Kind: captions
Language: en
hey everybody Welcome to impact Theory
you are here my friends because you
believe that human potential is nearly
Limitless but you know that having
potential is not the same as actually
doing something with it so our goal with
this show and Company is to introduce
you to the people and ideas that are
going to help you actually execute on
your
dreams all right today's guest is one of
the world's leading marketing experts
and living proof that the American dream
is Alive and Well if you're willing to
work your face off he was born in
bellarus in the former Soviet Union
didn't speak a word of English when he
arrived his entire extended family lived
together in a tiny ass apartment in
Queens and as the foreign kid he was
once bullied into drinking urine from a
soda can he was a d and f student and
pretty much everyone thought he would
fail in life despite all of that though
this guy not only refuses to complain
about anything ever he has wildly
optimistic upbeat and freakishly driven
a born entrepreneur he began by ripping
flowers out of people's yards and
selling them back to them he had an
entire lemonade franchise system while
he was still riding a big wheel and in
his teens he was routinely making
thousands of dollars a weekend selling
baseball cards until his father forced
him to go to work in the family business
for $2 an hour but he didn't waste time
whining about it he just got to work and
just out of college by being an early
adopter of the internet he took his
father's discount liquor store from
being a local store doing $4 million a
year in Revenue to an internet
phenomenon doing $45 million in Revenue
in just 5 years now leveraging his
unique ability to identify where
consumer attention is going next he
founded the pioneering digital agency
Vayner media which serves some of the
largest companies on the planet and
along the way he's also built a massive
social following of his own that rings
in at around
3.5 million devoted followers he is a
people first kind of guy and you can see
it in everything that he does from his
employees to his fans and Partnerships
as such he's greeted like a rock star
his business is growing crazy fast and
he'll soon be starring in Apple's
original series planet of the apps with
gwenneth palro Jessica Alba and will I
IM on top of all that he's also a
prolific angel investor and venture
capitalist who was an early investor in
such juggernauts as snap chat Facebook
Twitter and Uber so please dearest of
friends help me in welcoming the four
time New York Times bestselling author
and future owner of the New York Jets
Gary
vaynerchuk thank you welcome to the
show dude that was super impressive
thank you sir there no shot I could have
pulled that off uh and also after like
listening to all that I'm really glad my
mom sent you the memo right I got it all
from her just yeah straight out it's
good to be here it's good to have you
man nice to have some peeps in the
audience I always like that a little bit
better you and me both yeah so play
right to them I mean in in many ways
this is for them this all started
originally back with inside Quest it was
all about doing something for the
employees yep and I had this unending
Terror cuz I have these 25 bullet points
I think anybody should be living by and
I was terrified people would memorize
them but not actually live by them which
is like the death ends because you think
you're doing something right you pacify
Yourself by memorizing it um so yeah I I
love having people here and getting it's
funny you just said that I I think so
many people are keyboard activists right
everybody's good at sending a tweet
about how the world should be and
nobody's doing anything about it and
that just that is just very much human
nature I was just going to ask if you
think that's human nature or if you
think that we've gotten soft as a
culture yes you know I mean of course
we've gotten soft as a culture in the US
uh because the US has had an incredible
200-year run right like this is just
what happens you know so as a culture
you know I can't speak for you know
people that live in the Amazon River and
I can't speak for you know people that
still live in bellarus but the the
American uh culture is soft and that's a
great thing that means there's been
enormous amounts of prosperity but let's
not be naive I mean people literally
complain when somebody gives them the
wrong amount of like extra cream in a
Starbucks $6 coffee like this like we've
gotten to a place where we complain you
know out of all those lovely things you
said as I stood there getting ready to
come the part that and I'm glad you pick
up on this and not a lot of people have
said it before so thank you my lack of
interest in complaining is so high uh
and when I watch what people complain
about it it breaks my heart because they
completely lack perspective and I I
genuinely believe my happiness and
optimism comes from my perspective even
in political unrest times like right now
a lot of people very bent out of shape
but the reality is is that it's just
never been better to be a human being
it's that's just the truth that's just
data that's that's reality and um yeah I
mean it's just a very fun time to be
alive so much going on uh the internet
is starting to hit maturity look what
we're doing right now this right now
right would have cost millions of
dollars in production and distribution
to have the amount of people who watch
this just 15 years ago like like you
know I I I just think it's very
interesting times and um I was saying
something to a friend the other day I
was like could you imagine if you told a
parent 15 years ago hey parent what
you're going to want to do in 15 years
instead of buying a kid your 16-year-old
a car you're going to convince your
16-year-old daughter to go into a
stranger's car every single day you're
going to you're going to pay for your
16-year-old daughter to go into a
stranger's car every single day and you
will think that's normal and actually
safer than buying that P that kid a car
that's literally what we're living in
now High net worth individuals in
America are preferring to give their
kids unlimited Uber to buying a car
because because they don't want them
drinking and driving they don't trust
their driving and and literally they
