- I love when people are like,
Gary V, you're boring.
You say the same shit.
(everyone laughing)
And I jump right into and I'm like
what do you want me to make up shit?
(fast paced music)
- [Narrator] You got your perspective.
(fast paced music) (audience applauding)
I just want to be happy don't you wanna be happy?
(bouncy piano music)
- Talk about the content building
because you talk so much about having that real content
behind you versus just something
that's perceived like the Instagram
- Well look, I think content needs to be real to you.
Like, for me entrepreneurial content comes easy.
I've been selling things since I was six,
like this was all I've ever been.
Like I don't make content around education, you know.
So I think where you're going,
and I wanna make it contextual for the audience,
it's like you need to make content
that is your biggest truth.
The reason I can come here and be like
I don't need you to read me, like in backstage,
like I don't need to know the questions
or I improv talk or when I do like...
'cause I only talk about my truth.
Like the reason my content works is 'cause it's my truth.
It's the same reason my wine content worked a decade ago.
The reason my wine stuff exploded was 'cause
I actually tasted wine and actually told you,
actually what I thought about it without factoring in
how it would impact my business.
That was a huge game changer for me.
The day I started wine library TV,
I thought about it, at like 10 o'clock in the morning
I sent somebody to Best Buy to buy a camera
and four hours later, it was on the internet.
That's how I roll right?
When I told that kid to go to Best Buy to buy a camera,
'cause I was gonna record a wine video,
I completely in my mind at that second,
thought I was going to start QVC.
(everyone laughing)
I just want you to know, I just...
I need you to hear this,
I thought that I would put out a video everyday
and I would sell wine in video form.
I had no idea how it would be on video,
that video if you go look at Episode one
of Wine Library TV is the first time I ever,
did something in front of a camera.
My life like, I didn't know what would happen
but I knew my intent was, which was QVC.
And then, three hours later,
after we got it set up and figured out (mumbling),
when I filmed it, the second the light went out,
this is probably stunningly one of the most important
moment of my professional career,
that I also don't think a whole lot about.
That light went on and I remembered...
Its amazing how your brain works, right?
The light goes on and I remember thinking all of this,
like as I'm saying welcome to the first episode,
you know how you do things but another part
of your brain is doing something else.
My other part of my brain saying
"What if you go to a cocktail party
"and somebody puts a glass of wine in front of you
"and you taste and they go,
"what do you think?
"And you say something different
"than what you said on a video."
And literally that's what went through my mind
and in within the first six minutes
while I'm setting up what I'm doing there,
I switched my thesis from being QVC to,
I'm just gonna review wine
and whatever the hell happens happens
because I don't want to make myself vulnerable
to the dateline "ah ha, we caught you."
(audience laughing)
And it changed everything.
The reason that show exploded,
is because there was nobody on Earth that I was scared of
not an employee, not my dad, not my best friend Brandon,
when I would pan a wine and we had 80 cases
of it downstairs and the whole company would freak,
there was no confusion that I was doing the authenticity.
And I think that's why my content will always work.
Its why I'm willing to say things
like I said earlier that I'm not gonna pander
to the current state of what's accepted.
If I just shoot my truth 24/7
and I believe that for you too.
Everybody thinks and overthinks their content,
'cause you're trying to figure out what will work
versus realizing your individual truth
of the moment is what will work.
The reason my sister who now has decided
to not be a stay at home mom and get into real estate,
the reason she's getting some attraction on Instagram,
she's just talking about failures,
because she's failing, which is so shit.
(everyone laughing)
But that doesn't come natural,
that doesn't seem like the thing you're trying to do.
How do you instill confidence to get somebody
to list your home with them, if you're saying you suck?
(audience laughing)
Because that works better than faking it.
- She's honest, she's honest about it.
- Everybody here can put out a ton of content,
nobody is because everybody is overthinking it,
because they're pandering it to what works and likes
or will it get shared or who cares about me.
It's all insecurities and defense.
If you literally made a video everyday
on Instagram for one minute, that you just recapped
what happened that day in a minute,
on a selfie video, you'll do well.
That's why reality TV does well.
That's why social does well.
People want truths, your biggest strength
is that you are individual humans.
Everybody is just full of shit.
How many people's self esteem is completely wrapped up
into how many likes they get on a post on Instagram?
That's some dangerous shit.
So that's what they're looking for.
'Cause they're right, you'll get more likes (shruging).
You know. (sneering)
And look, I mean I think it's super fast, I mean,
people that overshare their families
over it index all the time.
We like that shit.
We like the babies and the dating and the divorce.
Look at our behaviors of what we consume.
And that's great and for people that are comfortable
with that and that's their truth,
I'm pumped, like if my kids decide to go that route,
I'm not gonna judge them and be like,
"no no, it's do you but do you"
like never waver from that
'cause the second you start wavering, it doesn't feel good.
