- On this episode, I get over my football loss hangover
and drill some really hard questions right
in the face.
(hip hop music)
(applause and cheering)
You ask questions
and I answer them.
This is the #AskGaryVee show.
Everybody, this is Gary Vay-ner-chuk and this is episode 145
of the #AskGaryVee Show.
Monday morning, gloomy in the city when I got up this
morning, which makes sense.
Stunwin, so I'm pumped with you.
We are converting you into a sports fan,
that's freaking me out.
Probably freaking you out more.
- [Stunwin] Little bit.
- It gets emotional, right?
That late interception you were upset.
- [Stunwin] That was rough.
- DRock, you are also becoming a fan, and?
- [DRock] I'm pissed.
Staphon, do you have a football team?
(mumbles)
You watch the Jets too?
India?
(mumbles)
- Sports bars are loud and annoying.
- Alright,
I'm in a bad mood.
But not as bad as I thought.
I think it comes down to the fact, as you guys saw,
Staphon edit this in, this prediction last week.
Official prediction time.
This one's gonna hurt.
I have a feeling that Decker and Ivory are not playing.
I think the Eagles are playing for their lives.
I think that the Jets, I don't think, the Jets have never
beaten the Eagles in NFL history in a regular season game
and I'm very, very concerned of this.
I'm still very affected by the 1994, 93, 94 game,
where the Jets were up 21-7 against the Eagles at home
and then Eric Allen had a 99 yard interception return for
touchdown as the Jets were about to go up 28 to seven
and Johnny Mitchell's coming out party game.
Eagles went on to win.
There's just something bad about this game.
I'm taking a ton of VaynerMedia Eagle fan employees.
Mark Evans, and Brandon Resnick, and Taggart and Lindsey.
Price, I think I'm bringing too many employees to the game
that feels wrong.
And I think the Jets stumble here.
I think that, uh, I think they stumble here, unfortunately.
I'm gonna go Eagles 20, Jets 16.
It hurts my feelings to go that route,
but that's my official prediction.
I'm not gonna predict I'm gonna win every week.
I will not be surprised if they win.
I feel nice that they could win, but my official prediction
is that the Jets stumble this week, 20 to 16.
Kind of like the whole thing, like 30,
40 seconds kind of thing.
So, I've been really on point with my Jets predictions
this year, I'm three for three.
Most people didn't think they'd win and beat the Colts,
I was right about that.
Most people didn't think they wouldn't lose to the Eagles,
I was right about that.
But I'm feeling pretty good early on for London.
Speaking of London, I think I've got a busy schedule,
but I feel a little motivated to maybe pull off a show
on Friday or Saturday morning.
But, DRock, in the comments on Facebook and Youtube,
or Twitter, hit up DRock.
DRock, take control of this.
Find a sane awesome skilled recorder.
I don't want to do a live show, my parents are coming to
London, I never get to spend time with them,
they never travel.
We took two family vacations.
So as much as I love the Vayner Nation in the UK,
I need to milk every second I have with them,
plus I'll be in Jets mode.
But, I can be motivated to bang out a 20 minute show
and so one person, maybe, could have an India.
Seems like everybody wants your job anyway.
Maybe two people can play the role of that.
So I may sneak in a Friday or Saturday recording for a show.
Other than that, I'm feeling good.
I like your sticker.
India.
Let's get into the show.
That was a whole new thing.
Alright, let's do it.
Excited, focused, ready.
- [Voiceover] Lachlan asks, "I'm new to Medium,
"how do I build a community on it?
"Jab, jab, jab, and hopefully someone notices?
"Cheers bro."
- Uh, cheers bro.
I think the great thing about Medium and one of the
reasons I invested in it, one of the reasons we write
for it is you actually just have to put out good content
because they're doing two things that are intriguing.
One, there's a viral loop.
People sharing, recommending it at the bottom.
I was one of the early people to growth hack a little bit
and ask for the hit the recommend which created virality.
