Go ahead, play it. – Hey Gary, Benjamin Holmgreen here. You said you wanted some more interesting videos for the show so I
went by this busy street in the big city and
wanted to ask a question. The question is, how do you
feel about employee poaching? Taking employees from
someone elses company and bringing them to work for you, good, bad, or indifferent? Thanks Gary. – I think this is a very
easy question to answer. I think people hire from other people’s companies all the time. This isn’t nursery school, this is business. And if you can steal somebody from another competitor or another company that you think brings
benefit to your company and you’ve got recruiters. I mean, we have, seven, nine,
10 full time recruiters here at the VaynerMedia. They’re just pounding, hitting it, and trying to find the
right people for us. So I think in big
business, this is just part of the equation. Poaching? Poaching makes it seem bad. You mean employee recruitment? You guys, I’m sure you’re getting e-mails from recruiters, from
LinkedIn all the time. And it happens all the time. That’s why I try to build a really, I’m very proud of our turnover. Voluntary turnover here is incredibly low, and that means we’re building culture, people are going to
believe in me as a CEO, believe in Vayner, and so you need to focus on building a good business so that people are unpoachable as you say. But I think that’s common practice, I don’t think there’s anything. If there are shady practices where people are under contract, but normal every day recruiters trying
to find people for jobs. That’s like asking, what do you think about having an accounting department? Or what do you think about having an office for your business. That’s table stakes, that’s oxygen. That’s normal business behavior. So I think you’re eluding to something that I guess lends itself, I love how you how
you hacked the video. I guess it’s lending itself to like, Hey you stole my developer
or you stole my CTO well build a great product so that nobody is stealable. Build a great culture,
so nobody is stealable. I don’t own India. This is voluntary. Build something great that
people want to be a part of. You want to be a part of this, India? – Yeah.

Looks like Rebecca a little bit. – Hey Gary Vee, I wanna
ask you a question about competition.
– Yes, I love competition. – A lot of solopeneurs
are advised that don’t look at the competition
because it can drain you and make you
second-guess yourself and everything like that
but I, you know, through my business
that is and things like that I’ve realized that,
or I’ve been taught that you can’t operate
in a silo, you know. Your landscape, you
have to keep your eye on the landscape of your industry. So, my question is,
what do you think about competition and
how you approach it? Thanks. – What’s her name again,
one more time? – [India] Sarah. – Sarah, thank you so much. I like the taxi photo
in the background. You know, this is a tricky one. I think this comes
down to the individual. I don’t spend a lot of
time on my competition. I haven’t historically. But I keep, you know, a
fifth of an eye on it. You know, you want
to know context, you can’t be blind
to things completely but I don’t dwell or allow
my competition to drive my mentality or where I’m going. I think it’s a very fine line. I think it’s a very,
very fine line. And I think it’s a very
individual thing so. I don’t know much
about the agency world, as a whole, I don’t know the
names of most of the CEOs. I don’t know how much
revenue they’re doing. I don’t know who
their clients are. I don’t know what
the work they’re doing. A lot of my contemporaries
spend all their time on AdAge and DigiDay and other websites to keep up with what’s going on. PRWeek, AdWeek, in the trades. I think that there’s a lot
of entrepreneurs that do extremely well by
knowing what’s going on with their competitors
and using that as a proxy, as a guiding light. I think a lot of entrepreneurs
are B and C entrepreneurs and they need somebody
else to be the leader and they follow it and
they pick up the crumbs. And they get 20 and
30% of the action and that’s enough for them. And that’s where
they deserve to be. I think others like me are
super driven by not knowing. I don’t even want
to give my competition the satisfaction of knowing. I mean, I literally hate
my competition so much that I literally want
to be disrespectful by not even amassing
a minute of my time on what they’re doing
because I think that’s the ultimate
insult and I like that. Because I don’t
like you, competition. I don’t like you. Now, I like you
as a human being, like in, when I put my
jersey on, I hate you, but as like a human,
there’s plenty of executives from competitive
agencies that I adore and think are
really good people. But, when I put my
jersey on, I hate you and the way that I can
teach you that I hate you is to not even
allocate a minute on you because I disrespect
you that much. That’s me. You may be somebody who
learns from your competitors and that’s how you navigate. So, I do not think that
anybody who taught you one way or the
other, emphatically, don’t forget, #AskGaryVee Show, I’m one dude,
with one personality trait, with, you know, one life that
is trying to communicate my points of view but I never, and I’ve said this on DailyVee recently, I have no interest in you
following, you know, my footsteps. I have you, I have
interest in you trying to figure out yourself the way I
figured out myself. Right? I know that about me so
I don’t force myself to look at the competition
’cause I know, deep down, it’s not who I am or
what I want to be doing. And so I know that about myself. You need to know yourself. And it may be a balance. Some people are 50/50. It all works if you’re
most self-aware about you. Question of the day,
question of the day:

