
it's why I'm happy all the time. And it's, it's why,
bro, it's why I'm constantly happy because you have that. Yeah.
Yeah. Because if I woke up today and nothing, like when I tell you,
like even looking at my phone after this interview,
I'm only looking for one thing. Is everyone good? Yeah.
My life is so simple in all the complexity, right? The 800,
like everyone's like, he's so crazy so crazy i'm like i'm the simplest
i'm the simplest of them all you're grounded in the perspective of the things that are really
important and the other stuff is the game of course i have micro concerns of course i'm in
the game right it's like being a competitor it's like you know like when you're playing basketball
and like you're like i'm me like i'm in it but like not real life i'm detached from it
that's why by from it that's why
by the way
that's why I'm so pumped
about Meet Me In The Middle
yeah talk about
Meet Me In The Middle
I believe every parent
that's listening to this
that buys this
and reads it to their kids
is also going to be
affected by it
I am going to build
a Be Friends world
Be Friends is Pokemon
meet Sesame Street
obviously
obviously the NFT thing
got every
like with the hype
but it started there,
but it's an omni-brand, cartoons, toys, trade.
If you go to eBay right now, please do this.
Please go to eBay right now and type in VFriends
and go to completed auctions.
You'll be blown away.
Trading cards and Squishmallow.
It's like, I'm built, like, by the way,
back to like, I'm doing it again.
When I was Gary Vee,
but I was really building VaynerMedia.
Right now, I'm VaynerMedia and Gary Vee, but what really, what I'm doing it again when I was Gary Vee, but I was really building VaynerMedia Right now I'm VaynerMedia and Gary Vee but what really what I'm building is like literally the next Marvel Pokemon
Like I can't wait for everyone in 20 years be like where and I'm doing it right
I'm doing it like I'm telling them I'm doing it right now and yet back to like I told my dad no one's gonna do
It or no one's gonna see it
Even though I'm telling you that I'm building one of the biggest intellectual properties of all time
People don't believe you and that's okay. And by the way, I might not you don't think people believe you at this point still No, still no still no
Maybe people if people believe me everybody would run out and buy you how many v friends series one nfts do you have?
Yeah, michael, how many i don't have any v friends series
That's okay, that's okay, but listen, I don't have any NFTs. That's right.
Comma,
if you believe that I was building
one of the biggest intellectual properties
of all time,
I should have gone in.
And you would know
that you should go
after this interview
and go to OpenSea
and buy a VFriends series one
because that will be
the ultimate collectible.
That'll be like comic book number one.
So no,
I don't believe that people know.
You have to go buy it
now that he just said it.
I'm sure the price has gone up.
No, no, no.
Actually, it's a great time in NFT land.
Everyone's confused about NFTs.
NFTs are forever, but everybody thinks NFTs are beanie babies.
NFTs are stuffed animals.
Only 1% of NFTs are going to be good.
Let me ask you if this is the wrong analogy.
Go ahead.
I was explaining, someone was asking about, talking about this.
And I said, okay, if you look at the watch market, there's certain periods,
there's people that love watches.
You may put zero value.
Another person may put a million dollars.
Correct.
Or what about art?
There's people that buy $8 million pieces of art.
I'm like, I don't even want a poster.
What about sneakers?
The thing that everyone,
everyone just thinks that NFTs are all art,
all watches.
1% of watches are worth money.
1% of trading.
You know how many trading cards have been made
in the last hundred years?
Godrillions.
But Michael Jordan's rookie card's worth a lot of money.
What people got confused on is they coupled
all NFTs into one thing.
Not all, everybody was confused.
Not all NFTs are going to be worth money.
The 1% of NFTs are going to be worth money
because they're going to be digital collectible art and collectibles. VFRIEND series one is
something I'm going to try to make people give a shit about. If they start by reading about
patient pig when they're five, by the time they think patient pig is cool, as they go up the
ladder into comic books and animation and anime and movies and toys and collectibles and trading
cards, that made them bring them to the ultimate collectible, which is the first one, the VFRIEND comic books and animation and anime and movies and toys and collectibles and trading cards.
That made them bring them to the ultimate collectible, which is the first one,
the VFRIEND Series 1. Now I better get on OpenSea.
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How do you have the energy every day?
What are the wellness and self-care?
No one asks you this.
I know you do.
I sleep a lot.
