I love the new series. So, for the past 18 months,
I’ve been delivering daily emails to a community
of thousands of women. And this fall, my
startup was getting ready to launch its first product. It’s interactive workshop,
called Victory Rituals, where we flip the morning
routine on its head. As we go from concept to final product, what’s the best way to empower our readers to help us spread the word
about Victory Rituals? Look forward to your thoughts. – You got it, Nicole. I like how you positioned that, Nicole. How could we empower our readers to spread the word. What you mean is, how do we get our readers
that we’ve been able to amass, to spread the word so
we can get more people into our funnel and sell
this thing, which is great, because we are talking
about business here. Two ways, there’s only two ways. And everybody saw lovely
Nicole ask the question. And she was very politically
correct, in my opinion, and structuring it properly. But what you’re basically saying is, I’ve amassed an audience and
now I want to sell them stuff and not only do I want to sell them stuff, because I feel like I’m entitled
to because I’ve given them a bunch of free content on email over the course of these
last couple of months, or year, Nicole, how
you’ve been doing it, plus. But I also want them to not only buy, but then I also want
them to spread the word so other people buy. There’s only two ways to have
the audacity to make that ask. And that’s what that is, my friends. You can be doing a daily email and putting out great content. You could be putting out
a great show, every day. But then you come to that moment. A book, a something. And there’s only two ways to convert. Number one, write a good book. In your case, Nicole, your product needs to be good. Is it worth the $38? Is it worth the $83? Is it worth the $388? Is it worth the $883? There used three and eights in there if anybody was paying attention. So, first and foremost,
the best way to convert and empower them, aka have
them push it on to others, is by putting out something
great that they want to tell other people to use. They valued it more than they paid for it. Number two is good old fashioned honesty. You just need to be
really upfront with them of what you want from them. You want them to share your video. You want them to go to your website. You need to be upfront with the fact that here are the things that you want. And so, for me, it’s
putting out a great product that’s worth the money. And number two, not
hedging your right hook. Just asking for it, like a woman. – [Voiceover] Dan asks,
“What’s your process for vetting clients,
specifically at VaynerMedia?”

So, you know, I just quit my job at radio after being on air since
I was 16 years old. I kinda risked everything
for this new Dash Radio app. I hope you’ve checked it out. You’ve gotta tell me
your favorite station. But what was the riskiest
thing you’ve ever done in your career? Because it was tough for me to leave something I’ve been at for so long, especially an institution
like traditional radio, in order to try something new with zero listeners today to disrupt that industry. What was the toughest choice you ever made in your life or in business
about leaving something that you’ve done to do something new? – You know, again, the enormous excitement I have behind doing this show
and thank you all for allowing me to do this show, is predicated on the fact
that I get to tell you things you’ve never heard before. I’m gonna say something
that I’ve never ever ever ever ever ever have
talked about before. Which is the toughest
professional thing I’ve ever done. My cliche answer historically
has been, you know, leaving the Wine Library
with is my first love, and that’s a very big truth. But as I’ve started becoming a little bit more in
tune with my own feelings and have given this thought, the toughest thing I ever had to do, and Steve, pay attention to me. You’ll like this answer. The toughest thing I ever had to do, believe it or not, was make the decision that I was okay with putting myself out there. You know, a lot of you
probably have at this point forgotten because the Gary Vee persona and narrative has taken over
my career and my Wikipedia and things of that nature. But the first 10 to 15
articles that have ever been written about me in the
AP and the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal was, “Wiz Kid Builds Business.” That the establishment,
the business world, the people that I look up to in ways, maybe not specifically because I don’t really have heroes, but respect their opinions
and their accomplishments. I went from the narrative of being a great business operator that
saw trends and executed it for financial gain,
which is like something everybody deems to be so noble in business to being a self promoter, to being a social media guru. To being an author. Making the decision that I could accept the rolling of the eyes
of the Ivy League grads or the establishment to get bigger reach, to build audience to jam with people, to be human and extroverted and taking that step back or two or three in the minds of the top two or three percent was a pretty interesting,
difficult decision for me. Knowing what the consequences were of putting myself out there
and that I would be respected less for my
business accomplishments because of it wasn’t the easiest thing
that I ever had to deal with and something that’s very honestly I still continue to deal with. I, now, this is where you
start getting into the, I don’t know, DRock, if you
wanna make it dark. But this is where you start
getting into the darkest stuff. In a weird way, I like the underestimation that comes along with it as well. Because the truth is the
reason that entrepreneurship and business speaks to me
especially in an American context is that the truth is undefeated. That ultimately, you
know, if I go and execute multiple hundred million dollar businesses and make smart investments, it’s all net net, right? Like you may not like
the fact that I don’t dress up or that I curse on
stage or that I self promote or whatever you wanna call it. But if I execute, you just have to eat it. And so that was clearly,
DJ, that was clearly the toughest thing for me, which was that I was consciously self aware
that I was entering a realm where I would start
becoming more disrespected even though my accomplishments
were gonna be greater. That mis-positioning was something that, that was tough.

