- Gary, this is a very impressive headquarters.
- It's not even the headquarters.
- Oh it's not the headquarters.
- No this is the second office in New York,
headquarters is real fancy.
- Oh tell us.
- That's in Hudson Yard on the west side of New York.
- Oh okay.
- This is our studio here.
We have obviously some offices because we're growing so fast
we've run out of room,
but this office has about a hundred,
headquarters has about 450.
- Oh wow.
- So it gets really crazy.
- I didn't realize.
So tell us what an average day looks in your life.
Tell us from morning, what's an average day in Gary's life.
- I wake up at six I work out tell seven,
I shower, spend 10, 15 minutes with my kids
before they go to school, and then I go to my first
meeting at 8 or 8:30.
Usually breakfast somewhere outside the office.
Usually I'll get to the office by nine.
And then from 9AM, so basically meetings from 8AM
outside the office to 9, 9 in the office till usually
6 or 7 just every minute book no lunch, no one minute
to spare no down town, meeting after meeting after meeting,
I mean you see what's happening with this right.
- Been here for two hours.
- Yeah its like every second is booked.
And then at 7 I'll go and do meetings from 7PM
to 11PM at night.
That is the typical day, 30% of the time I'm traveling,
going to clients, only 10% of my life is probably Gary Vee
when I speak or do appearances or do something like this.
90% of it is me being a Chief Executive Officer,
VaynerX which is the holding company that owns Vaynermedia
and Purewow, the women's publishing site.
And so that's how I navigate.
Just meeting operating, operating meeting, operating.
- Interesting, so what are the, let's talk about business,
what are the qualities that you think make for a true
and a successful entrepreneur, what's important?
- She or he has to love the game.
For me a pure bred entrepreneur, she or he loves the journey
not the stuff.
One of the things I struggle with, in the current state
of entrepreneurship is a lot of people want the vacations,
the watches, even in the context of this you guys
have such incredible imagery I think it's remarkable,
who doesn't want fine things in life.
But it think that if you're in the game just for
the fine things in life for the bottles, and the models
and the private planes I think you're gonna lose.
And it definitely is not my definition of an entrepreneur.
My definition of an entrepreneur is somebody that can't
live without doing their thing and trying to create
literally suffocated.
- When I was younger I learned, because I've been
an entrepreneur my whole life you work hard,
you get a deal you reward yourself buy yourself a lunch,
what's your thoughts on that philosophy?
- I think that works for your DNA,
and I respect that, you know
I don't think you get to judge what somebody does
with the fruits of their labor.
For me, I think that's what's amazing about anything
which is there's many different definitions.
For you, go out work your face off win,
and reward yourself with something is exactly right.
For me, the reward is pouring more of the dollars
and energy into the company, not buying stuff for myself.
It's one and the same, it's one and the same.
I don't judge you know, I talk a lot about like
stop posting cash and Lamborghini's and private jests.
Not because I don't think one deserves it
after they work hard, it's that so many of the people
on Instagram that are posting that are fronting.
- 100%.
- I mean they're like literally driving to a private
plane pad, taking the photo and driving home.
They're full of shit, and so to me I think
it's amazing if somebody wants to buy an Armani suit,
or a five thousand dollar pair of belt, or a diamond ring
for 100,000, I don't but that doesn't mean
that's right or wrong.
What I'm doing with that same hundred thousand
instead of ring is hiring two more people because
I'm trying to buy the jewelry company,
not a piece of the jewelry.
- I like that, no that's a great quote,
and fans and followers really turn to you for motivation
and inspiration.
Where do you draw your inspiration and motivation from?
Who motivate you, obviously everyone,
there's different levels of motivation.
- Them, it's really interesting to think about this a lot.
Them, it's crazy when somebody DM's me, when you like
she's a fan it's crazy what that feels like.
Like it's amazing.
My motivation isn't like Elon Musk, or Bill Gates,
or Warren Buffet, it is only two things, my parents,
and then the community itself.
- But when you say it, it's really true,
I mean you really are for the people, I mean you
love the game and what you're doing.
- I really do man, and what's funny is like,
I love talking about it, because I know there's
not gonna be another shoe that drops.
Like I'm not gonna turn dark.
You know like, you know what I think people struggle with,
they don't, they forget or don't know that I knew
how to build businesses and made money before
I became somebody people knew.
So like it's very easy for me to give to my community
because I'm not looking for anything from them.
- Exactly.
The question is to the outside it seems
as though you've had a lot of success at a young age
talk to us how do you define success for yourself.
Tell us a little about that.
- I have a really good answer for this one.
This one I've known for a long time.
To me the ultimate success is doing what you wanna do
every day, and having nobody have any impact on that.
- Interesting, and at what age did you start having that?
- Probably you know I had a very, I had it as a kid
because I had a very successful baseball card business
when I was 13, 14, 15.
So I tasted it early which is probably why
I got addicted to it.
- Yeah.
- When I went into my dad's business,
the truth is my dad gave me a ton of autonomy.
