Intentionality and Impact: Why You Should Measure Everything by Results in 2026

27:35Like three years later I like oh shit somebody brings up the person I go look they left here they worked somewhere else for four months another place for six months like you know like people break up with someone. How many people here this is going to be real friends we're about to go in our feelings but I need this tonight. Be honest. How many of you have broken up with someone and it was the great mistake of your personal life? You broke up with someone and it's the great mistake of your life. In hindsight, you let the best one go. Say that's me in the chat. And drop their social so we can vet as well.

28:14Me, never, broke up, no. That's me. You know, that hurts. That's tough. but they'll persevere and you move on but like you know a lot of people like people have quit I mean Dave and Adams Dave and Adam we know Adam from Dave and Adams biggest card retailer in the country and the Dave guy quit and said I'm done and Adam bought him out the year before cards exploded he was with them for 20 years from 96 to 2016 damn and he bought him out for nothing. 20 years the business is kind of like this, the dude sells to the other partner, and the business has gone 10x. I don't know. And then other people, there's people right here who think they're still going to be a rapper, and they're 39, and have been at it for 20 years, and have 17 listens on SoundCloud.

29:14What was the smartest broke decision you ever made? That's a great question. broke his relative I had worked 13 years 150 hours plus for my father and never got paid a lot of money never owned Wine Library I didn't inherit Wine Library my parents didn't give me a liquor store I worked my dick off for 150 hours a week from child labor 14 to 34 building a big business for my father that he to this day owns 100 % of but when I was making 50, 60,$70 ,000 a year I was saving I was living in a shit apartment I like just did nothing no$12 fucking margaritas no going to I didn't spend a dollar just saved and the best broke decision I ever made was after all that time at 32 years old I had$250 ,000 to my name in savings and I took$200 ,000 of it and I bet it on Facebook I bought Facebook stock that's Facebook stock certificates All right, you can put it back.

30:18And I bet my life's fortune, which was small and measly compared to the hours and impact that I created. And I bet the farm and it was right. Did you know it was right? Yes. As soon as you wrote the check. Yes. I know every time I make big decisions that it's right. Have you ever made a big decision and was wrong? not really I mean like maybe by other people's standards so I called my mom when I was 20 this is a story you guys might not know I called my mother when I was in college bawling bawling mom I think I'm unbelievable I think I can do it I think I'm going to be a great businessman I don't think I want to go into the family business I feel like it's going to take a lot of time and everyone's gonna think that it wasn't me.

31:15Like, I cry, crying, bawling. And, you know, a couple years later when I was done with college, I decided to go into the family business and if anybody knew my real life, almost all of you would say me working at Wine Library and building Wine Library for my dad was the worst decision I've ever made. Like, if you really knew me, financially, emotionally, if you knew me, knew me, if you knew everything about me, if you went into my body, were you watched my whole life, you would say it's the worst decision I've ever made and I will tell you it's the best decision I ever made. Because I will never regret that level of time with my father.

31:52Even though everything else was wrong. He emotionally drained me. I was a full-time therapist. I got so fucked financially. It's not even funny. And it's still the best thing. What did your mom say to you when you called? If you could share. I don't remember. To be honest, my mom, you know, it's one of those, you remember how you feel. Like, my mom supported me and was, you know, I don't remember, truth is. Honestly, if I had to bet, I did, I think she did, I don't think she did the thing you think, which would be like, I'm good if you go do your own thing. I actually think she was like, no, no, no.

32:28Like, dad's a mess, you need to. Like, you know, it was like a little bit more immigrant than like, you know, what you wish the movie played out to me. But I don't remember. I love that. Is it better to rely on brand deals as an influencer or leverage your audience into a business? Yes. Both. Everything is and. Always and. Everything is and. Alvionis says, how do you balance being authentic versus playing the algorithm without burning out? By being authentic. You need to have best practices, a good thumbnail, a good first three seconds hook. but you know this, you really know this. You're now starting to be in my team.

33:11You see I wanna put the 40 minute AI video out. I know that's not gonna do as well. 42 minute posts on Instagram are not gonna do as well but we still put a little hook at the top and a good thumbnail to do better but I was okay with getting less views. So never compromise. Why did you put out the 42 minute video if you knew it wasn't gonna do well? Just to test? No, because I'd rather have 380 people go deep and be like, fuck, Gary Vee's not just motivational, he's fucking smart. Versus 400 ,000 people being like, oh, that was cool and not even know who I am. What's an under the radar take on social media content right now?

33:49An underrated take that you don't think enough people are talking about? Talking about or doing? Let's, doing, doing. Posting a lot of content. Okay, now talking about. But I wanna stay on that for a second. You fucking assholes, I'm gonna fucking break your face. I've been yelling about unlimited pieces of content across many different platforms. You yes me to death, okay Gary, and you don't fucking do it! Zach, they're not doing it! You don't do it, dick! Do it! Post!

34:28Now how about one that no one's talking about? Quality versus quantity. Just quality is subjective. Quantity is not. You either post 93 times or you post zero times. But quality, that's like beauty. It's eye of beholder. It's true. It's fucking subjective. How do you define a lot? As many as humanly fucking possible. Now how about an underrated take that no one's talking about? How about that? Instead of doing, how about no one's talking about? Long form written content. I'm obsessed I don't think there's enough live shopping in long form guys no one's talking about live shopping it's like me this kid in Austin, Texas like no one's talking about it and it's massive G, why do you never quit and why are you constantly bettering yourself?

35:17what the fuck else would I be doing? cause what? the alternative of like being a fucking quitter and doing worse is like like what? like why?

35:33What are we doing? Do you understand that it is insane to be a human being? Do you know how lucky we all are?

35:44Like, do you know how many people are born a warthog? Like, just, you're born a warthog, not a human. Like, you know how many people are born a cow? and now you eat some grass and you're a fucking burger the following week. It's real, like I'm sorry, like ha ha, or weird, or animal rights, or I don't get, it's just, I'm talking real life. Yeah. You were born the ultimate species. You have a life. The world is actually more opportunistic than ever, not worse. It is better for people than ever. Of course there's genocide and bad stuff. There always is, but net, net, it's better. Health. Like we used to die from the flu.

36:30Humans, the ultimate race, you could have been born in 1613

36:37and died of a fever. Women used to die like a shocking percentage of time giving birth.

36:47People got married at 18 because they died at 39. Things are phenomenal. What do you think about posting content as a realtor? Obsessed. What is your number one piece of advice for an entrepreneur? Self-awareness. When you actually know who you are instead of hoping who you are, you can game plan a lot better. When you're delusional, when you're insecure and trying to posture to others, when you're acting an entrepreneur versus being one, these are all very clear. That's just what I see all day in the ecosystem right now. people playing entrepreneur make pretend because they think it's cool. You know, it's like saying you're a rock star in the 70s because you had a fucking band.

37:34You know, like putting entrepreneur in your Instagram profile doesn't mean you are one. Favorite garage sale find? God, there's so many, but my favorite garage sale find was I was driving to a wine meeting and I was like five minutes early and right before I was pulling up to the restaurant in Jersey, there was a sign to the road right before it estate sale because it was a Friday. For all the gangsters that know in here you know that Friday estate sale early morning can be real proper. So I walk in and thank you Tom you're my hero back. I walk in and I go downstairs and I see fucking boxes and I mean boxes.

38:17Boxes and boxes of playbills which are the programs you get when you go to Broadway. way I started looking through them they're all from like the 1930s and 40s like Betty White Judy Garland Mark like just oh like like Betty Davis like like just old school they're a dollar a piece there must have been I remember actually like six or seven thousand they were a dollar a piece I go how much do you want for all of it this by the way here's my favorite thing in estate sales in garage sales. A dollar a piece, there's a thousand of them. You ask them how much they want for all of it, they're like, 50 bucks.

38:55It never makes any sense. It never fucking makes sense. There's literally 6 ,000. They want a dollar a piece. I'm like, how much do you want for all of it? They're like, 300. Rips, what was my counter to 300? 40. 20. Ah, so close. Literally, they go, 300. I go, I'll give you 20. They're like, 20 bucks, but the shock of the counter when they came back they wanted 100 and that was it. Here's the best part of this story. I get it. I'm so excited. I wanted to be cordial because I was tasting wine to buy. I walk in. It was somebody I knew very well. I'm like, hey, I kind of have to go. I have an emergency.