Okay.
Are you like juice?
Like what are we doing here?
No.
Nothing.
I actually don't consume a whole lot.
Coffee?
Yeah, I like coffee. But I'm very funny with funny with coffee it's like full cup drink a third of it
throw it out it gets cold like okay right dust like i'll probably get through one or two cups
of coffee a day but i have like nine they're always you know it's funny back to childhood
i always had tea because i'm a russian family we always had tea around constantly
constantly there was always tea got home from school three o'clock in the morning, want tea?
Tea, not like water.
Tea was a big thing in Russian culture,
Russian tea room, like that kind of stuff.
So I think something happened
that that's like comfort for me.
I always need a hot beverage around me.
There are times when I have full cups of coffee and tea,
I don't even take one sip.
The concept of it being there is warming to me.
So yes, I drink coffee,
but no, I think my big ones are, sleep's huge.
That was why I always laugh when people are like,
Gary's gonna get you burnt out.
I'm like, I'm the one fucking tell everybody
I'm sleeping seven, eight, nine hours a day.
I've never been like, there's moments to sleep four hours.
Like if you have a big project coming out,
when V Friends was going, I was fucking not sleeping a lot.
Like I was in it.
That's a couple of weeks.
Like I sleep a lot,
but I have,
the reason I'm good
is I have deep peace of mind.
I'm not anxious.
Like everyone's like,
I'm going to cold plunge
and I'm going to ground
and I'm going to meditate
and I'm going to Joe Dispenza
and I'm going to do all this stuff.
You talking about Lauren?
You talking about Lauren?
Yeah, and Mona.
Like everyone.
And everyone.
And Mona, yeah.
And everyone.
And I'm like,
yeah, I just already know.
So there's no like healthy breakfast.
There's no workout you do every day.
I work out every day.
There's no electrolyte water.
I want to talk about this for a second.
I have no idea what that even means.
I've heard of electrolyte water,
but if you told me for a billion dollars, Gary,
tell us what electrolytes is.
I'm like, I don't know.
In one of the rare moments.
Some marketing thing they came up with to sell more water.
There's one thing you haven't done for us yet and i just play couples therapists
and what i tell lauren all the time because you know similar to mona she's always telling me to
prime with all these 18 things and what i say to her sometimes it's like i'm well you've clearly
been doing unlike me i do you've definitely been doing the face stuff i've been doing
i do a lot of the stuff cause you're vain he loves his beauty
he loves his beauty
he's a quarter Japanese
you're right you're fucking sick
there's the manscaper there's the colostrum serum
I will say with some things though
I'm like listen I just already feel good
and feel happy and don't need to do the 18
things that like to get there
my favorite thing on earth is when I'm working
and Mona's reading something and she'll
get excited about something and she's like
da da da and she's like wait a minute
you're already like that.
Like I wake up. What do you mean?
I wake up. Look on the physical
things like I will be very wrinkly like my dad
I've never done a single thing for my face and I'm
so animated I will be a wrinkle monster.
I'm going to give you an ice roller.
I don't give a shit.
But,
so the physical stuff,
look,
I definitely,
I work out,
I'm eating so much better.
I eat better now
because Mona took me to,
it's not a calories game,
it's a clean game.
So I'm putting better stuff
in my food,
in my body.
Yes,
I'm talking about
the mental game.
The mental game is the game.
That's what I'm talking about.
Yeah,
the mental game
is perspective. Like, the mental game is The mental game is the game. That's what I'm talking about. Yeah. The mental game is perspective. Like the mental game is self-esteem. The mental game is ready. The
mental game is very simple. I'll save a lot of people a lot of time and energy.
Oh, do you value other people's opinions more than you value your opinion of yourself?
A lot of people do.
I know.
And I'm telling everyone, don't do that.
What are some tangible things that they can do?
Don't do that sounds easy,
but for a lot of people, very hard.
Everyone's different.
For some people, it is years of deep therapy.
For other people, it's meditation. But I believe the secret to what I'm
saying is grounded in one thing. How much negative or positive information are you consuming?
If you are somebody right now who struggles with those insecurities, I believe the formula has to do with
your consumption of information.
Who is in your ears?
What is in front of your eyes?
People love to shit on social media.
Do you know that I can't find a single positive thing
on mainstream media?
Can't find a positive thing on mainstream media?
That's right.
Of course.