And that's why I was able to build him a big business.
But I didn't have full control, because it was still
my dad's business right.
But he gave me unlimited reign.
When I started the Vaynermedia I probably felt it
for the first time,
because my brother was my partner but I really
was kind of like the A.
But even that I had to have empathy for him.
It's probably why I like my personal brand,
'cause its the place where I have 100% control.
So, that's cool.
So I would think somewhere in my mid to late 30's
I started feeling it.
Maybe 37, maybe only five years ago.
And I think actually that's probably why so much
good is happened in these last five years,
'cause I feel like super free.
- My next question is it seems that you have
the magic touch when it comes to investing early
in companies that have been successful.
Uber, twitter, Venmo, what do you look for
in the early stages of a business to determine
whether or not you would actually
invest your personal money, time?
- Two things, one do I believe in the thesis.
When I invested in Venmo in 2009 I thought people
would text message each other to settle payments.
And back then people were like what.
- Because everyone was about PayPal.
- Yeah and PayPal wasn't doing texting
you know to your point, so like it was like
you had to project.
I thought everybody would have social media accounts.
That's not what people thought in 2007.
So I have to believe in what you're saying.
And then number two I have to believe in him or her,
the jockey.
It's all about the jockey for me.
Where I've lost money is I was right about the thesis
black jet, black jet is a company I invested in right,
which is basically jet smarter, same thesis I was right.
But it didn't become jet smarter
because the jockey didn't win.
- So you were on the wrong side of the jockey.
- That's right.
You know I was chasing yobongo.
Yobongo I was right about the thesis.
The thesis was tinder.
I had seen the app grindr which in the gay male
community was people hooking up, and I was like
that's definitely gonna happen with guys and girls right.
So every app in 2010, '11, '12 that kind of looked like it.
Like people meet each other when they're in
close proximities I was betting.
But mine didn't become Tinder, so I was right
about the thesis, but wrong about the jockey got it?
- Yep 100%.
When a lot of people describe you and what you do.
Presumably based on your social media they describe you
as a motivational speaker, which you are
but you're also an entrepreneur
and successful business person.
- Yes.
- How did that part of your persona and career come about?
You talked a little about it but talk to us about that.
Because all I'm seeing is the successful businessman.
- I wrote a, I got it, I wrote a book called Crush it.
It was awfully motivational in it's nuances,
I just, I didn't realize it to be frank.
I've always been a hype man and excited with my friends
and my employees and life.
I started being asked to speak, and the first time
I went on stage it was there.
And I'm like okay, and then in 2010, '11
it really became a thing, I was speaking a lot.
People were saying that and I didn't want to be it.
And so in 2012 to '14 I didn't do a lot of
internet content, I wasn't that out there.
And I was really focused on the business and not
looking to build that brand.
And in '15 I realized that I don't think
I'm a motivational speaker, not that there's anything
wrong with that, I think I'm an entrepreneur
who happens to be motivational.
However, in the last two years I realized
that the reason I'm really going all in
is to me it's just strategy it's mental strategy.
Like it's just smart to be optimistic and to be grateful,
and to, like the things that people deem to me as
I'm motivational I think it's that I'm
emotionally intelligent.
- Great.
What are some of the challenges that you've faced
or you talked a little about some of the mistakes
you made on your investments,
that you made in your professional career that you
believe you learned and have become much better at.
- I was really bad a firing.
I was too empathetic, I'm really empathetic,
it's my superpower and it's my weakness.
And so on a macro it's my superpower.
But on a micro it's my weakness.
I would sit on firing somebody for a year or two.
- Okay.
- Because I just didn't wanna fire them,
I felt bad.
So I think that, that made me a little it less
authentic to be frank.
I feel like I would sandbag people, like it's cool
it's cool, it's cool, and then just fire them.
I'd be upset with them, like how didn't you see
you sucked at everything, but in my thirties
I'm glad I went through that at Wine Library
because at Vaynermedia I've been much better.
But even in the last three years I've been better
than the first five years of Vaynermedia.
I need more radical candor, and so being an empath
you are thinking about the other person you know.
I always used to say to some of my girlfriends,
friends and mom and I was like if I was a woman
I would've love the bad boy, because I would've loved
to try to like help you know.
So I think I was, I think that I didn't, I think I sat on
decisions too long that were detrimental to the business
out of empathy and what I did was I empowered
the second and third and fourth tier players
at the expense of the first tier players,
and I think I've gotten a lot better at that
in the last year or two.
- I would think with the way you run your business
you would expect that to all of your employees.
- You mean accountability?
- Just you know from like I mean you're precise
to the point you know six to seven you go to the gym,
be with my kids
- No to your point, no I hold myself dramatically more
accountable than I hold others.
And I think that's cool and that's what a great
leader is but I don't think I had all the dials perfect.
I think I'm very optimistic to me being an operator
from fifty to sixty.
I think I'm gonna be really in a great place
with my crescendo of like being empathetic but also
being strategic about who's getting compensated and how.
