Live Shopping in 2026 is Social Media in 2011

28:16Johnny's sucking shit. Sucking shit. And do you guys have shit here? Can you take a shit? And serve it. You know, and so they'd be sucking shit. Not really. I get it, brother. But on real, like I know, you know, it's funny, but like he would suck at his job. He would get mad. I'd get mad back and I didn't take on accountability that I did not put Johnny. Everybody who was average and good, I would put in a position to succeed. I would build up. Anyone who was a poor performer, I was not giving them a chance to fix it. And how would they know if I didn't tell them? And that was a dark day for me professionally when I had to look in the mirror and just say, fuck, this is my fault.

29:07It's not Johnny's wrong. And I would say over the last five years, kind candor, having the strength to be able like, hey Susan, hey Rashawn, hey Johnny, hey Sally, you know, hey this, we subjectively think this is not going well, can we fix this? It's been remarkable, it's changed everything in our company, you know, this is really, this actually makes me a little bit emotional, I had this great dream for 20 plus years of my career that no one was scared of my company because it was all rainbow and sunshine, only to find out people were scared because they didn't know where they really stood with me because if they were around long enough, they're like, fuck, Johnny was good and then Johnny's dead.

29:45Sally was good. That was the most challenging emotional recognition of my professional career so far because that's the thing you're going to learn as a youngster and everybody's watching. Your biggest vulnerability is what you can't see. True. When you see it, you at least know and you're kind of navigating. When you can't fucking see it, when it's your blind spot, that's fucking tough. Yeah. What's an opportunity you just like really regret turning down? You're like, oh. I mean, I have an unanswered email from Joe at airbedandbreakfast.com. Airbnb. Yes, sir. Hey, Gary. Me and my two partners think you're the greatest.

30:26We'd be honored for you to be an investor. Missed it. Don't even know if I saw it or it got archived or I did see it and archived it. I'm talking nausea. We don't need to go into it, but if I can put a real number on it, I passed on Uber twice in the angel round. It doesn't sting because Travis is such a buddy and I'm so happy he crushed. And two, I got in a little bit later and did incredibly well. But fuck, man, if I wrote a$50 ,000 check, $25 ,000 check like I was writing at that time, fucking would have been three to$500 million. And he was my guy. It's not like it was a random startup person.

31:04Call my kid, I'm looking, right? I know them. and like when you say no to someone you know and I knew Trav better and I know them and I know them pretty solid like that was my god I mean in fact Crush It my first book this is my first book The Acknowledgements My Family and one random person Travis because he actually read it multiple times before it came out and gave me feedback that was a really big L and really crazy to think about because my life would be so substantially different because the financial impact of that decision would have completely butterfly effect in my career I mean there's, you know what's crazy?

31:40And I hope this helps someone. I think most people spend a stunning percentage of their life dwelling on what they missed. The girl, the guy, the business, the investment, all this shit. You know what I'm talking about, I see you shaking your head. I think it's a complete and utter waste of time. I answer it here because I don't wanna dodge it and I hope people can learn from it and it's also great to see like, no matter how good you are at something, you're making constant mistakes but brother I will tell you my inability to dwell cry about spilled fucking milk look back and hurt my fucking neck is one of my greatest strengths and I wish it on everyone because there is no time machines there is no going back and rolling in the mud of your missteps is literally one of the least productive fucking things a person can do.

32:35True. And it gets you into bitterness, which then starts to deploy envy and jealousy, and then you're fucking doom scrolling on your fucking couch, leaving negative comments to people that are actually building while you're fucking jerking off to OnlyFans. Exactly. I mean, I've done this. I fucking love, I love jerking off. To OnlyFans? Everything. Good. Besides OnlyFans, what is your top five jerking off list? Shit, the shit I like to jerk off to. People eating shit? Yeah. I knew that's why you ordered it. Hey, punch me again. I'm going to throw the chair back. You know, I don't know. Like eating shit?

33:15Yeah. I knew you fucking, that's why you ordered it. Relax, brother. Got strong fingers, man. You like using AI? Yeah. It's inevitable. If you could automate your business, step away as a CEO and just take on a passion. You know, I'm sure you're passionate about the business, but let's pretend you're not. Well, no, let's pretend you are. But you move forward on some other new, wait, let me read you this question. No worries. Okay. Do you like using AI? Yeah, of course. It's inevitable. If you could pursue a passion project, what would it be? Besides the business. Besides the business?

33:54You know, business and work is my hobby. It's my passion. I have so many friends who are very passionate about their business, but they use their business to fund their real passions. Skiing, music, traveling, partying, lots of different cool things. For me, it's like I use a business to fund my next business. It's really my hobby. But I want to answer you. I believe that if there was a way to suck out my ambition and entrepreneurial DNA, I think I would be a therapist. so if I could fund a passion project I would build a non-profit mental health ecosystem where I could sit and be like fucking, I always dreamed about being like fucking Yoda like all fucking old as shit I just want to be old as shit in like some weird mountain that's kind of hard to get to because I want people to put in the work and like you have to climb up this fucking mountain in like Peru and there I am and if you like made it then it's like fuck it I'll sit down with you and like chat about life so I would say something like that like to me if I ever take a hard turn this is just good for all of you to know like if I disappear I'm I'm on some Dave Chappelle shit but the good version like I'm off the I'm gone but I'm findable but it's gonna be somewhere like there's no like like I'm either dying at the desk 97 building my empire or to the full extreme I'm on a weird chicken farm in Kenya that you have to go under a tunnel and then you can talk to me.