“personal/business goals –
aside from owning the Jets? “What do you find useful in the process?” You know, I really don’t
set any business goals other than to continue to gain leverage. You know, pay forward. Provide value to the audience. Make money. Keep it practical and ambitious. But I don’t have a goal of like, “I’m gonna get VaynerMedia to 100 million “and then this is gonna happen,” or “The fund is gonna return three times “its 25 million dollar
investment at Vayner RSE “and then this will happen,” or, “In four years, I’m gonna get into the “car wash business.” I just don’t go that route. My route is really my fundamental play is I always talk about my
one goal being the Jets and for the hardcore people
that followed my career, I’m gonna throw a little
bit of a curveball to you, give you a little more fun fact. That’s kinda the thing that
I wanna do with this show. The only other core strategy I have is collecting people. You know, finding the
individuals that I think I can jam with for the next 15, 20, 30, 45 years professionally. That to me is the global strategy. Who can I do business with
as a teammate forever.

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] 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,

– Hey Gary this is Ian Westerman from EssentialTennis.com, I’ve
got a quick question for you for #AskGaryVee.
First and foremost though, thank you so much for what you do. It was six years ago that I
was commuting an hour in each direction to a job back and forth, listening to Crush It!, and
that book fired me up so much. So, my question for you is,
when you played tennis or at if you’re still playing tennis now, do you see parallels
between tennis and business and being successful in
either one, or in both? What are those? I’d be really curious
to hear your thoughts. – Great, great question,
you know it’s really interesting to me, tennis
is a game I love a lot, and I’ve recently figured
out how not good I am because I’ve met a lot
of private school kids, rich kids who play tennis
a lot, and were on the college tennis team,
and so I love the game and I like playing the
people that give me good 6-4, 7-6, 6-2 kinda
matches in both directions I have a lot of fun with
it and I like it a lot and as a matter of fact I
really do see one parallel and I never thought about this before, and this is really why I
love the #AskGaryVee Show, (bell) ting, you know,
I do see a parallel. I’m blown away that I
once lost a match that I was winning five zero in a set. And I’m also super happy,
can somebody get Nate, Zak, can you get Nate? This is gonna be fun. I’m also happy that you
know and you’ve heard me talk about half time adjustments, right, I’m the coach, they’ll be down 21 nothing, and then it’s 23-21 and I won because I didn’t game plan well but I adjusted? That to me is tennis, right? To me tennis is fascinating
’cause the set is very long, and you can be down three zero and then you’re adjusting. You’re seeing patterns. For example, – [Nate] Yo. – [Gary] Nate, is it true,
is it true that you’ve never beaten me in tennis? – Unfortunately yes. – Now, is it also true
that you once had me down five, you’ve had me, like help me here, you’ve had me down 5-2 twice? – Yep. – Right, and you lost those matches. – Yes. – Okay, so what I did
in those matches were – Done? – That was it, thanks bro. So in those matches when
I was down 5-2 to Nate, what happened was, you
know, one I just like refused to lose, but two,
I really kind of took a step back, looked at
what happened in those first seven games, and
started attacking either weaknesses of his or strengths of mine, it’s a very mental game, I was reacting to what was already happening
in that specific set, and I was able to adjust
then and win 7-5 much to my happiness, and so
much like in business, people set out to do
things, it’s kinda like the Mike Tyson quote, right? “Everybody’s got a plan until they get punched in the face.” You know, that’s what I see in tennis and that’s what I see in business. You have your business plan. You think you’re gonna succeed. And then you’re out in
the market and somebody copies your product for
less, or is better than you, or nobody really wanted your stupid app. You gotta adjust. And in tennis, ’cause it’s a
set, it takes a lot of time to that for that kind
of like set to like form and you’ve gotta adjust to, wait a minute he’s playing off of
his backhand, let me go at his backhand, things
of that nature, let me go to the net because I’m not
winning this baseline game. The adjustments in real
time, and the emotion and composure, and the
intestinal fortitude to be down 5-2 and come back
and win, that’s how I see it.