- So I remember last year you launched your K-Swiss
collaboration, the Gary V001 and 002.
- Yes.
- I was surprised at how quickly it sold out.
I mean I'm a sneaker head and I mean a lot of people
were like who's gonna buy the, you know the K-Swiss.
It's not like you took Adidas or Nike,
talk to us about the deal and I mean obviously
K-Swiss is a great brand but it's not
an easy brand to sell. - I get it, I get it
- I mean you set yourself up with a little bit of risk.
- I did but all upside.
- 100%.
- And so I, that's why I did it, it was
a nostalgic brand, I'm 42 so K-Swiss was fly
in the 80's in the hoods, so I knew there was
some swag there.
I thought my audience would resonate and so
to the point of the president of K-Swiss Barney
he sought me out, we had breakfast, I liked the vibe.
I could see it wasn't an influencer deal,
this was a real collab.
We kept working on it, we went there,
and I was very confident that I could sell the sneakers
and we did,
and now they're making a hell of a lot more
for the 003 and the 004 that are gonna come out later
this year and I'm excited about it.
It's been huge for me in culture.
You know sneakers as you know are one of the five,
seven, twelve kind of pillars of culture
right now at least, and being in that game
and surprising the market was awfully powerful thing.
- That to me is you because you are sneaker head
so it would have been easier to do a Nike collaboration
or Adidas because obviously it would've been
a lot easier to sell.
- Yeah but I don't think my brand and I was at a level
where they would've sought me out.
So it was a real win for me, because one if I did one
with Adidas or Nike first of all they would've
gotten the credit not me.
I think with the K-Swiss situation we both get credit right.
I get a lot of credit for moving it, K-Swiss gets credit
for being smart to seek me out.
- And how did you apply your knowledge
into the design of those shoes?
- To be honest with you the first one was very lightweight.
Like I wanted to be green because of the Jets.
- Yeah.
- I wanted them to be things I would wear.
- You mean the New York Jets.
- Yes. - Okay.
- And I wanted to be have a little, it has my signature
and it has some my words on the sole.
So I was, the 003 and the 004 I'm even more involved in.
I wanted to be empathetic to the designers in K-Swiss
of not imposing too much I wanted to learn and watch them.
But I still wanted to have my fingerprint on it.
Now I have my hand print on this one.
And eventually it'll be my hand.
- I mean it's sold out and now I remember as I follow you
you were showing how it was reselling for more.
So I mean in street credibility the sneaker heads,
I mean how excited was that, you know like
- Huge, I couldn't believe, I mean literally
I was sitting I'm like my god the 18 year old version
of me would have been the guy that was buying these.
And now I have, it like, the only thing I could say is
I never was destined to be on sports trading card.
But like it was literally the next best thing.
- So I know we talked about how you respect your followers
but on an entrepreneur business people who are some of
the people you look up to, you admire?
- You know I don't look up to anybody,
that's just the truth.
I admire everybody who's doing it honestly.
I mean that, if you're making 100,000 dollars a year
63,000, a buck 97, two million, and you're doing it
the right way I admire anybody who's doing that,
because entrepreneurship is hard and lonely, right.
It just is.
And so admiration through the, I admire the people
at the lowest levels, the people who are aka just starting
like have a job and have the ambition to come home
at 7 PM and get to grinding, like that that photo,
try to get the light right, darn it's dark out,
cause I've worked all day and I got to pay my mortgage
or my debt but I'm still gonna build this,
I'm gonna be an influencer, I'm gonna start
this tee shirt brand, I'm gonna sell these caps,
I'm gonna get brands to pay me for sponsorship
on my basketball meme page.
I have enormous admiration for anybody
that's tryna do it.
Because you have to understand, one thing
that people get twisted,
the second you say you're about to do something,
and build a company you're out of being an employee
and being a student.
When you're an employee or student you can blame somebody
Babin can blame, if the videos don't pop he can blame me.
He didn't give us the resources,
he didn't give me the right camera.
He changed the words, you can blame somebody.
I can't blame anybody.
- Yeah.
- If this isn't successful it's your fault.
- Correct 100%.
- Like you could say well she wasn't, you hired her.
Like everything that's bad here my fault, all of it.
I admire anybody who's willing to go there.
Because that takes a level of scrutiny that most people
don't wanna deal with.
- In your business in media science most of your competitors
are out pitching and looking for customers.
- Yes.
- One of your customers was telling me a story how they
for six to nine months were just tryna reach out to you.
(laughing)
it's actually Paragon auto.
- Yes.
- And they were talking about how they were just
they were emailing you, they were DM'ing you,
and they couldn't get ahold of you and then they called
a friend that knew a friend that knew a friend.
I mean and then obviously I think they hired you
because they said that and you obviously are probably
charging a high fee, but as a business man I mean
how excited does that make you feel in your business,
because usually in your business on media
they're on the opposite they're hounding the clients
for the business when the clients are chasing you
for your services?
- It's always fun to be the girl that everybody
wants to take to the dance.