35:32Like something super left field. I love that. To me, it's like either side of the pillow, nothing in between. The middle is not interesting. Who's a random person you met, whether it be at a dinner, dance party, that really altered everything for you, changed your life in business or personal, or whatever it is? I would say the person that most had an impact on me randomly was Scott Harrison, the founder of Charity Water. I had dinner in New York one night, one of these classic, I'm always working, 10.30 p.m. starting dinners, with a gentleman by the name of Chris Saka, who was a very successful entrepreneur, excuse me, investor.

36:15And he brought Scott, and Scott and I, we were having dinner, all just chopping it up. This was these golden days of 2009, 10, 11, 12. the world was changing I was in the mix with all these incredible people and we're having this dinner just like this and eat by the way please I'm just kind of enamored okay respect and Scott said something to me and you know it's fun because I live a life where I say something and I get emails six years later that one sentence changed your life that's what I'm trying to do right now how do I bring value Scott looked me in the face about an hour into the dinner and said Gary I have a good read on you which I was like it was an interesting like start I think that way I'm pretty intuitive so I thought it was interesting because I'd never really been on the receiving end of such an aggressive opening line he goes let me get this straight you're gonna go rags to riches you're gonna be very successful and in your older age you're gonna do good you're gonna like do good stuff you're gonna give a lot of your money away you're gonna do this stuff and I was like yeah and he goes why don't you start doing that now and it like shook me he was like why wouldn't you start giving away some of your money now so that you can impact your children so you can feel the impact of it and most of all fuck that shit because that's selfish so that you can impact people now not 40 years from now and like I don't know if you see these goosebumps but I'm getting them right now yeah you are it just changed the way I looked at the world and within a couple months I joined the board of Charity Water a few months later I joined the board of Pencils of Promise and you know I don't talk I'm a little old school like talking about your non-profit work feels, I don't mind self-promoting my businesses but those frivolous things feel easy, buy this wine, buy this me friend but the real stuff I do is a little bit more behind the scenes but joining those two boards, being involved in many different things has been incredibly impactful and that is one moment in my life where I met someone randomly the first time I met them and they changed the course of how I saw life.

38:25What's a prediction you made that you were just totally wrong on? That you really believed I'm right. That I thought that I thought in 1997 with WineLibrary.com that by the year 2000 all of you would buy everything on the internet. Just because of the number? Yeah, I mean, 2000 was like, you know, again, it was a big number for all of us in society. What I didn't know in my 20s that I always push all of you that are trying to win is I didn't know timing of how long it took people to do the thing that was obvious to me. Notice today with AI, I'll say it's inevitable. I won't say next year everyone's gonna, I don't put years on it, or if I do, if you look at some of my content, I'm like live shopping.

39:18Like your cousin. Right? You got it. You watched. In a decade. In nine years. Like, I did not know my, I don't really predict things. I only talk about things that are happening. In 97, people were buying on the internet. Amazon was working. eBay was working. When I talked about TikTok, it already happened. It was called Musical.ly. I was all over it. Like, I don't really predict. It's, it's more that I know when things cross the chasm from going to a small group of nerds or a small group of cool kids and that it's gonna go mainstream. And I try to figure out when that timing is. And so if I was making content about business in my 20s, a lot of those receipts would be wrong because I was more emphatic of when and all of my belief back then was fast.

40:12Got it? Got it. I would think that in a year or two this, in a year or two this, now I think in decades, not years. What made you start VFriends? What was the moment where you said, I'm gonna make the cards, I'm gonna make the coins, I'm gonna make, you know, the comics? It was, it was the, it was, COVID was what, 19 or 20? 19, but we, I think officially we felt it in 20. Right, so, So it was early 20 that I was seeing NBA top shop, like seeing digital stuff. I'd heard about NFTs, not in that term. I heard about Mooncats years ago. But I started doing homework in January. I was full pledged, and some of you remember this, I was full pledged the year before that trading cards were coming back, which made everyone like, like some of my smartest friends were like, hey, I think you're losing it.

41:10because I'm like really yelling out of left field by the way on business, marketing, investment starting to get a little bougie and out of nowhere I'm like sports cards and everyone was like what? And so I was watching sports cards and I was like fuck I think this might happen this might be the contemporary art of this generation I was watching what was happening with sneakers I could see that it was moving into sports cards and I started talking about that that led to people reaching out to me in early 20s saying hey, do you see this NFT thing? So in January of 20, and because it was COVID, and I had more time at home to do more research than I'm accustomed to when I'm busy, I had the ability to really dig in, and very quickly, it became obvious to me that CryptoPunks was gonna be the NFT.

41:59And I was gonna collect them, like I collect a lot of things. And then I was like, you know, for a long time, I've always wanted to be in intellectual property. I wanted to buy like Scooby-Doo or Casper the Friendly Ghost and refurbish it. Right? Restart it? Yeah, like you know what just happened the last four years, five years with Crocs? The shoe? Yeah. Yeah. Where for the 10 years, 15 years prior, it was corny as hell and then they just got cool again four years ago and now they're starting to dip again but everyone was rocking them. Cole would rock, you know, like cool kids would rock them.

42:32Well, that was cool in the 90s. Then it was dead for 15 years and then it became cool again, I'm obsessed with that. Like for example, this will land with a lot of you, I can't wait for Supreme to come back. Like it needs to be dead for another five to seven years but in seven years, when it comes back, everyone's like of your era, even a little older than you, is gonna be like, yeah, because that's just how shit works. So I want - I think it's coming back shockingly soon. It might, it might. I see a lot of normal people wearing it. Yeah, respect it. it kind of can be faster these days. Nonetheless, I always thought about that from characters.

