Gary Vee's No BS Advice for Building a Business Empire

What this episode is about

Gary Vaynerchuk shares his journey from humble beginnings working in his family's liquor store to becoming a successful entrepreneur, emphasizing the importance of hard work, accountability, and betting on one's strengths. He highlights his achievements in building Vayner Media, investing in high-profile companies, and establishing himself as a key figure in social media strategy and digital advertising, encouraging others to pursue their dreams with tenacity and determination.

Key takeaways

• Dreams are taken, not given; hard work eclipses talent when passion fuels the grind.
• Hustle isn't just a motto—it's a survival tactic; the immigrant experience builds resilience like no other.
• Meritocracy prevails in content creation; success is dictated by viewer engagement, not just good intentions.
• Nurturing love provides a safety net; childhood support can cultivate a relentless drive to succeed.
• Process over profit: those who enjoy the hustle often find success without seeking it directly.

Who speaks in this episode?

• Tommy Mello (Host) · 11 min speaking
• Gary Vaynerchuk (Host) · 26 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 5:00: New York Times, Gary Vaynerchuk, Vayner Media, V Friends
2. 5:00 – 10:00: Wine Library TV
3. 10:00 – 15:00: Artificial Intelligence, Bitcoin, AOL
4. 15:00 – 20:00: Bitcoin, Facebook, Twitter
5. 20:00 – 25:00: Vayner Media, Bitcoin, Empathy Wines
6. 25:00 – 30:00: Vayner Media, New York Jets, Charity Water, Pencils of Promise
7. 30:00 – 35:00: V Friends, New York Jets

Notable quotes from "Gary Vee's No BS Advice for Building a Business Empire"

• Innovative, unrivaled. Gary Vee is the CEO of Vayner Media and a six-time New York Times bestselling author. Dreams are not given. Dreams are taken. When you want a dream, you're not allowed to.

  about Vayner Media · at 0:22

• All right, welcome back to the Mellow Millionaire. Today is going to be awesome. We've got the one and only Gary Vanderchuk. He's the founder of Vanner Media, Vander X, V…

  about V Friends · at 1:33

• It's funny. I didn't know you were there seven years before the What did you see about the internet? Because there's Bitcoin right now, there's AI, but you were this is before you even had anything to buy domains really.

  about Artificial Intelligence · at 12:06

• Superighway. Bro, I did not own a computer. I was not a tech nerd. Like I wasn't that kid. but I literally watched literally for the young kids listening, I watched someone go…

  about AOL · at 13:08

• Those things, Bitcoin, blockchain, AI, social media, it's happened to me, time and time again. I've wasted many hours to not waste several hours that have changed the course of…

  about Bitcoin · at 15:33

• I was God damn it. So, we sold it. They made some money. It's really lovely. And the other business I sold in my career was I was the co-founder and co-creator of Resi, the restaurant app that sold to American Express.

  about Resi · at 25:14

• Fruits of their labor or their kids. And by the way, don't spoil your kids, but I run very profitable businesses. I just did a $10 million over 10 year commitment to Charity…

  about Charity Water · at 26:38

• And then when I build that and take it public or sell it because the Jets are available, I want to buy the New York Jets and I want to ride them into a Super Bowl.

  about New York Jets · at 32:34

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Gary Vaynerchuk — Person · Main guest · 1 mention · first at 0:22
  Primary interview subject; discusses his immigrant background, building Wine Library and VaynerMedia, investing approach, leadership/feedback philosophy, and current ambitions (e.g., VeeFriends).
  He was an early investor in companies like Facebook, Twitter, Uber, and Coinbase. He's known online for his unmatched gut instinct and ability to predict future trends.