39:41I'm like, let me taste them real quick. What was supposed to be like an hour and a half lunch negotiations buying strategy ended up being like 10 minutes. I'm a good dude so I just bought a ton of wine because I knew I could sell it and I knew the wines. I jumped back in my car and drove directly to my parents' house because AJ was still in high school and waited for AJ to get out of high school. AJ comes home and I'm like, yo, he's like, what are you doing here? I'm like, look! And I had fucking six, and we sat down in front of his desktop computer, no laptop, no phone, dial up internet, and fucking looked up every playbill from like 2.30 to like one in the morning.

40:23Literally listed five playbills that night and a week later had sold the first five playbills for$131, money back. How did the rest shape up? Oh, we made trillions. Trillions, I tell you! There was like a 1956 Brooklyn Dodgers program from a game. There was Pinocchio, the movie, 1941's first playbill. Like that went for like 150. There were some rare Judy Garland's that were rocking off for 60, 70 bucks a pop. Early like cats, first appearance. They're about to start the auctions. Gary, what's your guilty pleasure food? A Watcha McCallit bar. When's the last time you had those? Maybe four weeks ago at an airport.

41:10I have no idea what those are. Also Captain Crunch cereal. Oh, that's a good one. That's a good one. Milky Way's. Soft carbs. I'm obsessed with soft carbs. Like baked goods. Would you take a muffin or a cookie? Yes. And a donut and put a fucking croissant in there. Top it with some pasta and some bread that's proper. Give me soft carbs and I will gain weight. I love soft carbs. I love soft carbs. The pasta at Fly Fish Club is amazing. Yeah, it is. So if you're in New York or you're a semi-bougie, you should definitely check out Fly Fish Club. Yeah, but you can't get in because it's a private club without a membership, so go to Little Maven.

41:54Everybody, Little Maven NYC. Anybody who's been to Little Maven, please share it. Dude, do you want to still buy the Jets? Badly, drum. What do you do to move your body? Run, bike, strength train? Strength train quite a bit. I do a lot of walking with my wife. I do treadmill, I play basketball. You run? You don't like get out of the treadmill and just run? But we literally figured out why. I literally give up on nothing. You guys know me. I do not have mind muscle connection. I have a fully dead dormant left glute med. Which is why I've had QL issues my whole life. We finally diagnosed it, I've been in rehab for three months.

42:37the reason you're seeing me play different in basketball is because I can go to my left now. You mean it's not the beanie? It's not the beanie. I'm literally able to, I'm like, you haven't been there? These three have? Like, no bullshit, no like, let's make Gary feel good. I am moving a little bit different. There's still plenty of things to work, like I got a long way to go, but like, I am acting different, so I have to fix my glute meat, which is, yeah, friends of the, like, my QL releases, It's been huge for my, it's my adductor and my QL that have been overloaded because it's doing all the work for literally, and I mean this, I have a dead glute med.

43:17I'm like literally like just squeeze it. I couldn't do that. Like it's been game changing. Because my glute max was good and we were confused but we finally diagnosed it, me and Mike, and the last two months have been incredible. Supposedly I'm gonna naturally do all the right stuff in six to 12 months and my whole life, but I can already feel it about eight to 12 weeks in. So running was a struggle because I couldn't run because without a glute med, everything else is breaking down and I just couldn't do it. Interesting. Yeah. What do you do if you have bad teeth and lack confidence to post contact?

43:56This is crazy, but real talk. Like your bad teeth is probably your angle. It's all eight mile last seen. Make your weakness your strength. Like bro, a lot of people have bad teeth. Everybody in England has bad teeth.

44:13Like, I don't know, like, do you watch British content? Like, bad teeth is not a bad thing. In fact, I think it's like kind of, it's like Adrian Brody with his nose, right? Like, you can make your weakness your strength. Sydney Crawford was, I mean obviously she's gorgeous, but like she was still told her mole was like a weakness, because I don't know, sometimes I wish my eye popped out when I was a kid, and I was like, if I was one-eyed Gary right now, I wouldn't have 700 in here, I'd have had 7 ,000. One-eyed Gary V would be dominant. You went on the exact same tangent to this when someone who's worked with you had different color eyes.

44:51Oh my God. You're like, I would. Yeah, but I don't know. Like a t-shirt, two different color eyes. I just think that every weakness, every weakness is an opportunity for strength. Like it's just life is a mindset. There are people who don't have limbs because they served our country and I love them so much and literally like blew off limbs and are out here flexing with unlimited confidence and you have smoke shows like wildly attractive men and women who are deeply insecure even about their looks.

45:29I don't know what to tell you like you see it all the time like I don't know like man life is like I don't know so simple yet so hard for some and honestly one of the great passions of my life is to take these hours and time and as we're hanging out here everybody and good news if you're just stumbling here you have found the positive practical part of the internet like this is the place where good stuff's going on. We have good vibes here, but there's no over-coddling here. Like, there's no you can do it. No, you can't. Not unless you put in the work and get in the right mindset and do the reps and be disciplined.

46:06In fact, you can't do it. And you can do it. But none of this delusional shit. Like, the mommy and daddy shit of the last 30 years has fucked up a lot of kids, which is why we have 26-year-old children out here. Jasmine's Finds asks, Gary, how do I quadruple my 90K GMV from TikTok shop live selling in 2026? as an affiliate? More reps, more creativity. More reps, more creativity. How do you keep good staff members from leaving? Like retention? By feeding them on what they're hungry about. Give them a title advancement. Give them more money. Give them more time with their family. Give them more verbal recognition.

46:44Give them more autonomy. You've got to feed winners. How do you monetize on sub stack? You charge for your sub stack. there's a way to charge for a subscription to your content. Zero tats, brother. I've got no tattoos. I've saved my tattoo. When the Jets win a Super Bowl, I'm tattooing the Vince Lombardi trophy directly over my whole fucking chest. Like, don't. You should do a neck tat. No. The Lombardi on my fucking chest. A teardrop would be dope. That's after I kill you.

47:26How do you stop self-sabotaging when things get good? By going to therapy. Like self-sabotaging when things are good means that you don't value yourself and you don't think you deserve happiness and your shit's deep and I highly recommend therapy and or if you can't afford it, start consuming content that looks like this. You all are fucking phenomenal. Fuck the poisonous people in your life that have told you that you're shit. They're only saying that because they're shit. And I'm not even mad at them because somebody told them they're shit. And you need to cut out that shit rope and realize you're fucking capable.

48:15Love yourself, give yourself grace. Everybody on earth also has shortcomings and suck at many things and have many different things they wish they could fix and start getting lighter. The world's issues are, everybody is so fucking crazy. Do you know, when did everybody decide every world issue is their issue? It's a good question. It's a really good question. Like, why is every world issue, why is the Venezuela, US issue your issue? Just because it's on your radar now? Because there's a million things going on. like there's a million things going on in Africa and Congo and fucking in all parts of the world like Russia has got unlimited shit going on it's not just Ukraine like there's unlimited issues Luna Vag said tell that to my dad I'll tell your dad and I tell my dad this my dad has gotten older and gets more into this shit right and he goes the world's never been fucked up I'm like no dick you have too much time.

49:15You used to work every minute and you didn't know what the fuck was going on in the world and the world was fucked up. So, Luna Bang, tell your dad to get a job. Like, that's the issue. Like, I've got a huge solution for everyone over 65 who's on tilt. Stop watching CNN and Fox and un-retire and get your fat ass back to work. Work, work, work, work, work. That's the solve. You want to be less upset? You wanna be not anxious? Like, you know why old people are shook? They have too much time and they watch dumb shit. Everything's worse. It's not worse. You used to fucking work. Now you sit around and eat toast at 11.30 and listen to some psycho on CNN, MSNBC, or Fox News scare you.

50:05Get back to work and stop golfing and watching cable television. I just solved the boomer issue globally. Done. Boomers, I can save all of you one shot. Get back to fucking work. That's so awesome. It's so real. Solved. Super real. The world didn't get worse. You used to work. Now you watch CNN at 11.30 in the morning. Rips, the world is not worse. You used to be in a meeting being productive at 3.30 on a Tuesday p.m. Now you're sitting in your fucking den in your fucking underpants you haven't done shit yet you're 71 and you turn on Fox News and they scared the fuck out of you I'm scared what are you scared of what are your thoughts on retirement I know you've talked about it it turns you into a fucking loser don't retire go fucking go volunteer just don't sit in the living room and watch cable television

51:13by the way now young people are old people you know why you're all scared you're laying in your bed in your feed and some psychos telling you to be mad at someone i want everyone to just just listen to me i want you to think from this fucking lens when you're laying there and brain rotting tonight and you're just scrolling ask yourself is this person telling me to hate someone From now on. Is this piece of content this person telling me why someone else is bad? That's it. That's the question. Do you ever doom scroll? No. Never. No.