43:12I still believe about Popeye, Felix the Cat, Betty Boop, the Flintstones. I mean, you see it happening, right? He-Man Masters of the Universe is about to come out as a movie. Nostalgia is wildly underpriced and misunderstood. It makes you feel. It makes you remember when you were a little fucker and life was simple. and that's something us grownups need. So anyway, I've always thought about that. When I saw the NFT thing in early 2020, I was like, wait a minute. I think I can build a world from scratch, not buy one using this infrastructure and at that point, the Gary Vee brand, the content I was putting out was really working but I knew that I couldn't reach all 8 billion people because I'm not everyone's cup of tea.

43:58right like no human can be everyone's cup of tea but I wanted to push patience accountability tenacity competitiveness be a fucking gangster but don't be a fucking dick face right that's like the framework and so I created these characters because I think patient panda and empathy elephant and entrepreneurial elf and tenacious termite and competitive clown can get to people and parents that I could never get to and so it was just a mix, like a meal. It was my ambition to selfish and selfless. At the highest level, VFriends is selfish and selfless. It's selfless because I want to use these 250 characters to actually make the world better because I think I'm talented enough to do that.

44:44Who is Competitive Clown? Who is he? Yeah. I can't tell you because I haven't launched the comic book origin story yet, but Competitive Clown is a VFriend and a popular one, he has a crazy origin story but I can't disclose that yet. So anyway, it's selfless because I do want these characters to actually bring, and this is why I realized I was more Jim Henson than Walt Disney. I think Jim Henson's universe, especially Sesame Street with inclusion, had really good agenda and really did a good job on us and made us better kids, especially in that era. But it was selfish because he was building a multi-hundred million dollar IP.

45:24That's how Be Friends is gonna work out for me. It's gonna be a very positive impact on society over the next half century, but it's going to make me a lot of money. So good, so good, so good. New summer arrivals are at Nordstrom Rack stores now. Get ready to save big with up to 60 % off brands like Rag & Bone, Levi's, Adidas, and Free People. Join the Nordi Club to unlock exclusive discounts, shop new arrivals first, and more. Plus, buy online and pick up at your favorite rack store for free. Great brands, great prices. That's why you rack. Study and play. Come together on a Windows 11 PC. And for a limited time, college students get the best of both worlds.

46:09Get the Unreal College Deal. Everything you need to study and play with select Windows 11 PCs. Eligible students get a year of Microsoft 365 Premium and a year of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate with a custom color Xbox wireless controller. Learn more at windows.com slash student offer. While supplies last, ends June 30th. Terms at aka.ms slash college pc. How's it shit? Yeah, I mean, I'm very pro-capitalism as long as it's not out of whack. How important is sleep to you? For me personally? Yeah, what is your sleep schedule? How has it been your whole life? I've slept seven to eight hours my whole life with a lot of sixes and fives when I travel.

46:49But it was funny, when I was blowing up, a lot of people thought I was all about just hustle. and I was always fascinated. I'm like, do people listen to my words? Like, to me, it's passion, which leads to you wanting to do it, and you've got to work extra if you're in a shit situation to get out, but I was never, there's no content out there of, like, me being pumped about four hours of sleep. It's horrible. Yeah, I mean, for me personally, the reason I'm such a maniac and such a gangster is because I have so much energy when I'm on the field. I can only have that energy when I have at least seven.

47:23Okay. I'm a seven. How do you get to bed? I'm an 11, I'm usually an 11 to 1 a.m. guy, but more 11 and 12s. And 6, 7, wake up. 6, 7. 6, 7. How much do you splurge? What do you splurge on? Weird, weird jerseys of esoteric athletes of my favorite teams. Okay. That's what you collect? I don't collect it even. It's like my splurge. I spend a lot of money on collectibles, but I don't think I'm splurging. I think I'm investing. Yeah. Like when I buy a$50 ,000 Spider-Man card, I think it's gonna be worth$200 ,000. I don't view that as splurge. Splurge is when the New York Jets take a seventh round running back and I get a custom jersey for$250 when the kid might get cut before I even get to wear the jersey to the first game.

48:12So I don't splurge. I mean, I splurge on time. What about jumping into the Jets pot seat? If you owned it, what would you do to make them better? I think running anything is based about people. So I'm actually very happy with who the Jets have right now, both on the business side, president, and on the general manager. So ironically, like literally if there was a magic thing and I own the Jets right now, it wouldn't change much. I actually think they have the right business side team and sports side team. I think Muj has been unbelievable. So I think the best owners focus on what they can control, which in my opinion is who do you hire to be your direct reports?

48:52I think the one thing sports teams are not doing well enough is investing in their fans. So I think I would probably create a chief fan officer. CFO? A CFO. Whose job, she or he's job, would be to be psycho about actually giving a fuck about the fans, not fuck the fans, they have no say anyway. And I think that would really go a long way when things are not going well. Yeah. But I'm obsessed right now with Muj, our GM. I think he's doing a really good job. And that, to me, is how you fix it. The general manager is the linchpin because he or she is making the decisions on your coach and your players, and that's the fucking punchline.

49:37Do you ever get sad, Gary? Do you ever get blue? Yeah, of course. I'm not a robot. Of course. I mean, I think my perspective is really solid, and I keep shit basic, and that makes me happier by percentage. I get upset when I'm very concerned about the health and well-being of people around me. I'll share something vulnerable. We had a leader in my company, one of the healthiest guys in our company, worked out every day, had a stroke, a bad one, and has not been able to come back to work. He has young children and just like, it shakes you, you know? Such a good man, like, you know, it's the things that all of us go like, why would God do this, right?

50:19I worry about my parents' health, my children's health for sure. So I get blue if I let my brain go into fear, which I try not to. But if I do around the health and wellness of my family, that can get me cooking. I also don't like, I just don't like negativity and darkness. So like when I see somebody gaining popularity around selling a negative agenda, I get a little concerned, miffed. But overall, I'm pretty optimistic that things will flush out. I'm incredibly optimistic about human beings. Even though right now, I'm disappointed that I think a lot of us are getting tricked around fear and selfishness.

