Gary Vaynerchuk - How To Start Late & Still Be Successful

The reason I don't need to monetize my audience and sell you an island or a mastermind or top of the funnel is because I know how to make business. Otherwise. I built a wine business before. I didn't make a piece of content until I was 34. About business. I was 34 years old the day I made my first business piece of content. I was 31 years old the first time I made a wine piece of content.

Really?

Really? Yeah. See, this is my.

That's great. That's great news. Thanks. You know Kamal.

How are you, man? See? Come on, Come on.

All right, we're coming with you. You have such a cool team, Gary. This is a. A great group of people.

I appreciate it.

Like. Like, Max remembered me. I was like, that's.

That's cool.

Like, it's really.

I was. So my. My best friend's name is Mark, and Mark and this Mark worked together for a while.

Your best friend Mark and this Mark.

Right. And we were talking about him earlier and how he grew up with nothing. Like, nothing. Nothing. Yes, he grew up with absolutely nothing. He's. He just exited. A company called RV Share is the largest peer to peer RV rental site in the world.

Great company.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah. And you. And you were on the board of it. And he's just. He's the happiest person, but he was happy before, too. And I think there is something to. Just the contrast between losing it all. If you. If you know, you can be happy with nothing. Like, that's. That's like the. The secret. It's what. It's. It's when you can be risk tolerant. It's when you can be risk tolerant.

You know why?

Yeah. Like, I almost weirdly fantasize of losing everything. Taking on the judgment that. See, he was full of shit. He wasn't that good. And then doing it again. I genuinely fantasize about that.

I actually do, too. Every time I'm driving and I see, like, a homeless person, I always tell my wife, more driving. You know, if I was homeless, someday.

I could be fine. I get a job pretty fast.

I'd hustle my way back.

Yeah.

Well, we did a video once where I was talking about how I used to be really afraid of losing everything and having to work at Dunkin Donuts again. And then I was like, but I would be the best damn donut salesman ever. And then it just comes down to.

Do you love your process? Are you able to not care about judgment? And then how does that manifest? It's really real.

I Don't know. I'm just super grateful. And honestly, I think the newest version of myself over this last 20 years, doing content. 12 years doing content. The last couple years, this last run I'm on, this one. I'm in right now. This is about genuinely realizing that I'm making an impact and just feeling a tremendous sense of responsibility to put out this content.

Cause it's counter to a lot of what's being put out.

That is true.

Chris, I love the fact that you're recording right now, and I really appreciate it, but I feel incomplete without one of my best friends drinking wine with us. Is there a way that we. Okay, cool.

All right.

Can we prop it or something? Okay, if that's a real offer, we'll take that. Okay.

But I want two angles.

Gary, there's one thing I'm itching to tell you.

Please.

And it's the last time I was here, you said, thank you. I have hundreds of bottles of these that just arrived while we were traveling. So I have not tried this yet. And I've been excited for it.

You said, right now you believe me 92%.

Yes.

And you were saying it from the context of it was more than the.

Time I saw you at the Core Club. That I remember, too.

Yeah.

I don't know if I said it out loud, but I remember that as well.

And you said that, and it meant the world to me. And then you said, but right now, you're still only believing 92% about. There's no ask, there's no. It purely is just a give play because it feels good. And I believe you 100% now. So.

It has been a lot of personal work to get to that point.

And getting to this point now is so scary good.

Thank you.

Honestly, dude, it's really. It makes me so happy.

I just want you to know I get it now. And it was.

I don't know that I would have gotten there as quickly without your example. And so one of the things, like, the reason why I put a lot of energy into seeing you once a year or so is because you're kind of like a mirror of where I'm at, because I think you're really clear internally about who you are, and it acts like a mirror to me of where I am. And so I just wanted to thank you for that.

Makes me happy, bro. I really get it. And honestly, it's. It feels so like. It feels like it's not the alcohol. It feels warm. It feels warm in my body. And it's actually to think about the kid that I met at the event to this moment is the actual dead example of the process that I'm trying to do at scale. I think some.

Thing happened where I get the great blessing to be the communicator that takes a lot of alpha winners and eliminates the bad behavior and instills more. I don't know what to say. If super, it's super heady, it's super in the clouds, it's super. It can even be consumed as obnoxious. It's just actually, I still believe it. I believe that it took a very unique voice to take guys that look like you and me and actually get them to think empathy and long game and kindness was actually the cool thing, not all the other stuff.

Because there's a lot of versions that try to push it in, but 26 year old Rick can't hear that version.

I love Rick. Poor Rick, man, but you know what I mean? Poor guy.

26 year old Rick is not gonna hear it from, you know.

An academic or from a scholar or from, you know, irrelatable. I was just.

I don't know what happened. I always kind of give my dad credit for scaring me straight from bullshit, but there's a lot that went into it. But like, I almost feel like I'm on such a fine line. I'm so close to it but yet so far from it that it makes me connect with that person that's going through their process.

How do you, how do you keep that balance and walk that line?

It's, you know, no different than like how he has epic hair.

Or like he's in shape. Like it's funny. It's just, it's what I am, what I've always been, you know, it's funny to like react, find. Yeah, you kind of like this is.

A consistency to you.

It gets even crazier. You know, our team has been really finding old videos that have like 88. Dan. He has a fresh eyes. Like, I know you've worked on this. Like it's ridiculous. It's 2009. It's the same exact words. Finding stuff that I can't even get in 360p, like so low. But it's him like yelling about Twitter. It's crazy.

That makes me happy. Wait.

Actually, it's so funny you segued that way. I'll tell you why I've been so consistent. And the only thing that changes is me trying to help kids figure out, kids, everyone figure out where the underpriced attention is to put that into the system.

The only thing that will be new about me forever is being good at what I've been good at my whole life, which is understanding consumer trends a little bit quicker than the masses and then getting good at understanding the creative to fill it contextually to it. Because the craft of being good on Twitter is different than Instagram, different than email, different than Google AdWords, but it's the same game. And so right now, and the reason I always get excited about things like TikTok or actually LinkedIn right now is I'm always trying to talk to the person that can't afford to run me. There's always something that's underpriced, organic. That's a big stupid question.

I saw your interview with Dababy rapper. Like that makes sense for the youth market. Does that make sense for Ryan and capitalism.com and like trying to go after that, like younger TikTok market?

I think that. I think it could. I think it could. I think there's a couple things. Let me give you an example for capitalism dot com. Let me tell you the story of Social Cam. You remember Social Cam? It was like four seconds there. It was like four months.

I remember.

Do you remember that name?

Yeah.

It was like that orange.

I think I know who did that.

It was so there was an app called socialcam that him and I would remember because what we were doing back then, it had a moment, but it was fast. This, I'm not talking bind. This was like four months. It hacked the Facebook algorithm at its peak. Got like a drillion downloads, got all sorts of funny. I think it sold. It was like with the app.

When they opened that app.

Can you Google Social Cam sold? I'm curious because I think Twitter or Facebook bought it back or some other third party. It was hot. It was hot. I used it made no sense for me to use it at the time. I wasn't anywhere in. But what I learned about first party video, you know, phone to this because that's the first time I did it became the framework of how I used vine, which then became the framework of how I used Snap, which is why I exploded on Instagram 2012 and it was sold to Autodesk. Autodesk. That's when they opened up the platform.