Go read any newspaper, any magazine,
any television show, radio show. That's right. Of course. Go read any newspaper, any magazine, any television show,
radio show.
It's all negative.
People gave us a lot of shit.
We said we don't have
cable television
in the house anymore
because that's the reason.
I also don't watch
people's Instagram story.
I star only positive content.
You're on my star.
You can pick and choose
and curate
what you want to see.
I don't buy it.
My fucking content
is rainbows and sunshine
and the Knicks and the Jets and garage sale.
Right.
Like, happy things.
Happy things.
Social media exposed us.
It didn't change us.
And I can find unlimited positive shit.
I'm so grateful for social.
There are people like you out there.
You don't get airtime on CNN or Fox.
It's too positive.
You're not selling fear. You're not selling rubbernecking.
So they need to be mindful about what they're consuming.
I believe that that is the point. And I think that starts actually in a very close place,
not on your phone and not on your TV. I think it starts with your relationships.
Right.
I believe there are many people that should get divorced that aren't because their spouse is super negative
and they're dragging them down.
I think that before you do that couples therapy,
there's other things to do.
I'm hoping not people are like,
well, okay, yeah, don't do that.
Don't take me out of context.
But I believe a lot of people have parents that are 70
that have been negative all 40 years
of their childhood and life.
And I don't think they should talk to that.
If your mom is extremely negative
and you talk to your mom four times a day
because you're trying to rehabilitate your mom,
you only have so much energy.
And you're 40 now.
I think you should talk to your mom twice a week
instead of four times a day.
And you should reallocate those hours
to maybe your positive husband,
to maybe your positive oldest son,
to maybe a positive podcast.
What you consume dictates what you think.
It's why the world's changing so fast right now.
There's so many new voices,
so many new thoughts,
so many different thoughts.
It's why the world is changing.
I believe the way that people get into a better mental place
is by consuming practical optimism.
Not delusional.
I remember when The Secret came out.
Everybody kind of like misunderstood that book.
They were like, if I just sit on my couch
and pray for money, I'll get money.
I'm like, I don't think, I didn't read the book,
but I was like, I have a funny feeling
that's not what the book says.
No, no, practical optimism. I talk about a lot of optimistic things but it requires action when you
read the new book I know tell us about that it day trading attention is hard it's like like when
people hear me talk about like lots of content and this and you have to know how YouTube shorts
works really it's hard same with what we're talking about now it's hard to tell your mom
who you've been enabling for 40 years
that you need to cut her out a little bit.
I don't mean cancel your mom.
I mean regulate.
It's hard to quit a job that pays you $200,000 a year
without knowing your next job,
but your boss and your coworkers are so toxic,
it's been draining you for eight years.
I don't think that's easy.
Not when you have a mortgage.
Not when you have college bills coming up.
But I can tell you it's the answer of how to get happier.
The point is, is it all starts with you
and you have to take extreme accountability
for your own life and look around
and really look at the content you're consuming,
look who you're around and actually say,
you have the power.
There's not one person's excuse that I'm willing to listen to for a sustained time.
I'll be there for compassion up front.
But eventually we're going to have to talk about what are you going to do about it.
My friends, there's a lot of you doing this.
Listen, if you're listening right now and you're 35 to 65, I'm going wide.
You're in the era of where you have to stop blaming your
parents for everything.
Here's why.
You're even younger.
Yeah, and I'm just, I'm being, look what I'm doing.
I'm being very empathetic.
I'm starting just at 35.
That's old though.
I get it, brother.
And I'm with you, but I'm just, but I'm going to be
incredibly compassionate.
If you're 35 to, forget about the 25, 28 year olds,
you're still kind of like,
most people on earth, 35 to 65,
continue to blame their parents for what hasn't worked out.
And what I'm saying to them in the middle of this podcast is,
hey, it's time to let that go
and ask yourself, what are you going to do about it?
Because let me give you an insight.
Your parents, they had parents too.
And I love that you love Grandma Fran,
but Grandma Fran's the one who fucked up your mom
for you to be mad at your mom.
And oh, by the way, before we shit on Grandma Fran,
I don't know if you know about great Grandma Gertrude,
but she fucked up Grandma Fran.