Companies & orgs

• Vayner Media — Company · Business focus · 6 mentions · first at 0:10
  Gary Vee's primary company, discussed as a major player in digital advertising and social media strategy.
• New York Jets — Company · Referenced entity · 2 mentions · first at 27:00
  Mentioned as a potential future investment or acquisition target by Gary Vee.
• Facebook — Company · Referenced entity · 3 mentions · first at 0:36
  Mentioned as one of the companies Gary Vee was an early investor in.
  He was an early investor in companies like Facebook, Twitter, Uber, and Coinbase. He's known online for his unmatched gut instinct and ability to predict future trends.
• Twitter — Company · Referenced entity · 2 mentions · first at 0:38
  Mentioned as one of the companies Gary Vee was an early investor in.
  He was an early investor in companies like Facebook, Twitter, Uber, and Coinbase. He's known online for his unmatched gut instinct and ability to predict future trends.
• Uber — Company · Referenced entity · 2 mentions
  Mentioned as one of the companies Gary Vee was an early investor in.
  He was an early investor in companies like Facebook, Twitter, Uber, and Coinbase. He's known online for his unmatched gut instinct and ability to predict future trends.
• Coinbase — Company · Referenced entity · 1 mention · first at 0:40
  Mentioned as one of the companies Gary Vee was an early investor in.
  He was an early investor in companies like Facebook, Twitter, Uber, and Coinbase. He's known online for his unmatched gut instinct and ability to predict future trends.
• New York Times — Company · Referenced entity · 2 mentions · first at 0:25
  Mentioned as the publisher where Gary Vee is a six-time bestselling author.
  Innovative, unrivaled. Gary Vee is the CEO of Vayner Media and a six-time New York Times bestselling author. Dreams are not given. Dreams are taken. When you want a dream, you're not allowed to.
• Resi — Company · Referenced entity · 2 mentions
  Mentioned as a restaurant app Gary Vee co-founded and sold to American Express.
• Forbes — Company · Referenced entity · 1 mention · first at 1:10
  Mentioned as a platform where Gary Vee was listed as a top social media influencer.
  Then scaled the company from $3 million in annual revenue to $60 million. In 2017, Gary was listed as one of Forbes's top social media influencers.
• AOL — Company · Referenced entity · 1 mention · first at 13:19
  Mentioned as an early internet platform Gary Vee used.
• Empathy Wines — Company · Referenced entity · 1 mention · first at 24:51
  Mentioned as a business Gary Vee sold to Constellation Brands.
  I've had to sell two businesses. One was Empathy Wines. You could see it right over my shoulder here. These wines we sold that in 18 months we sold that business for.
• Charity Water — Company · Referenced entity · 1 mention · first at 26:46
  Mentioned as a charity Gary Vee has committed to supporting.
• Pencils of Promise — Company · Referenced entity · 1 mention · first at 26:51
  Mentioned as a charity Gary Vee has supported by building schools.
  Did a $10 million over 10 year commitment to Charity Water to see that impact. I've been to Ghana. I've watched the schools I've built with pencils of promise. I don't want…

Products & tech

• V Friends — Product · Business focus · 2 mentions · first at 1:41
  Mentioned as a current project Gary Vee is deeply invested in, aiming to make it as big as Pokemon and Marvel.
• Wine Library TV — Product · Referenced entity · 2 mentions · first at 7:02
  Mentioned as an early e-commerce venture Gary Vee started, which helped scale his family's liquor store.
  But Gary doesn't just talk about the future of business, he builds it. At the young age of 21, Gary converted his family liquor store into a wine library.

Concepts & topics

• Bitcoin — Concept · Referenced concept · 5 mentions · first at 12:10
  Mentioned as one of the trends Gary Vee has invested in and believes in.
• Artificial Intelligence — Concept · Referenced concept · 1 mention · first at 12:12
  Mentioned as one of the current trends Gary Vee is interested in.

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 Sometimes people, they're like, "Don't listen to this guy. Trust fun, baby." They make up all sorts of [ __ ] They have no idea my story. I worked 22 to 34 every minute, [ __ ] 100 hours a week, 7 days a week in a liquor store and started Vayner Media in a [ __ ] conference room in another company cuz I had no money to my name for rent because I got paid nothing working for my liquor store cuz my dad didn't pay himself either.

