– So, what’s the next big thing? My argument is this is the next big thing. That, if you are waiting
for something beyond a billion people connected
online with mobile being the driving force, with a fight for attention, and with constant froth around the edges. If you’re waiting for something else, you’re gonna miss out on a
big chunk of opportunity. This is our revolution. There was the industrial revolution. There was the mass media revolution. There’s this. And it will keep changing it’s flavor. The names of the public
companies that run things are gonna have to change. But please don’t wait for the next thing. This has been the next thing since 1991. And the people who ask me at
the newspaper conference in ’93 when I told them what was coming said, “Oh, well. We’ll just wait for that.” No, this is it. This is what we got. – I totally agree with that. And the one thing that’s on the horizon that I think a lot of people
are paying attention to is VR. And I say to a lot of people, “Look. That’s a ten years away.” In 1998 I thought by the year 2000 everybody would come into my wine shop and know the price of everything. And, so, I think the thing I’ve learned, my version of that same exact answer is there’s a long way away. If VR is truly contact
lenses, sitting at our home, If VR is truly contact
lenses, sitting at our home, being in places, we’re talking
about 15 to 25 years away from the scale. We’re just hitting the maturity. Let’s not forget. 15%-17% of
all eCommerce done in America is done online. It’s nothing. If you told me in 1998 that
only 15% of all things bought would be online by the year 2016, I would have sat there and said, “Shit. Do I even want to do this? That’s forever from now.” This stuff doesn’t go as fast
as we all think it’s going to. – 30 years ago today,
1986, sitting in my office at 215 1st Street in
Cambridge, Massachusetts. – As like, literally, literally today? – I’m making that part
up, but it’s 30 years ago, sitting in my office in
Cambridge, Massachusetts. Do you know who walks in? I’m 26 years old. Guy named Guy Kawasaki. – Telling you Apple’s the greatest? – Well, I was already a beta tester. We did a deal with him, right? The point is, if Guy had
waited for the next big thing, he wouldn’t have become Guy Kawasaki. If I’d waited for the next big thing, I wouldn’t have become me, and you wouldn’t have become you. This idea that there’s always
the froth around the edges, there are people who
are working in VR today who are gonna go off and
do something interesting, but it’s not gonna be because
they’re right about VR. It’s gonna be because
they’re right about being a trusted person worthy of our attention. That’s the arc of the people you trust and the brands you trust. Not that they got the
product right the first day or the iteration right the first day. It’s that they made a
commitment to show up in a certain way, in a certain universe in front of certain people. – What’s crazy about that is when I think about the thought leaders in marketing, and names
that people throw out there, and authors in this space. 30 years ago he walks into your office. It’s unbelievable that
when you have the chops: A. How long you can keep the
attention of the end consumer. B. How long this all plays out. Like, I just got fired up. The level of domination
that I’m gonna have in 2037 just dawned on me. And I’m really excited about 2037. – You should be except football will be against the law by then. – Don’t even start with me. Let’s go.

– Hey Todd. – You say ideas are crap,
(beatboxing) execution is the game. – Oh, he’s rapping. – Honestly, to most of us,
they’re one and the same. – I said, you’ve had six or
seven in your big career. Tell me last time you were
pumped about your biggest idea. Thanks, man. – That was well-done. – [India] Yeah, that was good. – That is the way to get on the show, get India’s creative juices going. We need a little bit more
creative video questions. This is a good starting point. We need that. Let’s do a call to arms
to the Vayner Nation, better video questions, let’s step it up. Jesus. What’s his name? Adam? – [India] Todd.
– Todd. (laughter) – Todd, great job, first of all. The last idea I’ve been
really excited about, that’s a really good question. I’m really excited about my current ideas of big opportunities
in the business world, so they’re not very specific, but I’m in love with my thesis of e-sports and virtual
reality in a 10-year window. And so I just have to make sure I don’t get too far ahead of it, but I’m very, very, very excited about that. I think I was very right about how much brands and businesses were gonna spend on social networks. I don’t think people saw,
four or five years ago, the money allocation that’s getting poured into making videos and
pictures for these platforms. That was exciting to me,
it’s been the backbone of, that was the strategy and then the execution was VaynerMedia, that’s when it works,
when you have both, right? Like, you can work your
ass off if you’re wrong. If I’m like, “okay, guys,
VHS tapes are coming back.” And if I start building a
company and hiring people that are 58 years old that know how to make VHS
tape, like, if I’m wrong, all our hustle is for naught. So you have to have both. I would say that, I would say the other
thing that I can point to is the #AskGaryVee Show. I don’t know if you heard about it, but we’re in it right now. It’s very meta. I knew that I was good
at answering questions, I could feel at conferences
that people would be like, “holy crap, that last 15
minutes, that was the bomb.” They were impressed by
my quickness in my craft. It was a way to show everybody that I know what I’m talking about. You know, people were stunned, I was with somebody yesterday. People don’t realize that
I don’t know the questions. Like, you pick them. Yes, I will send you, – You do. – like, the first one we
did today, like, I sent you. Like, I’m looking, I’m watching you guys, ’cause I care about you
guys and I’m sending stuff, but I would say, out of
a week, 25 questions, I’m sending you two? – [India] Two, probably. – So when people find that out, they’re fascinated by it. So I thought this format
would work for me, I thought it would elevate my leadership around marketing and
technology thought leadership, and it has. Him and his bro. And many, and many (Gary laughs) and many, many, many, many more of you. And so that idea was percolating,
we did it ad hoc one day, and it worked. – Here we are.