think it's safer for their 16 17y old to
go into a stranger's car than to drive
themselves that's sacrilege 15 years ago
online dating 20 years ago the weirdest
nerdiest you're thinking 300 lb white
dude in a B of a kid's car now it's just
completely standard I mean if you if you
add in sliding into people's DM on
Instagram it's like 89% of relationships
right so you know I I think that we are
um I think we're going through a huge
transition because all of us even
thought leaders uh are grossly
underestimating the internet itself and
we're hitting scale right we now all are
on at all times and this is now the
beginning I was I was joking while I was
working out this morning to drock I'm
like drock you're going to get replaced
by like a Pokémon ball like I'm going to
throw it up like people in 20 years are
literally going to throw something up
it's just going to hover 360 and film
everything they're doing I mean like
it's just an incredible time um and I
think the way people look at the world
right now because it's such an
incredible time is actually the quickest
tell to who they are if you think it
sucks and it's bad you have losing
pessimistic DNA and if you think it's
awesome and phenomenal you have
optimistic winning DNA and I believe
that to be true and so that's where
we're at no man I'm with you on that so
I've been involved in the exerprise now
for a while reason I got involved with
the exerprise is largely for that reason
like I look at the future it's so
[ __ ] exciting like what's going on is
crazy and if you're the one that can see
where the trends are going and you can
ride those Trends be the early adopter
get into it um before anybody else and
there's you know obviously chances for
huge wins there while you're practical
right cuz I think a lot of my friends so
I've had that career but a lot of the
reason is I'm not guessing or getting in
too early right you know it's like real
estate like it you know there's a big
difference between the people that
bought you know Beach ront property in
Malibu than people that are buying Beach
rum property in in off region no
infrastructure Islands in in in in the
Caribbean which is right in theory but
it could be an 80-year Theory right and
so it's about timing like vr's coming
but consumer VR is very far away all my
friends are spending millions of dollars
tens of millions of dollars in consumer
Venture uh virtual reality VR yet
there's nobody here nobody watching this
that knows a single person that spends
three hours a day on VR right right like
it's just it's just it's way far away
I'm not sure there's people that know
people that have spent three hours in
their life yet in VR right and
definitely not 10 people outside of
people in the business testing stuff so
I think timing really matters on that
because I get worried that people jump
way too far ahead and the reality is the
Market's not there yet what are the
things you look for in that so you um I
heard you tell a story in one of the
interviews you did and I thought the
follow-up question there which wasn't
asked you said you know I was talking to
this woman she said she doesn't do
Snapchat I think it was a woman cutting
your hair she doesn't do Snapchat no
social and you said tell me more just in
case this is a trend that I need to be
aware of H how do you identify those
Trends is it stuff like looking at what
app is you know on the front page of
C hair is it of that it's very very
non-scalable but that's my talent right
like I think like Clive Davis like how
does he do it I don't know he just sat
there and heard people sing and he's
like you like I I'm I'm careful to not
give advice that I know is uniquely
something that I was gifted with like I
how do I tell you that oh here's how it
actually works and it almost started
happening it didn't happen like I
actually get goosebumps like actually
like real heavy Goosebumps when I hear
something that I know feels
right what's the advice there hey Johnny
start getting Goosebumps like I can't
there's certain things that I can't talk
about because I know they're not
practical they're intuitive to me right
and so yes for me it's the balance of I
feel like something's happening but it
always comes from seeing stuff like it's
it's it's going to the candy store with
my little guy and hearing four
8-year-old girls talk about slime and
then later go to Shake Shack and hear
another two 8-year-old boys talk about
slime and I'm like slime and then I
search it on this is like a year ago and
I search it maybe actually it's 18
months ago and I search it on Instagram
to see hashtags I search on YouTube I
search Google I'm like this is real
there's something happening um Spinners
right like fads are easy for me and I I
think what I've been good at in business
is trying to decide what's a fad
and what's an actual business so
something like social cam I downloaded
it and got very serious about it in
2011 I didn't know even the founders of
social cam it wasn't that I knew if
social cam was going to be big I didn't
invest in it I didn't go after it but I
knew video on the mobile device was
going to be big so when vine got hot
very quickly I was an early mover an
early advocate of Vine and Vine
influencers right which by the way Vine
influencers are absolutely the precursor
to this SnapChat Instagram thing we're
dealing with right now that's where they
came from first Instagram was photos
then when vine was dying a little bit
they all moved over to Instagram
Instagram was smart and made video one
minute videos and that's when you saw
the shift and that became the seed and
the foundation of Instagram influencers
which is an enormous billion dooll
industry now everyone's like how are you
so early it's CU I put in the work 2011
social cam learn how video on Mobile
Works 2013 comes along Vine pops I'm
like that's right I lived through
YouTube 20067 being YouTube celebrity
for my wine show so I knew what it
looked like I saw that the Bine kids
were that um I flew to LA and met
Britney furlon and King Batch I I put in
the work uh and so it's intuition but
it's also putting in the work yeah I
know that putting in the work is is one
of the simplest and most I think often
overlooked kind of thing and how do you
plan to like is that one of the things
you think people just are either born
with the fortitude to do that or is that
