I work on new business and all things. I’m an account director here. I’ve been here, I don’t
know, about eight months now. Feels like a year almost. I’m really excited for my Vaynerversary. (laughter) So I wanted to ask you a question which I think is going to help some of the entrepreneur viewers but also just the future
leaders of VaynerMedia. When you’re transitioning
from that doer to a leader knowing what your priorities are and where to put your
focus, so that it counts. – Yeah. – Can you talk a little bit about that? – Yeah I can. And you know this is
something that I have a lot. And to put a little more
color for everybody listening, at Vayner and a lot of other
places you get into a place where you, I think you said it right, you’re in execution mode and then all of a sudden you’re managing a team. And those are two very different things. And it’s the thing that I most fear in the organization, period, end of story. Because you have incredible
executors who yearn for the financial upside and the title to then lead a team and boy are those two very, very, very, very,
very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very
different skill sets. And so I think the biggest
thing people struggle with, there are so many things people struggle with with the transition. Number one, the thing I hate
more than anything in the world which is micromanagment. I wanna kick micromanagment in the face. I hate it. And, you know, it’s something I just despise and it’s a major struggle
because if you are a great executor you know how to cross those T’s and dot those I’s. And you know, when you see the person on your team whose not
as strong at executing you can’t help it, it
goes against the grain. So that’s number one thing. Facing yourself in the
mirror and understanding, and I’ve talked to you about this, and I’ve talked to so many leaders in this company about this. This is where people get pissed at me. Most things don’t matter. And that’s a very tough mental transition to somebody that manages a team. The other thing that a lot of
people will struggle with, and I talk about this quite a bit in this organization as well, is when you’re a leader you have to be the bigger man and woman
in every situation. And a lot of times people,
especially when they make that first transition, and it’s the first time
that they’re the leader, they look at it wrongfully
because of society, as I’m the boss and they
try to impose their will instead of what I think
the real skill set is. Which is become a full time listener, a full time empowerer,
a full time eat crap and have humility and
empathy and self awareness. So you go from, what I
believe is I.Q to E. Q. and a lot of people can’t
make that transition. I think the reason this
organization has grown so much is that’s all I focus on
when that transition happens. And don’t try to put pressure on people for new business and client services and all the normal things
one has to worry about. Now I’m the leader, now this
client has to respect me. I need to make Steve happy. I don’t care about that. I can take care of that
at the highest levels. It’s about really empowering
people to become leaders. And leaders, you know I love this. This is obviously a subject matter I love. We talked about it even
in yesterday’s episode. It takes so much more motherly, historically, stereotypically
motherly skills to be a leader and I
think people are confused. I think by default people
think it’s fatherly stuff and I think it’s motherly stuff. It’s emotional skills that allow somebody to make that transition. And really one of the biggest factors in this whole thing is self esteem. If you’re not able to believe in yourself nobody else is gonna believe in you. So I think one of the things is, look I got fortunate, I
got a mother that instilled so much self esteem in me that I’m still trying to get some of it out of me so that I don’t come across
as an egotistical crap head. But I think a lot of
people don’t have that. A lot of people in my family
don’t have that, and I see it and one of the weird
little tidbits that I think can make this episode valuable is if you get into a leadership spot and if your self aware enough to know that your mom or dad put you
down your whole life, or society did, or you
grew up as a minority, or whatever took self
esteem out of your body. Or if you never instilled
in the first place. I think you need to find
an outlet to create it. I think you need to find
an outlet to create it. I think one of the things I
focus on here is I instill it. You know, I instill it. I do talk 90% of the
time about the positives. I just can’t help it. I’m optimistic and I just see it. I see the good, it’s what I do. There’s always bad, but I
think you need to seek it out. And it might come in the form
of extracurricular activities. You might be a great soccer
player, or an improv actor. Or maybe the person you date, maybe you look for somebody
who, instills that. I think that’s a very
attractive characteristic. I can tell you the reason
I married Lizzie so quickly was ’cause she was my mom. And so I like coming home
and having a cheerleader. Like, you’re great. I love that. I want that. And so, I think those are
the things that come to mind. – Thanks Gary.