“a video game, what type would it be “and on what platform
would you sell it?” – Nils, this is a pretty
interesting question. There’s two spaces that
I think video games are really interesting, and
one is obviously mobile. I still think mobile,
kind of word, simple, like, the game that
works for the 13 year old and for the 84 year old grandmother are always super interesting to me, very basic, you know, just simple word, brain quizzes, you know, Hangman 3.0, that kinda stuff is super interesting. But the place that I’d probably go since I love so much the game of following where I think the puck is going to be, is I’d probably make a
virtual reality game, one that had, you know,
kind of like the Zelda of VR, which was a completely open world where you could do a whole lot of stuff. I don’t know if I would go shooter, though I think that’s gonna
be the breakout win early on, I’m a little bit more into like,
Gauntlet really affected me in the early days, it
was like one of the first four player arcade games
that me and my boys back in ’84 would roll into Chuck E Cheese with quarters for days
and just get down with it. And I was always pumped to
be the princess, by the way, everybody would fight for the wizard, I’m like I’ll be princess, she was nasty. Anyway, so I would say
some sorta open-ended Zelda-Gauntlet adventure type game, for virtual reality, that
I don’t think would pop for another 24 to 36 months, but if you follow the
narrative of my 20 year career and hopefully what I do
for the next 40 years, I’m always going to bet on where I think the market’s gonna be
24, 36 months from now use my disproportional ability to sell, to keep me afloat for
those 24 to 36 months, and then be there where the
market’s gonna be there. When I started selling social
media to brands in 2009, they didn’t wanna buy it. Only now, only as we
head into 2016 budgets, am I starting to see some real upside. And as you can imagine, that
bodes well for my business. I would do the same thing
in the video game industry. – Why? Just crashed on you? Cool.

We do seed-stage investing, and I’ve got a question for Gary. Gary, what’s up with virtual reality? (laughs) – What’s up uh, with virtual reality? First of all, Hunter, great background. As you guys can tell,
Hunter was in the office We’re talkin’ biz. We’ve done some mutual investing together. He’s a great V.C., a great blogger, great Twitter personality,
you should check him out. Link him up during the thing, do something DRock to help the dude. Anyway, Hunter, that’s a great question. I wonder, it’s funny, because I know what you do for a living, I’m like “Hmm, is Hunter looking at this space?” You know, I’ve been talking
and I’ve been doing this move and if you’re listening, I’m
putting my hands on my eyes. Uh, Oculus Rift, it’s coming. You know, I very much think that, look I mean, I hate predictions, but we’re getting close
to the end of the year, where I think we’re gonna force me to do a prediction show,
when I say we, I mean me. Uh, I, uh, 2014, I think by 2024 for sure, that’s 10 years, I think by 2021, V.R.
is gonna really matter. I think video games,
television, and movies, a.k.a. entertainment, and I don’t want to get crass,
but I think porn as well, I think those four categories,
from a business standpoint, will be heavily affected
by virtual reality. And then by virtue, I see advertising going there. Because all of the
sudden, you can imagine, if I’m playing, you know, Madden and I feel like I’m the quarterback, and all the signage
around the stadium is now Lionel Richie, root beer,
wine, things of that nature, you can see how advertising
gets filled into it. I, look, I’m in the
eyes and ears business. If you want to know what business I’m in, and if you want to get a
cut, DRock, of a video clip for a 50-second video for my
YouTube channel, take this one. Because, once and for
all, stake in the ground, I’m in the eyes and ears business. Where ever the eyes and ears go, I go. Right? If I think the ears are
moving quicker and quicker to podcasting because
connected cars are here and mobile devices are here, I start podcasting, get it? It’s how I move. And so, V.R. is coming. As an investor, under the
context of you, Hunter, and asking that question,
I am looking at it. I’m looking at the production companies, the people with the kind of 360 cameras that are gonna be in it. Video game producers that
are gonna play in it. I’m a big believer. I think it’s a little early, and it’s definitely early for mass. But I think over the next three years, you’ll start seeing sprinkles to it, and I think five to seven years from now, virtual reality will have a real place in our society, bigger than
people think right now. In the way that you
didn’t think older people would take selfies three years ago, that’s what I think about V.R. Meaning, a lot of you don’t
think it’s gonna happen. I just do.