GaryVee's Thoughts on Standing Out, Validation, and the Importance of Patience

0:00This is the GaryVee Audio Experience. With so many creators and brands using AI these days, it's never been easier to create social media content. So how can we stand out among the crowd without selling ourselves out? Selling out, as you know Terry, comes in different forms. What you and I in the streets of Jersey and Brooklyn think is selling out is different to somebody growing up on the Upper West Side, right? So there's that. So I think if you're talking about being authentic and feeling good about yourself and having it sustainable, I think standing out is a very challenging game. It's why I wrote the book.

0:35I think, one, we're in a place now where like the talent of the skill of making creative for social matters. It's not just posting anything. Like the thumbnail, the title, the first, second of the video, the copy, which unit you decide to post on. So when you post on Instagram, are you doing a carousel? Are you doing a reel? Are you doing an infeed? Are you doing a story? Like this has become complex. And then you have to have something to say or something of interest or something of value. Are you attractive? Are you thoughtful? Are you teaching? Like what's your value? And value is subjective.

1:16People are like, oh, that person sucks. Why do they have three million followers? Well, because they're super attractive or because they're super funny or because they're cynical in a funny way. Like, or it might be that they know so much. Like the way I started was because I knew so much about wine. That's just a super niche-y, narrow thing. And so, being motivational, being thoughtful, being strategic, having a deep expertise. So, standing out comes in knowing how to do it, but then also having something to provide.

1:50One thing I appreciate about you is you learn it, you live it, then you teach it. However, there are a lot of, I'm using gurus and air quotes on social media who just teach stuff they never even done before. So I'm curious in regards to your book, what are some myths about social media marketing that you debunk in your book? You know, it's interesting. I'm not sure how much I'm debunking. What I'm doing is I'm going so detailed. Have you had a chance to read and or skim it yet or not yet? Which is okay, I'm just curious. Skim. So, you know, being empathetic, they have a lot going on and it's a really nerdy book by my standards and that's what I did.

2:27it's less that I debunked it's more that I went so detailed that if you gave it the time to read it or listen to it and you understood like oh shit like this is like real stuff this isn't like happy Monday this isn't like buy my coffee this isn't like sign up for my master class like there's real real depth of knowledge and so I think what I did if you read it whole I think people think you can hire your 24-year-old niece to do your social media and everything's gonna be okay. And I think what I probably did was make a very compelling argument that social media marketing is the most lucrative but most complex form of marketing today and those who figure it out will have very fruitful outcomes on whatever that is, whether that's raising money for their nonprofit, whether that's winning the local maitorial race, or whether that's selling a lot of their SaaS, you know, product on LinkedIn or whether that's becoming famous on TikTok and then living out their fantasies or being a good entrepreneur and getting business leads from it for your pizza shop or your direct-to-consumer sock brand.

3:42I'm proud of that depth and that breadth that I just described and that's what I did with the book.

3:51Anything you can share about the importance of curiosity and how it can help people in life? Oh, I mean, curiosity to me is one of the core ingredients. I mean, I talked about it in 12 and a half. Like, if you're curious, you're asking why and how. And when you're asking why, how, what, it leads to incredible opportunities of learning and sometimes actual answers that have not been uncovered in the past contextually in the time we live in. So, you know, Curious Crane is one of my favorite V friends. I'm excited about writing a kid's book about Curious Crane one day because I think curiosity being championed as a huge pillar, especially for children, to not lose that, because I think we have it as children, but then we get taught out of it, and for me, curiosity and creativity have been major pillars of my success.

4:35Listen, that's the core of the book, Matt, so sounds like we're in the right direction. Appreciate your support, brother. Take care, brother. And thank you for everything, man. Stay well. It's funny, somebody said curiosity killed the cat, and for me, I think sloppiness killed the cat. I hate that saying curiosity killed the cat because it was almost like written to keep people in the box I almost viewed curiosity killed the cat as a saying similar to like the way school is built to make workers for corporations by demonizing curiosity I also think nice guys finish last those two sayings curiosity killed the cat nice guys finish last are very very very fucked up sayings that are completely wrong you know you know, sloppiness, overreaction, lack of thoughtfulness killed the cat.

5:28And nice guys finish last. No, no, insecure guys who let people walk all over them finish last. We need to redefine both curiosity killed the cat and nice guys finish last. Insecure guys who try to manipulate people by being nice only because they're scared, they finish last. Sloppiness and lack of thoughtfulness and strategy and impatience killed the fucking cat, not fucking curiosity. Yo, everybody, thank you so much. Just jumping in real quick in the middle of this podcast. Thank you so much for listening to this episode. It would mean the world to me if you could leave a review for this episode.

