- We got a show today. Watch it.
(hip-hop music)
♫ Gary Vee ♫
♫ You ask questions ♫
♫ And I answer them ♫
♫ This is ♫
♫ The #AskGaryVee Show ♫
- Hey everybody, this is Gary Vay-ner-chuk
and this is episode 179 of The #AskGaryVee Show.
I'm, uh, I'm in a weird mood today.
I hurt my neck in basketball,
I ran into somebody like full-throttle.
It's so weird,
I literally was referencing Ram Man from He-Man
during my audiobook yesterday,
and I like literally became Ram Man.
But, much to Mike's credit,
though I am turning a little weird,
when it happened I thought I was done
but I think I've built up some neck muscles
and was able to absorb the, uh, impact.
So, there's that.
Um, I dunno I'm in an intersting mood,
there's a couple things I really wanna talk
to you guys about,
number one the barter page.
Uh, I'm really infatuated with this 50 book buy,
I know several of you've done it already.
It's really funny.
First of all, I don't know if you've seen the barter page.
We can't link?
We could it in-- - [DRock] Right here.
- Right here? - [DRock] Right here.
- This is where I'm going?
Um, there's a bunch of book deals that I'm doing,
including for a thousand books you can come
and spend an hour with me,
I'll get into another way of doing that in a second,
but the 50 book buy is me recording my voice
in anything that you want.
One of the first ones that came in
was me recording something for an alarm
for somebody's buddy around an inside joke,
I'm like reading this stuff, so like,
if you want me to wake you up--
India, I think, I think I should make you one
just because we're friends.
- Oh, thank you.
- What do you think about the idea of, like,
do you have an alarm?
- Uh, yeah.
- And is it like the ergnt! Ergnt! Ergnt!
- Yeah, I have like three and they're all different sounds.
- Lizzie made me take the (hums melody)
'cause it would always, like, scare her,
do you know that one?
- Yeah, I know that one, yeah.
- But I will record something for you,
like, hey Rick, get the (expletive) up!
Like, you know something like good like that.
Or like, you're gonna crush today!
No, I have a feeling I'm gonna say a lot of that.
Um, and so I'm excited about that,
so check out the barter page,
would love to have you do some of that stuff,
a lot of you are in for 10, 12, 15 books,
I wanna amp you up, I wanna get more sales,
and I wanna get you something of value,
check that out.
Number two, the thing that I'm really really excited about,
February 23rd
from 10:00 AM Eastern
to 6:00 PM Eastern in this room
I will be streaming live, on Meerkat, Facebook Live,
Periscope, and probably one laptop thing,
we're debating Google Hangout,
or Spreecast, or something else,
I'll be live for all of eight hours,
I'm gonna have some special guests stop by,
and what we're gonna be doing is the Super 8 day.
Everybody's gonna buy eight books,
as a matter of fact Super8@vaynermedia.com is up already,
I think that's what, I think that's what Alex said,
we'll confirm that, but I'm pretty sure,
put it up right here, DRock, Staphon, whoever's--
by the way you didn't black-and-white yesterday's episode.
You did?
Somebody was tweeting that you didn't.
You did?
(mumbling)
Respect, I'm sorry.
Super8@vaynermedia.com, you could start now.
I was gonna do it only on that day but I'm starting it now,
if you buy eight books send the receipt into that,
put it up again, link it there, link it everywhere
all eight book receipts, if you buy 16 we'll print it twice,
this is what's happening.
We're gonna be in this room,
India, we're gonna be goin' wild.
- We're gonna be going crazy.
- Three people are gonna be streaming,
I'm gonna be answering questions like a maniac,
and it's gonna be like a telethon,
I'm gonna keep repeating that
if you buy eight books send in a receipt,
somewhere out there, somewhere,
I dunno where the printers are,
we're gonna be literally printing receipts.
If you buy 32 we'll print it four times,
um, and we're gonna come in here
at the end of the day in a bucket,
I'm gonna pull one name,
and I'm gonna give away the thousand book deal
to that person.
I'm gonna fly you in, US only for now,
I'm debating international,
maybe North America only now,
sorry global, but it's expensive,
but I'm, I might, I dunno, anyway, debating.
I pull out a name, I'm gonna fly you to New York,
I'm gonna bring you in for a meeting,
it's gonna be an amazing 24 hours for you,
or 12 hours for you in New York City,
hopefully I pick somebody that's local
so I don't have to pay for the flight,
but, you know, gonna pick that
and I was get to spend an hour
and you could pitch me your business, we can jam,
I can interview for your podcast,
whatever, whatever you wanna do with my time,
I respect that, so knowing so many of you are buying
two and four and six books 'cause I've been following
I wanted to create this eight book level
that has that big prize,
and if you know anything about me,
you guys saw it at Vayner Day,
there might be some other random prizes
because I may feel bad,
I think I'm gonna sell a lot of books.