something you no that's the one
that I think I mean there's a lot of
research and again being an F student in
science like I never I really don't it's
not that I don't trust anything it's
that I know that I haven't put in the
work to really know if I should quote
things you know so I kind of like just
stay in my little lane um
but there's a lot of uh push towards
being a workaholic and hard work is a
learned behavior I see it in my team
there's people that come into my I've
seen it in the thousands of employees
I've had which is the closer they are to
the
Sun the harder they work and I'm like
uhuh and so I definitely feel like I
learned hard work by watching my parents
um and
so it's why I talk so much about hustle
because it's one of the things that
people can actually adjust and turn to I
I watch people give advice completely
predicated on natural talent and DNA and
I'm like look like I get it like I can
throw a football every day for 9 hours a
day I'm just not phys physically built
to be competitive at the highest levels
so yeah I do think you know if anybody
watching right now if there's anything
they take away it's like look like
you're going to only be so pretty you're
only going to be so smart like you like
there's there's things that are going to
be natural and then there's things that
you can actually control I do believe
and I don't know if I'm right or wrong I
don't but I do believe that work ethic
is a Tau Behavior it's something you do
have more control over um and yeah I
think uh you I think and you know what
really sealed a deal for me getting
healthier I was 38 years old and it
didn't come natural to me like it didn't
come natural to me at all I hate the gym
I hate it now I hate it I don't like it
I don't want to do it um but I but I
knew it was important and somewhere
around Midway through being 38 years old
I got serious I figured out my system I
made the financial commitment and I've
won right and I'll never lose again
because the system was I needed to be
accountable to another human being so it
was about Mike and now Jordan and
whoever else is my trainer I'm doing it
almost weirdly more to not let them down
than to and so that was this shift and
so I feel like there's a shift that can
make people work harder the big one that
I pushes you're going to die like like
if you're complain like to me life has
broken down into complaining and not so
if you're not complaining well then I
have no I have no advice for you I'm I'm
pumped like you did it like like I have
friends
who make $42,000 a year um work 9 to 4
kind of with an hour and a half lunch
and 45 minutes of YouTube and 10 minutes
of bullshitting and an hour of complete
waste of time in a meeting so they're
kind of working like six you know hours
a week right but but but they're pumped
and and and they text me these are high
school friends and they'll text me like
how happy they are to be the coach of
their kids baseball team and you know
like that's amazing like that that seems
very obvious to me like that's like
that's right like you know what's super
weird I'm actually weirdly envious you
know like I it sounds cool like in
theory right Grass Is Always Greener
right like far less pressure you know
like like all that time with my kids o
that would be cool like there's just
like all these things that I can justify
so to me but I have friends who have
$100 million in the bank because of
Facebook's IPO who complain who are
still hungry who want to do even more
who will complain to me cuz they know I
work a lot about no work life balance
and they don't get to spend enough time
with their family and I'm like you have
$100
million like you could stay home like
you're in control like you don't
complain about it you've made that
choice don't [ __ ] me like you want
to spend more time with your family
spend more time with your family this is
back to what we said about keyboard
Warriors I'm trying to be very careful
about what I'm saying versus what I'm
doing because that's how you get exposed
and I don't mean like people calling you
out and being like you suck I mean to
yourself I don't I want to be exposed by
myself it's it's it's looking yourself
in the mirror and saying like am I doing
this right so to me there's so many
people they're talking [ __ ] about how
big of an entrepreneur they're going to
be and how much they're going to achieve
and they don't work on
weekends you know I worked every
Saturday of my 20s like and I talk to
20-year-old entrepreneurs every single
day lately I've been saying to them this
Saturday you're going to have more time
off than I've had in my entire 20s on a
Saturday so like before you tell me how
you're going to be bigger than me start
thinking about what you're actually
doing right yeah no that I've heard you
say that once it really caught the
person off guard cuz they were like all
about what they were doing and it's like
oh yeah um how how do you plan to
instill that in your kids or do you I
guess if you don't I don't I plan to
instill kindness into my kids I plan on
instilling perspective into my kids I
plan in instilling
just being a good human being I I plan
on making sure they don't use their
parents' wealth and micr fame and
leverage to impose on any other person
I'm petrified of that if my kids try to
punk their friends on my [ __ ] I'm gonna
beat the [ __ ] out of them like that's
just loser DNA you didn't do that that's
interesting so I've heard Will Smith say
before to his kids you guys aren't Rich
mom and dad are rich yeah you know sure
um I but not really right like so like
I'm not obsessed with tactics I'm
obsessed with religion so I have a lot
of wealthy friends at this point who
think it's smart for them to sit first
class but the kids in coach it's a
tactic they send their kids to Africa to
build a school for a week it's a tactic
it's like my friends that love the
environment the number two sector in the
world that is hurting the environment is
the fashion industry
when you run the math of what's doing
bad to the Earth it's the number two
industry behind gas I I I don't even
want to say it because I'm not sure if
it's gas and oil the number two industry
this I know for a fact is the fashion
industry so all my fancy friends who
love the environment are they willing to
give up their [ __ ] Louis bags let's