51:01I actually think that there's a real light at the end of the tunnel. And so, yeah, I mean, I keep my blues for very important shit, which is primarily the health and wellness of my family. And I will tell you, I'm glad you paused on that. Yes sir. Gentlemen, how is your meal? Oh, it's wine glass. I couldn't even get into it, but Luigi, really good. What about the wine? The wine was great, brother. Amazing. You wanna join us in a glass, brother? No, I don't think I should. I have other customers. Okay, respect. And I don't wanna get fired, also. Is that the policy? I don't know. You can have a drink.

51:40If the boss doesn't like me, he never know. Here, Luigi, have a little sip. No, I don't think I should. It's not alright. It's good. Enjoy your meal. Pass the test. Thank you, sir.

51:51I'm glad you paused on that just to go back on that. I will say this and this is like real fucking talk for everybody who's watching. If you're able to simplify, it just changes everything because to me it's been very simple. Money made, money lost. Notoriety gained, being in a slump. People talking shit, people praising you. If none of that is really meaningful, when you compare it to, think of your highest high or your lowest low professionally or reputationally. How does that feel in comparison to something really actually happening to someone you really love even though things are going well?

52:31And that's basically how I've trained my brain. I think in life you find what you're looking for. I like the way you pause because you're young and I have a real passion. If I can get the youngsters to understand all the shit you're crying about as you're watching this right now, it really doesn't fucking matter. Not in the scheme of things. And life, you know this, it could fucking change in a heartbeat. I think everyone just takes themselves so serious. Did you watch the Kevin Hart roast? I love Kevin Hart. Me too. I didn't see it. Okay. Like something, I watched it the other night, something really struck me, which is like, those who can laugh at themselves for real are fucking winning.

53:14and just, I don't know, everyone just thinks they're fucking too cool which just means they're too insecure and I just wish the world can get a little more simplified what was the darkest moment that you pulled yourself out of where you were like really stuck in it you couldn't really move and you were like okay I gotta stop that's a really good fucking question I would say being transparent about something I haven't talked a lot about I would say that there was a moment where I started to resent my father because I built a very big business for him and I wasn't getting any of the money. And like, I was young.

53:51And so, and I'm an immigrant. And I signed up for running the business, not with him, he didn't ask. Me, myself, I decided to join the business because I thought I was Kobe and LeBron and could do it as a kid and wanted to build a big business for my parents as a thank you and knew later on I could go do my thing. the reason I keep telling all you fuckers all the jokes people make of me when I'm like you're young, you're young at 34 years old I didn't have a fucking penny so of course I believe that that you have time so anyway in my late 20s, early 30s I had started a family and I had no financial means of any kind of sort especially compared to the impact I had created and so it was a challenge a child's inner challenge of how am I gonna do multiple things?

54:42How am I gonna get myself out of resentment because that's fucking garbage? How am I gonna get myself out of this and go do something else? I'm the whole fucking company. I can't fuck my dad. What do I do? And so, you know, I really built up the team around me. Huge shout out to my best friend, Brandon Warnicke. I elevated his skill set to be able, to me to start doing more with my brother in VaynerMedia. and you know I just kind of it's kind of why I talk so much about lack of complaining and accountability let me tell you what I didn't do I didn't do what so many people are doing right now which is fucking bitch and cry like a fucking bitch I didn't complain I just fucking went in my cocoon and decided what moves I had to do knew I was gonna have to eat shit you're about to look oh I see it the cake chocolate

55:41and you know worked for two three years to set myself up to be able to give me the flexibility and I pointed thumbs instead of fingers I didn't blame my dad my mom the world capitalism the president I don't even fucking like pointing thumbs instead of fingers I like that because it's like yeah bro do you understand what's going on out there no it's Trump's fault it's Biden's fault, it's Republicans fault, it's Democrats fault, it's capitalism fault, it's socialism fault, it's immigrants fault, it's white dudes fault. When the fuck is it your fault that you fucking suck?

56:23I know. And so I was in this shitty spot. It wasn't my dad's fault. He didn't make me. It wasn't North Korea. It wasn't slavery. I wanted to be a noble man and build this thing for my parents. Now I've done it. Now I had the circumstances and the ramifications of being in an immigrant business. Yeah. And so I had to fucking bite my cheeks, bite my tongue, not cry and start figuring it out. And the way I did that was build up everyone around me that I felt good enough that I could step to the side and do something else. For the first two years of VaynerMedia, I was double CEOing. I was running the wine store and running VaynerMedia.

57:06Those were long 15 hour days for a couple years but there was no way out of my perceived, there was no way out of doing right by my dad and mom and doing right by me other than going through, you know, I think about, you know Rocky IV when he's in the snow? Yeah, the fucking log. I think about that fucking scene in Russia. Like, no pain, no gain, that stuff. I really believe that. I don't understand why everyone has decided life should be a piece of cake. Speaking of cake. What a segue, bro. I set you up. I didn't even think of that. All right, Luigi, let's do it. So these two slices of cake look identical, correct?

57:46Is one cake and one's not? Is it that game show? It's kind of like that. So one is cake and one is completely made, ingredients as well, using generative AI. Amazing. So one is made by a chef. Classic baker style and one is just truly made 100 % on the computer using Claude code and using, I don't know what the other system was. Open Claw? It's probably a harness. So I want you to try both. Are you allergic to anything? Nothing. Amazing. And we have another one too. That's a whole nother thing, being allergic. No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. That's an excuse. So I want you to try a bite from each.

