“What do you is a bigger
obstacle to success, “a lack of time or a lack of capital?” – Roberto, this is a tremendous question. I think the biggest obstacle to success is a lack of optimism. That question in itself
is the problem, my friend. Right? You’re looking at two things
that are both negatives, and guess what? Both of ’em are obstacles. When I started winelibrary.com, transformation for my business, I had time, I worked my
face off every minute, but we didn’t have a whole lot
of money in our profit center so it took more time, right? It’s just the way it is. Today, I have more money,
but boy, don’t I have time. But neither, ever, ever, will be an excuse for me. And so, just to drill
this through the throat of the VaynerNation, that’s
right, I went that graphic, don’t smile DRock,
here’s the bottom line: I refuse to allow you to get
an answer to that question because both of them are firmly square in the excuse column, and I
have no patience for that. There will always be problems. Let’s talk about a million other things that are a way to stop success. The health and well-being
of your family members so it takes your mind away from execution. The country you live in’s government and political concepts in these moments, a la, startups in China that I’ve invested in that got traction, but then people that were
wired in to the government decided to not allow it to happen and then the start up disappeared. Not as easy to be an entrepreneur there, it’s still a communist country. Sorry, it just is. And so all these things
can be problems, right? There’s a competitor
with a billion dollars who’s also skilled and
punches you in the mouth and knocks you out in
the first round, right? The world changing. I mean, there’s just a
million obstacles, right? The media, one bad coverage of you. A moment in time. You know what I think about a lot? You know what I think about a lot? Let’s get really real here,
this is why we did this show. I always, I’m a human being, and I always think about a moment in time. What if I just say the wrong
thing at the wrong time? Right? What if I call out China for
being a communist country in an episode while I’m on a rant, and somebody who’s watching
doesn’t like the way that tastes and that takes away a business opportunity for me in China in seven years? Even though I’m not trying to zing, it’s just things that I saw. What if, you know, what if what if I look down on my phone while I’m driving even though
I’ve really not done that, and I hit somebody and I kill them? And that becomes the story, and then like forget about the story, about what you think about me, I will never recover from that because I killed somebody because
I needed to check a Tweet. These are moments in time. So there are so many things that can keep you from
being successful, right? The people that you invested in having something bad happen to them so it slows you down. My friends, there are a
million reasons why not, but there’s one great reason why, which is, you just gotta persevere, no matter what it is. It’s just the way it is. It’s hard being an entrepreneur. It’s hard building a business. Everybody thinks it’s so easy, that there’s an entitlement. There’s a disaster, zinging China? Here comes my U.S. zing right now: there is an insane generation
of 18 to 25 year olds that think they’re entitled
to having a business because they saw the
social networking movie and everybody’s decided
that if you’re a kid and you know what tech is. Because you used Instagram early on, you’re entitled to
actually build a business. Building a business is hard. And you know what makes it really hard? Everything that happens
every day of every moment. So, you can pick time, you can pick money as the one or two things
that you think stop you from winning your game, but the truth is, there’s a million reasons. 99% of businesses go out
of business for a reason. And that reason is, it’s hard. And so, if you’re watching this show, I’ve got a sense of who you are, and you need to start
creating layers and layers and layers of skin to
be able to get through. Because the glamour of
being an entrepreneur, the goodness, you know you get
very confused by my optimism. Because it’s my optimism, I can’t help it, it’s just how I roll. It’s probably one of
the variable 1% reasons why I’m successful. But please, don’t get it twisted. This is hard. Every day is hard. And if you don’t have the
stomach to weather the storm, you will not be successful. And by the way, let me throw you a real weird curveball, and that’s okay. People have to look
themselves in the mirror and understand if they’re
number two, three, four, five, six, seven in an organization, That has differences
of being a number one, but maybe that’s where
your skill set sits. Maybe that’s how you make
your fortunes and happiness and all the things that
you’re looking for, and so. That question got me
goin’ a little bit, Steve. Because it’s under the context of excuses. And I will never make an excuse. Everything that’s a problem with me, everything I don’t achieve, everything that’s a
problem at VaynerMedia, and everything is my fault. And I succumb to that, and I respect that. And I actually think that’s
the way it should be. And so, um, no excuses my friends.