see right so like I think people talk
[ __ ] so you let them sit coach and you
went first class but you went to you
know Hawaii and ate at all the best like
you can't pick and choose to me it's
binary so I don't want to be a hypocrite
so my big thing is like look you need to
be kind like mean mean is just
nonnegotiable in our family right and
then you just need to not be full of
[ __ ] if you want to look at Daddy's
mountain and you want to say what I did
to my dad's and that was a big mountain
for an immigrant like wow dad did it
right if you want to say I'm going to
climb that and I'm going to climb bigger
awesome like I'm pumped I'm weirdly not
cheering for you cuz I'm I'm just a
weirdly competive do this is actually
something I'm not proud of I I'm
comfortable saying this and I believe
this is a flaw but I don't want my kids
to beat me I don't like I don't I I hate
saying it I know this is where I get in
trouble people will take one little clip
from one video interview and they're
like you're bad I it's just my truth I
don't want to [ __ ] you guys like I'm
that competitive but they're my kids if
if anybody was to first of all I love
when people beat me cuz that's the
meritocracy of the game right like I'm a
good investor but Chris Saka was a
better investor and he's my homie and
I'm pumped for him cuz guess what he
deserved it right so like I won't be
upset if they beat me cuz they deserved
it but if they look at that and want to
go the other way and give away all of
mommy and daddy's money and be nonprofit
kids and like give it all away great
like I just want them to be Allin on
them right like I don't need them to be
an entrepreneur I don't need them to
make me proud they don't need to go to
Harvard they don't need to do [ __ ] they
need to be themselves Allin and they
need to be kind and I'm good
you are so fascinating you're like this
super weird conundrum so first of all
you won't let your son who's six five
four about to turn five okay you won't
let him score against you right SWAT
though I did something weird I did
something even worse than that I played
Mion I played them on basketball two-on
one the other day okay to five yeah and
this time I decided to let them go up
for
nothing this is really bad this is is
really bad the best part is when I hit
the game winner they collapsed into
tears I I hit this like we're in the
living room I hit the gamewinner the
couch is over there I hit the gamewinner
and they both just run to the couch cry
I mean like big tears and I was and and
Lizzie was there they're on her like ran
into her and I look at her and I'm I'm
just so happy and I'm like yes yes so I
won't let them score okay orn not let
them win now I'm starting to [ __ ] with
them right so scoring becomes strategic
for maximum punishment yeah that's good
but you did episode 118 I think with
your dad yes and you actually cried in
the episode when he said that he missed
driving with you to the store and you
guys didn't even talk about it by the
way and watching it I was like the [ __ ]
just happened I was it was in that
moment I realized that even the shtick
isn't shtick
like that it's just flavors of who you
really are which is amazing it's so
incredible it's but it's got to be for
people that don't really get into your
world it has to be almost impossible to
believe that that's really you that you
could love your [ __ ] kids more than
anything in the world but not judge
yourself to the point where you admit
like I kind of don't want him to beat me
yeah man I'm uh you know I you're you
clearly done some homework I yeah I'm a
contradiction I'm I'm pulling I'm
pulling from very opposite direction
which is why people struggle which is
why I get such extreme reactions when
people first encounter me you know even
looking this audience like some of them
immediately like yes and then some of
them here who are now yes were like [ __ ]
no right but yeah I I understand where
you're going with that yeah it's um it
is utterly fascinating and I think gives
people permission to actually be who
they are and as i' never thought about
it like this before but as as you were
talking just now I thought God is his
secret power that he doesn't judge
himself do you do you feel like you
judge yourself I don't that's a very
very very good observation and it's what
I want for everybody else we're beating
ourselves up like everybody sucks at
something right like we all have
shortcomings and we all have strengths
and for me it's like why don't we just
audit that like why don't we just look
at it that way and be like all right
well I'm good at this but I'm not good
at that like and then and then and then
I only focus what I'm good at that right
like I don't dwell that I can't fix [ __ ]
around the house I call somebody to fix
it like I'm not like I'm not a man I
don't give a [ __ ] like you know like
like you know like I don't I don't get
it like we all like I also think it's
awesome that I'm so emotionally stable
and I'm the emotional backbone of
everybody is that what a dude's supposed
to do like like these cliches these
stereotypes they're so silly um you're
exactly right man I don't judge myself
I'm fully in love with myself but I'm
also fully in love with everybody else
too right it's not like like it goes
both ways like I tell people to buy into
me that work for me it's cuz I buy into
them
first like I don't need anybody to gain
trust with me I it's there like I
believe that the human race is so
grossly underrated we are good of course
we have some bad there's [ __ ] 7
billion of us but like when you look at
our Net score it's Bonker [ __ ] like do
you know much damage we could be doing
to each other on a hourly basis and we
don't like we're still here like we won
we're the alpha being and we've figured
out how to stay together this is insane
when you think about it and yet
everybody wants to dwell on like
somebody said something mean what I love
is in that though is your whole concept
of nobody's ever let me down so this is
what I always tell people about the
things you're ever going to hear me say
will always be consistent with exactly
what I'd say if you woke me up in the
middle of the night and then punch me in
the head cuz it has to be so real it has
to be so so fundamental to who I am as a
human being that I'll give you that
