#AskGaryVee Episode 217: Advice to My Younger Self, Success Metrics & Overcoming The Past

“from scratch, what metrics
would you look “at to determine success?” – Uh, if you’re starting
from scratch, what metrics would you look
at in measuring success? – [India] Yes. – Money in and profit post money in. And I’m actually making a
joke but I’m being serious. It’s so funny, I just
had a business meeting. I think a lot of people have metrics for the sake of metrics. Marketing for the
sake of marketing. If you have a business
the only metric that you should be
paying attention to is your top line revenue
and your profit at the end of the day
that can afford to pay your costs that
are driving your business. Now, if you’re very,
very early on, you want to see traction. But I think the reason I’m
jumping on this question is we now live in a
culture where so many people think the following, which is they’ve been
affected by Twitter, Instagram, Facebook
and Snapchat. If you get tens of
millions of followers it doesn’t matter that
you don’t make money. You eventually
become a billionaire. The problem is that works
for seven companies. That is not the norm. Most people try to, and this is what’s
going to happen over the next decade my friends, you will see, and over
the next three years, you will see an enormous
amount of companies that went and tried to
get 10,000, 100,000, a million users, didn’t get there, weren’t the hot product,
the unicorn, the once in a
generation business. The once in a
generation business. And they ran out of money. And then you go out of business. So what I really want
to ground this first question in, in practicality. The only metric a business person should be understanding
is their cash flow. Money in, money out. How do you build momentum? Is it heading in the right direction? I’m very proud that AJ
and I and the senior leadership that helped
us along the way, we built an actual business here. VaynerMedia wasn’t a valuation. VaynerMedia is
revenue and profit. And I do think that
we have gotten way too into
users and mentions, and the one that
bothers me the most, number of followers, and we’ve got away from
what are you doing? Do you know how many people
have come up to me and they’re like, yeah I’m struggling, and they’re like this is
actually, DRock you were with me, it really hit me during
that one kid coming up to me in Colorado, and I don’t
want to pick on the kid, but like everybody thinks
that amassing a following on social media is a business. Amassing a following on
social media is a platform for you to create
a business on top of. A business, is a functioning
organization that sells something that
you make profit in so you can sustain
that business and grow (snap)

“What if you have a troubled
past that you overcame? “Hide it or embrace it?” – Well listen, I mean,
this is a tough question, it’s something I think a lot about, and I do think, and you’ve
been hearing from me, meditation, mental health,
I think the next frontier in the next 50 years of society, within the business
context, within society, gun control,
all these other things, we’re going to be talking
more and more about the brain. Mental health, mental status. You know, there are
people in this world that come from such tough beginnings. We talk a lot about
poverty, and opportunity, I think because we talk
about entrepreneurship. We don’t talk, I don’t talk, a lot about you know,
you were raped as a child, your parents were murdered. You know, some of these really
extreme, difficult things. I don’t understand, or know,
what Joe’s troubled past or if he’s referring
for a friend or himself. I think we all have
different versions of a troubled past. Like some people
would say I got bullied, and that was my troubled past. Others would say
I was sexually molested, and that’s my troubled,
like these all vary, and so Joe what I would say
is I have no interest in sitting here on a high
horse and deploying generic blanket statements. I think that we should be, I do think that being
yourself 100% is something that people are attracted to. I think all of us, in
the same way that America actually doesn’t hate the crime, they hate when you
try to cover it up, because we know that you
are not being authentic, and you’re trying to trick me, I think that’s the same
reason we react so well to people that go very far, that own up to things,
that are super transparent, that are willing to go there, and so what I would
say is, you know, you should challenge
yourself to go as far down that funnel as you can
because it is absolutely an attractive quality
that creates opportunity, happiness, business
opportunities for one. However, I don’t think you
have to air your dirty laundry, and I do think that
there’s a lot of help, and many other things
that people have to do to be able to share things. I do not feel comfortable
sitting here saying yes, share your deepest,
darkest things, because maybe you’re
not emotionally ready. I don’t know you on
an individual basis. What I can tell you is
that everyday I try to push harder in exposing
more of my thoughts, and exposing more of my truths, and exposing more
of my weaknesses, and exposing more of my scars, and it’s a struggle for me, because you guys have seen
over the last DailyVee’s I don’t spend a lot of time
on my weaknesses or my past. From yesterday’s
episode’s first question, I don’t hold grudges,
I don’t have a shit list. It’s because I just don’t