51:59I'll tell you why I don't doom scroll. I'll tell you why. I always believe anything Gary says. Because when I'm scrolling, even when I'm doom scrolling, it's not doom scrolling, I'm asking myself, why is this in my feed? Like I'm analyzing at all times. Do you know I'm analyzing all of you right now while I'm doing this? Hmm. Yes. That's it, but it's a, notice how natural, that's the punchline here. I'm like talking to you guys, I'm looking at Too Awake pushing XRP, like I'm watching 900 things. My daddy told me when I was 14 and went to the liquor store to keep an eye on everyone because everyone's stealing and I was born and built to watch everything at all times.

52:40That's why I'm watching 13 things at once. I know that Jess is putting her hair back right out.

52:47Like for real though.

52:52Ask your questions. What do we got here? Do you think TikTok will be replaced or see a deeper evolution? I think everything inevitably has a tension and you know, lengths and, but you know, I think TikTok will evolve, it already has, look what it's doing with live shopping. And I think things will come along. All of Substack's attention, all of Kick and Twitch's, look at all the attention that Kick and Twitch get. That comes out of hours that people spent scrolling. Right, so things are always evolving, attention's always moving, that's why day trading attention will forever be the thing that captured my thesis.

53:31And I'll continue to evolve it. Like here I am hanging out on a Monday night at 9.41 p.m. with 700 plus people on TikTok. What animal would you be? I think I would be a ant. People said they liked your inspiration, live selling, the teeth, actually got some stuff. Life is better than the 1600s. Life's better than 1975. I always tell my female entrepreneurs and my female good friends, I'm like, in 1960, laws in America are fucking insane of how anti-women they are. Like, husbands could do heinous shit to their wives and, like, literally have no repercussions. In 1965. In 1970. Stuff just, you know, things, you know, like, I don't know.

54:20Uncle Jimmy says calling out boomers was their favorite. Yeah, the boomers thing makes me laugh. Like boomers have all sorts of things to say about Gen Z. And of course, I'm doing now what I hate, which is like not all boomers, not all Gen Z. But fuck man, sitting, if it's 2.13 in the afternoon on a Wednesday and you're watching CNN and Fox News, I can tell you right now from the bottom of my heart, you're not happy. You are not happy. You are anxious. If it is Wednesday and it is 3.16 p.m. and you are sitting and watching CNN, MSNBC, or Fox, I guarantee you're anxious. What does Gary think about crypto?

55:05In the macro? Obsessed. In the micro, 99 % of NFTs and cryptocurrency and mean coins will go to zero, but the best ones will go to a very special place, whether it's Bitcoin or CryptoPunks. If you had to predict, what's your timeline when crypto starts to get that noise again? like it kind of had years ago. When was years ago? I mean. Like COVID, like COVID when it was like really present. I would say it's more present now, more accepted now than it was during COVID. You have the biggest banks in the world and the biggest financial institution. You have the Genius Act passed by US Congress. Now we have clarity a little bit on stable coins.

55:44You have other laws that are trying to be passed. You got more clarity from the SEC in the US. You have very much more markets. You have Binance doing well outside the US because they had their muckery here. But like there's a lot going on. It's very strong. The problem is 99 % of stuff goes to zero when it's highly speculative. Like do you think gold and silver were the only things that people tried to claim were expensive materials? People sold, you know, tulips. Tulips were rare. Beanie Babies. Salt. Salt. Like, you know, so there's, you know, this is just normal human behavior. Ricky Ball asks, how do you determine who to be an affiliate with when starting a TikTok shop?

56:24Products that you believe in, you know, you like, or you think you can make nice videos for. What if you already make content? Finding things that are in your home? You could, but I think a lot of people have breathing room to do more than what they normally make. So if you're just making music content, but you see like a men's grooming item that you like, but you don't normally make men's grooming content, you can make that, right? So you make music content only, but you see a men's grooming item with a big affiliate vig and you're like, crap, I even used stuff. Or I used it once, but it was a little expensive for me and I used something worse, but I like that.

56:59Make sense? Yeah, yeah. How's it like to work for Gary Vee reps? Be honest. It's an honor. No, no, come on. I love it. I love working for you. No, no, but something interesting for the audience, something of value. Like, get off my dick. Yeah. No, but I'm joking, but something of value. He's not too low to do anything. I think that's it. That's a real compliment. 8 a.m. walking to the National. I'm so happy I'm there early. And Gary's there. And he's doing price tags. He'll unpack the stuff from the warehouse. Not too low to do anything. I like that. Zachary? What's a good observation there? Something that's harder to know.

57:46Something that's harder to know. Yeah. something that is something that even DailyVee which has not really been going for a while I think something that people don't know as much or that's a podcast I actually meant to clip it for you okay you're a really good dad huh that means a lot to me yeah I've watched that a lot because as I've aspired in my career like as busy as you are I'm like okay if I want to do something like that how are you still a good parent how are you still a good husband I pay attention to you at that a lot wow I did not see that coming up thank you bro Yeah, of course. Court?

58:21I would say something that you haven't talked about a lot of telling content would be forgiveness. That you show for, you not only like, you actually avoid like talking, like explaining what forgiveness is, but you do it through action and I think that's amazing. Corso? You pay attention to everything and you always have like a, almost like an all C and I. Like you have a lay of the land even when you're not there. That caught you off guard? Yeah. Right, like how does he know that? Yeah. I agree. That's something I'm really proud of. Like I think people are very taken aback by how much I know when there's like really no good rationale to why I would know.

59:04Who's the hot guy besides Gary? This is Zachary Owings. 212-931-4733.

59:13I love that. How do you make decisions when logic and intuition conflict? I pick intuition. How about that? I like that. If my intuition speaks, my brain shuts the fuck up. It's the advice you gave me at the first national in Chicago three years ago. What was that? We were talking about a human being and you said, if you feel that way, always trust your gut. And literally every time I feel it, I think about it going forward. That's good. Can you give an example on when you chose your intuition over logic? I gotta really think about that. You know what's so funny, Court? It's so ingrained into my brain and to my soul how I make decisions.

1:00:01I mean, when I hired Zach, it was off a cold DM or LinkedIn message. I didn't have a job for him. Like, I hired someone without a role. Well, you saw how good looking I was. and he's like, we just gotta figure it out. Yeah, that's exactly right. But, you know, like, I mean, that is like as good as it gets. Literally hired this man with, like, no job. That's very logical when you run a business. Like, there's no job available. You're hired. That's pretty fucking, like, ridiculous. Do you regret it? No, of course not. I think you're fantastic. someone in here said, what's his job? I'm like, I'm not.

1:00:48I do a lot of things. I don't even know what he does. Assistant firefighter with Gary and co. There you go. Keep asking questions. Jamie will ask, is money the only way to go if I'm good? Like my idea is just an idea to wait a second. Gary, an extra hour in every day. How are you spending it? You have to choose spending it doing one thing. Sleep. Is money the only way to know if I'm good? Of course not. It depends on how you define good. I don't think how much money I make has anything to do with how good I am. I fully judge how good I am based on how people talk about me behind my back. That is not how much money I make.

1:01:24But by the way, other people think it's money or followers or how many people they've hooked up with. I don't know how much land they own or how much money they've given the charity. Everyone's allowed to decide what winning is.

1:02:07Have you ever been starstruck? by my admiration for people. I brought this up a lot. When I go to the airport at a 6 a.m. flight, which means I have to leave my apartment at 4.30 in the morning, and I'm driving and I'm awake and I look out the window and I see like a 61-year-old woman come out of the fucking subway in New York and it's fucking raining on January 9th, you know, and she's got like three bags. I'm starstruck and admire and I'm like, wow, I respect you, lady, way more than seeing like Timothy Chalamet, you know what I mean? Or like LeBron or it's just, you know, that's it. I do not look up to fame.

1:02:56I look up to the silent ones who are doing things for their family that would break most people. that's that's really in me like that's really fucking in me that's what I'm about that's who I admire that's who I aspire to be I'm way more proud of the shit I do when you guys aren't watching I remember you told me something one time when we were talking at Flatfish Club and you said I might butcher it a little bit but I remember you looked at me like damn I wish I was vlogging when you said it to me because I was like when did you think like when you had like enough money and you were like I've never thought about money you were like I knew I would always have money, but I knew I never needed it.