I don't even know what that is.

The developer platform.

Facebook.

Brandon.

Actually, no. The developer platform was 2000. You want to hear something? Really? That was earlier. Yeah, earlier it was 2009. You know what's crazy about the developer platform? What? The first app I built was called AskGaryVee.

And it was on Facebook, right?

It was on Facebook only. And it was a wine app. You would ask me wine questions.

What wine goes with fish?

Yeah, all these different things. And it was like, AJ, to his credit, calls me the day F8 or whatever they were doing, or on TechCrunch, who knows? He calls me. He's like. I'm like, in a wine deal. He's still in college. He's like, facebook just did apps. I think this is gonna be important. Remember what you told me about the iPhone? They're doing it. I'm like, okay, that's important. And I remember we also made some sort of other. Oh, my God. I just remembered. We made an app. AJ calls me, says we should make something. And actually, the first app was not AskGaryVee. The first app I made was called University Rivals.

You would just go. It was like, basically. Do you remember Color wars on Twitter? You remember that, Daniel? No. Really? Good for you. Ze Frank.

Remember?

ZE Frank, in 2007, started. I think it was Ze Frank started something called Color Wars. And everybody on Twitter picked a team. The green team, the yellow team, we all changed our avatars to have a color behind it. It was, remember.

I remember that.

Remember that?

I remember that.

So 2007, early Twitter, before, like, retweet before, there was retweet buttons that you had to write RT colon, and control copy. That's how it started.

So Color wars, right? So Color wars happened. It was hot for, like, a week on tour. So then I was like, facebook college. So we made an app that all you did was just click the team you were supporting. But we made brackets, like Duke versus North Carolina. And then we just ran, like.

I'm trying to remember how we even did it to grow virality, but basically it was like, hey, Duke, go on this and click Duke. Cause North Carolina's ahead of us. It went batshit crazy. And then I think.

Howard. Dave McClure. No. Seth Golden. No. Goldstein. Like the guy from a social. Yes. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whose wife, I think, is actually credited for the term social media.

Really?

Yep. We're talking about the same guy.

Yeah, same stuff.

They rip. They copied our fucking. They tried to buy it.

They built a whole company off, and then ran it to the ground.

Correct. He tried fire from aj. I was like. I was like, I didn't know. This is early tech for me. I was like, no, we must be onto something. No agent.

Don't sell it.

Let's keep going. And then, like, a Week later, I copied the whole thing. Like the code might have even been like ripped. It was that much of a copy.

Really interesting time.

You agree with me, right, that 2006, 7, 8 was really fast. You know what I. You know how I think that's good when that gets replicated? Alexa, I think. Yeah. I think the thing that's looming is full scale voice, AI devices really playing. Somebody creates a killer app, everybody downloads it, it opens up the Pokemon Go of Alexa and Google happens. We all get used to it and it triggers. I really think voice is gonna be a very big ui. I think it's gonna take some time, but it's just too convenient. Alexa, get me an Uber that's just faster than me.

It's speed.

I will get back into investing when that gets going because that's when I'm good. I'm good. When a new toll, a new highway is created. And I'm very good at understanding the best toll booths, which is why I understood search and browsers, which is why I understood social so well. I understood iPhone. Social, okay. Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook. That's when I'm at my best.

So really, you think that what you understand best is what's going to capture people's attention before everyone else realizes that?

Yes. And I don't guess. And when I guess, I lose. But I end up being right. So let me give you like, literally, I wish this. I can't find the video drock. We don't have this video because I don't know if I made the video. But you might remember this too. There was an app called Yobongo. Remember that? There was an app that got hot for four minutes at south by 2008 called Yo Bongo. It was people remember Highlight. Highlight got hot. So it was before Highlight. Okay. And I invested in it. Several other people invested in it. And this great kid, Caleb, you know, that's where I learned like first kid rodeos. You can't just be the idea. It was Highlight. It was people discovery. But I knew it was a hooking up app. Cause me and AJ were gonna make a Facebook app a year and a half earlier called Booty Call.

That only worked from midnight to 6 in the morning. Only worked and it would be proximity and you both had a match.

That's probably what I thought Peach Nick gonna be.

These people are cute in my dorm. Somebody else says they're cute, it tells you, hey, you've matched. It only activates then Booty Call. That became. That's what Yobongo was positioned as people discovery so was highlighted. But I know humans. And then it became Tinder.

And when was that? It was before Tinder.

Oh, yeah. That was the theory. My theory was dating apps were gonna become. Because the phone existed and we knew where we were. That you could really get into a good game.

So that's what happens.

Flat out.

What happened.

I'm asking selfishly because I sometimes contextualize my path through your path. The thing that drew me to you back in like 2007 was this dude says he's gonna buy the New York Jets. I'm gonna buy the Indians. Ten years ahead, I start watching.

And so I. You said something to me when we had. Was it core?

Is that the club?

And I had just had my exit and was having my I'm full of shit moment. And you're like, don't be in a rush.

Yes. I remember that very well, actually.

And it was a like a really. Like.

That was a good one. I apologize for interrupting you. That was a good one because we had a lot of time and Lewis was there and a couple other people.

Yeah, Jay.

And I just remember you were listening. That's what really drew me to you. Because I try to do that every time because I want people to win and be happy. But it's hard. It's hard getting off the high of something like that to hear somebody else no matter how successful.

What do you mean?

The high of something you've got. You have this.

Oh, oh, okay.

You know, like, I do it too. Like, it's hard. Everybody does. When you're winning or. Or when you have success, no matter even if somebody's more successful or what have you, it's a nice validation. Like, this is not hyperbole anymore. You've had success at that moment. To hear advice that takes a lot of humility. And I took note of that. That's why the next time even happened. It was what you did in that one.

Appreciate that.

That's why I believe you when you say what you did. Now I'm watching you build the blocks.

I appreciate that.

It's very obvious to me.

Thanks, Gary.

Anyway, go ahead.

I think I was saying that I'm in that period where I'm not in a rush, but I'm looking like I'm dating. If you will, next ideas. And so I have a few that I'm kicking around. And it's just really helpful to hear you talk about when you were in that stage.

How old are you now?

Trying. I'm just from 32.

Yeah. At this point I'm still 32, so I'm still at wine library. You know what happened at 32? Do you remember when I was on Conan? No. So in 2007, in July 11, 2007, I went on Conan, and the entire Web 2.0 community lost its mind. Cause nobody besides Perez Hilton had been on real TV from the Internet. And when I tell you, front Page, Dig, Slashdot.

MetaFilter, TechCrunch, Ze Frank said something. RocketBoom said something like the Internet. I mean, I remember multiple people that were way more fancy than me at that point. Waxy.org, neil-like the blog establishment hitting me up on Twitter and being like, you're doing this for. Not those guys specifically, but people. Gruber, right? Daring Fireball. Like, people that. I was like, ooh. Cause, you know, as I was learning the tech world, I'm like, oh, these are the names hitting me up and like, dude, you're doing it. Like, it was a big. I was trending on Twitter that day. Like, it was like, you're doing this for us. I remember the moment very well, being in my green room reading all the Twitter DMs, and they're like, you're coming on and I'm behind the curtain. And I'm like, all right, I'm so corny. I'm doing this for Web 2.0, before it was called social media.