believe in containing negativities, and so
the only reason at this point in my life I’m trying
to think about my flaws or my struggles, is I want to give you, the
people who have decided to give me your time, I feel a
sense of responsibility to all of you that are
giving me your time. How many people are
on there right now? – [Voiceover] One point five. – For the 1500 of you right
now that are on Facebook Live, I feel a sense of responsibility
that in the middle of the day, or if you’re in
Europe, later in the day. The fact that right now
1500 of you could be doing something completely different, but I have been
gifted your attention, which I think is the
number one asset, I’m trying to challenge myself, I’m trying to challenge myself, to expose some of my weaknesses
and things of that nature, but it’s a real struggle for me. You know,
so I’m almost the reverse, like I can’t even
begin to think about my tough upbringing
or different things, like I don’t think
about the bad things. Like I think about them,
I deal with them, they’re a reality,
I don’t dwell on them, I spit them out and
I move forward. I think this is a very
personal question Joe. I think it’s like work/life balance. I don’t have an interest
in sitting on this show trying to force
somebody right now that had a very horrible
thing happen to them, and they’re going to write a
blog post about it tomorrow, and they weren’t
emotionally ready, and they can’t deal
with the repercussions of putting it out there. That is not my place, but I will say that everybody, if you can get there, I think there’s a lot
of healthiness to it. – [India] From Matthew, what
was it like to go around?

“as a retailer selling
someone else’s brand?” – Ah, I remember this
one, I sent this to you. I like this one because
I wanted to go tactical. You know it’s so funny, talk
about the ying and yang meet. Like, I also don’t want
this to get too heavy and philosophical,
I want to go tactical. Anybody who’s a retailer
that’s struggling with like wait a minute, I sell sneakers, so am I going to
make Nike content, or Adidas content, or
Under Armour content, and put it out, who is this again? – [India] This is from Matthew. – Matthew, read it one more time, cause guys check this out,
I think this is interesting, how? – [India] How do you create content as a retailer selling
someone else’s brand? – Right, this is so interesting. As a retailer, you sell
somebody else’s brand. That’s the definition of
a retailer unless you’re selling retail your product, and you’re the
Under Armour store, right? So, I really got a kick
out of this question. I think it’s when people
are looking at the lens the wrong way. We live in a world now where
brands are creating content for themselves, at scale,
and I wonder if Michael, Michael right? – [India] Matthew.
– Matthew, I’m sorry, thank you, if Matthew is looking at
this wrong because he sees the optics of brands
creating content. If it’s what you sell,
you create content. Wine Library creates content
of other brands all the time because we are a retailer, and we’re trying to
sell this Pinot Grigio. It is not our Pinot Grigio,
it is somebody else’s, but we’re creating content
because we’re making margin, and we’ve chosen in
the world of business to be a retailer. Matthew, the way you create content, if you are a retailer of
other people’s brands, is to create content of
other people’s brands. – [India] Free content
or something like that? – You know, its what you do, if you sell other people’s
brands you make content. Now, what you could be asking, and more detail oriented,
back to being practical, is you may have to follow
guidelines of a brand when you’re producing content. I think you need to be
conscious of putting those brands in a good light, because they’re you’re supplier, and they are more than
capable of discontinuing you selling that product, so you have to be political
about what that is, but you also have to
find a different angle, that is your angle,
from the brand’s. I think one of those
places is price. You know most brands
are not going to price because they know the
retailers are selling things at different prices, so their content in the ecosystem is more jab-oriented branding, you could actually be more
in the right hook business. This Pinot Grigio got 90
points from Wine Spectator and is on sale for $11.99, so you could, you know, those are kind of things
a retailer does. You could also create
content of that product within your retail store, and so you’re showing
it in that environment. Again, another thing
brands won’t normally do, because they don’t want to
allude to being favorite, picking a favorite from
one retailer to another. So use the advantages
that you have that you know the
mothership brand won’t do, but you can possibly do, and I think for all of you, now leveling us up back
to the theme of yesterday, I’m trying to do that
more in the show. I think way too many people
dwell on what they can’t do, instead of realizing
what they can do, right? So focus on the things
that make you uniquely you, and do the things that you know
that other people can’t do. Whether that’s your partners, like a supplier and a retailer, or that’s your competitors, they happen to be in this state, you happen to be in Colorado, and you have pretty mountains,
use that to your advantage. You know, like I can’t
make mountain content here. – [India] You hate mountains.

