Every Gary Vaynerchuck (GaryVee) Video in a Nutshell

I’m a fan of Gary Vaynerchuck. The entrepreneur-turned-motivator is great to listen to; he’s an energetic guy with a contagious personality and delivers a speech very well.

However after subscribing to his channel, listening to his podcast and consuming his material regularly, it becomes clear that he only really says the same few things repeatedly.

So I thought I’d sum them up here:

 

On himself:

Gary will usually start a talk by speaking about himself and his past, and peppers all his speeches with callbacks to his personality:

  • My friends thought I was weird growing up. I sold baseball cards and made 3 grand (this figure sometimes changes) every weekend.
  • I transformed my dad’s wine business from 3m to 40m per year (this figure sometimes changes) then left it all to him.
  • I owe most of my life now to my parents, who were fantastic. I was getting Ds and Fs in school but working hard elsewhere and they recognised that.
  • I started a media agency when I could’ve started the next Uber.
  • I am a master of self awareness, gratitude, generosity and empathy.
  • I leave millions of dollars on the table every year.
  • I contradict myself all the time.
  • My dream is to own the New York Jets one day, but I’m in love with the game and the journey.

On work ethic:

Gary is very passionate about work ethic. He’ll often shout the following, most of the time preceded by one of:  ‘Let me make something very clear…’, ‘I am desperate to…’, ‘what fascinates me right now…’ or ‘I want to leave you with one thing tonight…’:

  • Work hard in your 20s. Shut your eyes and “eat shit”.
  • If you’re partying and relaxing on the weekend, you don’t “want it” enough. You can and probably should work 18 hours per day.
  • Today is the greatest day in history of human race. The middle man is gone.
  • The market doesn’t care about your struggles.
  • Kids haven’t been punched in the mouth yet, i.e. millennials haven’t faced a recession in their working lives.
  • Do what makes you happy. I know people earning 40k per year who are the happiest people alive, and miserable millionaires.
  • No 8th place trophies for kids. It ruins them.

Practical tips:

When he gets to the actual practical tips for business owners, his advice is pretty good, if a bit simplistic:

  • The internet is the greatest invention ever and none of our ancestors had it. Your Grandad would kill to have had the internet.
  • Phones and the internet are everything in business today.
  • Every single business needs to be on social media creating content.
  • Don’t sell on social media, provide value and help people with useful content.
  • Buy Facebook and Instagram ads because they’re cheap. This may change, but right now they’re on sale for what they’re worth.
  • Daytrade attention. Attention is the currency.
  • Google stuff and make yourself learn it.
  • Buy stuff cheap and sell it on eBay.
  • People will always consume voice, print and video. The ways to do so will just evolve.
  • A company making sales is better than raising venture capital.
  • Not everyone should be an entrepreneur. It’s become a cool thing, but many people are better suited being a number 3 or a number 27 at a company.

Like I said, Gary is great to watch and listen to, but the majority of his points can be summarised in a few bullet points as above.

I’d recommend Gary for pick-me-up on your commute, but you might want to look elsewhere for actual practical tips on entrepreneurship and running a business.

His book Crushing It! can be bought here from Amazon.