What did I ask you?

Oh, you got a.

Well, it's wine, right? It's a wine part.

I was gonna say it was really funny. It went super viral. I like, we ate dirt. It was a whole thing. It was a wine.

So that's where I was. I was just starting to make the early concepts of, wait a minute, maybe I'm not a wine retailer. Maybe I'm something else.

Think about that. That's where I was at 32. Maybe I'm not a wine retailer.

Think about that. Think about how much I believe in patience. You're dramatically, professionally further along than I was. Not only that, I was going to leave two years later. I was making 75,000 a year. And in two years, I was about to leave and start VaynerMedia and have no money because I didn't own wine library and because it was a family business, I never paid myself a lot of money. And I was gonna. I started vaynermedia in the. In the conference room of Buddy Media.

People really don't like. Like, you know, at its worst, when people wanna razz me, they think, my dad gave me everything. At its best, I Don't think people realize how crazy what I did was. There are very few people that have the stomach to build an enormous business for their parents and leave with zero.

How did you know that Vaynermedia was, like, the play?

I knew. It was the opportunity in front of me. And I had this thesis that if I built a machine at that point, though that was now 2009. At that point, Zucks, Travis, Saka, and, like, I'm starting to wheel and deal a little bit in Silicon Valley. And I had to ask myself, why do these people think I'm smart? Why is Fred Wilson. Why am I getting invited to the lobby in Hawaii? Why am I winning in this world that I think is leading the charge of the world? I'm a wine retailer. What am I doing here? Why are Mike Maples and, like, why are these people listening to me? Yes, I have a gift of gab, but that can only go so far with this crowd. But why do they keep coming back? Why is Zucks, every time he comes to New York and staying at the Ace Hotel, texting me and asking me to talk when I already had decided he was gonna win the biggest company? So I took a step back and I said, okay, I'm really good at believing myself, and I'm really good at being humble. This is a point where I have to go and not be humble and really challenge myself. Like, what do I bring to the table that the people that I think that are about to win the world think I'm smart? And I decided it was communication. I decided I was much better at most people in what I do as a human, which is why I think today I sit where I sit. And what I thought I could. What I did for my. That's when I was like, wait a minute. Actually, I marketed a liquor store. I'm not the liquor store runner. I'm so much better at marketing that, yes, I can operate. Yes, I'm a retailer. Yes, I'm a manager. That's why I built a big business, too.

But I'm a special communicator. Let me build a Death Star. This is literally the terminology I used. If I'm the emperor, and I'd like to think I'm a good guy, but the Death Star is what I wanted to build, so I had to use that analogy. But I'd like to think I'm Obi Wan more than that. But if I'm. I'm gonna build a Death Star, it's not gonna just be me, because I can only hear what sucks Right now I can't be with Fred Wilson over, like I'm gonna build scale. And then I also knew something very interesting, that I loved people. And while Jason Fried and DHH are making fun of me that I hate remote working and I'm old and I don't get it. I knew that it's a self awareness game. I believe in remote work. If you're DHH and Jason Fried because you believe in it. And I believe in like smushing my team right next to me when I'm me. Cause I like people and I like it. I like the serendipity of it. I'm a good operate, right. And you see Dani shaking her head and like, I know her career here, like it's through osmosis that I do my thing and I can't do that through, you know, any other way.

That's my effect, you know.

And so we've talked about that.

And so it's a big deal. I had a real self awareness moment and then a humility moment. This is real. Like very fancy people, the most fancy people. All the smartest people I knew said they were disappointed in me to start being videos. Really Client service business, not smart. Yeah, I can raise a hundred million dollar fund easy. I can start a brand, I can start a business. I can start a wine app. I can do all these things I have. Like, in 09, I'd already kind of hit the scene. I'm one of the most followed people on Twitter. I'm getting a ton of accolades. I'm rubbing elbows with Kevin Rosen Zucks, like shit's happening for me. And I started client service business. And people are like, you're not literally people. Later on told me things like, yeah, we had dinner and all agreed that you're just not as smart as we thought you were. What I knew was I was playing long. What I know is that with this cloud kitchen infrastructure, with everything the Internet does with blockchain, the only thing left is communication. Everything else is commoditized.

And it's my superpower.

Would you help me understand how, like, when I hear communication, Gary's good at communicating and I can sell a billion.

Of those capitalist pick T shirts without using Gary's.

So by using the skill of communication through the skill set that you then leverage to clients.

No, no, no. Clients is just the. Is the facade.

I get that your Superpower is why VaynerMedia?

Because now I can do it at scale. Like.

At scale like a private equity firm or a hedge fund or a VC firm. I have built scale to be able to do empathy and 43 athletics.

Okay, so VaynerMedia is your engine.

This is all platform, right? This is more WordPress than it is ESPN.com.

I understand.

It's the vulnerability to this that makes sense. You have to be a charismatic and empathetic leader and wonderful person that makes people want to work with you for 25 years.

Right.

Otherwise it breaks, which is why nobody tries to do it.

Yeah, well, it's not a good idea. I've worked in the agency world, and it's rough.

It's real work.

It's real work.

It's real work, but I'm up for task.

Gary, would you tell us about these baseball cards we're staring at?

You know, look, most of. And you know this. A lot of what I'm. Listen, we're very not lucky. That's not fair. We've all worked. Like a lot of people in this room. You for sure. I don't know enough to banish it, but, like, we're in a place that's different than the majority of the world. I'm desperately. The garage sale stuff. There's nothing, you know, when I come, when I. When I hear what you said to me earlier, that feels really remarkable. That's at the top 1%, top 10%. When I get emails from people who are like, yo, on some real shit, you really helped me. I went garage sale on this Saturday, bought some shit and made 80 bucks this week. And it really helped my family. Like, we ate, like, real stuff. Like, stuff that only my team really knows about me. Like, my DMs are emotional. Like, real stuff. Like teach. You know, bring the. Teach the horse to drink and stuff.

You know what I mean?

Like, teach a man to fish.

Yeah.

So I'm teaching a man to fish, and I'm doing it where it's needed at scale. So a lot of these people really, really started making money. 100 bucks a week. 100 bucks a month. A lot of people who follow me on Instagram, YouTube, 100 bucks a month from garage sale has really changed their game. Just came a little breathing room.

And, you know, so easily knock on in that direction too, with who you are and what you talk about.