“a cofounder who isn’t
as ambitious as you?” – I’d break up with them. I think that if you
have a cofounder that’s not as
ambitious as you are, you’re leaning to
an inevitable breakup and I would try
to cut it earlier so that feelings aren’t as deep. It’s easier to break up with
somebody after three weeks than it is after three months than it is after
three years, right? And so there’s less baggage. Now, the cofounder may be so
talented and brings you value that maybe you don’t have
to judge them on ambition. But I would say that when
you and your cofounder are not aligned, you’re headed towards a negative and so, I would
communicate first. I’m giving you the finish line
but what I would start with is I’d be like, “Hey India,
can we have a coffee?” – Sure, yeah. – So, listen, I really think
– [India] (laughs) – that I have bigger
ambitions for this business than you do and I’d like
to talk to you about that. – That’s probably true. – Yeah, it’s definitely true.
– [India] (laughs) – And so, I think you
have that conversation. One of the things
that it’s led to, and I’ve given
this advice a lot, is that India and I who
started off at 50/50, India recognizes that and
sees that I’m putting in 18 hours a day and
she’s putting in seven. And she may say, “You know what, “I still want to
ride that train. “I believe in us, I can’t do
that, I’m not as ambitious, “I don’t have as much
energy, I don’t want to, “I have things at home
that I want to do, “dah dah dah dah dah. “Maybe I should give
you back and now, you have 70% and I have 30.” And so really, there’s
always a deal to be had. If the deal ends
up being 100/zero ’cause I don’t value India,
even at 30, or even at 20, or even at 10, or even at zero, well then you have to break up. But everything in life,
every relationship, you know, boss and employee,
boyfriend and girlfriend, partners in business,
cousins, Mom and Dad, every relationship on Earth
is predicated on communication and you have to have the backbone to step up and
actually have that conversation and have it in
a truthful manner. And it’s super scary
and a lot of people are intimidated by it. And I’m not, it took me a
long time to get good at it. I still don’t always
get great at it but, it is the only answer
to this question. It’s about having the
conversation and seeing where the things fall
because a lot of times, the other person doesn’t
want you to bring it up. They may, you know,
recognize it. Sometimes they
don’t even recognize it. Some people are blind
and lack self-awareness. So, you need to make
sure you’re connected in whatever that arrangement is.

said we are now charging for your
username would you pay to keep it matters to west at Jimmy Kimmel think it
matters like what are they gonna charge like if if if I dot com came out it was
the next big thing I want to be on it worth banker or if if the snapshot even
came around and said look we were out and we all know the names and if you
want gary b ecause you’re one of the people that we’ve deemed 50,000 people
that has a reasonable to them that we’re gonna charge you a hundred bucks a year
for it you know I actually don’t think it matters meaning what I paid sure what
a lot of you pay it no would hold back the after winning maybe I don’t think
any would ever take the chance to not become a big platform because a lot of
people wouldn’t sign up for it because those people were upset that somebody
was charging for them the and so I think the PR standpoint and a branding and
positioning standpoint most absurd if they do if they have the best product in
the world you pay for it nobody knows what would I pay Rachel
actively probably yeah probably and I wouldn’t give a crap about it like you
know what are they going to charge you can’t charge enough you know what i mean
they’re not the internet they’re not gonna meaning like every one of them is
too smart and is too big of a business to sit there and say ok like why would
they charge Facebook makes a billion dollars a quarter you think they want to
take the vulnerability to make an extra fifty million dollars top-line revenue
and listen to me and I’m not dressing and you theres just sometimes not a good
understanding of Big Mac pro-business behaviors like let’s just bring it down
you think Facebook how much revenue think this will be able to make and
charging for the exact what’s the most you think somebody can charge a human
forget about pepsi for the need for a year and let’s get to it what a month for over 500 bucks big
fucking deal in the scheme of things I’m in the top 10% of 1% I don’t know of
humans with fan bases right like there’s no money in it so like the problem that
a lot of people do is they think about it too much of a micro level there’s no
money in its own level up thinking Jimmy and crew like cool yes but never happen
because it would break the border ability is so much greater than the top
line revenue when they’re making revenue in other areas theoretically yes no it doesn’t matter I
mean the question matters you may appreciate I think it’s a good
opportunity to lessen up for the masses of like you gotta understand the reason
we’re good salesman as i understand what person wants another reverse engineer it
right this money it’s a business that money is not more valuable than the
vulnerability that they put on their other monies to I’m spending more money
on a Facebook ad today on Facebook and charged me for the year for the name so
why would a credible and believe me getting emotional that they pulled the
rug from underneath me and left a platform right kind of thinking yeah
garry so has this credit copeland here