– [Voiceover] Chase asks,
“How can you stand out “on LinkedIn with all the chatter from “the “social media
gurus” that are spamming “everyone’s feed?” – Chase, I took this question because I need to razz you and everybody else who asks a question like this, but I want you to know that I love you and I apologize. This is a loser question. If you’re worried about everybody else, you’re not worried about yourself and that’s the bottom line. It is stunning how little
I know about anything else, except my world and you guys. Period, end of story. I don’t know how everybody
else’s podcast is doing, I don’t, I’m not listen
to anybody else’s podcast or video show or anything else. I’m aware, I know that
I’m between 60 and 80 on the podcast ratings, but I don’t look at
Tim Ferriss who’s higher or somebody else, I listen to it and try to figure it out. I focus on my stuff. Way too many people cry, “Oh, these social media
gurus are so loud.” Their loud but if they don’t have depth they’re going to weed themselves out and so if you spend one minute looking at what anybody else is doing versus spending all your time
about what is your audience care about and how are they
reacting to your stuff, you know what I spend my hour on? When I’m like winding down. Instead of looking at
who’s ratings are higher and then trying to copy their moves or complain that they’re putting out shows longer or better or different things or get guests or this and that. Instead of focusing on their context and their competitive advantages or what they’re doing well. What I do, is I read my comments. That’s what I do, because I really care about
what you guys are saying about this show. Where the value prop is, what your opinion on the website is, what your opinion about chugging is, what your opinion about banter is, because that’s how I’m collectively trying to make this show better. I’m focusing on the people
that give a crap about this and so, instead of worrying about what everybody else is doing, I don’t… It’s crazy and I think you
can see my energy on this. I know this is a huge, huge, you know, in lieu of the marathon coming
to New York this weekend, I am not a runner who looks around me. I’m like straight ahead. That analogy that people
use, that’s not my analogy. I have a lot of my own. Oh, by the way. We have the reverse engineer shirt, right, let’s link that up. That’s up. Did I blow it? You put it on TeePublic and it only has like 72
hours where it’s 14 dollars then it goes to 22. – [Steve] That’s right. – So we need to like…
I need put it… – [Steve] You got it. – Do I have a BSU? Can I post it? I need to put… I’m going
post this on Facebook, it’s already up by the time you watch this because DRock’s got some editing to do. Drock, did I ruin your Halloween, did we start to late here, like what time’s this going to be done? [DRock] You’re fine. Okay. My friends, stop paying
attention to everybody else. Who gives a (beep)! I need a lot of beeps in this episode because I want to keep
it clean for the podcast. Who gives a crap, what every
other social media guru and expert, if they’re attracting an audience, maybe they’re doing something right. It’s not up to you to decide
that they’re a fluffy, crappy guru and they don’t deserve it. Clearly, they’re hustling
and putting out stuff and clearly they’ll stay. Don’t forget, I’ve been around since 06 under this kind of monarchy and this is the interesting thing, there’s a lot of people
that were the social media technology gurus in 2007, eight and nine, that you’ve never heard of. They come and go if
they’re not good enough, and if they’re good enough they stay. – [Voiceover] Kahlil says, “Sup?”