Everybody rad. Like, again, back to the elite. Like, host homies. They are like, you look stupid. People, like, hear about me. Yo, you look stupid, right? You know, like, why are you doing that? Like, like, you're on fire right now. You're, like, about to take that next step. Like, what are you doing? I'm like, you know, I love my friends. I'm like, you just understand what I'm up to. Back to 92%. I'm like, you don't understand what I'm actually about, you know, so that really affected me, which led me to this. I'm just living. I'm just always doing what I'm doing, watching. And I'm like, are sports cards about to pop? You know, it was really like that because I'm watching, right? It's little things. It's seeing like a sneaker flipper post a sports card, it's going on, you know, which makes me then go Google sports cards. You read a Forbes article that sports cards have gone up 50, it has outpaced Wall street the last few years. Really? Somebody won a charity fucking dinner and he was in a sports card business and he's telling me about it. That's real life. Obviously. I grew up with interest in it. So now I'm digging a little bit more. All of a sudden, 1:00am, going on eBay, looking up stuff is like fun instead of a chore. I'm like, this is happening. Went to my little guys, getting into it two years ago. I took them to Cleveland to the national convention for, you know, for like one day. I'm like, okay, it's still a little seedy. Older guys, nerdy, not great. But I'm like, but an undertone of like renaissance, you know, you see the fucking 48, I see the 53 year old that could have been me if I didn't pivot, like. And it's a little sad and a little like homey and a little like, whatever. But then you see a couple kids who are like again, look like cool, right? And like the. They got like a fucking, like, they got a fucking like a Yeezy fucking sneaker box. But when you open it, there's some LeBron's in there. And like, I'm like, okay, okay. I mean, look, I mean, I've been saying this. Like Stockx just started listing sports cards. Like when I, a year ago, 18 months ago, was like, they're about to get cool and work. People like, really were like, okay, now you're just making up shit. And then when Stockx announced sports cards a month ago, like, people hit me up like, man, you really fucking know what the fuck you're talking about. I'm like, cause I don't predict.

I don't predict. I didn't predict TikTok tens of millions of users on it. It's just that people look for no. And I look for yes.

Yeah.

And so look and look. Let me give you a real one. LeBron PSA 10s, which is like how these things get graded up here. This is the biggest company PSA and like you get like nine. Seven is not as good, obviously. Six LeBron PSA 10s, four months. Just say at the show. No, before the show. So the show was July in, in May. You could buy a LeBron rookie, which I have in the safe. Alex, do you know the safe combo? Can you ask Lou for it and open a safe? LeBron PSA 10s were 1100 bucks on eBay and liquid. You could buy scale. That was the thing. My big hypothesis was the following. Gambling. So what I learned about the sports card world is I can pull in this box a $5,000 Kawhi rookie.

Right now you can, you can buy a pack of cards and pull up $200,000 Zion.

Gambling. So gambling, they force scarcity. They created cards called one of one. There's only one of them. And people got on tilt to own them. So scarcity gambling, let me phrase gambling. 43 year old males who grew up in the prime who now have sons or daughters who are seven who are into it. So the nostalgia, the whole way the toy market works. GI Joe, Transformers, they all reboot on the flip. Star Wars. That's how it works. It's generational. My little ponies from a short gig. 20 year cycles. 20 year cycles.

Is that why there's a Griffey card on top?

Where?

Yeah, the card that you had on stack, the top one was Griffin.

No, I bought those Griffeys for different reasons.

Okay.

And then number three, sneakers. Sneaker flipper. Kids can't get enough inventory.

We can wait in line. We can run algorithms, but against things. It. It's super hard. But if you thought like I did, that Giannis was the best basketball player in the world last year and was underpriced like I did, you could do what I did, which was buy 700 of them at 200 bucks a pop. And then four months later, when I was right, they were 800. LeBron. LeBron went from 1100 to 2500.

In how long?

In the last four and a half months.

Best performing assets out there.

On a very serious note, because of what I know about sports, because what I know about consumer behavior, I know that I can make a lot more money in the next year on sports cards than I can on real estate or angel investing or Wall Street.

It's liquid.

So now I'm A big dealer at 17, making real money. $4,000 a week at shows. And I'm like, I'm gonna invest heavy in one player next year. I'd gone through the Kevin Moss, Todd Van poppel, like those 90 rookies. I'm like, next year, I'm gonna buy thousands, tens of thousands of one rookie. So I waited. The cards came out. So I buy a box of Donruss 92, and I open it. Cause there's no Internet, and the new Beckett and Tuff stuff isn't out. So I'm just opening up packs, looking who the Raider rookies are. So I go through them, and I read the back of the cards. But when I pulled the Lofton, I'm like, is that Kenny Lofton, the point guard from Arizona? Because I was such a big March Madness fan, Kenny Lofton was the point guard of the Final Four Arizona team in 88.

And he was good, very good.

So that kind of caught my attention. So I put him on the side. Then by reading stats on the card and, like, the little bio, there was a Mariner outfielder named Patrick Lemon, who I thought was actually going to be the best player. So now I have Lofton and Lemon, and I'm like, one of these two guys is gonna be the guy. And I'm like, I think logically it's gonna be Patrick Lemon, but emotionally, I think it's Kenny Lofton. This is how I talk to myself even back then. So I go, you know what? I don't know. I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna flip it.

And if one shows heads and one shows tail, this is literally my roof on the ground of my carpet. I mean, I'll never forget. God, I wish I filmed everything back then. I'm, like, literally sitting on my carpet and flipping the cards. And the first time, they both show tails. So I'm like, let's do it again. And I flip it up the second time, and Lofton goes heads, and Lemon goes tails. And I go, Loftin. I go on to buy 14,000 Kenny Lofton rookie cards for less than a quarter.

I bought some of them and then.

Sold it during the World Series against the Braves for $40 a piece to dealers in Cleveland.

Wow.

Like, for me at the time, it was, like, a lot.

You asked me last time I was here if Rajay Davis's home run was top five moments of my life. One of the other ones in there was when the Indians traded for King, often back in 2007.

I was pumped about that, too.

So, I mean, oh, My goodness.

I think he left them. What?

Oh, my goodness. It was one of the best he's producing now, right?

Yes.

Yeah.

Alex can't figure it out.

Who gave me the wrong one.

I tried too many times as a lot.

Forever.

No, I think it times out for a little bit. Forever.

The city was on fire. It was like. It was electric in there. It was just an amazing.

And Joey Bell, well, I'm talking about.

In 2007, when they brought him back. It was like they brought back the old uncle.

Did you win that World Series?

Did you?

Yeah. Because my best friend Brandon, who runs Wine Library, is a Cubs fan. I promised him first and eighth grade when we became friends, that within the first two months knowing him. I've known him since I was 14. In the first two or three months, we become quick friends because he does baseball cards. And I go, brandon, when the Cubs make the world. Because even back then it was a story. When the Cubs make the World Series, I'm going to take you to the first game. And I did it.

That's great.

That's awesome.

It's really cool.

You said you were trying to think of an Indians prospect who would match that. That would be Oscar Markado right now.

Yeah, he's real.

Oscar.

Oscar Mercado, bro. Let me give you a number, because I ran the math. If you invested $8,000 into Cody Bellinger because he was not a top 100 prospect, you would be able to flip it right now for 280,000.

Geez.

Now, now I'm giving you an extreme example. Minor league baseball is a real crapshoot. But, like, it's my favorite as a Brewer prospect, like, high risk. If you want to talk about.

What'S in my safe is the easiest money in the bank. LeBron, Kobe, Bill Russell, Kareem. I think basketball is grossly underpriced. You can buy a PSA8, which is a very good grade, Dr. J, rookie, for $850. Nothing.