what role does internal culture play in the company’s success? Can you give one concrete
tip on building that culture? Ekaterina, how are you doing? It’s always great to hear from you, I’m glad you’re on the show. Company culture is actually the only, you know what’s funny,
it’s funny this question’s coming up today, I actually
on the way to work today said, “you know what, the
book that I’m gonna write that’s really gonna like,” you know, I always think is Crush It!,
ooh, Thank You Economy’s gonna sneak up on people.
I know, as I sit here today, the book that I write
on culture and how to build an organization through humans, not CFO cash tactics, is
gonna be my book legacy, so whenever I get to that,
so it’s everything to me, as an operator I’m all E.Q. over I.Q., the one concrete tactic I have is way too many people make
decisions on who they fire or hire based on money. “Oh, we have the budget
to hire another designer, or camera person, or” like
it’s a financial decision. All my decisions on hiring
and firing are emotional. What is it gonna do to
the collective community? You know, if I fire this
person, who’s so popular internally, because they
have great people skills, will that hurt everybody else, and can I can I push that person
into another direction to help them get another job over 90 days instead of firing them
abruptly in one day? That costs me a lot more money, but does a hell of a lot for me in the culture. And so, that is my one concrete kind of curve ball haven’t heard a lot of
people talk about that kind of stuff, example.

“on presenting your consultant services “to a potential client?” – Drew, isn’t this a
funny little yin and yang, one, two, with the last question? I don’t know, I mean the answer is are you good at making a Power Point? Can you make a video that’s
like a little bit better? Or can you sell like me, which
is forget everything else and just walk in and close the deal? There are, the last two
questions are questions that happen all the time, and
here’s what I will tell you, I appreciate the kind words, the Tweets, the admiration that I see in the comments, I’ve been following very carefully. It’s been so fun. The feedback’s incredible,
I really appreciate it. But let me tell you one thing. What works for me does not
necessarily work for you. So many of you do so many
things better than I do, that it makes me want to
vomit on this football, blah, like, you know, and what you need to do is take a step back, ask your friends if you’re not self-aware or EQ oriented. But you need to figure
out what you’re good at. The answer to your question, the answer to the last question and the answer to a lot of things I’m seeing using the hashtag #AskGaryVee, are very personal questions that I would never know
unless I’ve known you. I know Zak, right? I know Steve, right? I know is it around your neck? Okay, I’m taking it. Yeah, that’s right, I don’t, don’t worry, don’t worry. Oh shoot, this is way
heavier than I thought. I know DRock, right? (person laughs) I know these characters, a little bit, like I know them, getting
to know them more, I have a sense of their
strengths and weaknesses, and I would like to think that if you ever talked
about them on a corner screen or a conference, or you
talked to them on Twitter, I spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to put them in the best positions to succeed based on what
I think they’re good at. And I could do that for you, if I had a lot of time, but I don’t. And the reality is very simple, you need to figure that out. The answer to that question, the one before, and the one
that so many of you have, is predicated on your
natural God-given ability or the things you’ve worked very hard at to amass that skill, period. – [Voiceover] Michael asks,
“What criteria do you use