– [Voiceover] Maurizio asks, “Hi Gary, “what’s your opinion on listicle sites?” – If you haven’t noticed,
back in San Francisco for episode 30, excited about that. Listicles. You know, it’s interesting. I have a very different view on this than a lot of my friends and contemporaries because a lot of my
friends and contemporaries are journalists or have loved growing up reading the Wall Street
Journal or the New York Times or the Post, or these kind of things. I think there’s way too
much romance in journalism, and here’s what I mean by that. I’m a huge fan of it because BuzzFeed and UpWorthy and companies of that nature, and let’s not forget the
USA Today really started infographics and listicles
in its modern sense, though listicles have been around for 100 plus years. The people that are exploiting listicles and our worlds are being
overrun by 12 things a cat did while it ate
food, everybody who’s complained about that needs to understand, this is the same debate
we had about reality TV, the same thing we had about the people that didn’t like game
shows during the daytime, the same thing we are
about everything, meaning there’s a huge misunderstanding of how these things work. Here’s my example, what do
I think about listicles? As a business? 24 months ago, phenomenal. You were going up in trend. Right now, super strong. 24 months from now, solid. 48 months from now, hmm. 72 months from now, concerned. See what happens is we get these trends, they matter, people enjoy them, and then marketers ruin it. We love listicles 24
months ago as a big base, then you had the cynics and the haters that started a little bit earlier, and now what you’re seeing
is, you’re starting to have a conversation of like, is it too much? Are we clicking as many? And the reaction of the market
is always what dictates. I love the customer. I don’t love anything else. So as long as the customer is enjoying it and they’re clicking it, everyone says the Kardashians are crap, but
million of people watch it. These things are subjective. Listicles are subjective. My POV on it, my subjectiveness on it is if people enjoy them, then
that’s what it’s going to be. And so for now and the next 36 months, I’m bullish on it as a business. As far as a consumer, I
don’t consume anything, so it doesn’t matter. – [Voiceover] Gabriel
ponders, “Gary, in the age “of social media, tweet, vine,
Instagram length limited,

This is not the outfit to do it in, so, one second. Okay, whew. – You’re wrong, brother. You had the right outfit on the first time.
– [Man in suit] I have these, occasional rushes of motivation. It’s like, yes. Now I’m gonna do this. But after a few days, that motivation goes away. So how do you get that constant stream of motivation? Thanks a lot. – You know speakin’, you know, this piggybacks well off of the last question. Ya know, my motivation
comes from a couple places. One, I love what I do. You know, you may not love, again, back to what you want. Especially seeing a lot of the youngsters jumping in today’s show, you may think that doing things is the process needed to what you want, which is you wanna be in Las Vegas with 30 beautiful women around you, and like, drinking
champagne and going crazy. Like, I don’t like that stuff. No, I don’t. You know, I don’t like that stuff. I like the process. So, you know, to me there’s
two things that drive me. One, I love what I do,
for the billionth time. My separating aspect from a lot of you, I’m keepin’ it real, is I love working, I
love putting in the work, I love the headaches,
I love HR nightmares, I love it. I like it. I like the grind. I like that I have a 6:30 call today with an upset customer. I like that. And so, that’s number one. Number two is straight up gratitude. You wanna have real fuel? I don’t know what this meant. I’m just trying to become Superman. If you want real fuel, that was injecting gratitude, You want real fuel to win? Be grateful. Now you can’t be grateful. You can’t watch this video and be like, oh great, Gary Vee said I’m not grateful. In me, in my personality is gratitude. The self-awareness that I was born in the, in the Soviet Union, that the
timing of when I was born, was better than when my dad was born, better than when my
grandparents were born there. It created a scenario
where this moment in time, where America and Israel got together, and made a deal with the Soviet Union, and people were able to leave the country, and that’s it. I got really lucky that,
what I’m great at is, is really kind of glamorized here. Entrepreneur businessman,
whereas in Russia, who knows, I’d probably