And I think old basketball players are going to go through this, like, marvel, like, renaissance. I think that, you know, because when I talk to the cool new basketball players, the Durants, the real cool guys, they. They really like the old school guys. Pistol Pete, Wilt. You know, there's something about 60s and 70s basketball cards that I think are uncomfortably underpriced. Pokemon, Magic, the Gathering. I wasn't nerdy that way, because I was. But that was later. I was a little older. Those are two incredible places to invest in as well. For the kids in the 20s and 30s who grew up with it, real money.

Real money, actually.

Gambling, real money.

And street credit. It's, like, fun to be. Right? I mean, like, if all my tech love Steph Curry, they could have made a fortune. There's no investment any of them made that would have outperformed if they bought up all the $100,000 worth of Steph Curry rookie cards seven years ago.

It's amazing, Gary. I. I don't know how much time we have, and I have a few rapid fires that I would really like to hit.

There's a couple asks in there, and I'm really nervous about the ask. I feel like I'm asking a girl on a date, so I'm just going to throw them there. Number one, Could I have more red wine?

Yes.

Okay.

I've got 40.

I'm really enjoying this.

It's really good, right? This, this is such a big outcome. This is $65 wine that we're selling for 20 bucks because all the farmers hooked me up. That's awesome. Yeah. Like, this was one of the more fun arbitrage projects I've ever done. Like, everyone's like, man, your wine's so much better. I'm like, man, people gave me. You know, when you have 25 years of equity with people, they really hook you up, you know?

Point number one.

I've learned in the last year or so that your thesis of just being in a give place all the time feels really good.

Good.

And that it. It, like, it costs. It costs too much both emotionally and financially to get out of that place. And.

Yeah, Chris has been with me for about two years. He's a different person than we started working together. I'm a different person than we started working together. Mark. Mark is starting to work with us kind of on the side, advising us on strategy. And I, I just wanted to tell you that, like, I'm still a work in progress, but I'm. I'm committing to as much as possible operating from that place from now on.

I don't know if there's a more practical business maneuver than car.

I, I agree with that. I don't know.

You know, this. We run similar circles, but haven't spent time reputation from people that have actually spent time with you. Because, by the way, there's people who think I'm a snake oil salesman and I suck, but that's only because they're in a bad place and they don't know me. Yeah. Reputation for people that actually know you is the entire currency.

You know what's funny, Gary? I've been following you for, I don't know, probably four or five years. And you actually helped me through a lot of bullshit that I dealt with. But you're even better in person. You're more obviously genuine.

I understand that.

Like, I always knew you were genuine.

But you know what's really funny? There was a kid. Is Zane gone?

Fuck.

How close is he? How long ago? Call him. Get him back here.

So that's.

That's the Gary angle.

I really, really, really, really want. I really want to get this kid back. I hope he's not far away. I had a meeting with him today. Super fan. Commented on every single post. I'm at a talk in Dallas. He in the Q and A, asks to intern or get a job. Oh, yes.

Oh, yeah. I showed him a clip recently.

He sat down here. I'm not gonna. If he comes back, I'm gonna save it for him, but I'm gonna build on it. But go ahead.

I think. Oh.

The story that I tell, that always changes people's mind, because somehow I've. Among certain people, I've become Gary Defender. People are like, I don't know, hustle porn. Well, it's not. But the thing that. The story that I tell, that always changes people's mind is that when we were at. When I hired you to speak at the events and you came backstage, I'm expecting this high energy, like, all right, let's go.

Come on, let's go.

On stage. And he, like, slipped in. The back was really quiet, and my daughter was like, nine months old. And he's like, Pam is just sleeping through the night. Like, no phone on him. And then this is the moment that I was like, all right, I'm on Team Gary. I'm on stage, and I do my intro for Brian Gary.

And he comes out very slowly, walks up the stairs, and as he's coming up the stairs, he does this.

And then walks up on stage and then goes, all right.

And it was like, Zane, you were.

Were you.

Wait a minute.

He was in the back. He teleported me. What? I texted him 911, come back. And he, like, I'm in the elevator. Zane. No, I was going down the elevator.

Zane. Ryan.

What's up, man?

Nice to meet you, man.

How's it going?

Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you, man.

Nice to meet you, man.

How's it going?

Thank you.

Zane. Zane.

Mark was just saying, like, it's so interesting to me that you're more genuine here than I see on video. And I was like, it's funny. You said that today. This kid Zane, who works for me and I was looking for you, who was like a super fan, engaged in everything.

Like, just was like, what was. What's your biggest. You've been here what now?

Two, just about two months.

Tell, tell. When I asked you today what was your. What was the biggest thing that surprised you? What did you say?

Yeah, the biggest thing that surprised me so far. And it's funny, like Gary said, I'm a. I'm a huge fan. Like, that's how I like, kind of hacked my way here. Like it was just a crazy story. But the biggest thing that surprised me so far is like, genuinely how involved Gary is on the content. Like, I, you know, I know that he was involved, but before I came here, I'm like, I'm sure he's touching a little bit reviewing it, but he's like actually creating all the context. He's creating the copy like he's making it. And I didn't expect that. Like, I didn't expect the deep involvement that he has.

And Mark what the punchline of that actually is like this whole game right now, like you on the outside, but being kind of team Gary always to right now, more to him. Basically. Here's the punchline to Alex, who's sitting out there. Fundamentally, this is how I judge everybody and how I judge myself. Whoever knows the most most, what do they think? So I just think of it as pieces. Right, you right now got a little closer, which gives you even more belief. He got even closer than you. He has even more belief. Alex, who has all my information, who like Alex, answer your question, when you started as an admin out of all back to like the point I'm making to these guys about like, you knowing me way better than anybody in this room because that's. You're in my inbox, there's shit that goes down. What was the biggest surprise? I mean, you. Alex worked here for two years before. 18 months. Yeah, 18 months at the front desk, interacted with. Which is a big job here actually, which is a real gateway to like being admin. What was the biggest thing that was surprising to you?

Like just your life in general or your inbox?

Me, how I roll. You answer a lot.

Lot of emails compared to like what he receives. Like, just random people. Like, cool, yeah, great, whatever. And I'm like, whoa, hands down. Two, Gary's available. He's like, just text me, it's fine.

Cool, I got you.

And I'm like, most CEOs, they don't even know like the people like in the corner, you know, Gary's like, oh, hi, Jill, how's it going? And I'm like, oh, wow. If Gary doesn't know, then he's like, hey, you. Best for you. How's it going? Most people. People don't do that now, you know. But Gary, instantly, he's like, all right, I'll remember you next time. He's like, oh, I remember that time. And Gary's like, I definitely remember the situation, period, all the time. He just needs like one little thing to kind of like remind him and then that's it. Which I. I think is amazing. It's effortless.

I think the biggest thing. It's so interesting to listen to Alex. She doesn't even know the stuff. She knows the most most important because you're so wired for privacy. So I'm so wired for privacy. Even though I'm so accessible. Alex knows when I fund people's like, Alex is so tricky.