I'm super excited about it.
So, one last right hook before I start the show,
um, if you buy eight books,
or if you're planning on buying eight books,
or if you already bought, like, eight books
send in the receipt to Super8@vaynermedia.com,
we're collecting receipts,
they are open now for the contest.
Cool.
Uh, India, let's get into show.
- [India] Cool.
- [Voiceover] George asked, "What changed the most in your
"company growing from the founding team to 500 people?"
- What changed the most.
I mean, you know, a million things changed.
I started understanding the industry,
I like being an operator that learns the industry by doing,
instead of readings.
There was no reading Ogle V.'s book,
or reading Ad Age,
I learned and so I think my ability to run the company
increased tremendously.
That founding team of six or seven or eight people
were all kids, all of AJ's friends,
they've matured, they're men now,
they're no longer 22, they're getting close to 30,
which is insane.
You know, obviously we're a much bigger company
so we have different dynamics,
everybody knew everybody intimately,
now that happens in pockets.
We have a tremendous culture, but like,
not every person knows everybody,
not even close anymore,
so you've got that dynamic,
we're in all sorts of cities.
We're a big company, we're a grown-up company.
It's a very very very different,
yet the energy is pretty much the same.
The mission's the same, which is help clients.
Whether they're an NGO, a nonprofit,
or selling bottled water,
help them sell stuff, communicate,
at the best possible price, in the best possible channels,
to reach the biggest possible audience
to create that business result,
and more importantly than that,
let's treat each other tremendously well
and have a real, real community here,
because continuity is what I'm going for,
because continuity builds speed.
One of the things that people don't understand
about businesses,
when you have continuity--
I use football a lot, I'm gonna use it,
sorry for people that don't follow,
but when your offensive line, when all five of those guys
play the whole season together,
'cause they work as one, it's really magic,
it's really quite interesting when you
really understand how football is played,
it's so, it's really a team sport more than anything,
when those five played the whole season together,
or two seasons together, or three seasons together,
and they have that unity and continuity,
they flow, they flow.
And that's what I love in businesses.
The reason I value my people so much
and why I want to make it so great for them
is I want them here,
not because I'm some weird evil, like, cult overlord,
it's because continuity breeds speed.
And I value speed more than anything.
And so we're not as fast as we used to be
because we're a little bit bigger,
but I'm proud of the speed and the scrappiness
and the entrepreneurial spirit we have at 600,
that is still at least a solid version of the first eight.
Thank you.
- [India] From Alan
- Alan? Like Alan Jack Vaynerchuk?
AJ.
- AJ, yeah, it's another from AJ.
- Do you know about AJ's request in third grade
to be called Alan for a week?
- No, but now I'm gonna call him Alan.
- [Voiceover] Allen asks,
"As we've seen, you hate wasting time, but how do you
adjust on days nothing is going right?
- Well there's no such thing.
Luckily, no I mean, there's no, I mean (knocking)
I don't remember a day where nothing went right.
I mean, first and foremost, the way I really deal with it,
if we wanna get zen about this, and a lot of you know this,
is, as long as everybody's healthy, everything went right,
I always quantify when business doesn't go well
I default quickly to,
oh business is bullshit, it's all about life.
You know, like when my kids, look how cute my kids are,
look how, thank God my parents are alive,
like, I quickly switch from, I don't dwell, you know,
I'm not good at dwelling.
I love speed, and I don't like wasting time,
dwelling, complaining, wishing,
hoping, you know, pondering how you wish it was,
is the single biggest waste of time in life,
and in business.
Like, the bottom line is, we all wish things.
I wish I was six-foot-four,
the single best looking guy in the world,
and the quarterback of the New York Jets
that has won 19 straight Super Bowls.
I wish that.
I mean, I wish that, I mean I just wish that.
I wish that.
And in the same way that that's funny,
is the same way to wish that that deal went through,
or that employee took the job,
or that person didn't quit,
or that concept didn't work out,
I mean I've had multiple divisions,
multiple strategies here at Wine--
at Wine Library--at VaynerMedia
that haven't worked in the last 12 months.
Yet we're dismantling it,
and so much like anything else,
it's like the next, it's the next play.
Using artistic stuff, like if you're doing a broadway play,
what are you gonna mess up a line and just stop?
And just cry on stage?
You just gotta go to the next line!
I mean, you just gotta keep moving forward.
And so how do I handle it? Easily.
I'm a fucking champ on this issue.