58:26You got it. And you say which one is bakery, which one is generative AI? Should I use my hands or is Luigi gonna hook us up with a spoon? I think we have a knife. Knife. There's no fork? Luigi's coming. Luigi. Let's see what he's doing.

58:44There he goes. There we go. He made these. Can we get put it into that real quick? Yeah. Wait, let's do it again. I'll take the pasta fork. I am not fucking fancy. Wait, can we do that one more? I will eat the pasta fork with the cake. I'm immigrant, we only had one fucking fork back in the day. Thank you. These are your forks. Oh, okay. Only one fork in the house? Oh yeah, we can't find anymore. You're lucky I'm an immigrant. This is how we did it. All right. Tell me how you like the cake. The AI cake or the regular cake? I don't know, do you wanna taste each one? Yes, sir. Taste each one and decide which one is made with AI?

59:24Yep. And it's not the recipe was made with AI. All the ingredients, everything was generated.

59:32Mm-hmm. Okay. Now try this one.

59:40It's an explosive. Don't worry about it. That's the microwave. I feel like that was the AI. This one's the AI? This is the AI. You're correct. See, we're getting there, but it's very close. Yeah, I actually prefer it. I'll keep the AI cake. You can have the regular? You got it. Actually, Luigio, can we take these cakes and swap it out for the AI apples? Sure. We have AI apples? So we made, we've been training this model on trees from Brazil. Okay. And they make fruits that are pretty much identical. And we're gonna have the same thing again where you try two apples, one is real, one is completely AI.

1:00:17Incredible. Are we gonna start a business around AI apples? That's just what the plan is. It's just seeing if it's realistic. What are you gonna call the business? I got one. What is it? How do you like them apples? This guy's the best. That's why he does this. It's branding. You know, I went to your office. I couldn't believe it. We gotta talk about VaynerMedia. We will. Tell them in. These are the apples that you requested. So you're telling me one of these is a real apple. A real boy. One is a real boy. And one is AI. One's completely AI. down to the stem and the seeds. And the seeds work. They don't grow big out.

1:01:00Fun fact, I really ate a fuckload of apples as a kid. This is my mom's favorite fruit.

1:01:09Take another bite of each. See what you eat.

1:01:18This is the AI apple, and this is the real apple. You're wrong. What? You're wrong. Get the fuck out of here. That's the AI app. Dude, get the fuck out of here. That is the most insane Apple I've ever had in my life. Bro, you're sitting on a billion dollar company. So let's work on it. Okay, okay, sorry. You all right? This is Uber part two. I'm not passing on this one. This is part two. You want to do a coin flip for half a million dollars? Yes. Heads. Fuck, I hope I win this.

1:01:51You called heads for me. No I did not, you owe me half a million dollars. Call, I'm making you pay. Alright. Handshake agreement, you're gonna actually take that up with legal and cause me problems. We'll talk about it. So you were at Vayner's office? Yeah, I know you from the internet. I didn't realize the mass of the company. All the employees. This is the funniest thing going on in my life right now. Like all my friends make fun of me, they're like, you accomplished this business insane empire. Vayner X, Vayner Sports, Vayner Want My TV Production Company, VCR Group at the restaurants, V-Friends.

1:02:27All these things going on in my world and no one knows about it because you're just the motivational speaker on social. And I tell them all the time, I'm like, that's fine. I think it's fine. I'm not building my companies for the accolades. I'm building them for myself, for my family, for my teammates that work with me. and so it is enjoyable when people come through and they're like, what the fuck is this? I'm like, my company. Oh, it wraps around. Yeah, I mean, we have, I mean, VaynerX, which is VaynerMedia, Chuck Media, and Tamara Group, and VaynerSpeakers, the four companies, and the holding company, Tingley Lane, the fifth.

1:03:07We've got 2 ,500 employees. It's, you know, it's a real business. Real deal. It's a real deal. You started with your brother? I did. So what was, tell me. My brother was graduating college. He's 11 years younger than me. I was at that point that I just talked about where I was like shit, I gotta do something else. My brother and I originally were gonna do a fantasy sports business, because we loved that world. But then I started getting asked by big companies to come in and speak or consult, because I had a lot of followers on Twitter in 2009. I couldn't believe that I could walk into a big company that I loved by the way at the time, and still, ESPN, spend an hour pontificating about what I knew, consulting and get that kind of money.

1:03:48And so I walked out of Midtown's office and called my brother, he was still at BU wrapping up and I said bro I think we should start a consultancy is what I called it, not even an agency, for big brands because I think they're all starting to realize this social thing's gonna go and I think it's our easiest way, quickest way to getting some revenue versus a startup. and that's how Bainer Media was born. That's amazing. What was your first car? My first car was a 1976 Monte Carlo with a huge dent in it, cherry red, that I bought at a garage sale for$550. Wow. Did you flip it? I did. I actually did.

1:04:32I actually made some money on that. Probably, maybe like three years later for like 2 ,000 bucks because it was starting to get a little more classic. I should have probably held on to it. Have you maintained friendships from college and childhood? You still talk to people? That is my core friend group. Yeah. The kids I grew up with. Yeah, I'm one of those. And how often do you see them? Casually. How often do you get a call and say, hey, let's eat some food and hang out? Not a lot. I work too much and then that means that my time then goes to family and then friends. My college friends live all over the country.

1:05:08My high school friends I see a little bit more and then my Jets and Knicks friends I see the most because I go to sporting events and those are kids that are either from my childhood or I picked up along the way in our insanity of sports fandom. But for example, my college friends, I probably speak to every day on the group thread. Yeah. WhatsApp, iMessage? iMessage. My friends are not very international. They're pretty ghetto kids. Good. Yeah, that's how we like it. How important is starting a family? For me personally, massively. You know, for the masses, I think everyone has to make their own decisions.

