#AskGaryVee Episode 224: Chinese Social Media, $100K Selling Rocks & How To Stay Hungry

“for an app startup. “The person who manages digital
marketing is inexperienced and, “in our opinion,
stunting potential growth. “We are looking for an
opportunity to show our talent “to execs without
overstepping our boundaries. “How can we show that we are “better for the
role to the execs?” – I feel this is actually your
question and you don’t believe in Andy and this is not real. This is more you projecting your opinions about
what’s going on here. – And that’s why it’s anonymous.
– Yes. (laughter) Yeah, listen, I think much
like what goes on here and this is why it’s funny and
this is for the whole team. I think we’ve got
a good situation so many of you don’t.
My advice here is what I do think we create more of. You know what’s funny? I create a company where you can
start hacking and doing things you know that you can do that
but it’s your own trying to be nice to whomever that may hurt
that’s supposed to be doing it that holds it back. So this is a really fascinating
thing at VaynerMedia. I’ve created a world where
I never want people to not show, if you can show it, you know, then you can
do it then just do it. Show that person. Now the tough
part of that advice is, let me give you
a great scenario. In this exact scenario where
there’s a lot of people on my team that are talented and
everybody’s got different roles and a lot of your mishmoshed
into different responsibilities. Some that aren’t even their best
skill set versus other things that other people are doing,
they start liking each other. My team in general, I mean, they
don’t all have to be the best of best friends but you guys
genuinely like each other and so what’s really holding it back is
not hurting that other person’s feelings of, “Why are you
going into my territory?” It’s very complicated. I mean look, here’s part of
this, this is much like life it’s just a
black-and-white answer. Either you step and run through
the china shop and show your skills and take the risk of
saying here and by the way there’s a good way
and a bad way to do it. My real answer would be go to the person that is doing that role and saying, “I really
believe in myself in this craft. “I know this is your role I know
I’m in accounting and you’re the “creative director but
can you help me show you “or give me the air cover to
show Gary that I can do this “because here’s how
it’s gonna play out. “Either that’s what’s gonna
happen or I’m gonna quit and “leave here and go do it
somewhere else and I want to us “to be teammates
not adversaries.” Now, eight is a big number, 8 out of 10 times that person is gonna try to hold
down the other person. Out of insecurity, fear, all
these things but you might get lucky and it might be one
of those 2 out of 10 times. That’s my favorite way to do it
because I think that’s the only middle step to the black and
white thing which is to answer the question show somebody.
– Yeah. – Like edit an episode of
DailyVee and be like, “Told you, Other Tyler,
I’m better than you.” Just do it. Or don’t and be miserable
and let a little kernel of negativity eventually become
cancer and it’s gonna end up with you underperforming,
getting fired or you quitting. That’s the
punchline of all of this. All the things I talk about to
not suppress are predicated on the outcome’s gonna
be the outcome anyway. So why not just speed
it up but with humility. So like I get away with a lot
of stuff because I get to the punchline but I coat it with as
much honey and humility so that it becomes swallow-able. Consumable would have
been a better way to go. – Cool.

time you mention China WeChat, the other internet
and stuff like that. So do you actually spend time
on studying these things, how they work,
how they’re different and if so what do you focus on and have you learned something
already that you’re applying in your business or that you are
sharing with the clients in the US and all around the world? So thank you very
much for the grind. Thank you very much for
answering my question and have
a great day. Bye. – Jan, great question and I’m
really dying to see if you guys, I feel like you guys are
being very smart and asked that question. Something very funny happened
two days ago, yesterday? Yesterday, right? Yesterday I sent a team
wide email about this? Was that yesterday
or two days ago? – [DRock] Yesterday.
– Yesterday. Yesterday, I sent an email to my
entire teams and it said China, it’s time. Let’s start
transcribing my content. It’s time to get serious,
Jan, so the answer is the other internet, China is something
I’m very, very passionate and a believer up on a religious level
but I’ve never gone to church. Meaning I know it’s right. I know it’s big. I know the biggest consumer set
in the world is there but you can’t get to everything and much
like there’s a lot of things I’m not doing well
even within the US, I’ve not been able to
open up a can of worms. VaynerMedia eventually’s
gonna play in that market. It will have to do as we’re
becoming global leader and so no question the thing I’m
most disappointed about on a microlevel in my career over the
last 36 months is that I haven’t forced myself to spend four or
five separate trips in China. Taste it, get used to it and really articulate
a real strategy. Literally, literally I became
so fed up with myself that yesterday I sent to the team
it’s time for me to become a player in that market and so I’m
sure that’s why the question was asked or maybe it’s just
serendipitous but the answer is no I have not spent time
analyzing the WeChats, TenCents and the rest the
market but it is something I better get around to
if I have to expand on the aspirations that I have. I think both VaynerMedia and
me as a brand have enormous opportunities
within that market. I think we fit the mold on an
entrepreneurial level and so I’m excited about
the next frontier. – Cool. Next is a video
question from Diogo Silva.