I was wondering where you're gonna go. You're so in the cocoon. That was like interesting to me. Like the point I'm really making. The things that I am singularly most proud of in the world. Not a person that yet everybody thinks I'm a self promoter.

I'm comfortable promoting business. That's business. Right. The real humanity is quiet as fuck. The people I don't fire, the people I support, even though they shit on us. The random acts of kindness.

The real shit. That's true. Obviously.

I know just like, yes.

I love him for that.

I love you for that.

I was impressed. So that's it. That's how I decide what I think of a woman. Or man. Whoever's the closest.

Yeah.

If they admire you the most, then you're winning.

Yeah.

I really think most people are doing it the reverse.

I am shocked they want public to admire them.

That we all run in. I was naive. I shocked how people act as good people. And then anybody that's actually posted page hates that. People choose money, people broken, people insecure.

So that's so true.

That's the game.

Yeah.

That's what I think about a lot.

Yeah.

Because that's how it plays out.

I'm not surprised. But.

But it's still good.

It's great, you know, it's good. It's good to know for sure.

You know what I think we do on that, by the way? And I think I think Zane did it. I think Alex did it. I think we protect ourselves to not be disappointed. I think the reason Zane thought that coming in Is first. I think people are just. First of all, I have a lot of energy and I'm very efficient and I'm very good at not wasting time. Everybody takes an hour meeting for something, that's eight minutes. So I'm really good at that game. 2. I think there's a subconscious protection. Zayn is a real fan. So he comes here. He's probably subconsciously protecting himself. If there's actually everybody's doing. So he's protecting that. When I disappoint him, it won't hurt that much. I actually believe that's true. Yeah.

That way, if you turn out to be a dick, he's like, well, I kind of.

That's why they have that great story of, like, don't meet your heroes. Right?

Like.

Like I said to him today, like, my big goal is to be the reverse of that, to be better than you thought I was.

Yeah. Well, mission accomplished.

Isn't that cool?

I'll credit you every time, and I love it.

Thank you. I know you will. I like how you. I like you and your role a lot. I like when I spend time with you guys. I was so bummed just now when I walked in and saw you.

Thanks to him, man.

It was a beautiful. I got really shook with your thing, man. I'm so glad you're okay. Jesus.

Hey, I'm glad to be here. Thank you for my first wine after the experience.

Makes me happy. Isn't that a cool one, though? I'm glad you picked up on it. I thought that was. That's an important.

Would you. Would you grab the. His. His new edition. This is Kamal's new book, the Galley.

It's coming out in January.

Dude.

Dude, come on. My podcast. I am selling an uncomfortable amount of books. Everybody's hitting me up now. Somebody leaked. I could feel it. It happened six months ago. Somebody must have been on my show that sold an uncomfortable amount of books because now everybody. And I mean, fancy people, people that don't even like me, are trying to be on the show.

I'm actually already saving lives. I've been like, senior executive at Harper Collins are calling me, like, saying they're using it and saving them.

Good for you, bro. I'm a. When is it coming out?

Whoa, whoa, whoa. He just stole my galley copy. No, no, no, no. I'm kidding.

He has.

He has a few. He has a few.

No, by the way.

He has a few.

It's okay.

You'll read it. I won't. I will die there, so take it.

Okay.

I'm just Excited about having him on the podcast. Thank you, man. When does it come out?

The 7th of January.

That's great.

But I'm here so we can do it anytime. That's what we'll. I love the whole new you New Year. I love that context matters.

Thank you.

Well, that's a great segue to my ask. So my first book comes out in May. Last time I was here, I asked, would you give me a quote that I could use? And you said no, I don't read. But I'll give a quote about you if that's okay. Okay. You're comfortable with that.

I appreciate it.

I appreciate it. Thanks, Gary.

What are you gonna write about?

It's called 12 months to 1 million. It's the entrepreneur's path to building a real business and hitting seven figures. And the first.

Well, hold on a little bit against my.

Well, hold on, hold on. Let Kamal comment on this.

I can't think the first half is actually goes into what the reality of it is.

Cool.

The first half is like this is way harder than it thinks. This is what I wish somebody cool. I think. Thanks.

Like literally it's gonna be like as douchey as this title is.

Honestly love it.

Let me give you a real interesting and I know you're smart enough for this. Do you know why I almost didn't have a case Swiss deal? Everything was greed out. I got paid nothing. I didn't give a fuck about the money. The number one reason it took a while to negotiate with K. Swiss was because of this.

I refuse to only wear them to.

Only wear products because it wouldn't be true to you.

My quote on the back of your book with that title saying exactly what I just said is the best thing for your book.

Oh yeah. I'm pretty pumped that you just said as douchey as this title is. What's the other half?

Carrie B. Follow me. 212-931-5731.

Honey over vinegar. Kindness. Empathy. Compassion. Good human. I want to win. Want to build the biggest company in the world. And what's wrong with people struggle with that balance. We're demonizing on the coasts the empire part and we're incapable of it. The honey part in the middle.

That resonates a lot with me. I feel like in my circle of friends, obviously everyone in this room I think is probably more successful than I.

Am at this point. But I love the fact that you had it within the group of people. I love that. I love that. I believe in that shit so much. Yeah. And it Wasn't the reason I loved it so much was the way it was delivered. I like. Good for you. Keep going.

Well, the people that I spend a lot of time with now I'm in this phase where I'm trying to grow. So I've spent time with a lot of people that are actually not as far along as I am, and they seem to not be able to hold those two ideas. Like I tell them all the time, like, I want to be a billionaire. I want to do this, I want to do that, I want to help these people and I want to do all these things. And they don't believe that I'm genuine in it, coming from a good place.

And it's like, by the way, it's hard to. By the way, you also might be in a process of not being all the way there. You're so young, you know, like even the terminology of want to be a billionaire is an interesting framework. Yeah, it's a very quick off put. I talk about the process of trying to.

Buying the jets as opposed to being. Yeah. Being the owner. Yeah.

Or you may. I'm actually picking up wordsmithing is a very interesting conversation. But that's the other part. Like, like again, I mean, honestly, it's.

Hard to let go of people's opinion, you know, it's hard to let go of not wanting to show people that.

You mean it when you're. What's happened is we're in this time now where.

It'S all cyclical, you know, in the mid-2000s, like, I'm gonna be a billionaire is heroin.

It's a dirty word. It's a dirty word.

And I have a lot of empathy for both sides of the argument. But what's happened is over. Correction. People who don't want to do anything. Look, this is how. Listen, let me tell you something right now. If I go take Marxism, chop it up and change a couple of the adjectives and tweet it, everybody in Silicon Valley and New York will herald me as the best.

Believe me, I know.

So it's a tricky line. On the flip side, to me, cruel. Being cruel to someone is fundamentally un acceptable at all costs. To me, capitalism, where you try to change the rules for your advantage, isn't capitalism correct.

Amen, brother.

It's corruption. So like, to me, like it's. These are nuances and this is why.

We'Re in a place where it's going to take some time for us to get back into some sort of middle because we're pulling. So it's Just, it's like two different points of view. They overcorrect for each other and they stretch their kid middle. What? What?