0:22 Innovative, unrivaled. Gary Vee is the CEO of Vayner Media and a six-time New York Times bestselling author. Dreams are not given. Dreams are taken. When you want a dream, you're not allowed to vacation cuz dreams are hard.

0:36 He was an early investor in companies like Facebook, Twitter, Uber, and Coinbase. He's known online for his unmatched gut instinct and ability to predict future trends.

0:45 How many views does their picture and video get for you? Cuz everything is merit based on the content.

0:51 But Gary doesn't just talk about the future of business, he builds it. At the young age of 21, Gary converted his family liquor store into a wine library.

0:59 At what age are you allowed to take accountability for everything in your life? I ask all of you.

1:05 Then scaled the company from $3 million in annual revenue to $60 million. In 2017, Gary was listed as one of Forbes's top social media influencers.

1:15 You need to bet on your strengths and don't give a [ __ ] about what you suck at. Now, he's gone on to become one of the top entrepreneurs in social media strategy and digital advertising. Get ready. This interview will teach you how to get ahead and stay ahead of the curve. All right, welcome back to the Mellow Millionaire. Today is going to be awesome. We've got the one and only Gary Vanderchuk. He's the founder of Vanner Media, Vander X, V Friends, Reie, and more. He's got more than nine books. Six of them are New York bestsellers. This guy doesn't need an introduction.

1:50 Pleasure to have you on, man. Thanks, my man. Happy New Year. Happy New Year's. Listen, uh you were born in Barus and came to America as a child. You started trading cards. You know, let's just talk about the early hustle to get just get everybody familiar with how you got started.

2:06 Yeah. Even before trading cards, which was really fifth, sixth, seventh grade, you know, I was just, you know, you know this tone, like some people are just born for certain things. Like when I see athletes or when I see musicians, you know, back in the day like a lot of tennis players were like 14 and 15 and winning grand slams, especially on the female side. These Olympians that are like 12 and winning the gold medal. Like I was just that person with business. Like by fourth grade, I was getting D's and Fs because I couldn't I couldn't understand why it mattered. I was so passionate about lemonade stands and washing car. If it snowed, I wanted to shovel snow five bucks instead of sledding. If it was 90 degrees out, I wanted to sell lemonade or ring doorbells and wash cars. It was just so in me. And um and yeah, and I I just refined that game as a child and then as a teenager. And um I've just always been

3:02 in both business, but also hard work. I think there's some people smarter than me that are like business people, but they're like they figure out like let me code this and like I I've just been in both like get dirt under my fingers and grind. I've tried to be smart, but like I love the process. I love the practice. I love the late nights. Like I'm just that person that's process over over profits even like like the money has shockingly not been in at some level the motivator even as a kid. It was just like more fun for me to create a fake little store in the neighborhood and have people buy things than getting the money. You know what I mean?

3:41 Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, so the money didn't matter. One of the things I've noticed, you know, right now we employ 1300 people and the people that came as immigrants, they're relentless. They're not afraid of rejection. They are like, "This is the United States of America." Do you think being an immigrant just gave you a oneup?

4:00 Yeah. And I I would say that for a lot of immigrants like myself, you know, because I was born in a [ __ ] hole. The USSR was a bad place and then we came here, we were dead [ __ ] broke, so we lived in a [ __ ] hole in Queens, like New York. Like I don't think it was it per se the immigrant like I would argue a an American born in a trailer park has that same advantage, which is like when you're from the [ __ ] dirt, you're like you're a different animal. I mean, it's not complicated, right? Like, does a zoo animal beat a Does a lion that grew up in the zoo beat a lion from the jungle? Never. And so, you know, and then I had the be tone. I had the best circumstance, which is we didn't have [ __ ] but we had my mom filled every room with nothing but love and optimism and joy. So, some people grow up in [ __ ] but the parents are in a [ __ ] place and it's dark. You know, I grew up, we didn't have [ __ ] but we had the

4:59 most important [ __ ] which is [ __ ] nurturing, love, [ __ ] you know, I just had a [ __ ] monster mother. And so, like, I was destined to be unstoppable cuz no one was going to [ __ ] with me cuz my mommy said I'm good, you know? Like, it was like, what do you want from me? Like, I'm not going to believe you. My mom said I'm good. My mom said I can. [ __ ] you. You know?