1:03:40And that was a real thing. As somebody who's like, you know, like me, haven't had millions of dollars, but if you have it in your gut, you're like, I don't need it, then you're always good because you know eventually it'll happen. But people will press for it. Yeah, there's something even scarier about me, which is I don't need anything. What's one thing you need? Nothing. it's probably my greatest weakness deep down as well like my family hates when I say this but it's true like I don't like we're getting a little bit deep here right now like this is why I'm so why I'm fucking dangerous like I don't know what else to tell you I'm fucking like I don't need it I love people the most in a way that's like me and Mona were talking about this last night she's like the way you love a weird stranger is like more love than some people love their family.

1:04:36I've just got an incredible love for people and yet I need none of them. I don't know, man. Like it feels like very like, you know, like I can feel my like smirk that comes on right now. Like I am in such a place of like, you have no idea how much you can't beat me. It would fucking, it would fuck with you heavy. I need nothing. I don't need shelter. I'm being dead fucking serious, y 'all. I don't need it. Like, I'll sleep on a fucking tree. I don't fucking know. Like, who cares? Like, okay, I don't want it to be rainy and cold, but like, I don't know. I don't know. I'm in a very weird, like, I'm in a, I'm in a very weird place that like feels super uncomfortably unstoppable.

1:05:25How important is humility when building a business? I think humility is the superpower. That's the other thing. Not only do I need nothing, I also think I'm nothing. Which is just insane because I also think I'm the best. You know? You're the best. Yeah, but like, I just don't think I'm someone. When everyone's like, oh, you're so approachable, you're so locked in, you're so nice, I'm like, yeah, because I don't think I'm someone. One of your very top performing posts is a video of you saying you are somebody now. Yeah. I thought I was somebody before anybody else did. So, like, yeah, yeah, yeah.

1:06:07Like, I have self-love, but I don't think I require the need for people to put me on a pedestal. And I don't require anyone's validation, thus rendering me content with being no one. It's interesting. Best way to scale a business Slowly Yes, go ahead team I opened my own beauty and wellness studio Need to be seen locally Any advice? Facebook, Facebook, Facebook ads I cannot, I cannot, cannot push it harder Least favorite excuse for failure It was someone else's fault I hate it I hate blaming so much What's one thing that new creators should stop doing immediately? Thinking that they can hack the algorithm Like thinking about content from a, I can trick the algorithm.

1:06:58Wow, these are sick. These are sick. These might be my favorite. What? These are diamond? Yeah. Holy crap, these are nice. Right? These are sick. These are sick. Look at the resilient red devil. That's gonna sell for like$2 ,000. It's so crazy. So hacking the algorithm court is a big one. All right, let's keep going. What superhero would you be? Batman. Why? You like Gotham City? I like coming out at night. Art Populip says, nobody watches my painting live streams. I know my art is great, but I have no audience. Can't sell. Any advice? Well, first, humility. Like, for me, when things aren't working, I'm like, I'm not good at this.

1:07:44Maybe your art's not great. Now, you believe in you're great, but maybe it's not great right now. Maybe you're not great at selling your art. you know trying different things trying different things trying different things always trying different things I could not push that more. What is one goal you have for 2026? To deliver on my thesis for 2026 which is I want to be dramatically more intentional and I want to judge all of you my employees and myself on impact. Like what was the impact that we made? Right? Everybody, if you know how to screenshot, there it is. Screenshot. Everybody, screenshot.

1:08:25Screenshoot. Screenshoot your screen. Screenshoot your screen if you know how. Screenshoot. If you know how. Screenshoot. Little screenshot. Boom, boom, boom. Make sure you do that. Make sure you text me the word VFriends to learn all about this. We'll keep you up to date. How do you judge impact? You know, it depends on what you're trying to accomplish. so if I was trying to lose weight, I would judge impact based on my scale. I'm up to 70 pound benches. 70s. I've got the 70s up. Fucking 40s were intimidating. I'm doing 60s as a warm up set. Me and Mike were laughing this Saturday. I'm just in it.

1:09:06I'm like, holy crap, that's impact. If I'm trying to build a business, how many am I selling? If I'm trying to build an audience, how many people are watching right now? I had better impact. I stepped away for a second, less impact, lost some followers, gotta build it back up. Everybody hit the share button in the bottom right corner. And drop some likes, drop some comments, we're answering questions. Impact can be judged very differently. For example, Fly Fish Club, right? One of the big KPIs in my year is to sell a lot more memberships. How do I measure it? How many people bought a membership?

1:09:36Some stuff is black and white. When should someone niche down and when should someone stay broad? They should do both at all times. I think you should niche and broad at all times. I think a lot of you should do both. Go niche, go broad. Go niche, go broad. Go niche, go broad. Also understand that there's so many other platforms. One of the biggest mistakes that everyone's making in social media is they're too one-dimensional on how many platforms they're on. All of you have just literally picked Facebook, excuse me, all of you have just picked Instagram and TikTok and call it a day. Not enough platform diversification.

1:10:18This is yours, G. You're a diamond cat. That's nice. That's nice. What's the most underrated platform right now? Snapchat, Spotlight, LinkedIn, Substack, TikTok Live. If you were stranded on an island, what is the one tool you would hope to have with you? It doesn't have to be a physical tool. He needs nothing. An iPhone. I can cook with that. Like, I don't need a hammer. I'll find a rock. You give me an iPhone, I'm cooking. Now, if the iPhone doesn't work because there's no service, that's a good one. Now, that's a better question. What would I bring? That's a great question. Maybe like a blender.

1:11:02I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. Someone said matches. Like, I know how to start a fire. I thought about a knife, but I'm like, I know what to do with the rock. And like, I don't know. Well, a boat is just obviously a really smart answer. Honestly, for someone like me, if I get stuck on an island, I just want to fucking be on an island. I work too much anyway. Just chill, eat some snakes, and call it a fucking day. Who's someone you want to get closer to in 2026? Rips. I feel like we have an emotional wall between us that we need to close the gap on. Actually, I know you. I was going to say, who's someone who you wish you got to do better?

1:11:42Macho man Randy Savage. I was gonna go Kobe on that. Yeah, the Kobe story is very weird for me. I have a very weird Kobe story. Are you allowed to tell it? I've never really told it publicly. I'll keep it to myself. But let's put it this way. It changed the way I interacted in life. I misplayed an opportunity to really spend some time with him. Just because you take for granted and you think you have more time. The way I wanted it to go down. It was a huge mistake. How do you scale an online nail polish business with profit margins of 80 to 90 percent? Affiliate marketing, social media content, live shopping, content marketing.

1:12:24It's all the same shit. So, Rana asks, has Gary always felt secure loving people unselfishly without fear of rejection, and abandonment, et cetera? Yes, because I don't know what rejection or abandonment would be. I will say I went through a very long period of time where I definitely did not hit on girls or try to hook up or ask girls out out of fear of rejection. So I definitely went through from like a love life standpoint, there was a fear of girls and like fear of rejection and insecurity about like being turned down. I think I went through that in a real way well into my early college years, but loving people, being made fun of or being rejected in a different way always felt comfortable to me and I still feel comfortable with that.

1:13:13Do you believe in meta ads still for a jewelry brand? Very much. The content is the variable, not the ads on meta. The content is the conversion, the CAC, the ROAS. It's the content. What sector is the most slept on right now? collectibles I'm obsessed I think it has just begun and again it's the macro it's like it's so funny that people treat collectibles in a way they treat other things different let me give you an example I say collectibles people are like eh it's a fad but I say real estate and they're like yeah but like real estate there's good locations and there are bad locations like collectibles I don't know about comics versus cards versus pens versus contemporary art versus video games versus La Boo Boo's, but collectibles.

1:14:09No one says anything when you say real estate. Meanwhile, there's a ton of places right now that people are making massively huge mistakes on real estate. Miami was hot. Now Miami's a little bit tricky. It's called fucking supply and demand, people. but as an overall genre I think collectibles is cooking and about to grow dramatically from the base it's at right now

1:14:36the market's flooded the market's flooded overall in the macro the market will but in pockets like one piece is crushing how to battle fear leaving career after two decades to start a business? By realizing you have no choice. What are you gonna dwell for the rest of your life? Life is about options and reality. Faceless content is good for selling, Mel. Face content is better. DJT, what type of collectibles? Lots of different kinds. There's pockets, but I really like video games. I like vintage toys. I'm obsessed with vintage fictional characters like this Tom is this the rookie? Yeah. Like this Tom and Jerry rookie card like nobody's thinking about Tom and Jerry's rookie card.

