- On this episode we talk about managing your time,
YouTube optimization and being a dad.
(hip hop music)
[Gary] You ask questions,
and I answer them
this is The #AskGaryVee Show.
- Hey everybody, this is Gary Vay-ner-chuk and
this is episode 228 of
The #AskGaryVee Show.
We are rolling here.
It is a Thursday in New York City.
It is gorgeous outside.
One of you sent me this T-shirt, thank you.
Found it in my closet.
I am very focused tonight is, the season is on the line.
I know a lot of people are like you can't have the season on the
line after two games.
I understand. The season's on the line.
Jets have to win tonight in Buffalo.
I hate Rex Ryan.
I hate Buffalo Bills.
I hate the town of Buffalo, tonight.
I hate Chris Sacca who's a Buffalo Bills fan.
Jamaal Henderson, Buffalo Bills fan.
Zach Klein, Buffalo Bills fan.
Kim Garcia, Buffalo Bills fan.
I hate all these people.
India, I know you are.
How you doin'?
- [India] Good. - Good, good.
Good week of shows.
The Simon episode, by the way,
I really thought I did as well as
I could not interrupting Simon and still I'm getting that.
No more guests ever again on the Vayner Show, here,
I don't know the Vayner Show is. Ask Gary.
No, India that was remarkable,
that was as good as it's gonna get.
- [India] Okay.
- I was really holding back and yet still people were like Simon
was on Gary's show but you never know 'cause he never listens.
That's insane.
- [India] Yeah, it is insane.
- I thought I did a great job.
But you know, whatever.
Alright, what's the first question?
I'm ready.
- [India] From Janek.
- Why are we doing so many videos?
I'm kidding, I'm kidding.
- Hey Gary, this is Janek from Poland.
Do you have any thoughts about
recent YouTube monetization changes?
Do you their competitors will benefit from that?
Do you have any names which
companies we should look out for?
Which platforms like YouTube we should look out for?
Thank you, Gary.
- So what's the punchline?
The truth is I'm not super sure.
I know they went with this subscription stuff.
Are they like making less ads?
Does anybody know the context of this?
I know you guys probably assumed that I know but
I'm not paying attention. Eliot?
- [Eliot] They're making monetization on YouTube,
there's an algorithm to say which videos they can monetize
and which videos they can't.
And they're making it kind of fuzzy can be monetized and what
can not be monetized.
- Based on IP and stuff of that nature?
- [Andy] Basically demonetizing anything low brow.
- Got it.
- [Andy] (inaudible)
- Janek, I think, look this happens forever.
You have to understand something, Janek.
Anybody in this world, is I'm gonna give a very good answer
that doesn't answer the question.
I just got the context.
You know, I'm gonna give you a really good fuckin' answer.
I'm really fired up now because I'm gonna level this up and
I'm in a every leveled up mentality for this show.
Anybody who's watching the show that is tying their economics
into a platform that is privately held
is making a massive mistake.
For all the people that made all their money on Google
optimization, this is back today, like where else are we
gonna go when Google changes the algorithm and they take down
lowbrow, it's the same game.
The platforms have their users interest in mind.
People come along and try to extract value that have their
best interest in mind.
The platforms have big scale and opportunity.
People want to make money off of that.
As people want to make money off of that they look for angles,
shortcuts, lowest common denominator,
you know, arbitrage.
They look for their move and so whether it was affiliate
marketing and AdSense AdWords arbitrage, Commission Junction,
YouTube, Facebook Pages.
There's always these moments where you know there's the ebb
and flow, the seesaw of like the cat and mouse game of the people
that produce content on these platforms.
MySpace, this is just history
this has been the last 20 years of the internet.
What happens is the platform will make a macro decision
that's in the best interest of the end users at scale and it
will hurt the people that been hacking the system.
Slideshows on the internet that allow those advertisers to make
money, those media companies make more money against
advertisers that sat in the
middle and didn't care about the quality.
This is a quality-quantity game that plays itself out so Janek
here's what I would say and for everybody else that's watching
whether it is Snapchat or Instagram
or Facebook or Twitter
or YouTube or podcasting,
diversify your world.
You need to be everywhere and creating brand and scale
everywhere that you are capable of and if you're not well then
maybe you don't deserve to make as much but relying solely on
the revenue one platform is a humongous mistake especially
when that platform is a private business that is going to make
the decisions for that platform.
I loved everybody when the Facebook algorithm change and
organic reach dropped and they we're trying to drive their ad
revenue up that all you had real puffy chest and saying,
"Well, we're gonna go elsewhere."
How'd that work out for you, Rick?
- [India] Rick has really taken a beating this week.
- I decided I'm quadrupling down on the Rick thing by the way.
I'm basically have decided to make Rick my enemy.
Eventually Andrew's gonna draw Rick.
He's gonna wear a tie.
I want to fucking kill Rick.
Rick is gonna be huge.
Rick is gonna be my Mickey Mouse.