I'm fascinated by people who don't understand that arguments on the conservative side and the liberal side, the Republican side and the Democratic side, that there are actually good strengths in both. Like, it is bad for 8th place trophies.

I love AOC in a lot of ways, but you can't parade somebody on video and say, this girl had a dream to go to college. Like, you know, I have a dream for a lot of things. I have a dream to have a house.

You start getting, you know, things become slippery when you go into ideology. I'm telling you again, I believe that Marxism.

Is one of the most unbelievably written documents ever.

He's a great writer.

It's just compelling.

Yeah.

If you like.

I understand. Correct. And it's just. Honestly, it's compelling. It's like, like I genuinely want everybody in this room, especially for me. I can't speak for others. I wildly want people to be happy. Like, wildly, I've come to realize. So it could be compelling. The problem is there's inherent animalistic truths and we're animals.

But it's, it's, it's compelling when done privately. Like, I want to take care of people I love. I want everyone to be happy. It's when it's done via force that now it, now it's no longer a choice.

But then you decide where force is. I mean, like, I give up, you know, 60% of every dollar I make to have people that I think are losers spend it.

Actually, you give, you give up 60% of your dollar so that government can allocate, can waste it, and then.

Okay, got it. God bless you, Gary.

You know, people that I do not believe are practical practitioners who are either trust fund babies or ideologicals or like no real people. I have unbelievable disrespect for politicians. Yeah, unbelievable. No different than I have people in education. Like, how can you believe in the current education system, how that just eliminates any level of practicality? We're making kids. 80% of schools still make kids memorize shit when the answer's on their phone.

Gary, since you don't predict, don't you think that the majority of Americans now are socially liberal and economically conservative?

No, that's the coast.

You think that's the coast?

Yes, I do.

Really?

Let me rephrase. I believe at the coast's best, it's that. Yeah. I don't think you find that as like A lot of people are not socially liberal, bro. Yeah, bro. People are not social liberal. Like there's some inherent suppression going.

There's some. Man, I feel like rural America.

Rural America goes further than you think. More importantly, let me say something else. There's a shocking amount of people in all parts of America that are willing to look the other way for their financial value.

The interest. Yes, sure.

That's where the really comes in.

I understand.

The thing that I'm most proud of is that I'm willing to lose everything because then I would believe that I deserved it. Watching old dogs who were killers in their 20s and killed the old lion. But when they become the old lion, want to use money completely protected. Yeah, I, I disrespected so much. Like I'm look, I'm real. I'm honestly more like an athlete. I believe the best. I've actually really need to start meeting some hall of Famers and ask them the question when. And by the way, when I tell you that Kobe and.

Brett Favre like I am convinced that when I start I'm actually going to do this now I decided I'm actually curious to ask an athlete of all time status. Kobe would be at the top for me because I just respect that mentality. When was the moment you knew it was different?

That's a good question.

Right. I'm genuinely looking forward to being 78, having a health scare, having a tragic death in my family, a world event. Something that shakes me and says, you know what? I don't want to go. I right now, forget about ideology. I, the human don't want to go 15 hours a day in my passion anymore. There's other things I want to do that will happen that could happen tomorrow.

That I like versus what I see from a lot of 80 year olds who are like trying to pay off politicians, change rules to keep their monies up. I don't care about the money, I care about the game. I almost am looking forward to when I lose my step. I'm in my prime or I actually don't think that I've been the early parts of potentially my prime. The dawn of it. Right. I'm curious what it feels like when I can feel like right now I feel invincible.

There's not a single person Lebron like.

Bezos though I really love Bezos. That one is the one I probably put the most on a pedestal that Amazon and Bezos in a lot of ways is probably the biggest manifestation of what I believe. In a lot of ways they're consumer centric and in that blind consumer centric nature, which is what I am with my audience, with my businesses, they have complete dominance.

It's the only company I've met where all the senior executives I've run into, they're all focused on what's best for the customer. Never Google, never Facebook.

By the way, brother's wife. Great. I couldn't agree with you more. It's why I think I'm gonna be the greatest entrepreneur. I believe that when it's said and done that I will be put at the highest pedestal. I will not make the most money, but I'll make enough to put me in the conversation. But I'm just gonna bring the most value to the game. There's nobody remotely close right now. That is the only people that are trying to put out content for people are trying to trick people into their own money. And everybody who actually is a great entrepreneur is selfish.

I promise.

Putting out.

I promise you that I will at least try to match that.

I believe you. 100. Yeah. I. I believe you, 100.

Thank you.

Because I believe that's actually my legacy, that I'm gonna frame it. And the understudies.

I believe that about you.

I believe that. Yeah.

Because. Because you. I think you turned that page. Are you the first person to turn that page?

I think so too.

And my context really committed to it. My context of growing up was always about the do this so that you can have the ask correct. And you were the first example in my life that there. It was just about doing it because it was the right thing and it.

Was different and not being uncomfortable with asking because there's a level of practicality to it, but being remarkably okay with a no.

You know, there's one thing that makes you special, man.

I've known you for a while.

I've seen you grow, and you are sincere.

Thanks, Kamal.

You.

You've always been sincere. That's like, that's your rock solid.

Thanks, Kamal.

And in my opinion, the day I met you, you had. You had subconscious aspirations for sincerity, but you weren't.

I think that's a. I think that's a fair analysis. I.

That was my sense. Come on.

I can, I can almost guarantee that I won't get it right. Thank you. I can almost guarantee I won't get it right every time. But I promise you that I will at least try.

And to me, that is the reason I think I'm attracted to you in return is you're the manifestation of my hypothesis that I'm the right guy for the hundreds of thousands that look like you and had I not come along or if somebody else came along and did it. That this is the little switch, the little two sentences that we just said. And I know you know I'm right. I just know. That's what I know. Thanks, Gary. It's a real thing, and I'll tell you why. When to comes it real spot. When we met and then we even at Court Club, which not that long ago, 14 months ago. I don't know. I'm trying to.

A little over a year.

Yeah.

What has happened in the last six months? Something's turning. And I'm kind of like, okay, I have a real responsibility here. I got to keep this going. I'm changing the conversation.

I'm watching it. I'm watching thugs put out Instagram posts that say gratitude.

I was gonna say you're cooking culture. You're changing culture.

I see it and I say it matter of factly.

I think I'm. I'm watching it and it's almost too heavy. Like, the way I take responsibility. It's not even that. It's like, I can't believe this is happening. It's almost like, did I just see the coolest rapper or this, like, this scumbucket kid who used to put up ridiculous content? Just say, kindness is cool.

Real shit. It's really cool.

Yeah.

Meanwhile, to your point, people get caught. When I wrote, when I put Hustle on the map with Crush it, it was 2009. The economy just collapsed.

Yeah.

Like work ethic mattered.

Yeah. Yeah.

Work ethic always matters. There's. I literally say the word happiness and balance way more than I say Hustle.

But people want to demonize.

Just to complete the point.

I promise you that I will at least try to continue that legacy and.

Carry that torch, bro. I actually think you won't try. I think you see it. I think what made you successful is the same reason you're gonna do this. Has nothing to do with anything else. This is actually a selfish act. You're aware that it's better, and then you're like, fuck, how can this be better and feel better.