But they also use human editors who just see a good piece
of content and populate it to the email,
to the top of the page.
This is an incredible opportunity, my friends.
Medium, in a lot of ways, has Reddit and Digg dynamics
that we haven't seen in a long team where you could be
anybody, you don't have to just ooze the juice of your
social networks to get people there, but you could be
anybody who writes a good, solid piece of content
and then the machine, not the community, humans,
can decide to populate it and then give you an opportunity
to then siphon.
The really Holy Grail for a lot of you,
and the reason I'm pushing so many of you in the Vayner
Nation to write on it is you can write a nice piece of
content, get lucky, but probably not lucky 'cause it was
a good piece of content, but a little serendipity along with
that good piece of content and now you're populated.
You get, you know, a couple hundred, a couple thousand,
people follow you off of the base of that being featured
and away you go, you start building.
And so, that's for people with no audience.
For all of you that are lucky enough to have some Facebook,
some Twitter, some Instagram followers and users,
you should put out content there and use that as an
opportunity to be discovered.
And so, you know, I've used Facebook very successfully
to drive people towards Medium.
Email services to drive people towards Medium.
Which then gets people reading and recommending which
creates more virality, which gets more people to recognize
me and it just becomes this viral loop.
So it's not about jab, jab, jab, right hooking,
where that's a world of put out content and then ask
for something.
This is more about just putting out good content and letting
the chips fall where they may.
I think the other thing you can do is go out to other
people that have audiences or other publications that may,
then, want to re-publish your publication,
but has a link that says, "This was originally written
"in Medium," and that links.
And so, you're trying to create a viral loop because the
recommend at the bottom of Medium creates virality
within Medium, there's a big audience there and that's
where your opportunity lies.
Very tactical off the gate on a Monday morning.
- [Voiceover] Stephen asks, "How do I create value in the
"services I provide for clients in the same market
"while respecting their competitive advantage?"
- That's interesting.
And we kind of play with that a little bit with VaynerMedia.
Not that we have any direct competitors,
but sometimes they're some nuances.
Providing value to different companies or individuals
that are competing in the same environment is tricky.
First of all, you know, I would never be in environment
of like, Pepsi and Coke, or where there's complete
direct competitors, you've got to be very, very careful.
Number two, I think that you need to really,
really give thought about how many different thesis'
and strategies do you actually have?
How many different things can people do?
This is where you cannot just put one, kind of,
blue print and deploy it against each client,
you've got to come up with unique value propositions
creatively and strategically, that allow them to kind of
offset the competitive set.
I think the answer is very carefully.
I think this is a massive challenge and I think that one
of the things that I would recommend to you is actually
broaden the industries your in just for that reason.
Because I think that humans are emotional and they
may not, even if you think that you're proving them
separate value, they may not.
And the consumer's perception is king.
But I think, to me, it's not that hard.
Because I do think you can get very different strategies,
very different creative executions amongst those strategies
to make an action that those companies or individuals
want to happen.
I think the bigger problem is, those individuals feeling
as though that is happening and that's the vulnerability
of your actual business.
Perception, my friends, is absolutely reality because
that's what people are making judgements on.
I mean, who else is making the reality as a reality
decision?
There's no reality lord that comes down.
I am the reality lord!
Like, there's no reality lord.
Perception is reality because human's perception is
their reality.
They're making decisions on that and that is the
vulnerability in that question.
I can't wait to see the graphics of.
You better start getting gra--
Reality lord!
I want that again, when I just did it, I want it there too.
I mean, I want.
And I don't want the--
And I want you to do the editing for that, too.
You might have edited that, so share that with him.
(laughing)
- [Steve] Episode's coming out late today?
- [Voiceover] Clinton asks, "One time I farted in math class
"and everyone froze to figure out who did it,
"do you have an embarrassing moment?"
(laughs)
- I do have an embarrassing moment story.