6:04And I'm gonna get you back to your pod right now because you don't need me talking about that. But I realize I'm lagging on getting the support of my podcast listeners. So reviewing this episode and overall would mean the world to me. Five star, four star, three star, Fuck it, two star, one star. Honest feedback's fine. Alright, back to the show. Can I ask you one question? Sure. So just describe what failure looks like to you and describe failure. And describe a time where you failed and how you rebounded from that failure. A specific moment, event. I have a very interesting relationship with failure.

6:38You know, what does failure look like? Something that didn't go the way I wanted it to go. However, it feels light to me. you know it's funny yeah it's like you just said name a time I mean my life has been predominantly failing most people's life is predominantly failing you know this is I'm so happy thank you for asking this this is a very important topic I would argue that the majority of human beings on earth have the absolute wrong relationship with failure they're fearing it they worry about other people's opinions I can tell you one thing about my failure I surely don't give a shit what you guys think about my failure It's my failure.

7:15I have a great relationship with my failures. I use them as learning opportunities. I use them as motivational opportunities. I use them as humbling moments, which are incredibly valuable. I love failing. Micro-failing. You know what I mean? If somebody's watching, like, no, no, you're failing of like, your business went out of business and you had to move out of your home. They're different. But I'm losing a lot. And I don't... Do you have something that, a moment you can point to let me give you one that's very hyperbolized that could be very good for your clip I passed on investing in Uber twice in the angel round when literally it was one of my best friends of the world at the time, Travis, was the founder and I was investing in all sorts of random shit around that time if I made my normal$50 or$25 investment I would have made somewhere between $250 and$800 million

8:09that's a failure That's a massive failure. Or a missed opportunity. Yeah, that's semantics. That's the same shit. Right, right, it's the same, yeah. It's a failure. I have a million of those. I didn't reply to the Airbnb email to invest in that. That would have been, I, how about this one? How about all the failures I don't even know? How about all the meetings I could have taken that would have led to something? How about all the firings I should have made that would have led to something? Like, life is only failing. What did realizing the Uber opportunity, has that changed anything for you? Yes, it reminded me that I need to live my life consistently.

8:47I believe scared money doesn't make money. And I had just bought an apartment and had less liquid than I was accustomed to. And that made me hold back. Scared money doesn't make money.

9:01My number one belief is people debate and think about shit and keep it on the shelf. There is zero, this goes back to the validation shit we just chopped up on. If y 'all weren't so scared that your shit that you put out was received as corny, then all of you would put out shit all the time and half of you would have what your dreams are actually validated and become true. So please, if you're watching this, if you guys decide to clip this up, stop worrying about whether it gets one view or your boy texts you and tells you you're corny as hell. Start putting out your fucking ideas into the earth because one fucking video can change your fucking life.

9:37That's true because look where I'm at right now. Me too, bro. I wrote a book back in 2008, Crush It. Told everybody this shit was going to happen. Everybody said I was crazy. Everybody said nobody was going to make money on YouTube. Think about how laughable that is for you kids that only grew up with that. People are fucking scared. True. This is why my answer on valid. I'm not worried about people think I'm fucking. Do you think I worry if somebody's laughing at me because I didn't know the fucking current of the second answer to your question? 0.0 motherfucker you think I'm worried about your laughing 0.0 but there's a big flip side I'm on the point in my career because of how much paper I make because who I am followers all the things I got going on people cheer me the key to not worrying about people making fun of you and booing you is also not getting gassed the fuck up when they cheer for you when I see a youngster like your crew and Boyd says you got a few minutes the answer is yes because I want to help I'm not getting high on my own fucking supply and thinking I'm somebody and I got no time for anyone.

10:39So if you're not gonna hear them boo, make sure you don't hear them cheer so you get gassed the fuck up on yourself, stay fucking humble, and fucking put out good shit to the world. True, true, true.

10:53What's some slang you could put me onto that young generation that doesn't even know about? Patience. Patience. Patience. That's slang. That's real slang. You want to talk about real slang? Patience. The young generation needs to understand patience. That's the real fucking sling. You understand? You can talk about anything you want. Dynamics, fucking whatever the proper lingo is of the moment that is the slang that you fuck with. That's nice. That shit changes every 24 minutes on TikTok. What really fucking matters, kids, is get your fucking patience right. Stop worrying about validation from the fucking outside and get your shit right.

11:32and then everything you really want will actually fucking happen. True, true, true. Okay, I like that. You like that? I like that. That's all right, right? Yeah.

11:43What motivates you, by the way? Legacy. Okay. You know, I'm trying to really show people that you can build an empire but still be a nice fucking dude and do right. All right. You know what I mean? The more I get popular, the more people think it's good to be nice too. Not like, oh, to be a real fucking gangster, like to build an empire, you gotta be an asshole. Sharp elb, you know what really fucks me up? Nice guys finish last. I hate that fucking saying. I fucking hate that saying. Because it tricks guys and girls into thinking they gotta be different. If you really wanna make it, you gotta look down on people.

12:19That shit's fucked up.