Video Of The Week: Gary Vaynerchuck

I had lunch this week with my friend Gary Vaynerchuck. He’s got such great energy and hustle. It made me think “I should post a Gary video this weekend”

So I watched a bunch of them on YouTube and I liked this one the best. It’s about 40mins long.

#entrepreneurship

Comments (Archived):

  1. tyronerubin

    Crush it is such a wonderful read in terms of hustle, no question!http://www.amazon.com/Crush…His latest Jab, Jab, Jab, Rich Hook is a must read book in terms of getting your message out there.http://www.amazon.com/Jab-R…what an absolute legend!

  2. Nate Kidwell

    Very interesting person. Enjoyed his electric keynote at Railsconf in 2010 (https://www.youtube.com/wat….Usually I’m very skeptical of advice from the no-coding idea-man internet CEO, but Vaynerchuk has always been the exception (plus is the best salesman ever). Can listen to him talk on any topic, and for a while his videos even made me prefer wine to beer.Interesting hearing him talk about his father, who went from 100 dollars and no english to millions. Would like to hear more on that story, sure there was plenty of hustle/effort/self-made-luck in that as well.

      1. Nate Kidwell

        Thanks, have book dusting over on my shelf but sounds like I should read it. Though I feel like I’m only allowed to read boring books these days.

  3. William Mougayar

    Gary might as well be to social media what Ogilvy was to advertising, 50 years ago.The common trait is that Ogilvy was the first “advertising guy” that had sales experience in his bones, and that was his edge in delivering results to his clients, and understanding the real objectives of advertising – to sell something. And he laughed at the fact that his competitors didn’t know a thing about sales.Gary didn’t forget the importance of sales as a goal of social media (for the corporates), and that’s a very key point.

    1. tyronerubin

      agreed!

    2. LE

      Although oddly enough it’s a bit hard to believe that nobody else in advertising (I mean that’s big industry) had any sales experience in their bones.Certainly there must have been people in advertising that had sales in their bones. As opposed to people in advertising that were previously transplant surgeons (forget the year just go with the concept).So the question then becomes why was Ogilvy able to apply that experience but the others (and there had to be a pool of them) were not? Why did he stand out? What was special about Ogilvy otherwise? Just a perfect storm of greatness? [1](I never read that much on Ogilvy so I invite your thoughts on this subject if you have..)[1] After all Steve Jobs wasn’t the only guy like Steve Jobs ever involved in the computer industry [2] so you have to believe there were many other factors that came together other than the ones that stand out (I mean in addition to timing and luck).[2] You’ve never heard of these guys but of course they do exist. Just like there are other guys on AVC that have the same hat that you have (love that hat..)

      1. JamesHRH

        Ogilvy was an innovator 65 years ago. He was early & he was right.He also said that he greyed early, which allowed him to assume positions of responsibility when he was very young. That’s the ad game for you.

      2. William Mougayar

        Couple of tidbits on that.1. He was the first advertising copy writer that actually was a salesman before. He was a travelling salesman previously, selling AGA kitchen stoves, door to door in Scotland. He then wrote a book on how to sell stoves.2. When he got into advertising later, in New York, the advertising industry was focused on “Positioning’ products in the ad copy, whereas he started to focus on selling them. That was his early edge; i.e. to recognize that advertising must sell, if you want to keep and attract clients.Ogilvy’s history is fascinating. He’s probably as quotable as Churchill.

  4. Matt A. Myers

    What I like most about Gary is he’s got hustle with heart.Many people who are successful and hustle are disconnected from compassion – they never take or never have taken the time to understand where someone is coming from – the empathetic side – and then put that into action that is reasonable and includes heart and feeling in it.Many people skip this step because it, at least initially, slows down processes and decision making. Once you become good at it though it becomes more intuition as you use your body to think, as opposed to being up in your mind using pure logic. You only really get to see someone’s true self when they’re in a position to manager or lead, and upper management’s behaviour – the CEO or visionary at the top – will trickle down into the type of people you attract and keep.The more aggressive and less open-hearted may get to places faster, though they’re losing out on other invaluable nuanced connections, relationships – and in the end you want the strongest foundation possible and heart, kindness, compassion is where that is lacking in most of our society today, and will allow the potential for the strongest foundation possible.

    1. LE

      Many people who are successful and hustle are disconnected from compassionI would add that is what is doubly impressive about that fact is that he was raised in an immigrant business family.to understand where someone is coming fromKey thing that most people are missing in business or negotiation. Understanding where the other person is coming from. Can’t counter an argument or make a sale unless you know why the other person is thinking what they are. So you can’t come up with solutions. And solve problems and objections.A good salesman (as opposed to an order taker) listens to concerns and objections and formulates solutions.Part of what is also involved is having experience and probably just as important creativity. Creativity is really really important.

  5. kenberger

    I remember our agreeing 4 years ago that Gary is a cross between Jim Cramer and Suze Orman. I also remember Gary liking that comment.

    1. LE

      Gary is a promoter. As such you could probably run a contest to find two animals that Gary is a cross between and he would probably like that as well.

      1. kenberger

        Edgy as ever, LE!

  6. Mike

    I’ve seen him around social media and I kind of blew him off for all the reasons he alluded to in the interview. Well, this was the first time hearing him speak and now I’m sold. Love his edge.