simple question to ask you. Are you good with names? Are you able to remember every
single employer and people you do business with names’? And how important is that
skill for your business? Thank you Gary for
answering my question– – This episode, I feel like
this episode, you know what? I feel like since we haven’t had
a lot of time that there’s been a whole lot of work, I’m
very intrigued by this episode. I am terrible with names. It’s devastating. I have so much pride and I know that
people that watch DailyVee are probably surprised by how
many names I know but there are so many names I don’t know. And I don’t know names of
like 18 months in clients. I don’t know names of like
people, it’s unbelievable how much context I know
but names I don’t. Meaning there’s employees here
that I don’t like things that are going on with like the
well-being of their relationship because I follow them on social
and follow their boyfriend and then figure out about you like
literally, literally like and definitely know their
performance and remember that they had a bad day or recall
this or just deep, deep, deep stuff but I’m like is
that Karen or is it Susan? It’s super tough for me. It’s something I’m very bad
at and it’s very important. People like,
here’s what I think, tactically it’s important and people would be disappointed
if they’ve been paying VaynerMedia for two years and
they’re an important client and I don’t know their name. I understand that. What overrides that while I feel
great is that’s the tactic to the thing that matters which
is knowing one’s name is one version of caring
about that person. I know how much I care and
though I hate that the easiest version of that is not something
I have a skill for, it’s all the other stuff that I have
skills for that make up for that vulnerability because that is a
surface level vulnerability, not a deep vulnerability. And so, I think at a macro level
it is stunningly unimportant. What it perceives to mean is
the most important thing but tactically I don’t think so. On a micro level,
sure, it’s important. You like that answer?
– [DRock] Yeah.

In a video with Joe Polish you
said that you can sell rocks on the street and still
make 100 grand a year. Is that true? If so, would you make a video
where you sell a rock to someone who doesn’t know you?
Thanks. – So Ryan theoretically,
it is true. Practically, listen
the truth is, actually I’m surprised
I’m answering this. I think I can make 100,000. I wish I was at a point in my
life where I could be so crazy and right now off
of this, do it. Go with DRock to some crazy
place where nobody knows who I am which, oh, by the way
and I love you all for this, which is almost everywhere. Like down the street but you
know, go to a place where I’m not me and
I know that, trust me, you guys perceive
me bigger than I am. I’m just me and I think, now
look, here’s what I would do. I’d go to place, first, I’d go
to a rich upper-middle-class area where it’s not too rich but upper-middle-class demo and I would set up shop on the
corner of the street and I guess most of my day would be, and it’d have to have
rocks in the general area. Access to rocks– – Hmmm.
– No, no I’ll tell you why. I understand but like if
I’m trying to make 100,000 and I can pick anywhere
like you might as well if there’s
a perfect ZIP Code where it’s got the right
income level that I want and there’s access to it efficiency
but I know I can buy ’em on the internet and all that stuff but
nonetheless I guess I would try to market myself as somebody who
is creative on top of a rock. So I don’t think I would if
I was selling rock I wouldn’t try to sell you a rock ’cause
that wouldn’t work but what I would do is I would doodle and create on top of rocks
and try to sell them. And I genuinely with my entire
heart believe that I can make a $100,000 a year
in year two, firm. In year 1, I would make $36,000 in profit. – Could. I believe it’s possible
to sell just a rock. – It is but I think what I would
do because I’d want to get 100,000 is the doodling on top
would then constitute as art and that becomes agnostic and then
marketing can take over and then all I need to do is have
Leonardo DiCaprio take a picture on his Instagram that he’s
bought this rock ’cause it’s art and then it’s game over. It’s just high school
arbitrage, all of it is. – Alright, next
question is from Betty Liu–

You run a $100 million
revenue company. How do you stay hungry? – Period. Betty, I think that truth is I think a lot of
us are hardwired. I think because
I didn’t come from much, because I didn’t
speak the language, because I wasn’t
physically large. I actually think that’s
a dude thing for sure. And because I think I’m
wired to love underdogs. I’ve always loved them. I think where I’ve come from,
there is no I’ve never made it. First of all, I don’t
like the physical things. That’s a huge advantage. Not needing to buy a plane
or an $8000 pair sneakers. There’s no
physical thing I want. Just like the awesome Instagram
photo that Tyler you put together of the game
(bell chimes) I love the process.
I’m hungry forever. I’m the hungriest. I’m super hungry. I threw up this morning and I’m
theoretically physically I’m not hungry right now ’cause I’m
feeling a little woozy but emotionally as an
entrepreneur, I’m the hungriest. It’s incredible. I’m dramatically more successful
than I was 10 years ago, I’m more hungry not less. – Because? – Because I just think it
was hardwired from the get. ‘Cause I just think
it’s black and white. I just think at some level you’re just wired
the way you are. There is nothing that’s gonna
fill my appetite because what drives my hunger is the process
not the results and then by nature in that
construct it goes forever. The only thing that changes my
hunger is if is if the two other most important variables in this
game play themselves out: the health and well-being of my
family or the way I feel about the allocation of my time and the depth of that
time with my family. Those are the only
vulnerabilities. There’s no $14 million check or $48 billion check
or buying the Jets. There’s nothing
that will stop the hunger. When I put my jersey on, when
I’m in the context of being a businessman, the hungry
vibe will be there forever. It’s when I’m Gary as a person
where there’s other things in my life besides being on the field
that could play out that could get me to be less
hungry professionally. But on the field, I’m going to be a psycho through
and through forever. – Like it.
– That’s it.