– [Voiceover] Duke asks, what
would you say A.J. has learned and applied from you in business, and, would he be willing to answer
this question on the show? – Duke, memo alert. This is the #AskGaryVee show. This is not the Ask A.J.
Vee show with no silent E’s. This is my show, I answer the questions. There is no A.J. answering the questions. It’s me, I do it, it’s my show. Take it away, bro. – Duke, thanks so much for the question. It’s a really good one, and
one that I could probably spend a couple of hours talking through, but I know this show
is long enough already. Tryin’ to think through it, like I said, there’s a lot I could go through. I think one of the biggest
things is perspective. I think that, in the course of
growing a business very fast, there’s a lot that gets thrown at you. And there’s a lot of good,
and there’s a lot of bad. And it’s really keeping
the highs not too high, and the lows not too low. And really taking a step back, thinking about the wider impact of everything that’s happening and really, just not stressing yourself out too much. I think every day goes by, a lot happens, but you can really just
focus on what’s important, think about the big picture. That’s been massively beneficial for me as we’ve grown the business
together at Vayner. Another huge one for me, is just the value of the team and HR. And just really focusing on personalizing the experience with your staff. I think, you know, when focusing on HR, I think there’s a temptation
to be a little bit too by-the-book, you
know follow a process, a handbook, of how to handle reviews, and how to handle situations, and we very much take a
look at every situation that comes our way, with
anybody that we work with. And really personalize
that, and really think about the situation and the impact of it. And don’t use a cookie cutter system. I think just really
focusing on HR, you know, we grew very fast at Vayner,
we went through a spurt, of, roughly, from 12
employees to 25 employees, to 100 to 250 to 400. And when you’re growing that fast, I think the two things
that I’ve mentioned: really keeping perspective
and big-picture thoughts, and really making sure that
you’re focusing on the team, and the team within, and
focusing on their growth, how they work with you, how
they work with each other, and those are the two biggest
things I think I’ve taken away from working with Gary and
having him as my brother, my business partner, and my mentor. And my best friend. – ‘Preciate it bro, nice answer.

– [Voiceover] John asks,
when you’re in a funk, what do you do to get out of it? – John, you’ve asked a
question that I’ve been really excited to share with the world, because it works, it is very dark. Like, this is dark, so,
I know that most people when they share my content say, beware, potty mouth McGee. This one’s beware, you
may be like, frightened, with a little bit of like a teardrop on your left eye. Left. (thumping) I’m gonna tell you the truth, because that was the commitment
when I decided to do this, which, you know, obviously I’m able, well Steve’s curating the questions but I could always kibosh them, so, when I start doing these live,
or when we do live events, or we take this show on the road and it’s audience participation
then it’ll really be the full monty but for now, I’m answering them and I’m
answering them truthfully. This is a dark one, I’m
stalling ’cause it’s dark. It’s dark. When I’m in a funk, I
literally close my eyes, put myself into a place where, something remarkable happens to me. You know, CNN names me the greatest man of all time. You know, just literally
like silly things like, I get on a list of being
the best entrepreneurs, or, Birchbox sells for
four billion dollars and I make a lot of money, or, the full extreme, when
I’m in my most funk, I literally try, usually I
do things that are realistic, and happen within a one-year window. But in my deepest funks, I’ll project, this is harder, this is
a little more role play, ’cause when I think about stuff that’s gonna happen,
intimately, it feels real. But I’ll dream about buying the Jets. And I’ll think about those great things, and then I literally, I literally make pretend
that Birchbox sells, that I make millions
and millions of dollars, and that that’s the phone call, and the next phone call is
from my hysterical sister telling me that my mother
died in a car accident. And I really do that. And I really go there. And it very, like, I’m very, as you guys know me,
I’m an emotional character. I go there, and it really does
something interesting for me. I really don’t care that I
made seven million dollars, if my mom died. I just really don’t. And I can, even as I’m
telling you this right now, I can feel it, I can truly feel how little I care about that, in comparison to what I
would feel with that pain, and very honestly, it
just sets me straight. It just reminds me what my priorities are, and it allows me to
understand that the health of my children or my wife, I mean, the fear and the shivers
I get when I think about their passing, in, you know, in real live, like them dying. And it just sets me so straight. It just makes me realize, how non-important losing that client was, or that best employee, or that
deal, or that opportunity. Passing on Uber, in the first round, which would have given
me 100 million dollars. In paper, so they gotta go public. But it’s pretty damn in there. Is something I can deal with, because, the truth is, it’s just
not what makes me happy. And more importantly, I’m so happy that everybody I love has
been healthy for so long, losing grandparents early
has put me in that position, so a negative is a positive,
and that’s what I do. I go in a very strange cocoon, and make pretend that
people I love the most die. – Gary Vee,