- [India] From Dave. - Dave.
- Hi Gary.
- Hey Gary, it's Dave.
Cofounder of YNOME in Zurich.
I'm here with the team.
We're interested about the future of finance and FinTech.
It's been getting a lot of VC money and
interest from the media.
You talk about investing in money as an entrepreneur.
Would really hear your view on
what is the future of banking and finance.
Thanks a lot.
- That's a great question, David.
Thank you and team.
I think FinTech has been hot for a very long time and continues
to be and through Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 and social web and today
FinTech is always an opportunity.
There's so much SaaS opportunity.
There's so much inefficiency in the banking and financial worlds
based on people at scale and I think technology, look,
I think of FinTech the same way think of everything else.
Uber, Airbnb, Amazon they
are the absolute previews, not anomalies.
They happen to get to the book industry, the black car service
and hoteling, so what do I think?
I think Venmo or Mint or all these things have been chipping
away and creating billion-dollar exit opportunities within
FinTech and because finance and money transferring and
our personal relationships with money,
FinTech is incredible place.
It's been a place that I've never been
very passionate about.
I never really gone after that. I tend to like consumer
behaviors that are more kind of just not around money,
I guess really.
Escapism, entertainment, communication, not around
finances but I think it's an extremely fertile ground in one
of the core pillars of who we are as human beings and I think
that like everything in the world technology will eat it up.
Change it, spit it out, create billionaires, crush fortunes,
create new ones and I think
the financial sector is no exception.
Especially when you take it to the most macro levels which
is a crypto currency.
They're just like, that's arbitraging the money itself.
Enormous opportunity in FinTech.
Just ironically the reason you don't hear much for me is
I'm not deeply educated in it because I haven't spent time
paying attention to it just not one of the areas that I'm
passionate about but the thesis of opportunity is enormous.
Yeah, I think so, India.
- [India] Okay this might be my favorite question ever.
- This is your favorite question of all time?
Wow. That's a big statement.
- I know.
- [Andy] That's a really big statement.
- Stop hyping me up.
- From Ernest. - Ernest.
- Gary, my name is Ernest Comer.
I'm a dad and I'm wondering what's one of the biggest life
events or especially events that you had to miss (child babbling)
due to your commitment to the work but how'd you
(child babbling) and how did you overcome?
Thanks man.
- You know, Ernest, first of all, that what was remarkable
and about as adorable as it gets.
Ernest, you know I haven't missed anything, I missed some
you know school plays.
I haven't missed any, no birth, I would never miss a birthday.
There hasn't been a signature event.
They're seven and four.
There hasn't been, you know, Xander's bris.
That would be insane to me to miss anything of that nature.
I guess we all have different scale of what's important.
There's dads out there who would never in the world miss a
baseball game of their son, ever.
I would.
I just don't think the fifth game in a season for Xander if
something that is remarkable for me and Xander, my family's life
is coming that place.
I wouldn't miss Xander's fifth baseball game for a
big meeting or a new client.
Would I miss it for the opportunity to close a
$78 million deal for our family?
Yes, I would. I just would.
And I know one would say well that's money.
Yeah, but but would I miss Xander's championship game after
he played baseball every day of his life for nine years and it
was his number one passion in the world to
close a $78 million deal?
I don't know, it's closer.
I wouldn't say definitely not.
I just don't know, I mean I don't know.
First of all, if Xander was 13, Xander at 13 after watching all
my business YouTube videos might want me, I don't know.
Here's what I would say, Ernest and everybody else,
first and foremost, I would never judge anybody else's
parenting or process.
I have the greatest relationships in world with my
parents and I a lot of things that were done differently than
others and I think we all have.
But knock on wood, I think there's a far more interesting
question maybe 5 to 7 years from now.
So far, I'm rolling.
There's been nothing even remotely intense that
I can think of that I've missed.
They've been micro little play this, play that, you know,
last day of school like a teacher conference.
Yeah, there's been a couple little things that are like
kind of lightweight.
They're also very, very young right now but so far nothing.
I haven't had to pick.
Everything that I felt, I missed a lot of business things that
are solid business things that I've missed because I wanted to
be there for the first day of school or you know the
Tot Shabbat day that's the one time Xander gets to do that in
little Temple Israel school that he went to.
There's single little things
like that but it's weighing things.
It's weighing things and I'm not crippled by the current state of
political correctness of how you parent because news alert,
my friends, it's going to be different in 15 years and
it was different 15 years ago.
Yeah, thank you.
- Tot Shabbat? - Tot Shabbat is cute.
- Rachel. - Rachel.
- Hey Gary, Rachel here. Love the show.
So my question today is
do you recommend building a personal
brand even if you're a behind-the-scene player?
- Rachel, it's a great question.
I would say absolutely.
Let me give an example.
If you're behind-the-scenes player, wouldn't you want to be
behind the scenes of somebody that you believe is the
greatest in the world?