1:15:31That's cool. Just supply and demand and see your reaction was oh that's cool and what Rips and I know is the population of this is hundreds not tens of thousands and so if it gets really cool all of a sudden this goes from 100 bucks to a thousand bucks. Supply and demand. What year is that? I should know without looking I'm gonna go 71 73 71 nice job Rose Rose said you inspired me to start my sub stack let's go Rose good luck oh this this is the question because someone asked about disc golf let's go there what do you think about disc golf and then I and then I have my other question on top of it my friend DJ's taking the other half obviously my AJ's really good friend and Sam Doyle, who worked at Wine Library for a long time, is really good at disc golf.

1:16:23So I've heard a lot about disc golf. I've never really played. I think it's kinda rad. I like watching it when I occasionally stumble on it. I'm fairly decent with a Frisbee. Like, comes natural to me. I can fuck with disc golf. So the reason why that sprung the thought in my head is you obviously have pickleball. Slam ball. Slam ball. You have the football ball. Unrivaled. So what do you think about these non-pro sports? Why are you interested in that? Obviously there's NFL, NBA, MLB, which is like the big dogs, but why these non-traditional major professional sports? Because every sport that you just mentioned used to be a non-traditional sport.

1:17:13Super Bowl I did not sell out. Nobody cared. Super Bowl I attendance at the game did not sell out. The 1982 NBA Finals had a game that was on tape delay. They aired golf instead of Sixers, Lakers, NBA Finals. That's nuts. Like UFC was like some weird human cock fighting taboo thing when I was in high school. 30 ,000 empty seats at Super Bowl I. That's crazy. Six to$12 tickets. That's crazy.

1:17:55Chad, who knows who won Super Bowl I, Chad? Who I know. Give Chad a second. Wait, hold on. I know. Okay. Packers. Who won Super Bowl II? Packers. Three? Steelers, maybe? Jets, dickface. Four? Chiefs. Then they were just irrelevant after that. Out of those non-traditional ones that you're invested in and own, which one do you think has the best chance to become the thing? If you're allowed to say. Yeah, it's tough because it's like, which one of your children is going to be the most successful? but I would say I think pickleball is pretty locked in. I like that. The pickleball league has got a lot of reasons I don't know what that is has a lot of reasons why it's locked in.

1:18:46TV rights coming like pickleball is going to be a thing. The pickleball league is off to a very good start. It's got all the indications to what makes a real league. Dylan what we're doing here is Gary is signing a new VFriends product coming out in February. VFriend Spectacular Super Stickers Series. You can actually go online right now and pre-sell it if you want. If not, but that's what Gary's signing. They're only$99 a box and they are a rip, boy. And they are very nice to look at right now. So that's what Gary's signing. 3 ,000 plus super stickers is what's going on and we're here to answer business questions.

1:19:22Yeah, but 3 ,000 only for quality control. There won't be that many. Quality control, correct. We do have longer packs in the show. Nice, yeah, pin them. Yeah, and then Court just pinned some manga packs. But ask your business questions. Ask life questions. I'm picking them out to ask Gary as he's signing. Everybody, thank you so much for hanging with us tonight. Brian Trayman, he recently over at Black Friday, he included trading cards in his Joyride candy, like an exclusive box. How do you see CPG brands or companies using collectability in 2026? Yeah, I think it's a big movement. we're very behind it at Vayner, at Vee Friends.

1:20:00I think in your cupcakes and your cereal and your soda, just like in the 60s and 70s, I think it's back. Collectibles inside of boxes is something I'm incredibly bullish on.

1:20:13Was there a book you read as a child that inspired you? Nothing. Not like a fucking cat in a hat? Zach, I literally read like four books in my life. What were the four books? The first one I read was the Joe Namath story. In my life, I'm dead fucking serious. What are the other three? I don't fucking know. What to do as a musician on social media? Put out music. Who's someone who's been in this office that 16-year-old Gary would have been like, huh? Joe Namath. Nice. For sure. When was that? Joe Namath was on a podcast here. You guys have to go to my podcast where I have Joe Namath on. my opening question to him is such an esoteric question this is Joe Namath I'm a Jets fan he's on the podcast I go Joe we gotta start the show with the proper question in the AFC championship game in 1969 70 season the year after we won the Super Bowl we lost in the game to go to the Super Bowl to the Kansas City Chiefs at home you threw four picks maybe three I'm trying to remember now why?

1:21:20and how come that happened? it's a really funny moment what did he say? He talks about how good the pick corners, Hall of Fame cornerbacks that the Chiefs had and how they played them. It was really funny. He was awesome about it. I had to go there. It was a really funny thing. How did the podcast come together? How did it develop? I imagine you were geeking about it. Just like everything in my life, it's in my inbox. You see how it is. Jermaine Dupri sitting me up like, yo, can you help me with Substack? I don't know, every day it's weird in our life. That's our life. What's your favorite podcast of all time?

1:21:54whether you had somebody on or went on a podcast. What's your favorite one? I think one of my favorites is when I did Rogan and they kind of buried the episode because me and Joe debated like six things and I think I went six and oh. Like literally that episode of me is kind of like weirdly buried on Rogan and I'm telling you it's because me and Joe had like four or five, like Joe said there's no way McGregor and Mayweather are fighting and I said I'm 100 % sure. And there's like, right, you know this? There's like four to five other things. I think that's one of my favorite little like fun facts in the game.

1:22:29Like if you watch that episode, like it's not really debatable. Like what the outcome was from the debates him and I had. And miraculously, it's like pretty hard to find. I love that. I'm obsessed. That's where like on me, like I pin that to the top. I love losing. You guys know this. In pickup when I lose, like I get mad, but I also get weirdly excited. Yes, Court? In a meeting we had recently, you told a story about the 86 Jets round game where you got grounded for crying. And my mom told me, I'll give you something to really cry about. And now that she's a big sports fan and she understands, she feels horrible.

1:23:11Honestly, I don't want to talk about that, Court. Okay, never mind. What do you do to rest? I sleep a lot. I think I sleep a lot more than people realize. I'm a big fan of sleep. Like I'm obsessed with sleep. Outside of sleep, like what else? You ever just like meditate? I watch a chance. No. I live. Of course I'll use a new marker. I'm resting when I live. I'm resting right now. I'm in my zone. Like I feel like if this was like one of those like you know watch animals in the wild, they're like the human entrepreneur is in his normal state. It may seem to all of you watching right now that he is working.

1:23:51But the rare breed of purebred entrepreneur is actually in its element of meditation in its work.

1:24:00In a year, how many naps do you take? Zero. You've never like just one nap. The concept of sleeping in the middle of the day is something I have not wrapped my head around. My level of judgment for everyone who takes naps is like what? But I mean, maybe when I, I guess maybe if I've been really ill, I got really sick, which was weird for me, like five or six years ago. I guess I slept in the middle, even when I'm sick, I'm like, you stay awake in the middle of the day and then you sleep at night. Like naps make me wait till you get older. Yeah, it's very, I mean, it's very possible, but like, yeah, I don't fucking.

1:24:40Any tips for marketing a candle business? Content.

1:24:48I've said like 10 times. I'm very big on content. Wine industry outlook. I think the wine industry is challenged. I think cannabis, gummies, health trends, kids not drinking alcohol, the wine industry being very convoluted, bad at current marketing. I think the wine industry as a whole is in a weird spot, but there'll be breakout winners but as a net hole, too much supply, not enough demand, pretentiousness. They chased people like me out. Like the wine industry literally chased me out.

1:25:26Like, so I think not so great in the macro. I think there'll be steady declines. What year, Jethro Neil? That's a great question. Probably either foie gras, escargot, White Castle burgers. What do you think about collecting tickets? I'm personally not into it. I do have a Super Bowl III Jets ticket, but I think it's a great market and a lot of people are into it. If you have 50K in student loans, but you have 50K, would you pay off the student loans or would you invest in yourself? Depends on the interest. I'd probably do something in between. How much will AI influence buying decisions? Substantially.

1:26:18People are going to use it. How much has search engines affected buying decision? How much has social media content affected buying decisions? This is more powerful of good information than either.

1:26:34Does Gary knit? No. Do you use an umbrella? no I actually don't I actually am very passionate about this I think if you use an umbrella you're a puss I agree I've been in Seattle for four years you talked about liking the rain more where are you at on that I'm getting better you're getting better how do you go about it getting better like when it rains out you just like make sure you go outside I just decide he likes the rain and he doesn't use an umbrella I've never used an umbrella I also don't believe in coats it's like coats with jackets yeah I don't either. I just don't wear them. It was really cold this last week, as you guys know.