p.m. in a way that will thrive beyond
your charisma the CEO how do you build great successors that’s a great question I think it comes
in daily be fifteen you’ll see me in the dirt I think one of the things that’s
very confusing about me as I do live Parallel lots I do live a life where I’m
8 outgoing personality a lightning rod of personality charismatic character the
basis of this question we have the show we have daily be able my content I
engage on TV I mean you know I’m actually keeping myself off of TV but
here we go with the new book coming out Dr Oz right Fox and Friends in the
morning CNN with Don Lemon like I’m gonna be out there right magazines things of that nature so you
know with all that being said one thing that people struggled with quantifying
is that I am working eighteen hours a day which allows me in essence live two
lives and I’m living two lives on putting the hours in as I was as if I
was a personal brand and abundant in a a tastemaker an author and speaker and a
personality but equally at scale running this organization I you know it’s very
keeping his company to to run that and be structured and we set up for success
without me I mean I don’t think I just met de TMP client you know like like
like there’s so much business going on that has nothing to do with me that is
set up I D well compensated very senior twenty
years into their career executives that roll around here there’s six hundred
people deeply as much fun as getting too little bit of editing here no joke I
need need need 21 seconds of people of the three floors in New York Knicks I happened to ya last operational
meetings for being so understanding never get upset when people don’t
believe that to be true or agencies doing it like they don’t know and they
don’t know and it has been the only beginning about 60 people to know that
I’m actually doing the work Daniel as well people use anchor as an
alternative pocketing platform I do

something that signature near mount
rushmore would love one of those anybody near Mount Rushmore I’ll take it as they
are you getting ready for summer vacations as you get around more
visually exciting things for a scary you won’t get on the show we use LinkedIn
hardly pay for the program it’s a great utility works great for Boehner but
nothing works better than the Brant when you build something that special people
are coming to you and said a new recruiting the greatest way to recruit
is to not recruit its to do something that is so significant or interesting or
curious or challenging that people want to work for you banners now starting to get that
momentum even though I don’t promote it was me holding off promotion even though
I don’t promote if you’re wondering if you know i dont promoted what we are
doing is we’re trying to let the word of mouth or two people that try hard enough
to like get through all the traps I put out there to get through and see what’s
actually going on here and so I would say it is a great tool for us we love it
we use it were a lot but the word of mouth of the internal employees telling
other people they should come and work here oh my god this amazing place and
people that are sniffing out and talking to other people clients are human beat my clients are
human beings meaning when I know they’re getting great work and they’re out to
dinner with a buddy who happen to work in an agency that’s a competitor and
like you know we should really look at the inner unique light sweet cuddly
employees will get that way mouth so the two ways to do it is to do
great stuff that everybody wants to work for you and I do think the utility
LinkedIn as great as incredible as well I’m gonna surprise like this part

“Gary do you expect your own
employees to work like you do? “Does it affect your opinion of them?” – J, I do not expect any of my employees to work as hard as I do because it’s not their business, and I get so mad at so many of you that get mad at employees that don’t work as hard
as you, they shouldn’t. Why in the world would they? Now there’s plenty of employees here that know that I value
hard work and hustle, and they know they’ll be
rewarded within the context, but no I do not expect
anybody to work harder than me and I think one of the quickest
ways for a business to fail is to have an employee
working harder than you and let me break that down. So many of you think you make it, and then you get to chill. Then what? You expect everybody underneath
you to work hard to sustain. Nobody cares that you worked
your ass off for 15 years, to get to this point if you’re fucking sailing
right now and fishing and like hanging out with
your boyfriend on the beach for a month and you’re
supposed to hold it up? Why because they worked hard
for 15 years, what about them? People have their own best at interests, and if you’re not out working them. As a matter of fact never, I have to work so hard to
create an infastructure that can even allow me
to have the audacity to have people to wanna work
with me for a long time. The only way I can even expect
all of them to work with me for a long time like I want them to is that I create such a big thing that they can make the monies
and have the challenges both get the monetary values they want the work life balance and the
money they wanna take home and do things that are
interesting and creative and challenging and not the same thing. The only way I can do that is to build the biggest thing possible which means I have to outwork them to have the wants and needs and audacity to have
people to work for me, talented people to work for me people that can really move the needle. So no it doesn’t change my opinion as a matter of fact I hope, and I know a lot of you are
watching right now at Vayner. I hope that I’m creating
something that allows hundreds of them to have a nine to six, not nine to five, a nine to six 45 hour
to 50 hour kind of job that pays them enough to be happy and gives them plenty of hours
to be on the bowling team, or knit, or work on
their music on the side, or come home for dinner every night. No I do not judge them, because if they wanted
to be exactly like me, or if they were wired like me, or had the ambition like me, or the talent like me, they’d be doing it for themselves. As they should, and I want that for them. Yeah I’m in a good zone.