“Can anyone create good micro-content? “How can you make sure
your team consistently “creates good content?” – Joe, great question. First, for everybody who’s
watching and/or listening, I want to talk about the
term “micro-content.” It’s something I started
using three, four years ago. Hasn’t really caught on. I myself don’t know how often I’m gonna use it going forward. But the notion was
content made specifically for the platform. You know, the videos and the pictures, the quotes, the written words
that worked on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest,
Instagram, Snapchat, Vine. It was the context of the book
“Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook.” DRock, throw it up there. Throw it up there, show it. They got it? – [DRock] Mmhmm. – [Gary] You got it, ok.
– [DRock] Mmhmm. – [Gary] So, you know, how do you
make good micro-content? How do you consistently
get your team to do it? First of all, content
is subjective, right? Steve likes “Game of Thrones” shows. I don’t, not that I don’t like it, I just haven’t even seen it yet. Some people watch “Game of
Thrones” and don’t like it. Very few, I think,
’cause it’s very popular. But you know, it is
still clearly subjective, that’s number one. Number two, how do you get a
team to be good at anything when you’re scaling your
kind of P.O.V. on the world and marketing to a 400
person, and downstairs, lot of comments about
downstairs, we’ll get there, um, organization. It’s about education,
but I would actually say that for me scaling and
getting my team to get there has a lot to do more with osmosis, right? Like putting it into their water stream, versus having a class that teaches it. Sure you can write a book. Sure we have lunch-and-learns
and learn-ups within the new organization, but they’re not attended that well. Need to talk about that, by the way. Um, what’s happening more here is that people are doing
and people are smart. You know, it starts with hiring
good people, smart people. And then when you realize
that you’ve hired somebody who’s not capable of learning
through that process, well then you gotta make some decisions. But to me, making good content takes a couple core pillars. Number one, you’ve got
to respect your audience. Meaning, you’ve gotta
respect the psychology of what they’re doing when
they’re on the platform. I know a 40-year-old woman
is in a different mindset when she’s on Facebook versus
when she’s on Pinterest. And that is how I try
to story-tell to her, because I know on Pinterest,
she intent to shop, aspiration to shop, and on Facebook, she’s keeping up with her
world or consuming information. And I strategize around
that, the psychology and the platform itself. Number two, when I say respect, I put out content that
I think she will like versus what I’d like to accomplish. Yes, I’d like to, give me a bottle of wine. Yes, I’d like to, a little faster, Alex, I know it’s early. Yes, I’d like to sell this,
but if I put it in a way that is more interesting to her, five under $10 bottles
of wine that, you know, help you get through the day when you have eight-year-old kids, and then you’re targeting
eight-year-old-kid moms, you’re going to start getting into a game that gives you a better chance. You know, 12 wines somebody
who’s 38 will like, and then you target people
from that were born in 1975. These are all strategies that will work. Again, very heavy Facebook. Or Instagram, taking a glamour
shot of it, in an angle, and it’s just like cool and nice. It’s like it’s all the kind of stuff. Respecting the audience,
respecting the platform, taking your agenda and making it third. – [Voiceover] James asks, “What are your thoughts on
podcasters and YouTubers

“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.

– [Voiceover] Robert asks, “I know viewers get a
lot out of your new show, “but what is the most
significant experience “that you get out of it?” – Robert, that’s a tremendous question. I appreciate it. You know, for me, it’s
kind of weird, right? I have this whole chapter
of doing video blogging on an everyday basis
that I enjoyed so much I did it for five and a half years. I think the best thing I have
is being back in the game, a game that I love. I mean, I love running businesses, but doing this video blogging thing, it’s just a lot of fun for me. The other thing that really
I get a lot out of it, a lot of you hardcore old
schoolers will remember Mott and those kind of things. I mean, DRock, show this. Show Andy, and there’s
Zack and Joe Stunwin, and here we are in… By the way, DRock, he
loves it like all clean. Show the table, DRock. He was scared that you
guys would be like… He’s a little polished for me at times, but the biggest thing I get is that here I am in Atlantic City… By the way, little fun fact real quick. Preshow to this Sunday
night’s Miss America from eight to nine, I think
I’m getting a lot of action so make sure you DVR
that and check that out, but here I am in Atlantic City. What would be going on right now? I would be sleeping or doing e-mail, but here I’m jamming. There’s kind of like team, like family thing. I love that so much. I’m creating something. Creating something is special, and so I appreciate you guys
caring enough at enough scale to make me want to continue to do this, and build something. There’s no substitute for the feeling of accomplishing something, and that’s what I feel is happening here. Thanks so much. Thanks for watching this episode.

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.

I am from Fittr, a small fitness app available on the app store. – That’s a plug. – We’re a four-person
team, and we are seeing a rapid growth in our customer base. Currently we have a very
intermit customer experience, but I’m kind of worried that as we grow, we may have more and more
trouble with maintaining that. Is there any advice you could give me? Thanks. – Kik, there’s some serious
advice that I can give you which is, if you grow,
(wood thuds), thank God, you will make money, or
you will raise money, those are two things that
happen when you grow, and you will take some of that money and you will apply it to
hiring more human beings to continue to scale your four-person team to a 23-person team that can then do, obviously, in that scenario,
around six times more engaging and intimacy. This is the insanity that
pisses me off more than anything which is that people think
that engagement doesn’t scale. It doesn’t scale when you roll like me and you answer everything yourself, but it does scale when you’re a logo, or water, a league, a thing, it scales. As a matter of fact,
I’ve been comtemplating an #AskGaryVee Show Twitter account that allows me to scale, right? I can have four human beings
behind this show engaging, you know, that’s not me,
’cause it’s a show, me is me. And so you can scale all day long, or you and your four-person team willing to make the commitment to allocate dollars into humans, one that most CFOs and
other financial people do not believe in. I believe in it, do you? – [Voiceover] Mark and
Patti ask, “What’s better

– [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.