be dead or a trillionaire. And so, I’m just grateful. I’m grateful for the greatest parents that one could ask for. I’m grateful for, like, amazing wife. A lot of, unfortunately, I
lost a lot of my grandparents before I was even five. So I haven’t had a lot of death. And so, you know, it’s really like, I don’t even have a gear that’s like, woe is me or too bad. First of all, I also
don’t like complaining. I’ve made this bed. Like I feel ill today, I’m
under the weather, right? But I’m not like, oh. We’re always like, watch this. Here, I don’t know if you can get in here. People are gonna like this. Let’s show something of fun to everybody. I don’t know, talk to me. Can people see the schedule? – [DRock] Yep, they can. – Yep, I mean, like, you know. So schedule, right? Like, workout at 6:30, and travel, and meeting, and meeting, and meeting, and speak, and call, and
speak, and tape the show, right, and then call, and then
meeting, and then meeting, and then meeting, and then meeting. And if you’re paying
attention to 10 minutes, 10 minutes,10 minutes,
five minutes, 15 minutes. Planning meeting, call,
call, coffee, meeting, meeting, meeting,
meeting, meeting, meeting, meeting, meeting, meeting,
and today’s a good day, ’cause it’s a Friday. Because I get to be done, you know, by eight o’clock, with
dinner with some friends. But like, when you go back, you know, I mean, the bottom line
is, I’m in meeting, well this is Jet’s game. But, but (phone clanking against table), I’m making my bed. I’m making my bed, I’m going forward. I’m hustling from six to 11 pm everyday, with every second allocated. There is no break. There’s no, there’s no eat a salad, and read Reddit, or watch YouTube. That is not in my game. Yes, Steve, that was for you. You know that is not in my game. And so, because I’ve made my bed, I’m surely not gonna complain and be like, oh, I’m sick today. Like, I just, you know, no. So that’s it. I don’t even remember
what I was answering., but that’s what I think. (laughing)

“can piss you off?” – Ruke, you know, it’s
interesting, I’m not the kind of character that gets
pissed off so quickly. I’m pretty much a love and zen kind of guy for all my intensity, I
think that throws people off a little bit in reality. Obviously if you punch
me directly in the face, or hurt somebody I care about
right here, that would be bad. But overall the actual
answer to your question is hypocrisy and cynicism. Those are the two things
that I can’t consume. The amount of cynics out there, though it’s really one of
the funnier kind of cards that people play on
social media specifically, I see played less in real
life, really bothers me. And boy, if you’re
complaining about something you actually do, and I have
some friends and family members who play that, that just
drives me up the wall. – [Voiceover] Vineyard
Paul asks, “How do I use

– [Voiceover] Marin asks, do you ever complain and what’s your attitude
toward complaining in business and in life in general? – Marin, I appreciate this question and I’m curious how much you know me or if you’re asking that
because the truth is if you look at my historical tweets, hundred thousand plus, maybe there’s two complaints. You know, maybe you can get to three. One of the people I look
up to most in the world, maybe the person I look
up to most in the world tied with my dad, I know
dad, you might watch this, is my mother. And, hands down, and I mean, hands down, the thing that I find most
intriguing about my mom and probably one of the
things that I’m most happy that she’s passed on
to me is her inability, almost, to complain. I find it extremely attractive. I would tell you that I adore
my wife for that reason. As a matter fact, Xander
is whining too much and he’s only two and
I find it unattractive. I’m very against complaining. I’m very, put your head down. I’m very, don’t you
realize you’re healthy? Like, to me the only thing
you should complain about is the the unfortune, unluck of health. You know, somebody dying that
you love in a car accident or you becoming terminally ill. After that, it feels controllable. And so, I really dislike complaining. I try to, I talk a lot
about honey over vinegar. It’s an analogy I use a
lot here at VaynerMedia. I thrive on positivity and so the way I deal with complaining
is I try not to do it. I try to educate and empower people the lack of it’s value, I guess. I mean, I don’t have a gear. You know, when you go in my gear, like there is no, like, oh
let me go into complain zone. To me, it’s assess, figure it out, and go directly back on the offense. I’m a very offensive player. Complaining is the defense. – [Voiceover] Robert asks, I’ve
been doing a lot of jabbing,