1:27:13Me and Mona took 40 minute walks. Everyone's in a jacket. I'm like, what's good? I don't believe in coats. If you wear a coat when it's negative, below 20 degrees, you're a puss. Will you eat pepperoni on pizza? I don't prefer it. I don't like pepperoni pizza that much. I think it's boring. I prefer plain over pepperoni. and if I have I'm usually a mushrooms guy I like mushrooms I like sausage I like peppers I like onions but pepperoni I just think is boring I don't journal and pineapple you're a psycho I don't mind some pineapple every once in a while maybe maybe a little bit psycho Sid best and worst advice you've ever gotten worst advice I ever got someone told me when I was running the wine store in liquor stores there's selection service and price Gary you're a smart kid but you've got to pick two you can't do all three and I shook my head because I was 22 and the guy was a big dog and I in my head said this guy's a fucking idiot and I walked out and over the next 10 years I executed being the dominant player and having all three

1:28:33best advice I got from my dad. Nothing's more important than your word.

1:28:42Your content reminded me how great I can be when I was at the brink of depression. Thank you. So Sage. Thank you so much, Sage. You are beyond welcome. All of you being affected in a positive way with no return for me other than you being affected in a positive way is the way I most enjoy living my life. How do you see improv as a tool? I think I use it every day. I'm obsessed with improv. I find people that are improv actors or skill sets are some of the most interesting, successful. I'm such a big fan of improv. I could not explain how big of a fan of improv I am. I look forward to hosting SNL.

1:29:26What advice do you have to a sports writer? To get a sub stack. Any tips on how to capitalize on a documentary? that's about to air about me and my miniature horse farm. To make as much social media content while you do that as possible. We just pulled out a head for us. That timing was wild. For the people asking what Gary's doing, he is not coloring. He is signing autographs. He could be doodling. Of stickers, the kind of stickers that used to come in the 1980s vending machine, VFriends is my Pokemon, my Marvel, my Harry Potter, my Star Wars world. We have a big release coming out in February.

1:30:04that I highly recommend all of you get educated on. Go to chat GPT and type in what is VFriends. Actually type in what are VFriends stickers. They'll explain, give you links. You should definitely learn. How many of you right now literally just typed into chat GPT what are VFriends stickers? Let me know if you did and let me know if the results were good. I'm curious.

1:30:30How should I start a craft part of the business? Craft party? Oh yeah, make content.

1:30:40I'm just like, I think I'm over it. I'm old now, I'm gonna go home and watch CNN. I'm just tired of explaining this anymore. It's social media content, it's free, it brings awareness. Get awareness, have something to sell. Get awareness, have something to sell. If you were born in the US, what's the percentage chance that you would try to be the president? 70. Wow. 70%. I believe if I was born, I believe knowing myself, I know, maybe more. I literally think if I was born in this country, I would run for president. What's the next evolution of social media that you see? We have Instagram, TikTok, Facebook.

1:31:17What is like the next thing that like doesn't exist today that you think will be the thing of like content? AR. All of us wearing glasses, content all around us that doesn't exist, but is this in the lenses? That's gonna be massive in 10 years. Massive. Ten years. Ten years. What's the best advice you could give five to six year olds to be as a kindergarten teacher? My big thing is to tell like really extraordinarily strongly explaining to them how to get five and six year olds to love each other by loving themselves and by being accountable. And teaching accountability young I think is a big deal.

1:31:55TT says any advice for someone that's in the gaming industry for 30 years and is now job hunting? Content on LinkedIn, reaching out to people on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is an absolute heaven to anyone looking for a job or that's out of a job or currently in a job that doesn't love their job. What are your thoughts on meme coins? I didn't go deep on them. I felt like they had a lot of the elements of the 99 % of NFTs that went to zero. I thought meme coins were basically another version of NFTs that had no long-term potential. I'm sure, just like NFTs, just like BeFriends and others, there'll be a couple of diamonds in the rough.

1:32:37I'm sure there's some in meme coin land long-term, but I don't know which ones those are. Have you spent much time in the prediction markets? Poly market, all that? Yeah, like all that. No. I mean, I know a lot about them. I'm very fascinated by it. Are you bullish on it? I'm a little worried about the gambling problem in the world. Yeah, that's for sure. I'm incredibly worried about that. I think we have a gambling issue right now. I think a lot of people, 15 to 30, are in a really bad spot with gambling. And you see it show up in trading cards and NFTs and obviously in betting apps. And now these prediction markets, they're not prediction markets, they're gambling on anything markets, normally with insider information.

1:33:23What, somebody miraculously bet all that money on the Venezuelan? But like, there's a lot of muckery, but I have hopes that they'll get into rules and understanding, and I think it's incredible for information. Like, the poly markets of the world will tell you what's gonna happen better than anything else. So I love it for information and consumer insights and things of that nature, but I personally, in general, worry about gambling culture, including collectibles, like buying collectibles on speculation especially when you want a short term outcome I think is a bad idea. Like what I want, for everybody who's watching right now, the reason I want them to get into VFriends is I want people that are collectors.

1:34:09In fact, how many of you of the 560 here are collectors? What do you collect? If you're a collector, say collector, colon, then what you collect? Sneakers, watches, handbags, magnets, Pokemon cards, VFriends, comics, Marvel comics, DC, toys, video games. Sports cards. Coins. Coins, NFTs. JPEGs. Yeah, let's go. WNBA cards. Garbage Pail Kids. Collector of pins. Teacups. How many people here are collectors and don't collect VFriends stickers yet? Say not yet. Magnets and cross necklaces. Interesting. What's your thoughts on posting content on Vs? I'm very intrigued by it. I'm not doing enough of it right now and base is making a lot of changes but base which is Coinbase's social network that has like crypto tipping in it and other things of that nature has a lot of potential.

1:35:07I'm bullish. I'm interested in it. A lot of not yet. For the people that said not yet how many of you want to become VFriends sticker collectors? Say I want to. If you do we've got a sign for you. You've got to take a screenshot. Albert Kura bought his first pack of stickers the other day. Oh, the card slinger just picked up some stuff. Everybody, take a screenshot right now. Snap it. Snap your phone. Definitely. Snap your phone. If you want to, text me at this phone number. Text the word VFriends and I'll keep you updated. If you want to learn all about this, screenshot this and now text me. This is a text platform.

1:35:44And if you put the word VFriends in it, I put me in my VFriends chat and then I send you updates along the way. Elena says her kids are now collecting VFriends. Love that. Let's go. So how would you advise someone to reinvent themselves? By reinventing themselves.

1:36:03What would be step one? What would be step one to do that? Start saying new shit. Change your walk. Change everything. A haircut? Clothes? Sure. Yes, yes. You can literally change your name. Yep. What else? Change the people you hang out with. Change what you eat. Stop crying like a fucking bitch. How about that? The hard slayer keeps buying packs. I love this. By the way, that's just something I want everyone to understand. I'm gonna save, how many are here? 532 of you. I'm about to save 319 of you. Stop being a fucking bitch. That's it. Just help a lot of people. Like, the amount of people that blame other people for their unhappiness, like a bunch of bitches, blows my mind.

1:36:50Like, amen. is right, kitty. Everything that is going wrong for you right now is 100 % your fault. Who just got mad at me a little bit? Just say a little. Real talk, let's have a real talk, because I like all of you. Who got mad at me a little bit and just said, got mad a little? Who got mad a little? Jay Young, thank you for the honesty. A little. Little, sad I got it, a little. You know, like a little. I get it, just a little, just a little. I was a little, but I know it's come from the best place. Thank you, Carter. Like, they're conditioning you, you all. Like, it's not your fault, it's their fault.

1:37:32And whoever they are is just different, depending on the agenda. And they're tricking you, because you want to be tricked, because you're so sad and you don't want it to be your fault, you fucking loser. Would you rather buy TikTok boost or YouTube ads? for marketing. Both can be good. It depends on the content and how good the tagging is. Thank you, Colby. I'm giving all of you conviction because once you realize you can versus you can't, shit changes. Do you know how fucked up so many 23-year-olds are because they're like, I can never be more successful than my parents because a random TikTok said so.

1:38:13You're not going to be more successful than your parents. You're the first generation that's not gonna be successful as your parents. Meanwhile, there's 13-year-olds with fucking Lambos all over Twitch. The fuck's the matter with you? Maybe you won't be because you believe that fucking bullshit. I think everybody who's watching this and hangs out with me has a chance to be the most happy and the most successful. How about that? Because I'm gonna fucking suck all of the bullshit out of your soul and all your fucking puss-ass excuses and I'm gonna suffocate you and then we're gonna build back up with optimism and accountability.