1:05:46But like, you know, I have two children. Anyone who has children can tell you, like, it's challenging and all the things. But like, it's crazy. Especially now, my 13-year-old son is my best friend. And he's like, it's so crazy to have someone you love that way. You know? And I'm very weird in a good way. I'm in the small group of people who love their parents so much that the delta between loving their parents and children is not very great. You know, a lot of people, unfortunately, do not have the best parent situation. So when they have children, it's like this outlet, right, for that love. For me, I'm so fortunate that I have it on both sides.

1:06:28But there's just something. Do you want to have children one day? I would love to. Yeah. I'm trying. Actively? In a good way? I don't know how you define good. A little freaky. As much as I can. Yeah, and how's that going for you? Not good. Why? You have a great face. Thank you. We established that. I guess it's not the face. Well, you know, it might be this show might become this platform for you of real opportunity. Yeah, I got a woman I think is very special. Oh, you're locked in? Yeah. Ish? No, I'm locked in. Locked? Yeah, like Paris style. Yeah? Yeah, I know, I'm proud of you. Anyway, when you have children, this part of the segment will make a lot more sense.

1:07:11It's truly, truly a thing in life that you can think about it, you can think you're one of six siblings, you think you understand it, you're the oldest of four other siblings, you're mature for your age, but until you have a child, you have no idea what that feels like, And then for me, I'm in this really cool chapter where when your child becomes your friend too, and you gotta be careful because I think one of the issues with modern parenting is trying to make your kids friends instead of being friendly with them and be their parent. But when your child has similar interests and you're hanging, it's fucking different.

1:07:51It's fucking special.

1:08:01How motivated are you by love? Very. In fact, if you break down this interview, I think most of what I've been talking about is I love love so much that I can't wait for it to become clear to a lot of people in the world that it always defeats hate because right now people think hate's winning. You like sports? Not really. That's weird. Sorry. That's right. Let me explain to you sports. Please. Sports is amazing because, let's just use basketball, you could be down 18 going into the fourth quarter and you can win that game. Yeah. Right now I think hate is leading love by 18 going into the fourth quarter.

1:08:43Okay. But I know love's gonna win when it hits triple zero. I'm very motivated. Buzzer beater love? Yeah, you know, you like Star Wars? No. What the fuck is going on here? What are you into? I wasn't allowed to watch TV as a kid. Is that true? Yeah. What were your parents thinking? Nothing. Hippie shit? No. My dad works for FedEx. Okay. He loves shipping, packages, stuff like that. My mom's a typist. But why weren't you not allowed to watch TV? I just didn't watch it. Oh, you were allowed to, you weren't interested in it? Yeah. What did you do? Well, I watched TV, I didn't watch movies. Okay, respect.

1:09:19You were a TV show guy? Yeah, cartoons. Cartoons. What was your favorite cartoon? Ed and Eddie. Yeah, of course. Classic. Anyway, sports, love, buzzer beater. I was about to say Star Wars. I think Star Wars has it framed right, which is the Jedis versus the dark side. It's a thin line. They're both very powerful. Love and hate are both very fucking powerful. But fucking bro, in the end, love is gonna win and always does. I'm incredibly motivated by love. I would argue that I've put fucking 15, 20 years on wax, on digital receipts of pure love, often packaged as motivation or business advice. But I'm who I am, I root for people.

1:09:59I'm even more of a lover behind the scenes of my content, meaning I'll always be there for people. I always wanna step up if I can. I want people to win. Even though I'm competitive as fuck, when I see other entrepreneurs, I'm like, you know this. This is what's so interesting about the 1%. I'm blown away by watching other winners shit on other winners because they're jealous because that winner made a little more. The girl's a little hotter. And I'm like, why? Like, why don't you have the capacity to know that you're fucking amazing? And it's okay. And by the way, it's also a long game. Just because someone's winning right now, like somebody might invent some shit tomorrow or start a new business.

1:10:36Like, it's, I don't know. I just, I really root for people. I root for people heavy. I root for the extremes of people people really struggling really motivate me I want to get them the fuck out of that darkness and then even what you may not know brother is this 1 % 2 % of winners they're fucking unhappy too man there's a lot of envy a lot of jealousy a lot of like am I washed up do I not like all this stuff and so yeah I'm very motivated honestly that was one of the best questions I've ever been asked in a podcast or interview in my career I do not believe anyone has ever asked me that before and I could argue it is my biggest truth.

1:11:17Good. I love that. And by the way, I take no flowers for that. I am only motivated by that because I was instilled with so much love for my mom. Right? Like I am just a carrier. I want anybody who just watched it be like, that guy's cool. I'm not cool. My mom's cool for putting that so deep in me that I don't even fucking know how to see the world another way. You ever feel misunderstood? Yeah. What is something that you're like, come on, guys? Hustle. We talked about it. There's just a lot of fucking people that think I'm like, hustle, hustle. I just never understood. That was because my energy of making my, I get it.

1:11:54Hey, motherfucker. I get it. But I was always fascinated at people's inability to see the words I was saying versus the energy. Because I'm like, do you like wrestling? My brother did. I know the references. Go ahead. most of the fucking content I make is like a fucking Macho Man Randy Savage fucking WWF promo cut. You know? Like what you gonna do? He's the cream of the crop guy. Bro, I'm proud of you. There we go with the pop. Yeah, that was unbelievable. He literally had a couple of, and then he had one that was even crazier when it was Mean Gene, and he was like, Mean Gene, there's a plane going by and I'm not on it.