“40 year old Gary give
28 year old Gary?” – I was trying to remember
why I picked this question, I really curated a bunch
of questions by the way. By the way, I want, you know, I’m feeling a renaissance here so, a freshness of not having
all of these characters on with me, really looking
for more questions. A lot of you have not
asked in a long time, a lot of you ask often,
as a matter of fact, here’s what I want you to do, use the hashtag #askgaryvee, but also for the
old timers, the hustlers, that have not had the luck, or the serendipity of
having one of their questions on the show, don’t lie, because lying is the devil, and I’m going to make
the India and team actually do the homework. For all of you, when you
ask your next question that you want on the next show, which will hopefully be tomorrow, or the next day, or what have you, or next week, whatever, do hashtag #askgaryvee
like we do on Twitter, or Instagram, but also
then in the copy put x how many times have
you asked for a question to be on the show,
and have not had it. So meaning if you asked
a question 43 times, but your question has
been on the show, don’t use the x, but if you are a virgin to the question
being on the show, but you’ve asked 84 times, it might be a nice time to like. Now, there may be a reason
you haven’t been picked because there could be people that just ask crappy questions. Talent is a variable, you’re bad at asking questions, but we’re going to push
a little harder in trying to get you on the show. – [India] And videos,
we love videos. – We love videos. Uh, DJ – [India] Younglegend. – Younglegend, asked 40
and 28 year old self, and again,
I know a lot of you, DRock, you and India probably, maybe
even Staphon at this point, you guys know me so well,
that you probably to keep yourself not bored of
filming these things, start answering what you
think I’m going to say, and I think you think
I’m going to go down the traditional path of hang
out with more chicks, have more funs
on the weekends, that’s where I’ve gone cliche. You got a place where
you’re about to go? – [Voiceover] Not at 28, I can do – Not at 28, at 22? It’s funny you said that,
maybe that’s why I picked it. Twenty-eight was a very
interesting year for me, when I got engaged. I’m going to stun
everybody right now, I would tell 28 year
old Gary to work more. And I’m going to
throw you for a loop, what a lot of you don’t
know about 28 year old Gary is 28 year old Gary was
working nine to seven. Like I’m really sad that
my life went this way. Here’s what I mean by that. As much as I hustled, as much as I hustled, 22 to 32, I work way more now. And to be very honest with you, that stinks because
I have a family. And at 22 to 30, or 22 to 28, I had nobody but myself, right? And so, what I would
tell 28 year old Gary is that in two years you’re
going to drive on the highway, you’re going to look at yourself and say that you’re full of shit, and that you’re not hustling. I know that just came out right? And kind of we just
did content on that. and so why wait two years, in the same way that 38
year old Gary started taking care of his
health instead of waiting to 40 which was my main plan. I would say to
28 year old Gary, hey bro, you’re going to realize
in 24 months that you’re not doing the actions
it’s going to take. You’re doing everything right, if you want to be very successful, and live a very nice life, and be rich and all that, but you’re nowhere close
to all time legacy, and not even in the same realm
of buying the New York Jets, so get your shit together. And do it now, and I wished
I would because that would have been 24 more months of
the hustle that’s executed so much happiness for me, and so you know, no
question, not a regret, because I don’t look backwards,
I don’t let negativity, but it would be convenient
if I was working 20 hour days and traveling 22 to 32,
versus now when it’s coming out of Misha and Xander
and Lizzie time, you know it’s tough. So that’s what I would say, I would say hey, this is
how it’s going to play out, might as well get a couple
of more years in now. Because if I stop going extreme, and by the way, this is a fun
thing for you guys to hear, I am absolutely in the early
stages in my own brain, of not traveling to the level
that I have been traveling. You know the kids are
now seven and four, there’s a lot more functions. I want to spend more
time with them, these are formative years. Like so, you know, let’s say I decide to
like really slow it down a significant level at 43, let’s say that’s my
prediction right now, you know, well 28 could
have made it that 41. That’s kind of how
I think about it. It’s all just masked with numbers, and you know everybody’s
going to jump in the comments and say different things
of course, of course, and that’s not wrong. But 28 year old Gary hustled, but hustled the way a lot
of you hustled pre-seeing DailyVee and Snapchat, which is you thought you were