And so like this lack of compassion or empathy
for our parents who also got fucked up
and this inability to be accountable for our ability to also got fucked up and this inability to be accountable
For our ability to fix our fucked up like you have generational shit be the one that stops it
Or just be a contributor to the shit that's bothered you your whole life
Either you're a part of it or you break it
Yeah, you know, it's so funny
You mentioned your dad was 44 when you guys were working together and I think about now having kids of my own
My mom was 22 when she had 22 and you're blaming you're blaming these people bar with my tits out at 22 jesus you're
fucking lucky that your mom was like even responsible you still kind of are no but
that's why he likes you yeah of course to think i saw i went to that bar to think that like we're
blaming people that were that age and they were
in many cases younger than us for all of our problems later in life is crazy to me
the other yes and and you combine that with where we are now with entitlement at scale where we think
everyone should see the world the way we see it when you guys move from LA to Texas oh god oh god
is right I am so sure I remember hearing hearing that, you know, either from Mona
or seeing it. I'm like, oh, these poor two are about to get so much judgment from so many because
you did it a little bit earlier. Right. Yeah. And I'm like, look, everyone's allowed to do like,
I don't understand the audacity of thinking your opinions on other people's lives are like, right.
Oh, yeah. We got lots of shit. Or like, just think about I mean, we've it. Same people reach out and ask me how I like it and what's your neighborhood to live in.
At this point now,
we're approaching,
it's always that.
It's always that.
800 of these.
And we've had people here and here,
all sides of the political spectrum.
And it's so funny because we have somebody on the right,
people get really flustered.
We have someone on the left,
they get really flustered.
I'm like,
listen,
we just want to listen to people and understand what makes them tick.
You know what I mean?
Look, me, me in the middle and they trading attention as purple for aed. I'm like, listen, we just want to listen to people and understand what makes them tick. You know what I mean? Look, me in the middle
and they trading attention as purple for a reason.
I'm obsessed right now with purple.
I'm so tired of red and blue.
I think most are.
It's such horseshit.
Purple is royal.
It is.
Purple is royal.
I also think the other thing that happened,
you know what really bothers me the most
about the extreme red and blue of our society?
We lost civility in it.
Oh, yeah.
We're just so nasty.
And politicians are to blame.
I'm so upset with our politicians.
Their lack of civility towards each other
completely trickled down.
It's such a shame.
We have to get to a point, too,
where people are able to change their mind.
Well, that's for damn sure.
We get so stuck in the mud and the opinion.
You have to be able to evolve your opinion.
I'm pumped when I change my mind.
It's amazing.
I love it.
I mean, it's gross.
There's no room to change your mind anymore.
You know what the scary part is? People change their minds on things to be fully red and blue.
I've watched Friends in my circle.
By the way, on the record, I don't judge my friends that are red or blue.
I really don't.
I'm super purple and I'm like, because on the record, I don't judge my friends that are red or blue. I really don't. I'm super
purple and I'm like, because I'm
purple, I get it. I get it. I get it.
I don't like that. I don't like that.
I voted for both parties in my whole life.
I'm pretty fucking purple. I just hate
the idea of having to pick a side without
knowing what the issues are. Well, the part that really fucked
me up was five, six years ago when it was really
starting to get full momentum.
I was like, oh, people are changing their minds
to be red or blue.
I literally watch people change their mind
on abortion or gun control or big issues.
I know them.
I'm like, I know what you've thought about this.
I'm like, wait, you feel the peer pressure
to be fully one or the other?
That was sad.
The extremities pulled everybody in.
We'll go back.
By the way, the 1960s were like this.
Like it ebbs and flows, the 1960s were like this. Like,
it ebbs and flows.
It ebbs and flows.
I always believe in people.
Think about how many
bad business decisions
were made because of that as well.
Oh, God.
Look,
business to me
is a whole different game.
You're a media guy.
Well, here's my thing.
Everyone now asking
their businesses to be political
is the funniest shit
I've ever seen.
Please go off on that.
I'll go very off on that.
I want you to go off on this
because I...
Businesses are not capable of it.
Of course.
Businesses don't have the luxury of what media,
governments, teachers, academia,
like businesses have to either live or die.
It's merit.
Businesses are like sports.
Like businesses have thousands of employees
that see it both ways.
What would you like them to do?
I want to speak on Texas.
Running this company, half Texas, half LA,
during the pandemic.
You're in fake Texas.
Austin is not necessarily in Texas.
Real Texas people will look at this and say,
this isn't Texas.