1:38:51Someone said my dad called me a loser at eight years old. Your dad's a loser. Punch him in his fucking mouth. Can't be a loser at eight. It's real. Who the fuck's a loser at eight? We decided this morning on the show that you're not even a grown up until 25. The fuck is an eight year old a loser? But don't be mad at your dad. Like, you should feel bad. I feel bad for your dad. All the weird, crazy shit my dad did to me, I felt bad for him. I wasn't mad at him. Hurley asked, should a service-based business sell goods? It shouldn't, but it could. Do you believe the sports memorabilia market will continue to explode?

1:39:32Yep. I believe in collectibles dramatically, but do I believe that a Patrick Mahomes cleat could go up or down? I don't know. Do I believe a Tom Brady helmet, a Willie Mays, a Shohei Ohtani, it's again the macro I'm obsessed with the micro I don't know like I think this Tom and Jerry shit is about to go to the moon vintage fictional characters but meanwhile someone's like Rips knows this I like Stefan Castle as a prospect but he could tear his ACL next year and never be the same and lose his speed like a short thing will characters exceed sports collections like fictional characters exceed sports collections in trading cards I don't think so because cards are like real you know what I mean I don't think so but I think I think they will grow more I think vintage fictional Popeye the Sailor Man rookie you know Shrek you know Buzz Lightyear Barbie Wolverine Daredevil rookie 1966 1940 Superman like we've already seen it from when me and Rips got serious two years ago to today it's been like ugh Should a passion project have an expiration date?

1:40:42No. In fact, the reverse. A passion project should never have an expiration date. Projects that are made just for money should have an expiration date. It was the reverse, Corso. It was the reverse. Slugger Society says, a creative way to stand out in the baseball niche. Being yourself, making content, you are what stands out. I said it earlier. There's no standing out. There's no niche. There's no strategy. There's no your own lane. There's just you, the human being, that's unique. The way you say things, the way you do things, the way you execute things. There's no new ideas. It's 2026. It's not 1340 BC.

1:41:23Nobody's inventing shit. You're not that original. Stop fucking dwelling on things that don't matter and start executing. You don't need to come up with a new weightlifting technique. Just do the weightlifting technique. JG was giving you some flowers. He remembers when you were drawing the characters and now he's pumped to see how they look now. So that was a good little compliment. JG, thank you for that. What's the best card investment if you feel like sharing? I think things that don't have speculation. Even VFriends, God forbid, my health is the variable. If I have 15 to 25 years to cook, it's gonna get ugly in the best way.

1:42:01But to me, like, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, you know, Jerry West, Honus Wagner, Mickey Mantle, Kobe Bryant, and then I love fictional stuff. Superman, Spider-Man, Batman. Because don't forget, Tim Duncan is one of the great players of all time. No kid knows anything about that. Spider-Man makes a new movie next year and everyone's like, Spider-Man! So I love fictional a lot. Only on flights and during vacation. So you haven't seen Marty Supreme? I didn't see Marty Supreme. I did see the new Wicked with Mona, but that was because it was on, it's already on, like you could pay for it. I love the origin stories of like how the Tin Man and the Scarecrow became who they are and the lion.

1:42:47When's the last time you went to a movie theater? I went to see Creed. I didn't even go see Tron when my whole family went to see me. I don't know if you guys know this. I'm in the new Tron. I'm in the opening scene and have a speaking line. And I literally did not even go. Do you know how sick I am? Yeah. I'm a sicko. I literally am a normal human and was in a Disney feature film in the opening line. Like the opening scene in the movie and I had one of the first speaking scenes and I literally didn't go and see it. You should have rented out multiple movie theaters for that. Yeah, that's like, but again, if I like really fully acted in it, yes.

1:43:32But me being there for the first like three seconds banging out a line and then being done, Like what the fuck are we gonna do? And then the whole company walks out to protest. And that's what happens. Do you have any thoughts on the new Stranger Things? Or Stranger Things in general? I've not watched one second of Stranger Things. Which is crazy because I love that nostalgia era. I just haven't had a chance to watch it. Bitcoin or gold long term? Bitcoin. But I love gold. Gold's good. Both. VFriends on Netflix, it's inevitable. What's the master plan with VFriends? To build the next Disney. movies and pajamas and collectibles and have the impact of Sesame Street on kids and have the collectability of Pokemon on grownups.

1:44:20Museum parks. All of it. The whole feature. I want to win an Academy Award. I want to win a Grammy. All with VFriends. The Traveling Don says, I started posting content that's going better than I ever thought because of you. That's awesome traveling. I wish you nothing but the best. What's the hardest part about running the business? Nothing. Firing people by far. By far firing people. Someone said I'm your health. I don't know if that's the hardest part of your business. I don't compromise my health for my business. Health is the most important thing. Wife and I are getting ready to start our third business.

1:45:01Good luck. Should we sell on live shopping? Yes. Do you keep up with any current WWE shows? I watched Cena's last match, but I'm not really up to date right now. It can't really be his last match, right? No, I think it's his last match. Really? Yeah. What is the most overrated thing on social media right now?

1:45:27I don't know, that's a good question. I don't know, it's different for all of us. It's the thing that we're tired of that we once liked. that we just have gotten enough of. Who's an all-time overrated athlete? Paul Pierce. That came so easy. That's amazing. That was the easiest question I've ever been asked. That flowed so easy. That was amazing. I'm like, ah. Everyone's like, what's over? I'm like, ah. That question came and I was like, bang. The truth. Do you ever feel like you're spread too thin? No. even though I know I am. Authentic Stacey, tell him I said what's up. Best live shopping platforms, all of them really.

1:46:12Why do you convince those around you not to give up hope in your goals? By not convincing them. I can give a fuck about the people around me's opinions of my goals. Tell them to shut their fucking mouth and focus on their goals. Why are you trying to convince? Friends, convincing is the wasted energy of society. What would be a producer? Commencing is the wasted energy of society. Let's get into some real shit. I mind my own business. I deal with the realities of the thing. I don't cry about things I don't control. I adjust to the reality of the situation. I try to be as good to my moral compass as I possibly can.

1:46:52I keep it smooth around here. J.D.O. says, my family hates that I do TikTok shop. Okay, and? What, do you want a cookie? I'm like, cool. Stop talking to him for a little bit. I don't know. Meaning like, you know, of course sports daddy, of course I can have an opinion. I just don't like having opinions of things that I haven't done real homework on. People got real opinions about things they don't know. I like, I don't know, like I understand the historical nature of tariffs. I know what we did in the 30s, right? I understand the thesis. I understand what inflation means. You know, how do we redistribute it?

1:47:27Like I have opinions, but I know most of those opinions are grounded in very little information, serendipitous and osmosis data points and context. I read a lot and do stuff, but like reading is not always like there, you know, and so I don't know. I have the humility around my opinions enough to not share them. I don't like to share my opinions when they're not thought through. What have you changed your mind on recently? That's a good question. I've changed my mind of consuming coffee with dairy. You mean it's like you'll do it with dairy or no dairy? No dairy anymore. I'm done with dairy in my coffee.

1:48:09I drink coffee black now or tea. I've changed my mind. No more dairy V. No more dairy V. Cam Ron asks, where do you get the products for live shopping? Anywhere. In Philly, you don't even need them sometimes, right? Absolutely anywhere. wholesalers, dollar stores,

1:48:33Facebook marketplace, social media, reselling sites. What are you the most bullish on this year? Live shopping. When your producer tagged the same as. Gary V!

1:48:54That was so good. That made me laugh. I started by eBay because of you. That makes me so happy. I'm so scared to start posting on my new fashion clothing. I feel like no one will buy any of this. Well, they definitely won't buy if you don't post. So let's play this out, Christina. You're scared to post that no one will buy, but if you don't post, there's absolutely no chance anyone's gonna buy. So let's think about that. I'm scared that no one's gonna buy if I post. But if I don't post, there's actually 0.0 chance anyone will buy.

1:49:34I'll fucking post Alex for 500. I mean like, you know like, what you mean is you're scared of the judgment of people around you when you inevitably fail. She's actually scared of the judgment of others when her stuff doesn't sell. You either live your life for others or you do not. Christina maybe I can hire you I just posted something about hiring for Team Gary it's my latest Instagram post you should go check it out follow the instructions fill out a form hope to get an interview see what happens do you think there'll ever be a house that is sold live on a social platform? yes I'm sure it's already happened we should do that that's Zach Allen's idea that guys that's happening in China at scale right now cars houses how does someone be voting on live shopping when items go for so cheap?