And if you are building your personal brand around I'm an
unbelievable number two or number four unbelievable admin
or an unbelievable I don't want to be out there but I want to
support the people I believe in the most those people are gonna
be looking for those people and so you might build the brand as
an incredible human infrastructure player for
somebody who's the greatest
and that would be then great for you.
If you are the number one admin to the most successful person in
the world you are, and the nicest, I don't want to make
this just about money.
There's always a better situation potentially and you
want to give yourself that best opportunity.
So building personal brand
only speaks, my friends, to opportunity.
If you're good at it and you articulating your truth and you
have the goods to back it up all being out there.
And people get so caught up in semantics of
"Uh, I hate that we're all a personal brand,"
like don't get caught up in the semantics.
Having exposure that creates opportunity is a good idea.
Period.
- [India] Last one. Zack. - Zack's all up in it.
- Hey Gary, Zack here.
Question referring back to episode 156 when preparing
employees for leadership how do you foster leadership with
rising stars or unsung heroes?
Thanks for everything you do. 'Preciate it.
- Zack, I think this is really interesting question.
You know what's really funny to me is it's a funny where my
brain goes on this one which is actions trump everything.
Meaning you prepare them by giving them opportunities
to show that they can.
I think one of things that I'm most proud of is, for the
intensity that I come with, for as much as I want to happen,
I would tell you that if you audited everybody here in this
room and everybody the 700 people across five offices
across here it is stunning how little I micromanage.
If you want to foster leadership you have to put people in a
position to be leaders.
I don't box you in, I don't box Garrett in.
I critique when I give him the room to win or lose if he loses
in the game that he's playing, I'll articulate what the
shortcomings were, what the opportunities are.
So I think leadership is only accomplished or, let me
rephrase, the prepping of something is only accomplished
when you actually do.
This is where I get really mad about entrepreneur school.
Entrepreneur school is like reading about push-ups.
Dunk wants to challenge me in to some crazy weight thing of who
can bench more, whatever you're up to
and so what's the preparation for that?
I can't read about bench press technique.
I got to go do it.
You got to put in the work.
I've been working out every day since then.
Dunk has not.
I'm getting more prep.
Now, he may have more natural talent.
He just might be stronger.
He's definitely much younger and should in theory win this but he
won't because I'll out-prepare him and so that's the punchline.
Prep and so whether they're an unsung hero,
whether they're the most shining star.
I always worry at Vayner that people think the people that PR
themselves or the most loud and charismatic are the ones who are
gonna get the opportunities and I've been really enjoying
building Vayner over the last five years.
Especially the last two years 'cause the smartest people here
are like, "Hey, wait a minute.
"Look at this person winning and
"they don't even really interact with Gary.
"I've never even heard of that person."
That's the role and responsibility I have.
That I'm not just pandering to the easiest move and so
you give people opportunity.
Some are loud about it.
"I got this."
Others just quietly go and do it but here's the punchline whether
you're like me and you talk a ton is shit and you back it the
fuck up every fuckin' time, that's a win or you say nothing
but you back it the fuck up every time.
It's the second part that matters so put those people in a
position to succeed and then watch if they're doing it.
Call their bluff, give 'em a shot.
Push them harder than they think that they can do.
Believe in them more than they believe in themselves and create
the framework and the opportunities to do that.
Understand it is in your upside as a leader for them to fail and
you figure out if they can do it
versus that task being done correctly.
I prefer that we lose a client, lose a client, money out of my
pocket but I learned something about the leaders that
I'm thinking about going to battle with
versus me micromanaging it,
never learning about their opportunity as leaders and then
getting the client for two more years.
That's called scale.
That's called auditing.
That's called how you build stuff.
That's a lot of magic in this episode.
Is that it? - [India] Yeah, that's it.
- Wow. Fast.
Prediction of the day: The Jets go in to Buffalo and
win and they win solidly.
20 to 7, Jets.
Question of the day for you, when is this going to be up,
Other Tyler?
- [Other Tyler] Probably tonight.
Tomorrow morning.
- There's no tomorrow morning.
There's my Jets prediction.
- [Other Tyler] Okay.
- So we have to not worry about DailyVee to get this up ASAP.
- [Other Tyler] Alright. - Good.
Question of the day what's your Jets prediction?
If anybody nails the score, you gotta timestamp
before the game actually starts.
Anything after kickoff doesn't count 'cause then you can watch
the cadence of the game.
If you predict the score, I'm flying you New York.
You'll be here, you'll be right here.
- [India] Will it go up before the game starts?
- What's that?
- [India] Gotta get it up before the game starts.
- Yeah, he's gonna get it up in three hours from now--
- [India] Perfect.
- and there'll be, you know that
the hardest core Vayniacs that actually watch it.
- [India] I am going to be your project manager with that?
- What's that?
- [India] Vayner project managers.
- You keep asking questions,
I'll keep answering them.
- (hip hop music)