the best hustler you knew, and then you got to
see how I do it, and you’re like Jesus, and that’s who that guy was, and he worked hard,
and whatever but, he wasn’t this guy. Cool. I’m curious what
60 year old Gary is going to say to 40 year old Gary. – [India] Work harder. (laughter) – Work harder, you think so? Do you think,
honestly, without a joke, do you think like
on a serious kick, I’m actually a little bit nervous, like let’s go into like, I never speak to my fears here, this could be interesting, I’m not sure, you know,
I’m very conscious that it becomes like a speed junkie, right? Like I don’t even know
what it would be like to work nine to eight, like you have to understand
the once in a blue moon when I walk home at like, walk into my apartment, I’m talking about
three times a year, during work days, I mean
obviously I take holidays and all of that,
but like to walk tonight to walk into my apartment
at eight pm, feels awkward. – [India] Like what do you do? – Like whoa, this is not a joke. There was some funny
day that happened maybe three or four months ago
when I came home at 9:45 pm, and I walk in,
I hear Lizzie in the room, and she’s like what are
you doing home so early? (laughter) and I was like Jesus,
(laughter) 9:45, it hit me harder,
9:45 is later there are enormous
amounts of people, there are an enormous amount
of you that are watching this right now that will never come
home that late in the history of your work career. You know? Anyway, so back to what
I was like fearful of? I’m worried that like
the action is so intense that like it’s a detox, like I actually already
know for me to cut back, what I just alluded to, I’m going to have to
have a detox year. Like it’s going to take
me a lot of time, three, four, five, like that
will be some fun DailyVee’s I’m going to be in the
corner like (laughter) like it’s going to take
me six months, like if I want to come home. My weird intuition is
it’s not that I’m going to come home at seven, it’s that I’m going to
come home at five or six, spend an hour,
90 minutes with the family and then go back out. That’s my intuition,
that’s my main plan. For the next move, I think. Because the kids are going
to go to sleep early anyway, like later, you know
seven, eight years from now when they’re actually
up to eight, 10, 11, 12. – [India] So when you say go
out, you’re not like going out,

– Hello GaryVee, my
name is Nacer Abdelli, I’m from Algeria, in Africa, and this is my hometown. – Amazing, he loves English peas. – So I’m a teacher of English
Content on social media. – This is awesome. – And life skills, and
I have some questions to ask you about that
because you have a series on all of them. And this also, you’re
taking care of, thank you. – You’re welcome. Oh I got the thumbs up too. – So I started skydiving,
and after 200 jumps, I will be able to put on
a wing suit and jump with it over our national
monument here in Algiers. I’m going to be the first
wing suit pilot in the country, and this is going to be the
first suit jump ever before. – That’d scare the crap out of me. – [India] I know I’m
terrified watching this. – Okay so my question is
about blended personal brand. (inaudible) How can I manage the education
and extreme sports content given that they’re very different, what should I do about it? How would you go about it? – You know a lot of you
follow me and you’ve heard time and time again, one
channel, one channel, but my friend,
I’m glad you asked this, this is the nuances, and this
is why the show is so great. I would actually, and it’s funny, but I would do separate channels and I’ll tell you why. Your first place that you
established is so utilitarian. Wine Library TV,
though about wine, though about
information about wine, still had a lot to do
with my personality, with Gary, which then allowed me to kind of blend stuff. You’re doing hardcore
utilitarian education content, what I don’t know is how
much it is of you my friend. Looking through there you
seem very charismatic. So if you feel like a lot
of people watch the first thing because of your charisma, then I think you
can blend it in one. But if you think they’re
there just to learn English, and it’s a utility for them, you could start having
a schizophrenic issue at hand when you start showing
them the skydiving stuff. What I would say is
the following, for you, this is my individual
advice matters. I would create
separate channels. I would use your
personal Instagram, your personal Twitter, like
I think you can mix them, but from a YouTube
standpoint I would have them as separate channels, and I would once in a
while mix them in social, and maybe even once,
like maybe in one video, like by the way, like I would
almost call it By The Way, BTW, this is something else I do. This way it’s kind of
almost a commercial within your other channels,
you can cross pollinate, that would be my strategy. – [India] Nice. I need to show
you the ending of this video.