1:50:25Build an audience first. Volume. And as you stream more, your stuff won't go as cheap. Volume. Do you like chili sauce? Love. Watch my Hot Ones episode. No one's ever done it better than me. Blissful Wizards at the Wine Guy? That's me, brother. Good to see you again. Did you get an invite to Mr. Beast's celebrity thing? Yeah. Do you want to react to your Hot Ones episode right now? No. Favorite song? Blame it on the rain. Really, Vinili. How did wine industry push you out? They just, like, it was so not welcoming. I was literally creating 20-year-old wine drinkers at scale for the first time in the industry, and all they could focus on is like, you're degrading the wine.

1:51:08Wine should be on a pedestal. You're too casual. You're, it's not like. It really didn't push me out. I was being a little facetious. They tried to push me out. I just left, but like, they didn't understand the value of like, now they're like, oh, we need young fucking drinkers. Well, maybe if all of you that know something about wine or care about wine weren't such douchebags when you talk about it, and a little bit more welcoming to the normals who are trying to learn, instead of giving them smirks when they pick the wrong wine or order the wrong wine on the wine list, maybe we'd have a better industry.

1:51:41Did you like the taste of wine, or did you have to train yourself to like the taste of wine? I hated it at first. Trained. If you had to start all over, what business would you start? VFriends.

1:51:55I would, I mean, I'm all about buying and selling. How is an IT service business post on TikTok and YouTube shorts? YouTube shorts do informational stuff so that you show up in results. TikTok, I don't know if you have to do that as much. It's not going to be a platform that's going to be as real for you. I think the big one for you is LinkedIn.

1:52:18What's the best AI tool? Depends on what you're trying to achieve. You know, it could be Nano Banana. it could be chat GPT it could be perplexity it could be mid-journey it could be so many other things SOAR 2

1:52:36nice move on that's awesome good for you like go try to find something else that you like take a chance and if it doesn't work good news there'll always be more big box management jobs for you That's awesome. Good for you. There's no AI bubble. There's an AI bubble in the macro and valuations, but AI is real, y 'all. AI is here forever now. What's your why right now? Wine? Why? My why? Curiosity. I'm incredibly curious on where this all ends up. What would be the next big thing after Sora and live shopping? I'm not sure. I had no idea Sora and live shopping were going to be the next big thing.

1:53:21I only know when I see it, not what I think. But I do think glasses are coming, so I'm very bullish AR and VR in the next decade or two. How does a motivational creator avoid becoming noise when audiences scroll past inspiration all day? By being better, unique to themselves, authentic to themselves, answering people's DMs, trying to go live more often, trying different tactics. There's no niches, there's no standing out, there's no different, there's just you. Either you're good or you're not. And by the way, back to good and not, like you have different eras where, hey, how many of you had eras that you were really into me and then you were like blah, blah, blah, you're Charlie Brown and I've heard it and then you came back to it or you're re-coming back now.

1:54:11Like how many of you like have had different eras with me, kind of like music, right? Like you're listening to someone, right? It's like music, right? Look, look at all these people. How many of you loved me and then were like, ah, you know what? Fuck you, Gary. Only to like a year or two later come back and be like, actually I fucked with Gary. I actually needed that. I lost my way. How many of you were those people? First time I saw you was 2010. Definitely me. Never taken a break. Thank you. Me, LOL, Amanda, you know? Thank you so much, Heavy D's. You know, and so that's it. I was hearing the wine tasting days.

1:54:50Let's go, Omid. you know when's the last time you've been to a garage sale I haven't been in a little I've been actually personally I've done a couple but like I gotta really do a trash talk I gotta get that done here in the spring if you could eliminate one season which would it be ooh what happened there one season of what any season of the of the year winter I would get rid of summer wow because all of you are a bunch of soft bitches bitch winter get the fuck out of here. I would triple down on winter. Go Alaska in this bitch. Fuck summer. Makes you all soft and pusses.

1:55:33Triple down on winter. Everybody ask your questions. Can you give an example of how to use LinkedIn for an IT service community? Make videos and tell people why they should hire you, what you do, how you do it. Post it. Over and over, saying the same thing a million times over in different formats and ways. I've literally said the same 47 things four trillion times. Different analogies, different concepts, different hats, different shirts, different ways, different slang, different context, different analogies, but like, that's how, consistency. What would you do without social media? Dominate.

1:56:18The newspaper? Sure. Magazines? I did those things. Yeah. I'm OG. I'm 50 cent in this bitch. I did newspaper ads. I did direct mail. I did radio. What was your favorite of those back in the day? Newspapers. Full page ads in the New York Times when I was cooking in my prime and like fucking Tuesday night before I knew it was going to hit the newspaper next morning and walking in in the morning and looking at the sold items on the website when internet was new and getting phone calls like I live in fucking Brooklyn how far is the store from me and like wait this is a misprint in the times right you can't be selling that for$30.99 everyone in Manhattan selling it for$60 you can't be$39.99 I'm like we're fucking$39.99 get your ass over here fucking man I fucking loved the newspaper ad.

1:57:01Favorite hobby you don't get to do much anymore? Backyard football games loved Loved backyard football. Fucked with backyard football, heavy. Wiffle ball, loved the wiffle ball. Fucking hit home runs like a fucking Babe Ruth in that bitch. Z-List says, is this real? It's real, Z-List. No AI, no AI yet. What else, you're being quiet. Hiring, always hiring. Just run it up. What's your thoughts on paintball becoming mainstream? Wow. I love paintball. I actually really like it. I actually like that a lot. I loved paintball. That fired me up. I was so into paintball in the mid-90s. Skirmish up in Pennsylvania.

1:57:41I went crazy. It still scares me and I will never paintball. It's very scary. I have a crazy story of me and Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump's husband. Literally Jared Kushner and I behind a huge rock in a paintball tournament like 15 years ago in New York. And he said, follow me. Stuck up his head and got shot directly in the head. I swear to God, it's a crazy story. Thoughts on One Piece TCG? I'm bullish on it, but again, it's hot right now. I can see the prices going down, but it continues to do a nice job, and I just like anime and manga overall. What are traits that you look in someone that you're hiring?

1:58:20Tenacity, self-esteem, curiosity, work ethic. EQL winners, I'm into that. Best products to promote in TikTok shop. Beauty products, skincare, collectibles. someone talked about with AI becoming more mainstream that they're doubling down on live streaming in 2026 yeah I mean AI hasn't been stuck friends almost every piece of content you will see in your social media streams in three years will be AI what percent did you say all of it like 99 and then there will be AI influencers like hosting live streams is what it would be yeah bro it's over we're all vacationing in nine years the robots are gonna be doing everything we're gonna be chilling smoking weed in Jamaica fucking playing volleyball all day with a pita fucking colada in our hands.

1:59:05And everyone's gonna be like, how the fuck did this happen? AI, bro. By the way, everyone hating it, all the losers hating it, is exactly why they're gonna love it. Losers, good news. You're gonna be able to chill and drink a Bud Light on the beach. And nap. It's gonna be awesome. You're gonna be able to nap. You're gonna blame the robots even though they're doing your jobs and governments are subsidizing you. to fucking sit and fart on your lawn while watching fucking NASCAR or the NBA finals. It's coming, man. This is gonna be the great, man, we're 20 years away from the lazy fucking chillin'.

1:59:43Socialism and communism is gonna seem like child's play compared to AI robots doing everything and government subsidizing the 99 % of not ambitious. Yo, our kids are gonna marry a hot robot. You're gonna marry a hot robot, Rips. You are, no. Riffs, you want it. I want my kids to. Oh man, it's going to be awesome. Do you like popcorn? I do like popcorn actually a lot. I can get really fucking, I can get weird with, especially there's popcorn with like yeast. You know about this? Like what is it? What's the kind of yeast they call it? Nutritional yeast. Thank you, Alana. I fuck with popcorn with nutritional yeast heavy.

2:00:26She got a t-shirt that says that. What's that? The nickname for nutritional yeast is nooch. I'll fucking, I will eat the shit out of nooch. I will eat your nooch. It's fucking time to go. I love all of you. Please learn more about me, friends. Everybody, literally, as soon as I stop this stream, love you all. Thanks for hanging. Wish you nothing but the best. We'll talk soon. See you. Hey, everybody, if you enjoyed this podcast, please go back and look at the prior episodes. They're loaded. I appreciate your attention. and thanks for being part of this journey. See you later.