#AskGaryVee Episode 15: Pareto's Principle

– [Voiceover] Iwona asks, “What would you do if you
were in your dad’s shoes “and you didn’t come to
the US until you were 23?” – You know, Iwona, I want to believe that if I came to the US in the way that my dad did, which was not only at 23 years old, but also with a child and
another one on the way, that I would do the
same thing that he did, which was completely work
his face off to allow the next generation to kind
of build on top of that, and so, you know, I don’t think I would’ve
done anything different. I think a lot of it’s circumstance. My dad had a great uncle
who had a liquor store that he got to work in. That great uncle passed away and it was just all these
kind of different variables. I think circumstance has a lot to do with what I would’ve done, but the one thing I
know I would’ve done is work every hour of every day.

– [Voiceover] Tommy asks, “In 13 thoughts of being an entrepreneur, “you say you focus on top
line versus bottom line. Why?” – Tommy, you know, one thing I think a lot
of entrepreneurs do, especially ones that are
just starting companies, since I invest in so many of them, that completely blows me away is they start looking to drive margin, profit very early on. The reason I always focus
on top line revenue, and it was something I
did in my dad’s business and something that AJ felt
when I started going full time on the Vayner front was
you can always drive your profits higher eventually, but when you cut a moment in time, and when I run businesses,
I tend to innovate, and I tend to be slightly
ahead of the market, and the market eventually
catches up to me, and then that’s the good thing. That’s the moment when it gets exciting. People start believing
in social media marketing or believing in internet
e-commerce wine businesses or believing in Australian, New
Zealand, South African wine, I have to really run fast
and grab as many customers because I’m slightly ahead. Then three, four, five, six, seven, eight years down the line, I can start driving profit. You can always start cutting costs and raising prices at any time, but land grabbing more customers gives you leverage of the scale that you ultimately need to convert them, and so I think people go
in for the right hook, the big right hook a lot
of times way too early, sometimes to appease investors, sometimes because they just
want to start buying boats and Rolexes, and I’m just kind of pushing
and building leverage for the long term. – Hey, Gary. John Lee Dumas,

Entrepreneur on Fire here, and I have a #AskGaryVee question. Pareto’s Law states that 80
percent of our desired outcomes come from just 20 percent
of our activities. Do you agree with this? If so, what’s your 20? – That’s a great question. I think a lot of people
have brought that up. I know a lot of people in our
organization believe in that. I’ve heard a lot of
people believe in that. You know, do I believe in
that and what is my 20? John, first of all,
congrats on your podcast. I probably think weirdly enough that it might even be more extreme. There’s a big part of me that thinks it’s probably closer to 98 and two. Then there’s another part of me that believes it’s two and 98. I am the kind of person
that doesn’t give a crap about other people’s laws or principles. What feels right for me is execution. I think when people start knowing… This is kind of what I talk about, my naivety or lack of knowledge helps me. I think if I knew about this law prior to you bringing it up… I mean, I’ve heard about the 80/20 rule, but I didn’t know the official name. If I knew about this law, it would actually make we
want to play within that law, and then that would probably
take away from the strength that I create every day. People asked me what the ROI
of the #AskGaryVee show is a couple episodes ago. You hardcore watchers know, and I say, “Well, this is
selling my fourth book.” Here’s what I think. I think human beings
overthink shit, right? And try to buy into some sort of thesis, read a book that makes them feel good, whether it’s Crush It! or Pareto’s Law, or whatever it’s called, and I think that is a fundamental problem. I think when we start
coming from what’s authentic and what feels more natural… You know, the law I believe in is that my mom and dad
had sex at a moment, created me, and I’m taking
this DNA to the finish line. That law. That’s the law I believe in.

– [Voiceover] Robert asks, “I know viewers get a
lot out of your new show, “but what is the most
significant experience “that you get out of it?” – Robert, that’s a tremendous question. I appreciate it. You know, for me, it’s
kind of weird, right? I have this whole chapter
of doing video blogging on an everyday basis
that I enjoyed so much I did it for five and a half years. I think the best thing I have
is being back in the game, a game that I love. I mean, I love running businesses, but doing this video blogging thing, it’s just a lot of fun for me. The other thing that really
I get a lot out of it, a lot of you hardcore old
schoolers will remember Mott and those kind of things. I mean, DRock, show this. Show Andy, and there’s
Zack and Joe Stunwin, and here we are in… By the way, DRock, he
loves it like all clean. Show the table, DRock. He was scared that you
guys would be like… He’s a little polished for me at times, but the biggest thing I get is that here I am in Atlantic City… By the way, little fun fact real quick. Preshow to this Sunday
night’s Miss America from eight to nine, I think
I’m getting a lot of action so make sure you DVR
that and check that out, but here I am in Atlantic City. What would be going on right now? I would be sleeping or doing e-mail, but here I’m jamming. There’s kind of like team, like family thing. I love that so much. I’m creating something. Creating something is special, and so I appreciate you guys
caring enough at enough scale to make me want to continue to do this, and build something. There’s no substitute for the feeling of accomplishing something, and that’s what I feel is happening here. Thanks so much. Thanks for watching this episode.