- Hey guys, I know I look like
the Emperor from Star Wars right now,
but I’m very high in the air back
from London headed to New York City.
I’ve decided to do a video mainly
because I’ve caught up with my email,
and I don’t like wasting time and I figured, you know,
it’s 2012, it’s early, boy, my eyebrows look insane.
It’s early in the year and I figured it’s almost February,
I’m clearly not excited about football,
the Super Bowl's coming up, and I figured,
you know what, why don’t I rant,
make a little GaryVaynerchuk.com video,
see if I could bring any value.
I just read a bunch of emails.
I get a lot of emails from entrepreneurs who are
looking for advice, trying to figure out how to make it.
And I think about a lot of things,
especially on these flights when I get a lot done
and I’m just thinking, thinking about my life,
thinking about what I want to accomplish.
And I figured, you know, hit record,
see what comes out of this, see if
there’s any value for anybody.
I think people underestimate DNA a lot.
I think that a lot of my success
happens because I was born with it.
I also think that people underestimate
how insanely obvious it is for some people
and how murky it is for others.
What I mean by that is, it’s always been obvious to me,
it's always been obvious what
caused success, what I needed to do.
Every time I watch content through the internet
or on television, or watched Oprah the other night,
Lizzie was watching and I was working.
She was interviewing George Lucas.
And he was saying the same shit, same shit I always say,
same shit I hear from everybody who wins.
I think the fear of losing trumps
the excitement of victory for so many people.
I think people are so scared.
It’s kind of like hitting on girls.
I get it, right, because I kind of was
more scared of hitting on girls
than I was in winning in business.
I was much more fearless in executing business models
than I was about going up to a girl and getting shot down.
Nobody wants the rejection.
Nobody wants to lose.
So I understand the philosophy,
I understand that string of DNA
that doesn’t want to make you lose,
but I’m so desperate to figure out how
to convince people that there is no loss in going for it.
That yeah, you might get made fun of,
and you might have it in your own mind,
but trying to figure out how to make people
drop that fear of going and building
a business for themselves in 2012,
trying to figure out how to make a video
or give a talk or send a tweet
or write a book, just something that
makes people understand that executing the way it always is,
following the school business model,
which is such horseshit, is gonna lead you to a place
where you’re not going to win.
Or that is a place where you’re going to win,
meaning some people are meant to be B and C players.
Some of you are not meant to, you know, go out and win.
I think this whole like, "If you try,
"it will come to you," is such horse shit.
I’m worried that people are confused that effort
or the secret or hustle is enough because it’s not,
it’s part of the equation, but talent and skills
and the ability to work hard and having a thick skin.
Do you know how obnoxiously thick
my skin is when it comes to business?
I don’t give a fuck what anybody says about me
or thinks of me or thinks what I’m
doing when it comes to business
because I trust my intuition one kadrillion percent.
I know that I’m built to win when it comes to business.
I always win.
I’m gonna win, and people that don’t understand my style
or don’t think that I’m doing the right thing
or think that VaynerMedia's a dumb
idea 'cause it's client services,
they just don’t know me.
They don't understand what I'm going to do.
They don’t understand that it's early.
People just don't understand how early it is.
I’m 36.
I’m a kid.
Shit, would I want to be 25 like A.J.?
Fuck yeah, but I’m 36.
In six years, I’ll be 42.
Do you know how much I’m gonna do in the next six years?
I just worry that people don’t have patience.
I worry that people don’t tap into their strengths.
My strength is that I tell stories.
My strength is that I understand people.
My strength is that I understand
how to build organizations to succeed.
My strength is that I understand that people is what,
are what the foundation of any business is.
My strength is that I give a crap.
Yeah, I care about myself more,
but I actually care about you as well.
My strength is that I'm a communicator,
that I’m showman, that I know how to brand,
that I’m willing to work ridiculously hard,
that I have intuition of where things are going,
that I work tirelessly to listen to people
that I think know where things are going,
that I engage, that I genuinely care,
that I’m willing to sit here right now and make this video,
hoping that one fucker, one fucker says,
“Oh shit, yeah, like fuck it.