In second grade, this is a classic, it's one of the moments
I realize how amazing my mom was.
I'll get to that punch line at the end.
Mom, I know you're watching these shows,
I don't know when the last time you thought about this was
'cause we don't talk about it a lot.
In second grade, just a normal day in second grade,
just doing my thing, we got to the Pledge of Allegiance
and we got to the Pledge of Allegiance and I really had
to go to the bathroom.
And so, I've been known, my whole--
Man, into like 13, 14, 15 I would hold,
if I had to pee, I would hold my pee-pee to make sure
I wouldn't pee.
So, in second grade I'm doing that because I have to go
to the bathroom.
And I'm at my desk.
And remember the desks that had the whole thing?
You know, like, you had the chair, you had to go in
like this, you had to go in like this, and then the desk
was here, right?
So, I'm to the right of it, there's the part here,
and we have to do the Pledge of Allegiance.
And so, because I guess I didn't realize I could hold
my pee-pee with my left hand, but when I went for the
right hand, I decided to press my pee-pee against the chair.
This is a true story, by the way,
to make sure I wouldn't pee.
This was unsuccessful and I peed all over my desk
and all over my pants.
And obviously, everybody heard the pee,
everybody looks back, unlike a fart--
Yes, Matt?
Do I get my new phone?
- Yes.
- Awesome don't--
- Don't what?
- Last time we had a weird bet.
Yes, obviously, unlike a fart where you could be like India did it,
this was pretty obvious.
I think I was wearing light pants, you know?
And so I had to go to the nurse and I went home and when
my mom picked me up she told me the story of how my
dad once peed in class.
Which I found out later was not true,
but she tried to make me feel better.
Big kudos to Mrs. Zosnuski second grade class.
I am flabbergasted of how little flak I had to take
for that event.
I went home, changed, came back to school.
Good job with my mom, too, not letting me do what
I wanted to do, which was stay home.
I was stunned by the lack of being made fun of for it.
A lot of maturity in that 1983, 84 second grade class.
So, that is my embarrassing story moment.
- [India] Good story.
- Feels like there could be a really funny visual T-shirt
made of that for the show.
- [Steve] I'm not sure what the marketing is of
a T-shirt of an eight-year-old you peeing
on a chair, I'm sure it's out there.
- It's out there.
(mumbling)
By the way, by the way, by the way,
it was absolutely crazy.
Like I peed on top of the desk and it was like dripping off.
It was a scene.
Alright.
- [Voiceover] Leland asks, "I have Vodka Energy,
"it's an alcoholic beverage, but I don't drink.
"How do I market without telling lies?"
- Jesus.
Um, there's that, can somebody look up this guy,
who invented the Backstreet Boys and Nsync?
I think his name's, it's not Ron Pearlman,
but it's similar kind of name.
You know, went to jail for fraud.
- Lou Pearlman?
- Lou Pearlman? Yeah.
Lou Pearlman is a fat, old 50-year-old white guy that
invented the two biggest boy bands of the 90s
and so he wasn't a 14-year-old girl,
he wasn't listening to teeny bop music.
Just because you are not a consumer of your product,
I write books and don't read them.
So this question is a piece of cake.
Often, often the best creators of products are people that
are not the consumers of that product.
So the way to not lie is to not say that you actually
drink your product.
And that happens all the time.
There's even a classic, you know, quoting a very classic
statement that I believe in tremendous.
"Never get high off your own supply."
I mean, this is well-entrenched into our culture.
Like, you don't have to use your thing or consume your
thing to be a reasonable voice.
Not to mention, 90--
Don't get it twisted by the way I live my life.
99% of CEO's and owners and presidents and operators
of companies are not the front men and women of their
businesses.
Like, you don't have to be the face of your company,
just be a business person and hire somebody who drinks
Vodka Energy drinks.
Which is, oh I don't know, everybody on Instagram.
You know?
Like it's, you know, that's a very easy question.