Just gonna wake up and be like why did I do that?
You know, so I would stick to what it is.
- [Female Guest] I want my work to speak.
- I love when people are like Gary V...
like I read my comments, the qualitative feedback
is incredible right, I love when people are like,
"Gary V, you're boring, you say the same shit."
(everyone laughing)
And I jump right in and I'm like,
"what do you want me to make up shit?
(everyone laughing)
I just wanna believe him.
I'm like, how about you go do
something with that information.
That's what I really want you to do.
I mean, there's a lot of confusion right now.
Because it's so new, makes sense,
there's always confusion when things are new.
But I'm very passionate, I'm being really good,
when I'm 98 and I'm consuming my content as a retrospective,
I wanna be right about everything.
(everyone laughing)
That is literally my ROY, that is what I care about.
I want to be historically correct.
Like it's super important to me, like why not?
That feels a lot better.
- [Female Guest] Gary do you think that
an entrepreneur can build two businesses at the same time?
- I do, I really do.
If that entrepreneur understands that she/he needs
to be building two businesses at one time to be happy.
I like it better when that entrepreneur understands
that they're going to put 80% of their energy into one
and 20 in the other and that the 80 is gonna work
like most people's 120,
which allows her/him to play with the 20.
Got it?
So that's my belief.
- [Female Guest] And another question--
- Please
- [Female Guest] Do you think that
'cause I had this conversation with someone today
that I respect highly and she said that the two businesses
would be mediocre on working with two businesses.
- Here's what I would say, I believe--
- [Female Guest] And I agree with you about the 80, 20.
- Here's why the fact that you even asked the question,
its what you need for yourself, the end.
Right?
Like there's some great say...
you know there's a great Russian saying
that does translates...
I mean, it translates to,
"You can't put your butt on two toilets," right?
(everyone laughing)
And then there's a great American saying that says
"if you have two businesses, you have no businesses," right?
So I get it, but that's for somebody
who's more of an operating, more structured entrepreneur.
Then you have people like me,
that if I'm not creating more businesses,
my main business won't flourish
because I'll die just running one business.
If I'm not doing the wine direct consumer business,
if I'm, you know, now VaynerX
has been a real mitzvah for me.
Now I'm like oh I can just birth up businesses all the time
and use the disguise of like,
"well it's the VaynerX business," you know.
And it's been great, I mean like I see Zack,
like being a speaker is so like the fact
that I have a speaking bureau.
So I could think when you become self aware,
I realized that I needed those things
and then I realized as I got more mature.
Oh, wait a minute, I could build a structure
that allows me to actually get strength
from this versus it being weakness,
but everybody gives advice that is predicated on themselves.
Which is why I think I'm always so cautious to do that.
Which is why like (mumbling)
Like God I love self awareness.
If you give me like, if you give me somebody
who's self aware and has self esteem,
they're sad in perpetuity.
Which is what I think about when I interact
with my executive or anybody I care about.
Those two things, but yet,
no I mean, its been done.
Like to me if its done once, game over.
Right?
(mumbling) square and twitter it to public companies.
They both are well, like if you really look at it.
And like you can do it, I mean I do it,
it just depends, you gotta sacrifice.
By the way, you wanna run two companies?
What you're giving up is a leisure.
But when people get mad at me for that, I'm like,
"but you don't understand, I don't want to go skiing"
(everyone laughing)
"I don't wanna binge watch the R. Kelly thing."
(everyone laughing)
I don't, I want to run businesses.
Its the most fun for me, it's what I've always done.
You're talking to somebody who, in the summer
as an eight year old washed cars, mowed lawns,
shoveled snow, like my default as a nine year old
was it snows, let's go work.
Not let's build a snowman or go sledding.
This is my leisure, so don't judge me,
people over judging the other way.
(soft upbeat music) Self awareness.
I know you need it to grasp the question.
(swoosh)
(upbeat music)
- [Male Guest] I brought you a present.
- Thank you, I'll take it.
- Can I just bring it up to you?
- You sure can.
(audience laughing)
- Its a vintage Macho Man shirt.
- Thank you bro', thank you.
I will rock it. (audience applauding)
Ah god, I love this guy so much.
(everyone laughing)
It's Macho Man Randy Savage was actually the one...
He passed away, he had a heart attack while he was driving
and died maybe four or five, six years ago.
And I'm really bothered about it,
like literally he's the one person I wish I met.
I loved wrestling when I was a kid.
(audience laughing)
- You can go meet Ric Flair he's still--
- I literally think if you really break down
why I'm such an over the top speaker,
it is a hundred percent predicated on wrestling promo videos
(everyone laughing)
and Eddy Murphy is raw.
Like literally-- (everyone laughing)
Like when I watch it I'm like,
ooh if I ever said this, and now I'm doing it out loud,
nobody would watch those talks the same way
because it's very clearly
influenced by that. (upbeat music)