answer even if I'm dazed and confused
right just because that is my [ __ ]
Northstar it's like my true foundation
and hearing you talk about how no one's
ever let you down it's like like like to
me it's just binary like unless it's
complete death blow death to me and my
17 people that I give a [ __ ] about like
everything else is super secondary and
let me tell you something if you
actually get into that mindset it gets
real good like everybody like makes
these big deals out of things that just
don't matter it's perspective you know
my selfishness comes from my
selflessness like it's what makes me
feel good I see it in my mother my mom
is the epicenter to every single person
in her life her sister-in-law her you
know cousins aunts everybody goes to her
that's her comfort zone me too Ask Gary
ve like like this is my comfort zone
like I like this like I hate when people
are like what can I do for you like I I
say nothing I don't want anything I hate
that feeling I went into my family
business cuz I felt like I owed it to
like pay them back those are my parents
so if that's what I feel about them what
do you think I think about everybody
else I love that so one of my favorite
Gary ve um answers was when asked what
you would do if your daughter when she
turns 14 uh goes into her room and is
filming all her videos and nobody likes
it and she comes out and says nobody in
this world loves me and your answer was
step your [ __ ] game up I believe is
the
answer about that the market is the
market man like like like you know if
nobody's watching your stuff like it's
not good enough like everybody thinks
their stuff is so good like every day
Gary my Instagram is so on fire it's so
awesome why is nobody like why am I not
gaining followers cuz it's not
awesome like of like it's just back to
the same like you've seen it you all
have friends and be like look how cute
my kid is and you're like uh you know
like like it's what we think we all
think our stuff is the best and like I
get that but yeah that would be my
advice only because that also is
liberating like PE like to me
everything's about breathing right like
to me everything is about like take full
ownership for everything and then
everything gets easy cuz then you're in
control and then learn how to love to
lose like for me my game's simple right
it's all my fault so now I'm not mad at
Lindsay or drock or that's it my fault
I'm empowering them so it's actually
true my fault now oh we lost this or
this didn't deliver or we [ __ ] up all
right it's an L like everybody's got
losses you know it's funny uh when UFC
started getting popular I started using
it to paint the picture I'm like look
Business and Entrepreneurship is much
more UFC than it is boxing in boxing a
loss is devastating like you know if you
ever you know if you're I'm a big boxing
fan like most big fights through like
the big big big fights through the year
almost it's just unbelievable amounts of
of 33 and0 versus 35 and0 right just
like that's what you do you don't fight
anybody and you get to that level
everybody's got losses in the
UFC and so I think that's how that's how
entrepreneurship that's how life is we
all have losses and so I like losses I
love adversity I like the climb I like
the chip on my shoulder I like when
people are like oh I knew it he's not
that good that is like like I'm even
weirdly scared as I continue to ascend
and I'm getting popular and what I what
did you say the marketing leading like
people start putting these words in
front of my name I'm like am I going to
sabotage myself to like recorrect this
like I like adversity so yeah all on me
you know I enjoy losses now all of a
sudden like what you become completely
Invincible I feel Invincible I really
genuinely outside of the health of
myself and 20 people feel 100%
Invincible as a
person I know what my intent is I want
to do good at nobody else's expense I'm
far from perfect we all are and so just
easy it feels very light to live life
I'm just in a good mood talk to me about
how your mom played into that cuz a ton
so I know your mom you've credited her
with really helping to build your
self-esteem but you're also a huge
believer in like don't fool yourself
don't tell yourself you're good at
something you're not so how did she make
you feel so good about yourself she walk
strling that's a great great that's a
very you're doing a good job here thank
you sir that's a very no it's a very
good to ask it because the truth is she
strategically used [ __ ] and real
what I think in hindsight she did was
she
overemphasized things that were
subjective or good so she really I I'll
never forget this I opened the door for
a woman in McDonald's in Edison New
Jersey literally like when I was eight
just you know we were both walking with
a little head and I opened it and let
her walk through if I tell you that my
mom basically treated that event like I
won the Nobel Peace Prize for like 3
weeks but but think about how smart that
is like think about how reinforcing that
played out played out so much that one
of the most interesting comments in the
250 blogs that I've done was I got uh an
email from somebody who said hey Gary ve
you know this is this comes like hey at
first I thought like H you know and then
I got into it a little bit and I was
watching this Vlog and then the other
day you really you nailed it home and
I'm like you know I'm reading I'm like I
can't wait to see what I did he's like
you went into the elevator and you let
all your employees go
first and you know it's just so
interesting right these subtle little
things it's import it's so fascinating
what matters to people and I get it like
I actually think that's right but it's
so weaving into me at this point I don't
even I don't recognize that um that's
what she did well she made she made big
deals out of the things that were tried
and true and then and then when I got
these and Fs she punished me even though
she knew I didn't need School in her
heart she made me know that there was
accountability for things so I would
lose television and video game and
Friends privileges for it would always
be for a month she'd break down
somewhere around day 14 13 my sister
would tattle on me when I would sneaking
TV it was a funny it was a sick hom in
itself the three of us um she uh she she