1:12:36I don't know why I thought that was so funny. Anyway, I think I'm misunderstood about that. I also talk predominantly about business and entrepreneurship. I am the most detached from my financial success and my notoriety success. And yet, if I'm from the outside and I've spent no time knowing me, I would think that Gary Vee and how I do in business is my whole life. That, I understand. That's easy for me to understand. The hustle, like burn out at all costs to make money, that has been baffling to me that people... Take that from what you're saying. Yeah. What do you think about depression as an excuse?

1:13:16No, no, no. I think many people weaponize mental health and depression because they're entitled and lazy, but I think there's an extraordinary amount of people that are actually struggling with chemical imbalances and real issues. In fact, this is not talked enough about in society, and I will use this massive platform to say it. I think one of the most alarming things going on in the world and I think people should be ashamed of this is people that are absolutely weaponizing mental health and depression and anxiety to be lazy are actually making it cloudy for all of us in society and making it harder for us to know who to help that's actually dealing with something.

1:13:58You think medication's good or get through it in other ways? I'm not educated enough to pontificate on the balance between spiritual work, meditation, food. I find it unlikely that some level of medication doesn't work for some people. I think like anything, everything in balance is at its best. I think there's millions that are probably properly micro-medicating and it's working wonders for them and I'm so happy for them. and then I'm devastated to know that many are wildly overmedicated and are probably double struggling because of that. You struggled with drinking too much soda. Yes. Right?

1:14:41Yes. So what do you think pushed you in your life to pick up the cup? That's a great question. I did drink and it was shocking. Do you know how weird my soda, again, I'm immigrant. I used to, when I was like 11, by my bed at night would be a warm two liter bottle of Coca-Cola. And I would, you know, like when you wake up and like normal people might have a glass of water, all of us, I would literally swig from a two liter plastic. I mean, it was fucking crazy. Yeah, bro, the 80s were wild.

1:15:15Anyway, I will tell you exactly what made it happen. I was 38 and a half. I'm talking like I'm six and a half. I was 38 and a half. I was 38 halfway through my 30, going on to 39. I was flying from Houston back to New York. I was, just gave a keynote. I flew in that morning, spoke and left, which is why I respect the people that fly in and fly out for work. And my head was on the window and I just decided that, holy shit, I'm not healthy. Like I don't work out, I don't eat well. And now I'm 40s, right around the corner. I'm like, you know what? Fuck, and by the way, this has been brewing in my head, but this was the moment.

1:15:55I'm like, you know what? Fuck it. I'm gonna, on my 40th birthday, I'm gonna change everything. But on that flight, you ordered two or three sodas. It gets more interesting. Okay. I did not and by the time I landed, three hour flight or so to New York, I decided, halfway through the flight, I'm like, why the fuck am I waiting to 40? I'll do it at 39 and by the time I landed, I just talked to myself. I remember I was listening, I was listening, God what was I listening I was listening to something I think it was Carter I don't know I was listening to an album over and over on repeat so that I could just think and I just remember thinking when I landed fuck it I'm gonna start now I called a former trainer Mike Vacanti and said hey do you know anyone because I figured something out I finally got to a financial place where I could hire somebody to travel with me and I realized on that flight that I was not accountable to myself with health and wellness, but I'm very accountable to people.

1:16:55I love being a leader. I love being a leader for my employees. What if a trainer was my employee? I wouldn't want to let him down. That was my hack. I figured it out. And it ended up what happened. I called him. I said, do you know, because he had trained me like, I skipped like 30 out of 35 sessions with him. But he had a lot of clients. So I said, do you know anybody, a young kid like you, that might want to be with me full time? And he said, what about me? I said, of course. So we got together the next day and literally a week later I started and literally for the last 12 years I've had a babysitter and the first thing that he wanted me to cut was soda and the only thing I thought I was not gonna cut, I thought I was gonna be able to cut candy, baked goods, carbs, I thought pizza, fries, I thought I was gonna be able to cut everything but soda and it was the reverse.

1:17:43The only thing I've been able to completely cut for sure has been soda and I still like, when I break, I break for, I'm obsessed with soft carbs. I love soft serve. No, soft carbs. Have you ever seen a flying saucer? Yeah, everyone has. What do you eat in a day now? You know, this was weird. I tend not to eat until dinner. I grew up in a retail store, so I don't eat during the day. But I, you know, I try to have my protein. My wife is a very clean eater. Like no oils, like everything's like grass fed. No seed oils for her, no chemical. So I've become very educated in the last five years. So I try to eat protein and veggies and the good shit.

1:18:31Good. Let me see. Trading at Schwab is now powered by Ameritrade, bringing you an expanding library of education with even more ways to sharpen your trading skills. Access new online courses, insightful webcasts, articles, engaging videos and more all curated just for traders plus guided learning paths with content designed to fit your unique interests no sifting to find exactly what you need so you can spend your time learning to trade brilliantly learn more at schwab.com slash trading this episode is brought to you by google chrome you think you know a browser but gemini and chrome that's new it can help you with practically anything on the web like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks.

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1:19:32And also, if at any moment you want to do that knock and ask a question, I like the idea of how you feel comfortable doing it, but it's like a slow knock when you're looking forward and then you slowly turn around. But when you knock the hand signal, you might be different. If at any moment. And when that does happen, just slide the... Paper.

1:19:54What is your death row meal choice? I just got done pontificating about clean. I think... That's the last one. I think it's either Wingstop or White Castle sliders. Grave case. 30 yeah, probably can fucking crush that thing. I love those. They're so good man. It's so greasy

1:20:24Okay, this is the last question this question I'm just gonna ask this this question makes no sense at all But answer it with such like seriousness like such intensity. Uh-huh, okay

1:20:39You know, I would argue today that the kids are much younger than they were when you were growing up. And they got AI, smartphones, computers at home, computers in their bags, laptops. Is it even possible? Oh, it's very possible. They're the youngest we've ever seen. Their level of immaturity and their like wah-wah is at an all. Like the 15-year-olds of 30, 40 years ago were fucking 15. The 15 year olds of today are six. One plus five, you understand? Did you understand what I did there? Yes. One plus five. Six. So do you think that it's important to have a smartphone? No. Do you think smartphones are going to be here in 10 years?