Exactly.
But it was funny because half the company says,
if you do this thing, we're out.
The other half of the company is saying,
if you don't do this thing, we're out.
I'm like, guys.
I'm like, everyone.
My point of view is everyone should be out.
I'll start all over.
I'm not.
How can you appease everyone? Carson knows. We've done it. I sat down and said, guys, like. I'm like, everyone, my point of view is like, everyone should be out. I'll start all over. I'm not, I'm not, how can you appease everyone?
Carson knows, we've done it.
I sat down and said, listen, if you guys are like,
if people got to go, they got to go.
I can't, you know, I can't micromanage
everyone's personal lives.
And by the way, I also am empathetic to everyone.
Of course.
I get it.
But like, anyway, listen, back to Meet Me in the Middle,
real quick, because I really know
there's a lot of young parents here and I'm pumped
because I think a lot of them will pick this book up my favorite part is when they read it to their
kids they're gonna have their own ahas we're gonna read it tonight to our kids no you is that that's
not the real one is it we don't have the real one we don't know we gotta get the fake cover we got
the fake yeah it's not out yet i don't even have it i was like fuck how'd you get it i don't even
know what the fuck's in oh wait there is stuff in is stuff in it. Oh, it is the real one? Oh fuck, I want that.
Yeah, we'll buy it.
Day trading.
How many?
A thousand?
We'll buy it.
And give them to all your listeners.
We'll buy a bunch for the listener.
40,000.
How many listeners do you have?
What are these books?
Hopefully not 40,000.
We have 100 listeners.
No, just kidding.
Go ahead.
We could do a giveaway.
I'm kidding, I'm kidding.
We could do a giveaway.
No, we could do.
I'm really genuinely joking. That actually could be fun. I'm genuinely joking. Go ahead. I'm not a giveaway. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. We could do a giveaway. No, we could do. I'm really genuinely joking. That actually could be fun.
I'm genuinely joking.
Go ahead.
I'm not joking.
Buy 5,000.
No, no.
All right, here we go.
Day trading attention,
how to actually build brand and sales
in the new social media world.
What can people who are listening expect?
What value are they going to extract?
Whether they're a creator on day seven
of being a beauty influencer
or they're the CMO of Coca-Cola.
Okay.
This is the modern Bible
on how to be as good as possible at marketing.
I believe this has a dark horse chance
of being the signature book.
I don't know what the signature book
of TV advertising was in 1968
when TV had just passed radio.
Like Ogilvy on advertising?
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I don't know what it is
I don't want to speak as if I do
My hope when I wrote it and I think it has a 5% chance because it's hard to pull off what I'm about to say
But this book is has the potential to be the true Bible blueprint
architect for the next five years of like social media marketing
Which I believe is by far now the
most important form of marketing and advertising. And so I wrote it with the intent that if you are
literally doing a hundred thousand a year selling nail polish, cause you're making good TikToks,
I can win for you. If you're the CMO of Coca-Cola or BMW, I can win for you. And the most interesting
crowd, you two.
They're now, unlike when I wrote Crush It,
even unlike when I wrote Jab, Jab, Jab,
there are a lot of people that actually know
what the fuck is going on.
I wanted to write a book for even that set
that I just know that you two, and you're in it,
and I'm watching you from afar,
and I know what's going on.
When you really read it, you're like,
fuck, we're not doing that, or shit. That's why our fucking- I already found five things I'm not doing. You know what's so funny like when you really read it you're like fuck we're not doing that or shit
that's why our fucking i already found five things i'm not doing you know what's funny
you mentioned that i also like i also think that like you you get comfortable you even said it you
get comfortable on one platform and you want to settle in and you want to get cozy you i constantly
want to be challenging my perspective and my point of view and you always seem to do that for me
throughout all your books.
Thank you.
I'm also in a great place in my career right now.
Not only am I still Gary Vee,
who wrote Crush and all that,
but now VaynerX is huge.
With 2,000 people, it's global, right?
Like we're huge in Asia, we're huge in LATAM,
we're huge in Europe, we're big.
We're spending billions of dollars in media
on behalf of clients in social.
You spend more with your media
but you know what i mean like like we're going back and forth look at it we are really really
in it and i'm at the helm of that so it's almost like my dream of what i wanted to do which was
if i'm the emperor like in star wars of social media if i build the death star VaynerMedia
that can point at anything and blow it up and that's what I've been doing for the last 15 years quietly.