"Fuck Mom.
"Fuck Professor Tom.
"Fuck what the intuition of other people is.
"I’m gonna listen to mine.
"The establishment, the blueprint, fuck all that.
"I’m just gonna listen to myself."
Listening to yourself always wins.
Do I have angst?
Sure, I’m calling out myself every day
for the last six or seven years,
telling everybody I’m gonna buy the Jets.
I'm gonna roll billies deep.
36, getting older, worrying about the time,
but still, betting on patience,
betting on I’ve been right, betting that
I get better every year, betting that the 2006 version of me
that was so cocky, that ruled with massive bravado
is a punk compared to the 2012 version
of me 'cause that’s the truth.
You keep getting better.
I’m betting on that I continue to listen, continue to stay
humble while still being obnoxiously confident.
I’m betting that the world’s changing,
and I’m paying attention, understanding that you’ve got
to play that Moneyball game, which means data's the game,
but putting EQ on top of that matters.
Betting that all the good that I’m trying
to give everybody comes back to me,
that somebody that I affected opens a door for me.
Betting that the people I’m networking with now
on a daily basis from 9 P.M. to two in the morning
open up doors, open up opportunities, open up my mind.
Betting that the work I put in operationally
on VaynerMedia is gonna pay dividends.
Is it sexy?
No.
Am I turning down things like TV?
Yes.
Am I less famous, little more quiet,
little more off the grid?
Absolutely.
Am I happy that I’m executed and that I’m making
shit happen and I’m building a business?
One kadrillion percent.
Betting on a lot of things, my friends,
betting on a lot of things,
but most of all, betting on my community.
Community is the last great asset.
When you play all these chess moves out,
it's gonna be the only thing left,
the people that give a shit about you
and the people that you give a shit about.
And they’re gonna open up the opportunities,
the doors, the business opportunities,
the life opportunities, and I'll always bet on that.
I believe in that 'til the end.
And so I sit here and give this seven-minute,
37-second rant to you because I think
real and authentic and honest matters.
I think I’m good enough to win.
And I think you’re good enough to win at your level.
Am I gonna win at the ultimate,
biggest guy of all time, Gates, Zucks, Buffett?
Probably not.
Am I more charismatic and loving
and more interesting than those characters?
I think so.
Do I have enough to get me to a billy?
I think so.
But is that 40 billion?
No.
Are you good enough to get to a hundred thousand, 400,000?
I think so.
I just sat here and read a hundred emails from people,
“Oh, makin' 40, 50K, 30K, read Crush It!,
"read Thank You Economy," got inspired by me.
But I was a spark.
I was the one that had that insane thing
that I have in me that made them say, “Hmm.”
You know, things that make you go, “Hm.”
'80s reference, sorry.
But then they had it in them.
And so when I make this video, what’s coming from my heart
right now is maybe you’re watching this
and saying, “Hmm, maybe I need to hedge."
If you work from 8 P.M. to four in the morning,
will your dreams come true?
No, you might not be good enough.
You might have not picked the picked the right product.
But are we living in a world in 2012
that’s so much better than your parents' and grandparents'
and great grandparents' generation,
because assholes like me can make videos
when I’m 30,000 fucking feet in the air?
Yes.
And because of that, and because of those opportunities,
and because we're networked in a way
we’ve never seen before and because sending an email
to a hundred people and one will answer
and give you a shot matters, because of that opportunity,
because of 2012, I beg you, I beg you to take a shot.
Roll up on that hot chick at a bar and ask her out.
Roll up on that good-looking dude and ask him for coffee.
Roll up on your business idea and make it happen.
Because being 50, 60, 70, 80, 90
and having regrets that you didn’t
swing the bat is the worst of them all.
Our at-bat is in front of us.
Take a swing.