1:21:18Are we going glasses? I think we're going glasses within, I think the decade, that's the right number, 10 years. That's going to be huge for you. Yeah. Because it's on brand, you've already locked in that you wear glasses. Yes. This is a huge competitive advantage for you. I'm going to be texting, what should I ask Gary now? A hundred percent. You know? Shit, all right, Austin's gonna ask something. And then I think too, I think if you were looking for like straightforward, kinda like when you were doing that, like a mysterious question. Yeah, like a knock, like a slow knock, and then you would slowly turn.

1:21:47All right, you ready? Should I be mid-question, you cut me off? I think it's a good idea. You can have this. Oh, he can edit. Oh, okay. I'm gonna kinda interrupt you. All right, so I should knock still, right? I'll just be drinking wine. Yeah, slow knock. Wait, wait, one second. I'm like, let's start it off. Start it off, okay, copy it.

1:22:09What's the point of it all?

1:22:13That's a very... No one appreciates anything at the end of the day. Well, even you saying no one is you missing the point of it all. And what's the point? The point is making yourself happy with the ease and simplicity of life. If you're looking for outside validation, you'll always be stuck. That's my cousin. He's a good kid. He's a great kid. I mean, he's a hero all the time. I try to tell him, hey, look, pursue it. He's a fashion designer. He's amazing. Did you know? They don't appreciate all the hard work. They don't know all the hours it takes, all the days you don't want to wake up. You want to lay in bed, you know?

1:22:56Yeah, but I think, brother, and I love you, and I think you're onto something. I'm telling you, once you get your sentences to not start with they, and you start focusing your sentences on I, a lot can happen. Like when you make the design for you, when you create the hoodie or the socks or the scarf for you, right? When you work for you. When you have, you understand? I needed to hear that. I'm glad, brother, because that's real shit. I need to hear that. It's the passion. I need to fall in love with it. Create it, you know? That's what it's talking about. It oozes out of you. But where you're caught and this whole generation's caught on, and by the way, boomers are caught in it too, is when it's they, you're fucked.

1:23:45Because you're not in control of they. But you're very fucking in control of me and I. You understand? You're welcome, brother. When you asked me that question, it like shook me. I was like, holy fuck. like a part of me while I was answering you I don't know how many of you have like two sides of your brain but I was answering him and another part of my brain was like fuck that might be the question that I've always asked someone to ask me always wanted someone to ask me I get asked a lot actually in podcasts and interviews like this what's the one question you wish someone would ask you and I never know I've never felt it I'm always like oh I don't care about that I just care about answering the questions for the audience but when you fucking ask that question I was like fuck that might be the question I've been waiting for someone to ask me because this whole love-hate thing, this whole Star Wars framework, you all know.

1:24:33We're all living in society right now. People are fucking angry and scared and it's all been put in people's heads by a small group of people that are using it to control people and love is fucking liberating, bro. Yeah. Good, I'm glad, I'm glad. I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you. I love you. I love you a lot. I love you so much. I love you much more than that. I'm looking at this menu here so if there's any dessert I want. But I was thinking, has anyone ever, you know, have you ever gotten the feeling that someone tried to intentionally guide you into the wrong direction? Yeah.

1:25:08And you were like, that mother. I mean, I would argue, I would argue a lot of people have done that. Not in like some awful way. You know when I got it a lot actually? When I started in the wine business. Yeah. There's a really famous, the first time I got Real Press, the Star Ledger in New Jersey the Jersey paper you know what I'm saying the Jersey paper like this is the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal of New Jersey the Star Ledger and they do a huge piece on me this is a big fucking deal to me I made it I'm like 25, 24 and they asked me an interesting question I told a story about a year earlier when I started running the wine store the biggest distributor the people we buy from came and met with me and he was like the guy Everyone thought he was the most brilliant guy in the liquor business.

1:25:57And he sat down with me over lunch, just like this. And he said, kid, I think you got it. Like he was gassing me. And he said, but you gotta remember one thing. In a liquor store, there's service, there's selection, and there's price, right? How do you service the company? How many different incredible selections do you have in your store? And what do you sell it for? and he said remember if you want to be successful you got to be good at a two out of three of them and he like left and he was trying to make some big profound statement I was fucking 22 I'm sitting there this guy's like 60 at the time legend at least in the liquor business in New Jersey and he walks away I'm there by myself just in my own thoughts for one second and I'm like the fuck's the matter with him I'm gonna do all three the fuck would I only do two out of three for him I told that story in the Star Ledger, they asked me, I think, what's the worst advice you ever got?

1:26:55And I told that story. He sent me a handwritten note a week later after the article hit, and he's like, I know that's me, and you were right. It wasn't that he was guiding me in the wrong. He just didn't want me to become very big because then I would have more power in the industry. It was selfish, but it wasn't catastrophic. It wasn't like, come over here, kid, and do drugs. A lot of people, most people try to guide you into a place that's better for them. Keep you at bay. Maybe, or they have a hole in their heart and they need something from you, or a million other things. I actually never get upset about that.

1:27:38I'm actually deeply empathetic to that. That is the flight of man. Like, people do worry about themselves. I don't judge that, but it never tricks me. I love it. Thank you, man. Thank 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.

1:28:20or find them at a bar, restaurant, or store near you. Near Beer, Athletic Brewing Company, fit for all times. Journey, see you later.