Who asked that? - [India] Leland?
- Leland, that's a piece of cake answer question,
question answer.
Jesus.
(laughing)
- [India] Mike. - Mike.
Mike via the podcast.
You know, let's do a podcast exclusive today.
- [India] You should bring that up.
- Is this the guy who ac-- did I see this right?
Is this the guy who, like, switched?
(mumbling)
Two and a half hour drive or whatever?
Or is that somebody?
- [India] Yeah, that was him.
- Do I do a good job paying attention to Mike, India?
- Great job, excellent work.
- Thank you, India.
But I don't know, the answer is,
that happens with me all the time.
Like, I stop and start things all the time.
I love when people are like, oh you said you were
always gonna, yeah okay, and what?
Like, Jesus Christ.
When you're innovating at scale,
some things hit the ground and so it lost momentum.
That's the answer to your question.
And good news, I'm gonna do one after this episode
'cause I feel guilty, okay?
Great, you feel good about yourself?
Yeah, I feel guilty, we'll do an exclusive podcast
question today.
Big ups to everybody on their treadmills and driving
in their trucks.
Good.
Make a statement of the day. Interesting Monday.
I adore all of you, have a wonderful week.
We'll be doing the show Tuesday,
we'll be doing a show Wednesday.
Are we doing a show Thursday?
Sneak one in before I go to London? - [India] Yep.
- Great, a it looks like maybe try to do something Friday.
I have a business, work with Eric Fulwiler,
see if you can figure out, 'cause I'm running around London
on some business.
You keep asking questions, I'll keep answering them.
Bless you!
That's gonna be great, keep that with the black and white,
that's amazing.
Alright.
By the way, you guys have to see Hamilton.
- [Steve] Oh, yeah?
- Do you know what I'm talking about?
Oh my God, I'm so pumped I get to be the person that
told you about it.
You're gonna hear all about it for the next year and
you're gonna be like, "Oh my God, Gary was the one
"that told me."
Hamilton is a play, a musical, on Broadway.
And it is unbelievable.
- [India] Wow.
It is about Alexander Hamilton and the entire play
is being rapped.
- [DRock] What?
- If you love history and you love hip hop, you have to go.
It is bonkers.
- [Steve] Is it the one, it's based on the rap that
the creator in the Heist did at the White House?
- That's exactly what it is.
- [Steve] Is that the one?
- Yeah.
- [Steve] That video is (beep) amazing.
So if the whole thing is like that.
- That video is a piece of dog shit compared to the show.
Guys it's unbelievable.
You got the video?
Pull up the video.
I just want to see Staphon.
(mumbling)
It's that good.
It's great.
It's just great.
- [Steve] It's literally the first hit
when you search for this guy's name.
- Turn around.
- [Steve] You ever seen In the Heights?
- I'm thrilled the White House called me tonight because
I'm actually working on a hip hop album.
It's a concept album about the life of someone, I think,
embodies hip hop.
Treasury secretary, Alexander Hamilton.
You laugh, but it's true.
He was born a penniless orphan in Saint Croix,
illegitimate birth, became George Washington's
right hand man.
Became treasury secretary, caught beef with every other
founding father, and all in the strength of his writing.
I think he embodies word's ability to make a difference.
So I'm gonna be doing the first song from that tonight
accompanied by Tony and Grammy winning music director,
Alex Lacamoire.
(applause)
Anything you need to know, I'll be playing vice president
Aaron Burr.
And snap along, if you like.
- Aaron Burr in the play is unbelievable.
♫ I'm just a bastard, orphan son
♫ Of a whore in the Scottsman
♫ Dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot
♫ In the Caribbean
♫ My providence in impoverished squalor
♫ Grow up to be a hero and a scholar
♫ The $10 founding father without a father
♫ Got a lot farther by working a lot harder
♫ By being a lot smarter
♫ By being a self starter
♫ By 14, they had placed him in charge of a trade and charter ♫