And you know what I would say on a smaller scale,
sometimes we go and speak to students at schools and mostly get brought in to
talk about like this whole world we all now live in.
Cause a lot of students,
they're just not taught in school.
Right?
Of course.
I,
at my stage,
my career,
I'm looking for books.
Like,
what do you read?
That's relevant.
It's hard.
It's hard to find,
but this is very relevant to ready for this.
So I think in the shower, like a son of a bitch.
Like it's my single favorite place to think.
But I also take very fast showers.
So I have like blitzes of like four minute thinking.
Literally this morning, literally this morning,
in the hotel, I was like, oh fuck, I need to get serious.
Cause I knew I was doing today a bunch of book stuff.
I was like, fuck, I need to get serious
with college professors.
This is the curriculum book.
This is the curriculum.
Yeah, this is the curriculum.
By the way,
I did a great job with that
on maybe Jab Jab.
One of my books
I went ham on.
Thank you.
I don't remember.
This is the one
I'm supposed to deal with.
But I love this from like
any stage
and even for Lauren and I,
we will get value from this now
and there's not a lot of people
you can go to
that know their shit in this space.
Does that make sense?
100%.
You can read about
a lot of great executives but they haven't done it in this way. And even me who's putting out a lot of people you can go to that know their shit in this space. Does that make sense? A hundred percent. Like you can read about a lot of great executives,
but they haven't done it in this way.
And even me, who's putting out a lot of good content
every day to help everyone good,
a book, I can really sit down and like nail it
because you're getting clips of me,
hot takes, quick thoughts,
but I was able to go platform by platform.
I mean, for example,
you two would explode on LinkedIn organically.
Oh, you're right.
Organic clips of this podcast on LinkedIn
would fucking crush.
Taylor, you listen to that?
And that's not something I think is top of mind.
Like that's not how people are thinking.
Like this kind of podcast on LinkedIn,
what are you talking about, Gary?
Yes, because there's a lot of attention on it.
There's a lot of young professionals on it.
And some people don't like social media.
So the only place you could fucking find them is LinkedIn.
I'm platform agnostic.
I can't wait to be on this show in 20 years and say,
you guys are still doing social media?
Like I don't give a fuck about social media.
Be the next thing.
I give a fuck about attention.
Where's the attention?
And one day that's going to be in VR or AR or some shit we don't even know.
This just, by the way,
if I wrote books in the early part of my career,
I would have had a book called Email is King.
Right.
I would have been like searching for search.
Right.
You know, I would have been like,
like doing like websites are wonders.
AdWords for days.
Yeah.
I'm putting it out there that one day could be in 10 years,
but I'm putting out positivity.
That skinny confidential is going to hire Vayner for my product line.
I love it.
I'm putting it out there.
Gary V.
Thank you for taking time.
Love you guys.
I'm going to do a tick talk with you for two minutes.
I want to make sure I'm fitted into your schedule.
Go watch my TikTok.
Where can everyone buy your book, your kid's book?
Where can they find you?
All the things.
If I have not accomplished that yet, then I've done a bad job.
I think everyone listening to this is going to be very capable of finding whatever they
want to find.
So I appreciate you for that, but I'm going to leave it at that.
One of my last things to say, one of my,
you just reminded me,
favorite things you ever said
one time someone asked you a question,
you said G-O-O-G-L-E.
I used to use that
as a good shtick in my keynotes.
I was like,
because I would talk,
you know,
I was realizing
when I was giving talks,
I'd be like,
you know,
like,
I'm like,
okay,
what you got to do on LinkedIn?
And people were like,
well,
how do you make newsletters on LinkedIn?
I'm like,
I got you.
And I remember the first time I did it, it was a huge crap. Might have been South by Southwest. It was like, well how do you make newsletters on LinkedIn? I'm like, I got you. And I remember the first time I did it,
it was a huge crowd, might've been South by South.
I just remember it was a big ass crowd, 10,000,
not like a hundred.
And I was just like, all right, everybody take out your,
I'll be like, here we go.
G-O-O-G, I mean, this is what gets business career students.
But Gary, how do I run ads on TikTok?
If you don't know that you can
Google that, then we're in big trouble already. Forever student. Thank you, Gary. You're the man.
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