“Gary, have you ever dropped the ball “on making a decision
due to over thinking it?” – Chris I would say that my… I almost need her to repeat
it, but I think I got it. Actually I sent it to her so I got it. I got it. The reason I sent it to India, was I say this Chris in the feed, is I’m actually normally making mistakes in the other direction. So I tend not to overthink
at all, I’m very intuitive, and most of my business mistakes have been to act too quickly
and then have to bail out. I have found that speed trumps everything, and so for me when I
weigh opportunity costs, I’d rather start something both money and time if
I intuitively feel it and then let it fail six
months or a year later. New concepts I have for
Vayner, new divisions, new types of wine’s for Wine Library, things I’ve done for my own brand and I wanna push so many of you for this I really wanna push a lot of you. So many of you are not taking action because you overthink it, you
overthink it, you overthink it I always say deploy your resources that you can afford to lose. A lot of you don’t have the dollars, I used to not have the dollars, but I had my time. The reason I punted at my twenties is because I didn’t have money, or I didn’t have a lot of it. You know a lot of you hear about the three
million dollar business, I love when people try to rag on me and say oh if everybody had a
three million dollar business I mean every single kid that gets 500,000 dollars in startup which was millions have more
dollar resources than I had. We didn’t have dollars, the business did three million dollars, it made 300,000 dollars in profit in selling three million
dollars worth of liqour and then it still had to pay expenses. My dad took home his salary, like we had no money. But I had my time, and I would test things, and I stayed up. I didn’t punt my twenties
for kicks and giggles, I pumped them because the only
resource I had was my time, and so I had to work 18 hours a day because that’s what I had. Got it? So taking action, especially
if it doesn’t cost you money and it’s just time is
always a better answer than pondering or thinking or trying to decide if this is gonna work, you don’t know. The learning of the failure is as equal to the victory of it. The thing’s I’ve learned in my 20 years, the reason I’m so advanced
as a business person in my own mind is not
only have I worked a lot, but this work hard work
smart thing I’ve worked smart and one of the smartest things I do as an entrepreneur and a business person is I do things so I can understand
whether they work or not. You can’t just sit here and say “Is this going to work or not?” Debate it your whole life, never do it, and then not know the answer. Like no. One of two great things happen, one you did it and it worked and you made money and you won and you got accolades and it worked Wine Library TV, it worked. The classes I was gonna do, I’m trying to think of things that failed another thing is that I
just forget them so quickly. I’ll work on this, you know India I wanna do top 11 things I did on Wine Library that didn’t work. Local van delivery,
at scale I never did. So one of two things happen, either it works and you make money the email service it worked, or it doesn’t and you’re like well I’m not gonna do that again. This whole indecisiveness
when you can do it, if you don’t have the
money you can’t do it so what the fuck are you
thinking about it for? “You know I wonder if I buy
a building in New York City will it go up in value? I wonder.” The answer is it’s gonna work, but guess what I don’t have
400 million dollars liqiud to buy the fucking Empire State Building, type of building because
you can’t even buy that for 400 million. This is an interesting question, the answer is no, I’ve never failed because
of indecisiveness. I’ve only failed because I’ve done stuff, but I’d argue that I didn’t
really fail I learned, I might have micro failed but I macro won. – [Voiceover] J Scot asks, “Gary do you expect your own
employees to work like you do?