really made me feel special man she
really did it right she really really
really pounded home my EQ my kindness
I've done it with Xander too uh he went
to the playground when he was two we
were at the playground a little
three-year-old kid falls and skids his
knee and he walked over and was like are
you okay and I made that like a two-
week thing right like empathy right and
so and so she just she just really did a
good job
of making me feel good about the things
that were around my kindness and my
support of my sister and my leadership
skills of my friends and taking the you
know I took a bullet once for something
my friend did in the neighborhood and
she thought that was a good thing and
just just kind of those personality
traits that I think you know if we all
if all of us everybody watching wrote
down like personality traits that we
admire anytime I showed any uh of those
actions she drove them home and I think
modern day parents and most parents do
not do that I think they focus on dumb
[ __ ] like grades uh because they are
insecure and they want to put the bumper
sticker that their kid went to you know
Stanford like it's real [ __ ] up when
you really think about what's actually
happening um so much of it is misery
loves company or people reflecting of
what's inside of them that's really
interesting you know when I decided that
I wanted to work with you when I saw
your employees hugging each other
without it wasn't uh like greeting they
just were standing next to each other
and they both put an arm around each
other and I saw a couple different
people do it so so it wasn't like I just
happened to see people that were dating
or something and I thought the employees
like each other like that's such an
amazing sign of what you're building and
I know how hard it is to work that into
the culture into creative safe space
where people are really excited about
what they do where they come in they
feel it it it just permeates the entire
office and now having you know been to
your offices several times it's like you
get that sense that a people like what
they're doing and I'm sure they work
really [ __ ] hard but they like what
they're doing and they like each other
and that was that was a big thing for me
that's because you have experience like
you didn't take that for granted sure
the biggest thing I fear at Vayner media
is the kids that come out of school and
work at Vayner media and after 3 years
you know you're 25 and you're like well
what else might be out there right like
they love it they love Vader media I I
mean I'm the ones that I'm thinking of
some people don't I mean look Vader
media is the Serendipity of who you
interact with the clients you have like
there's a lot that can go into it
there's no one Vayner media there's no
one America there's no one anything
right um
but yeah they've been getting caught
this grass is greener thing and I'm
actually very weird I'm starting to try
to now we're at a scale where I'm a
little loosening it up but for the first
5 years you couldn't come back cuz it
was a vulnerability sure like now we're
at a different scale and now I'm
considering it a little bit more and
we've taken a couple people back um
through the years I would break my own
rule because I think that's important
you have to be flexible but um yeah it's
uh I appreciate you saying that but I
think that's because you understand how
difficult that is at scale sure when you
have 700 employees to have a real
culture of like good that's hard cuz you
have a lot going on when did you decide
to do the um Chief heart
officer um so Claude was an incredible
employee she was an SVP she which means
she ran a piece of business she was
running the Unilever business and the
way that the 30 people that interacted
with they were bought into her at a
level that was incredible she she and I
just had an instant chemistry all this
stuff were talking about here that's
what we talked about not the other stuff
and we started talking about maybe her
potentially doing something else and
having a bigger impact on the company
not just running this piece of business
and then out of nowhere she quit and it
was devastating for me I was you know
that gut punch I was just like frozen
because I don't get cut off guard that
much cuz EQ is so good it just
completely caught me off guard and
literally it was amazing talk about like
like leadership and like like some
things that I'm proud of about myself I
get punched in the face and before she
leaves the room of like her telling me
she's leaving which was a 25 minute
conversation somewhere 7 minutes into it
the last 18 minutes I was thinking about
the plan of making sure she didn't land
anywhere that would be too settling so
that I could get her back right and
basically I didn't want her to feel the
full core pressure but a month later I
started like meeting up with her and
having drinks and how's it going and and
and and I think the best way back to all
the energy of this conversation you
heard what I just said and what I did
was I tried to get her the best job in
the world that I could like my way of
getting her back was by trying to help
her more than it would help me that's
just K karma is
practical I love how people think karma
is like this weird thing doing good for
other people is a good strategy like I I
like it's like you know I've been like
trying to I'm like why does this thing
even exist it's actually the most common
sense thing of all time why is karma
seem weird the [ __ ] is karma like wait a
minute so you're telling me like if you
do lots of good things that weirdly good
things happen to you yeah that seems
like common
sense like it's amazing to me anyway I
tried to do all the right things it's we
started rolling there there seemed to be
an opportunity for somebody to sit above
our current head of HR um and
so we decided there was that opportunity
but I could not call her the head of HR
I did not want the world to think of
that's what we were doing and I wanted
her to sit at the pedestal as the most
important person in the company besides
me more than the CFO more than the COO
which got you into Chief right and then
you know heart just seemed right like it
just seemed like a nice word you know so
would would you know it didn't it didn't
have like you know if she was Chief
emotion officer then she'd be CEO and