I'm a champion.
I am an absolute champion on this issue.
Meaning, like, I'm prepared for the punches in the face.
I expect things not to go well.
I, it's kinda the way I prep for a Jets game,
Saturday night nobody likes being around me
'cause I'm just devastated and it's all bad,
we're gonna lose, this is what's
gonna happen, we're gonna lose, we're gonna--
You know like, I'm subconsciously like that.
But unlike the Jets where I say that outwardly,
these guys can tell you,
I'm only on winning and offense at all times.
- It's true. Very true.
- I'm ready for the next question India.
- [DRock] Do you want me to Snapchat a little bit?
- Hmm, sure we can make one.
Okay.
- [Voiceover] Chris asked, "If you could,
"what advice would you give yourself in high school?"
- You know, the thing that I've answered a lot on this
is, like, I'd hook up with more chicks,
you know I've talked a lot about that India.
- Let's move past it. (laughs)
- Um... - What else?
- You know, look, I mean,
it's the advice I give you guys now
as an old 40-year-old, right?
Which is like, I wish I was a little bit more patient,
because I was so hungry to prove to the world
that I was a winner because I was such a loser in school
that I just worked every minute,
I didn't, you know, go to an extra keg party,
I didn't, you know, like spend an extra,
go away on a weekend and just do something different,
or like, I punted everything.
It just went completely and utterly into,
I'm gonna built businesses, this is who I am,
and so, you know, maybe I would have gone on the ski trips
so I could be good at skiing now and into it,
like maybe, like, I would have done,
maybe I would have rounded out some stuff,
but the truth is, in a weird way,
in the same way that I just talked to you
about the last question,
I dunno, like, it's all so good I don't,
I probably, like, if I could speak to my high school self,
is that what the, is that the way it's--
- Yeah, I mean, I think that'd be--
- Like if my high school self was sitting here,
I'd be like, hey man, good news.
It's gonna go well. - It gets better.
- It's gonna, it wasn't even better,
I liked it then too, I was antsy and I wanted to,
like, fuck everyone, and I'm still a little bit like that,
but I was super happy, like I wasn't like some outcast,
like it, yet my teachers
and my friends' parents thought I was a loser,
but all my friends loved me so let's call it what it is,
when you're 15 you don't give a shit
about teachers and parents,
you want your homies to think you're cool,
so I was super happy,
it was just I had a chip on my shoulder 'cause I'm like,
I'm gonna be all-time great.
I really believe this.
I really believe it's the same way that
Harrison Ford about his acting,
or Lebron about his basketball,
or, or, some music, uh, Whitney Houston about her singing,
like, I really think young Whitney Houston
in fifth grade is sitting there and saying,
because she's killing it at church,
she's saying, nobody knows how great I'm really gonna be.
Like, I literally felt that.
I'm like, I can't wait for them to all really know.
So there was a little bit of, like, a,
I can't wait to have my coming out party,
I was antsy for the coming out party,
but I'd probably say, like, hey man,
it's all gonna work out great, and like,
just, do everything you think you wanna do,
like just follow your instincts, it's gonna be good.
- Have you gone to any high school reunions?
- Uh, no.
I haven't gone to high school reunions,
but I've talked to a lot of people on Facebook
and different places in my high school,
and like, it's interesting,
you know, I wasn't outwardly like running through the halls
and telling everybody that I was gonna be, you know,
like I think the one thing that's felt really nice
is like a lot of people have sent me emails like,
it's so nice to see you doing well,
you were really nice in high school.
Like, that makes me feel nice.
The thing that I think a lot of people are
starting to realize on DailyVee,
that I'm just a nice guy, too,
because I'm actually quite competitive and confrontational
on #AskGaryVee, on stage,
like most of the stuff people have consumed from me,
on Wine Library TV I'm panning stuff,
ironically is me in my competitive zone.
When I'm not in business, or on basketball court,
I'm actually kind of completely the other way,
and I think that, um, that was nice,
like that's been the--
I don't remember being,
like I forget that people are just mean in high school,
and I was so self-confident that I never got
dragged down to do that.
- That's good. - Yeah.
- It can be a rough time for a lot of people.
- Yeah, high school's rough for peeps.
For some peeps, many of, some that are watching now too,
high school's the glory days, too.
Jocky jock jock jock wishes high school was still rolling.
- Sounds like a Pokemon when you say it like that.
- [Voiceover] Jeremy asks, "How do you decide
"when a social media platform is going south
"and no longer worth putting energy into?"
- Engagement. When something's big,
Myspace, Twitter right now is interesting to watch,
Google Plus, um Tumblr,
when something gets big you just watch,
organic reach on Facebook,
it's not super hard, like, you know,
when it happens to Snapchat,
oh I remember the days when I had 25,000 people
watching my stories and I could get
2,000 people to screenshot.