Sorry, say that again.

Act out that legacy like you like. I actually believe you because I know enough about you, and it's almost the same way I feel about myself. You're 100% gonna do it. Cause it's better on both fronts. This is what people don't get it. You're gonna get more of what you wanted, south or short, by being more selfless.

That's Right.

It's actually true if you're talented.

That's a big part of this equation. I think people struggle with that. Like some people genuinely don't have the talent to be able to play out the selfless play. You have to be good. The reason I don't need to monetize my audience and sell you an island or a mastermind or on top of the funnel, it's because I know how to make business. Otherwise I built a wine business before I didn't make a piece of content. I was 34. About business. I was 34 years old the day I made my first business piece of content. I was 31 years old the first time I made a wine piece of content.

Really?

Really? Yeah. See, this is why that's great.

That's great news.

Because you're down. You guys, I gotta go right now. Actually you're gonna be like, fuck, Gary. Only hit the scene at this age. I've already had an exit. I'm fucking this. Like you're just starting if you're good enough. Forget me. Sidney Frank started great goose at 78. Kentucky Fried Chicken started by a 70 year old Vero Angua. I think was 40 or 50. Like people are confused. I would rather invest in a 50 year old entrepreneur. Over a 21 year old entrepreneur every day.

That's interesting.

By a thousand.

Yeah. Gary, can I list off what my rapid fires were and you can answer whichever one you want. So just to complete the point on. How would you like me to follow up with you on a quote?

Yeah, VaynerMedia will.

Okay, cool. Is it okay if I put it on the front of the book?

Yeah.

Appreciate it. Thank you.

But I gotta give some real thought to the.

I do like the opening of. As douchey as this sounds.

Listen, I have some empathy because I'm really gonna write that.

It's fine.

That's an interest. You have to strategize that. It could be a. It's an interesting concept.

I will take it.

I believe.

Thank you. Okay. So my rapid fires were I. My. I'm having a son in six weeks.

Wow.

And my daughter is four. Every time she sees slime, she says, let's sell it on Instagram.

Really?

Yes.

Because my daughter on the other hand is like, no, daddy, I don't want to sell anything.

Well, one of the. One of the ways we bond is we. We talk about Lil V. So she actually asked me, when are there going to be new episodes? So I would like to hear if there's any advice you have about Raising a son based on how you were parented and you raising a son. And my other rapid fire was, do you still think Joe Biden can win?

Yes.

And that surprising to me and I had one more in there. But I'll let you go as two.

The general election. Joe Biden might not get the nomination.

I would take that bet.

Okay.

I'll take that bet.

Joe Biden's the only person that can beat him. If I had to really, really bet at this second, I still think Trump would win, but I think Biden could win.

What if Bloomberg ran too late?

Too late.

I will make a bet with you if he gets the nomination. If I'm wrong, when the sec.

I need to see. You'll appreciate this. I love context. I need to see how he gets the nomination and whatever context happens there. But if he does and nothing alters how I see it because he needs to have sharp elbows to win. He has the sharpest elbows in the field. He just. Those sharp elbows are at his detriment to get the nomination.

I understand.

If I gotta watch. If he can stay sharp to the nomination, then I'll make that bet.

Okay. My bet would be if Biden gets nomination and Wins, I'll donate $25,000 of pencils of promise. If he loses, then we have another glass of wine.

Easy. Well, listen, that I really am willing to make the bet now because I'm more than happy to have another glass of wine.

I appreciate it.

All right.

Oh, oh, my last. My last point.

Let me give you the sunny.

Yeah.

And I gave it to you real quickly already. It makes me happy that my daughter doesn't want to sell a single thing.

Oh. I have no interest in trying to make an entrepreneur.

That's it.

I. I just mean like, okay, the.

Number one way to raise a child is to reverse engineer their truth and support the out of it without creating delusion.

My parents did that for me.

Me too.

And I. And I'm so grateful for that.

Is you're gonna have a lot of resources. And the discipline I understand when they don't understand is ridiculously hard.

Okay. That's good advice.

How tall he said that?

Thank you.

For fake environments. I believe the greatest we. We're about to put out a video like. Cause I went into it on the ride to my keynote. Just. I just did fake environments.

You know, kids running around.

You mean shelters at home made by.

Parents, our friends and contemporaries, all of us, by the way, who are actually getting paid still in their 20s and 30s. Some amount of money by Their parents, all of it. Some of it. Make pretend they don't. Is leading to great amounts of depression.

We could talk about that all the way over here.

When you earn it yourself, living, retaining yourself.

Yeah.

You appreciate it so much more.

We gotta put that on a pedestal again.

My last question for you is, I've been doing some business with the guys at Daily Wire. They've been really, really interested in having you on their Sunday sermon. Just gets about a million downloads a day.

Okay.

I just want to know if you wanted that introduction. Okay.

Gotta go. Cool.

All right. Appreciate it. Thank you so much. Gary.

Gary, one last thing.

When we were just talking now.

Yeah.

That's the last time I'm going to say that I want to be a billionaire.

I think about the amount of times through my life where somebody said something thoughtful, whether directly to me the way I did to you, or indirectly. And I just heard it and it completely forever changed the way I framed it up.

Yeah.

Happens all the time, by the way. That's why I was sitting here. Like when you get into these, it.

Was just bad words.

These are the moments. These are. There's nothing wrong with the ambition.

Right.

It's about creating context.

Absolutely.

I needed to do it. Everybody thought it was a douche because I'm gonna buy the jets and see you're gonna fucking. I was like, no, no, no. It's chasing it.

Yeah.

That's. I love my process. I myself had to realize that it only took when I started leaving real money on the table in the last decade, time after time, that I'm like, oh, wow. I didn't even know that about myself. How about that? You guys are so young. I did not know the majority of things about myself at your age right now.

Thank you for that.

I didn't.

I believe it.

Nobody was talking thoughtfully. Right? We didn't. Which is not like this.

We stumbled our way through this.

Nobody was talking thoughtfully. We didn't. We didn't have the Internet for all these thoughtful voices.

Yeah.

You know, I'm. I'm the person I wish existed. That's what I'm actually doing.

Remember we talking about that like we, we become the parents that we wish we had for the next generation.

What I'm doing is 15 year old me needed me.

That's. That is.

That would have been my father.

I so get that. I so get that.

It would have. It would have. It would have.

Fast forward now it's our turn to keep creating that.

And that's what. And that's what, like a lot of what I do with hip hop and sports is to be cool to actually get you to do it I fucking.

Get it now I've always wondered why you were so into the hip hop culture it's because you realize you have.

The power to you love it but you realize you have the power to change the culture Kelly Slater the skaters and the surfers love me notice I'm not doing it because it's not authentically me I'd love to go there because I'd have a whole group of long haired blonde guys hearing me too I can't do that yet because it's not authentic right? Hip hop and sports is authentic it's you it's me it's my interest it's what I grew up with get it? Yes.

Thank you Gary.

You're welcome man I appreciate it pleasure guys take care enjoy hey by the way hang with the team do shit.

Okay deal we'll do is really good win.

Sa.