that' be weird you know like like so it
just it just fit and have you seen other
companies pick this up we've seen
companies like NASA and other big
companies reach out to us and they're
like auditing us wow I have a feeling
that it could happen
yeah I feel it could happen that would
be a great legacy yeah dude I'll tell
you from the outside watching that and
understanding the really weird dynamic
that is the HR department where they
present themselves to the employee as we
work for you but in truth behind the
scenes they feel Essen it's not a
fiduciary responsibility it's that same
kind of idea to the business right I
don't want the business to get sued and
here's what's going on they have to be
careful of and it's like God the
employees feel that man and that's why I
think we're winning because you know and
we have our stuff listen we just did a
major reorg 60 people let go that's
really hard to convince people you're
the best but you are the best cuz you're
doing it for the mass like it's the
right thing to do but uh I'll tell you
the person who deserves the most credit
I would say Alan Harker like he's the
Chief Financial Officer and he's been
incredible he's new and he's been
incredible in
not you know he he I told him during the
interview process I'm like this is a bad
gig we will make decisions that are not
financially sound based on my intuition
of where there's growth based on what we
think about people um it's been really
interesting right like we've we've we've
we're trying to help our leaders become
better business people because I believe
in them Lindsay right you get to work
with her Viner Talent she knows what
she's doing and she she runs a tight p&l
but then I'm always trying to break it
you know her and it's a it's a matrix
for them right because when they sit
with Allan and she Financial they're
trying to run a business but then I'll
come over to top and be like no this is
working hire more and you're going to
have a negative p&l this year but
they're like but Allan I'm like [ __ ]
Allen works for me and it's like you
know like it's a whole thing it's a
whole thing but it's been great because
we're back to pushing for opposite
directions I'm seeing it right I'm
letting the company do its thing but I'm
a force that's equal to the company of
magic right and I'm pushing and now I'm
starting to really figure it out I'm
kind of like almost weirdly separating
them I'm even thinking like things like
a Gary tax right like if if and and
basically that's just offense right
that's Lindsay saying hey I really see
it I want to go for it and I'm like cool
you know Gary taxs it and so like while
which what that would mean is that she
can still run the business or her
division properly subtract the weird
things I did dollars wise and then see
if she's running an actual business
because what was happening was the
leaders were all under Gary tax and they
didn't know how to run a business
because my halo of being able to create
Topline Revenue protected all their
inabilities and as we scale and I want
to give them other opportunities I
needed them to be able to be capable
outside of magic yeah yeah for sure all
right there's one thing I I have to I've
never talked about that before
no I love that was good right I saw that
you were loving it and I was like and
then I was like man that was that's cool
but that's but that's a really
interesting thing for entrepreneurs that
are scaling businesses because
entrepreneurship is actually completely
in contradiction to running a a a proper
business they're opposites no I've
always said the reason that we were
successful at Quest was because we knew
to Zig when everybody else is zagging
like you have to be able to make the
counterintuitive Choice have to and by
the way it's super [ __ ] weird so when
you and I met for dinner
like 5 months ago at this point um I had
pitched what I pitched to you to I don't
know how many people 30 40 people and
every single one of them looked at me
like what the [ __ ] and they literally
had no idea what I was talking about and
I said look uh a huge part of what's
driving this is when Disney acquired
Marvel Studios like that changed
everything for me and I knew what needed
to be done I knew what that opened up in
the market and you said and I quote my
entire life is predicated on the fact
that Disney bought Marvel and I was like
what the [ __ ] it was like
the first time it went from getting
looked at like I was out of my [ __ ]
mind to somebody was like yeah yeah I
know I know I was like it was very
fascinating but that's like when you
realize that it's the ability to see
that it's the ability to see the oblique
angle and more [ __ ] importantly it's
the ability to believe in yourself
enough to Rally a team behind you and
say this is what we're going to do
because what I'm telling everybody is
we're going to build a studio bigger
than Disney now you can imagine how
everyone looks at me right like think of
you in the early days saying that you're
going by the Jets every you're a [ __ ]
idiot I get it so saying that it's like
that that to me is being an entrepreneur
versus a business person who can run a
positive pnl and they understand all
that and I'm fully going to steal your
notion of coming in like magic yep um
but yeah that is that's a key insight
for anybody that really wants to be an
entrepreneur it's not the license to be
Reckless because I'm prepared to come in
and and now [ __ ] execute against
building Disney what's super interesting
is and those people that are CFOs and
CEOs and Coos they think that's the
magic I always laugh at them I'm like
you're a commodity right there's
millions of you that's math that's easy
to understand I I always say if you want
to be an anomaly you have to act like
one like people want all these special
things to happen but then they're acting
like everybody else and that gets into
the Saturdays on in your 20s like or or
just like taking risks or things of that
nature like I I totally agree with you I
I I think about as you know that picture
where like it looks like two people
kissing or it looks like a glass of
shamp
like I just basically think at this
point in my business life the world sees
the glass of champagne and I see the two
people
kissing like I just can see it like I
know what's coming like now it's about