Now I've got 400,000 people watching my stories
and I couldn't get 100 people to screenshot.
Like, it's very easy. It's data.
You just stop feeling it.
When I used to send an email
and sell 400 cases of wine in an hour,
and then seven years later it took me
four weeks or four months to sell that same 400,
you're like, wait a minute, and then you just
look at the data and you're like, oh, look,
the open rates are not as good,
the click through rates are not as good,
the data's there, like, you know, like,
you just respond to the reaction,
either you're stale and people wanna tune you out,
or the platform has an issue,
and so you've gotta decide is it you,
and you've became the same old song and dance,
or is it that, uh, that the platform sucks.
Usually it's not you,
even though I have a lot of the same themes
a lot of you watch me for the energy,
or the routine, or the excitement of it all,
even though you've starting to grasp my thesises,
more importantly, there's just so many of you,
I mean leave in the comments right now,
did you just meet me in the last 30 days?
YouTube, Facebook, leave a comment.
Did you just meet me in the last 30 days?
And there's always more people,
like nobody knows who I am!
- It's true, you always say that. (laughs)
I'm agreeing with you!
- Yes, I know, but the look in your eye,
the happiness--
- But you are, like, way more famous
than even, like, two months ago.
- Tell me everything.
- No, it's true, you've been like rec--
- Well--
- Haven't you been like recognized more on the street?
I've been recognized.
- Yes, but I know my own stories.
Yeah exactly, tell me your stuff.
- Like, my stuff. People recognize me in the park.
Like, they'll be like, oh you're India from Ask--
Actually I was in San Francisco over the holidays
in a museum with friends, home,
and someone came up to me on the west coast,
and said, oh you're India from the #AskGaryVee show.
- And were your friends like, what the fuck?
- My friend was like, what?
Is that what you do?
- (laughs) Are you on a show?
- Are you on a YouTube show?
Alright, last one.
- Yep.
- [Voiceover] Unspoken Wounds says, "Hey Gary Vee,
"my son loves digital media and Snapchat.
"They wanna be producers.
"Any advice for Y-gen?"
- Oh my god, look how cute.
Dude, look how awesome that dude's hair is.
- Yeah it is pretty awesome.
- I would so kill it if I had that hair.
Um, yeah, I mean, look, Unspoken Wounds,
I think that the number one piece of advice I could give you
is make them feel like they can actually do it.
If that's what they want to do,
you as their parent, creating that permission,
for you to say yes you can is real.
Now, no eighth place trophies.
Yes you can, but when they put out something
and everybody on YouTube says it sucks,
you look at them and say,
the market says you suck!
Let's try again.
So it's this balance of,
I completely believe you can,
but let the results be the results,
don't fake the results.
I actually see more,
it's unbelievable how bad people are at parenting.
I'm not kidding.
I'm really, this is a real hot button issue for me.
Like, this could be the transition of my career.
I really think Perfectly Parented, when I write it,
transitions my career, I really do.
Because I'm passionate about this.
Like, as I'm getting closer, and I have a six-year-old
daughter and I'm meeting other parents,
and I'm not calling out any parents I know,
if you're watching,
but I've been picking up on some themes
and I'll tell you I hate how many people reverse it.
I watch a lot of parents that are like,
you know literally like soccer,
they're like, oh I dunno Ricky, if you're gonna be okay,
eh, you know Johnny's really good,
like no self-esteem building,
and then they play, they lose eight-nothing,
and they're like Ricky, you did a great job!
It's literally the fuckin' reverse of what I want!
Which is, like, India, you could be the greatest
operator of a museum in the history of all time,
and then when you have your first exhibit,
if it doesn't go well,
you say, look, it didn't go well,
and let's backtrack and figure out why,
and then I would give her,
'cause my little India I know how she likes to read,
I give her a book of like the guy or the girl who
started three business and failed but then
on the fourth one figured out the learnings from the three
and killed it like the KFC guy.
Encouragement matters, but reality matters just as much.
And you have to create friction amongst those two
to create the perfect storm
for the young and moldable minds.
And the old and moldable minds.
- [India] Twist ending.
- Twist ending.
Great.
Critique.
I need comments, I need feedback.
I have a trip to Boston on Friday,
I'd like to read feedback.
DailyVee, my Snapchat, The #AskGaryVee Show,
how you're feeling, how many books you wanna buy,
what you can do for them--
Critique.
God that last question got me going.
Bring in the kids and the parenting and I get going.
You keep asking questions, I'll keep answering them.
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