industry is the high turnover normal
high turnover my industry agency life is because most companies are owned by
holding companies who are required so there’s four major holding companies and
advertising they’d consolidated bought up all the agencies in the DS big
billion dollar conglomerate said I don’t know everything about excitement I
really studied it but they’re big holding companies which tell companies
like being a media Greek companies like 72 and sunny great deal shop and TV shop
like 05 just got celebrate company these great couple 360 I carried out by Vice
thrown by holding companies who tell their CEOs got you know usually the guy
or gal that looks like me that’s all the company for a lot of money to get up
front but it turned out and then you’re locked in because have your money is
going to come after four years ago to keep the job golden handcuffs cool if
you don’t know what I mean and so they tell them you have to run
your company in a 27 percent gross margin or 23% course you know if I had
to do that tomorrow because I want to be cash out at least 500 people and then
what happens is the inevitable thing that looks like this you know you have a
superstar youngster that’s growing up within the organization and you guys are
so many have gone from you know making very little to making more and more and
more right you never really don’t promote them for a year or two because
he can’t afford to be the only rule is you gotta make 23.7% gross profit the
only rule and so there isn’t a huge turnover is because the best people
don’t get compensated fast enough nobodies who r up nobody who is running
the company has long-term ambitions because they’re they’ve already sold out
and their only try to stay there for three or four more years and maximize
their bonuses and their money so they’re making the decision and said anything
like everything stems from top 20 we see on the show and why said yesterday from
the whole company everything is my fault and that’s true in these scenarios and
so is it company I’m able to do what I’m doing
cause I want to build an evergreen company for ever and so I’m able to
treat I’m able to deploy meritocracy and if that comes at my expense it comes in
my short-term expense but fifteen years from now out of happiness and financial
win so that’s why that’s happening and the work done so because they don’t want
to pay because they run a margin they do a lot of things they don’t compensate
people probably they leave they burn good people to the ground you know you know what goes on here i
mean you’re in the trenches it’s something that a hardcore account that
stop you know we should get them out of there a year later cause I’m just dying
but those companies don’t usually do that because they just need to maximize
and it’s actually incentivize to let you quit like for less and you know so that
so the question was normal because most of the most of the companies are victim
again that creates a scenario for high turnover and so in general I’m trying to
push you guys hundred-to-one episodes deep have you been along the rider 28
percent or visit our first episode the concept of the show is to always
level of the thinking around business and entrepreneurship this is an insult
to why it happens right everything stems for top always and forever I promise you
your manager who suck scrap the fault of that situation is the CEO always been
the CEO says it’s useful but question of do you like your CEO you keep asking
questions keep answering what we doing

over the course of the last year I spent
all my efforts trying to grow a community photographers around my brand
but I realized and were taken to the next level I have to find a partner or
investor but the problem is I have this defensive wall about asking for help
it’s just not the way I was raised my question is how do you get past that man
how do you take them out wall and say hey you know what I need help and then
reach out to people i really appreciate your thoughts on this thank you so much show well done but I’m
more of that we haven’t done this in awhile ask questions are so many me that
are not asking I love between a pun getting a Michelle your right cuz your a
piece also and you just keep asking yet the 98% of you have never asked the
question once used the hashtag on the comments in YouTube Facebook Twitter or
Instagram because I’ll give you every option to take your questions in looking
at some new people in here like we did with snapshots 7 some questions and I’ll
hand you my phone tomorrow and just go through some of the video questions and
people downloading or what have you know actually that’s right up to me directly
download across UK can and then tweet it would like to get
some more snapshot visuals in the show and you learn how to download an article my man first and foremost I’m kinda
bored by this question let me tell you why you just let your guard down you are
scared to ask for and I get excited also don’t like asking for help so I really
connect with you by the way the black-and-white video just did you just
put yourself out there 200,000 people own it so your good really good yourself
out there my into my comment to you is going to YouTube and Facebook right now
and leave a comment so the other homies of this community
can find you to say what you’re missing is the financial part is the
organizational partly that’s because I don’t know your name was just named got it so but everybody know you are
like and just be like 26 things I want guys the dirty little secret about the a
scary be shown daily B is if you become part of the community you will win let
me explain watching each of you biz dev with each
other in my comment section this this silent majority that watch the show and
yeah I’m trying to bring you out workers today that silent majority you’re making
a huge mistake just commenting in saying first time commenter in this episode
like what you’ve been doing her answer the question that I come up with what
have you will put you in the ecosystem for other people saying hey guys there’s
a couple of extra rinse out there so do you let me in directly I really need you like list
what you are what your shortcomings are a funny feeling fifteen people gonna
respond and say they’ve got those strengths and you might find your
partner right my comment section of the rest of you get in this community Serena
ass you travel so much what are your tricks and tips for overcoming jet lag I
don’t have a trick I don’t know what