    1. garyvaynerchuk

      I’m Flattered Mike 🙂

  7. Tom_Nocera

    What an excellent recommendation from @fredwilson The interview by @willcain of @garyvee was a very rewarding time investment. I’d wager he gets the Jets.

  8. Salt Shaker

    Great interview! Gary is type “A” all the way, and prob sells in his sleep. Being a longtime Jets fan, no doubt, helps keep him humble, too. (It has for me, anyway.)A bunch of Gary’s clients are Fortune 500 who still spend a bulk of their mktg resources traditionally. His notion of building relationships via social and turning brands into media companies is def a worthy pursuit, but the luxury of having 6 mth.-1 year to bear fruit wouldn’t apply if investments in social by those companies wasn’t still so disproportionately small. Fortune 5 companies, virtually all who are public, are driven by a short-term ROI culture, while Gary’s ethos (admirably) is more about brand and relationship building, a longer term play. A company hell bent on measuring effectiveness via CTR, for example, would be hard pressed to buy into Gary’s thinking/approach, unless again the dollar allocation is a pittance of the company’s total spend (e.g., “it’s under the radar”).

    1. Matt Zagaja

      If you think Fortune 500 companies are short-term in their outlook you should try selling things to political campaigns.

      1. Salt Shaker

        Yeah, political advertising is a different animal, driven by the narrowest of windows to influence perception and votes, frequently using truly despicable tactics.

  9. David Semeria

    I really liked Gary’s comments on how patience is so underrated in the industry. Similar to Fred’s observations on companies like Return Path.FWIW, I believe the “throw it at the wall and see if it sticks” school of business has a lot to answer for. If you don’t think it’ll stick, don’t throw it — especially on someone else’s dime.

    1. JLM

      .Patience is one of the most important character traits of any person.I wish I could speak further but I have to go….JLM.

      1. Matt A. Myers

        We’ll be waiting for you.

    2. Sean Hull

      Yeah, throwing ideas at the wall can be a waste of money. So possibly trying to find the best ones seems smart.I was reading Frans Johansson’s book The Medici Effect. They actually studied the successes & failures of great innovators. People like Charles Darwin, Thomas Edison, Marcus Samuelsson & George Soros. They found over and over you need quantity to get quality.http://www.iheavy.com/2014/…It’s a good book, I’d recommend it.

  10. daryn

    First time I saw Gary speak was at the first Web 2.0 at the javits center. You spoke the same day.It was a pretty good day 🙂

  11. Wells Baum

    Gary’s Best advice: “Provide value up front.”+ start producing micro-content now (Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram, etc). They’re free and the longer you wait the likelier it is you’ll never get heard. Be your own media.

  12. Richard

    I like how there isn’t anything particularly new, yet his Great Execution and Sticktoativenesss made it work.

    1. garyvaynerchuk

      bingo!

  13. Matt Zagaja

    Gary has all these fun stories about when he was a kid and the zany thing about the flowers so I want to share mine. My parents were early adopters of computers and Internet, when I was in first grade the teacher asked how many of us had the Internet at home and I think I was one of four people that raised my hand. I spent a lot of time fascinated with it (sometimes to my parents chagrin). One of the big fights I had with my parents was about whether I would be allowed to make my own website. I won that fight and setup a star trek themed website because that’s what I was interested in. But then nobody was visiting my website and I didn’t know what to do. So I had an idea: one of the big trends back then was websites would give each other awards. So I went to a couple big Star Trek message boards that had not received awards before and posted that my website is awarding them a gold award which was a JPEG I created in photoshop that linked back to my site. They were so happy that like six of the most influential posters added the award to their signatures and my hits went through the roof. My only mistake is that I was not selling anything once they got there. Though I’ll live because the HTML and web design skills I learned from doing that did make me some money.

  14. Andrew Kennedy

    “Patience is grossly underestimated”

    1. garyvaynerchuk

      #truth

  15. awaldstein

    I’ve been a big fan of Gary’s since Wine Library days. Still amSmiled that he was getting $50K+ a presentation. Back when I ran a series of tech conferences Geoffrey Moore was my go to keynote. Prices have gone up a lot.

    1. David Semeria

      Keynote bubble Arnold?

      1. awaldstein

        ;)Gary is a motivational speaker.Inspiration is an incredibly scarce commodity and caries its own scale of value.

  16. Semil Shah

    I enjoyed this. A lack of entitlement and expectation are key. In the Adam Grant framework, the thing that makes Gary unique is that while many people want to come off as “givers” but are truly “matchers,” Gary is unafraid to be an overt “matcher.”

    1. garyvaynerchuk

      I appreciate it SS

      1. Semil Shah

        of course! meant in a good way, naturally.

  17. JamesA

    Great vid. But you spelled your friend’s last name incorrectly 😉

  18. Matt A. Myers

    Very true. Though I suppose it’s worth mentioning that those who hustle and are disconnected from compassion could have more negative impact on the world.

  19. Matt A. Myers

    More positive impact than someone doing the same without the unkindness? I’d disagree. People don’t have to be a bully or unkind; What people define as kind or unkind will vary of course, so that could be a sticking point in conversation that people would have to agree on before deciding what is considered bullying or unkind behaviour vs. kind behaviour.

  20. Matt A. Myers

    Who do you think I was talking about ? I’m a bit distracted today with a lot of small work tasks, so not fully paying attention to what I’m writing …

  21. Matt A. Myers

    Many, not meaning the majority though — many is a pretty obscure statement, just meaning numbers exist.