where do you want to take advantage of
it like I knew seven eight years ago
that the phone was at there was nothing
else like like like everyone's like oh
like I know that ABC CBS and NBC is
finished their infrastructures their
infrastructure costs don't match the
reality of consumer Behavior we are
going to watch things on Ott whether
it's Netflix or Hulu or Amazon
Facebook's coming out with original
programming in a month right we're going
to watch it now if it's [ __ ] we won't if
it's a bad show we won't if it's a good
show you'll watch it and that's that and
so like I know that's coming I know
every brick and mortar retailers in deep
[ __ ] I know that's coming I know
influencer marketing hasn't even started
you know like I there's a lot of things
I can tell you that are going to happen
over the next 3 or four years it's about
what are you going to do about it which
one are you going to choose where the
opportunities where the angles right I
have one more question for you but tell
them where they can find you
online uh Gary be is where I am mostly
on Twitter Instagram Snapchat and then
on Facebook it's SL Gary um and that's
probably the right place to go all right
what is the impact that you want to have
on the world so I would say this is my
current POV because I think it's
actually important that I have a
different answer for this at 50 and 60
because you're G to adjust to the
reality I'll give you a good example
if something terrible happens in my life
and it's disease-based or it's because
some kid was texting while he was
driving and hit my dad those will become
things that I want to leave a legacy
about because that's just how we act as
humans right they become your truths but
no question this will never go away
I want to do the following I'm
fascinated by the same thing that
attracts so many of millions of people
to people that are selling [ __ ]
those same people are attracted to me
and what I want to do is suffocate out
all those other people and become the
alpha of that entire world of people
that are are hoping and are
desperate to look at me and what I want
to do is inspire two 14-year-old girls
in Kansas City right now to build a
billion dollar company on having a bunch
of employees hugging each other in the
halls I think that Steve Jobs came along
became an icon
but the sad part of that narrative was
he did not treat his employees well he
became an icon and the narrative became
he got the most out of people by being a
jerk and that became romanticized and a
lot of people in Silicon Valley today
run companies where they're mean because
they think that's the right thing to do
because they put Steve Jobs on a
pedestal I want my pedestal moment I
want to become that big and what I want
to come from that is that kids that
aren't even born today think that they
can build a $5 billion company
and be a great guy or great gal I want
to build the biggest building in town
ever by just building the biggest
building in town while I think most
people try to tear down everybody else's
building so I think positivity and good
is practical advice to building an
empire and I want to be the poster child
of the person that built the biggest
baddest Empire and did it by being a
good dude along the way and not
everybody's going to be happy about
everything I did but if it's 97 7% of
people talking good behind your back
that's a real Legacy and I want to do it
in a pop culture way I'm going to do it
anyway people have done that before just
so you know there's plenty of people
Warren Buffett's a really good dude like
there's plenty of people that have done
that there's a difference I want to do
it and I want to be a rock star right
like and that's where you influence
people like you know like I want to do
it but I also want to be the most
popular and so then that person's like
oh I want to be him so I guess I'll be
nice like I want to literally take
people who have DNA that's kind of nice
and make them more nice because they
think that's how I became big so I
basically want to trick the business
world into becoming
Kinder I love that answer man thank you
thank so
awesome all right guys you're going to
want to dive into the weird and
wonderful world that is Gary vaynerchuk
online is absolutely insane the sheer
volume of stuff that he puts out and
what I love about him is he is trying to
give away every secret that he has for
free for anybody that's willing not only
to listen to what he's saying but to
actually watch what he's doing and I'm
telling you right now I watch everything
he does like a [ __ ] Hawk
because there is so much amazing [ __ ]
happening there and the fact that he's
trying to do things the right way he is
completely transparent in a world where
I believe the only things that are going
to set you apart as an entrepreneur
other than your ability to actually
build a business by the way is your
willingness to be trans trans arent and
authentic if people can actually connect
to you I think for the right type of
entrepreneur it opens up a window that
is incredible that is never before been
seen in human history now I am somebody
who prides himself on being an
otherworldly marketer and I built a very
large business by understanding
something in marketing that other people
didn't understand but at the same time
you know me I'm never afraid to admit
when I'm wrong and there was a time
where I realized he was doing something
better than I was doing and I just sat
at his feet and I'm doing my best to
learn so guys I'm telling you it will
not not be wasted time and effort he is
an emotional conundrum I am only just
now beginning to understand like what is
going on with this man but it is
incredible he doesn't judge himself he
is completely who he is he recognizes
his strengths he plays to that he finds
people that can help him with the
negative side and being around him is
like being around a fire many people
warn their hands on it and become better
as a result so dive in you guys and if
you haven't already be sure to subscribe
this is a weekly show and until next
time be Legend take care
awesome good so fun that was
great hey everybody thanks so much for
joining us for another episode of impact
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[Music]
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