5:20 Yeah. 100%. I felt like I I got the most love if if literally I got in a car accident and the person that lived my mom would come out with a shovel. Doesn't have the best back, but she'd be like, "Let's go ahead and take care of this." If I did go to prison, she'd move next to the prison. I mean, I'm her baby boy. Like, that's it. Like, she's going to be close. But my dad was relentless. Did your dad have a like competitive like no participation trophies? What was your dad What is his claim to how you turned out?

5:48 His best claim is Word is bond. My dad I don't know what my dad thought. I didn't see him until I was 14. He worked every minute. My dad showed me life lessons. How to be a man. Provide for your family. [ __ ] be your word is what you [ __ ] back up. He was old school like that. Um he didn't even know what I was doing in sports. I think my dad, this is real, showed up to one sporting event in my life and it was cuz the baseball game was like five minutes from the liquor store and he popped out. It was huge for I mean, I could you could see I can't even explain to you what it feels like in my body right now.

6:22 It was like I was shook that he was there. It was that out of character, out of my norm. He woke up and went to work before I woke up and he came home after I went to bed and he worked seven days a week. So, I didn't [ __ ] see my father until I started working in the liquor store that he had when I was 14. And that's when I really got to know my dad. The next 20 years was all my dad. I was in the liquor store all the time. and he was cynical and like different than my mom, but my mom had had already laid the foundation and my dad was able to sprinkle in his things and you know, I'm obviously incredibly grateful for my parents.

6:57 Yeah. So, you started working at your dad's Jersey liquor store and you started the e-commerce giant, the wine library TV. What do you think you learned in the process of watching dad and just even before you constantly were thinking about the business? There was only one year where I wasn't thinking about the business that I saw my dad. It was the first year I worked in a liquor store. I [ __ ] hated it. I just came from making actual money. 300 bucks, 600 bucks, 200 bucks, 500 bucks at the malls of New Jersey selling cards and and [ __ ] being my own boss at 13 and [ __ ] feeling like a [ __ ] million bucks. And now I'm working my dad's liquor store on the weekends instead.

7:36 And I'm get getting paid $2 an hour to bag ice in a dungey [ __ ] basement like I was sloth from Goonies with some 17-year-old [ __ ] degenerate who hated my [ __ ] father and I'm [ __ ] bagging ice for 10 hours a day. My [ __ ] pinkies about to [ __ ] fall off cuz it's so [ __ ] cold in that ice box. I'm like, "What the [ __ ] is this? Could give a [ __ ] Was in the basement. I hated it." And and what I learned was I what I didn't want to do. My dad was a dick to his employees straight up. He would yell at them. I didn't like it.

8:06 This was not where's this [ __ ] optimistic rainbows that I was used to with my mom. It was year two when I went upstairs and started stocking shelves where I started thinking about the business cuz I could watch customers, you know? I was a psycho. I was like watching how they bought, what they bought, why I was [ __ ] 14 psycho, bro. Like [ __ ] business like savant in hindsight. It was my norm. I didn't know anything else. But now looking back, I'm like that's just crazy like that. I was so in that game and what I learned a lot of things. No question.

8:36 The thing I learned from my dad was no complaining and hard work. Period. In the story, you know, like did not complain like like it just it didn't even cross his mind, nor my mother for that matter. Everything was so shitty back in the USSR in the 60s and 70s when they were growing up that the worst things happening in America. Like my mom, my grandma got mugged the first week we were in America and we were just happy that like she didn't go to jail for 10 years like like you know what I mean? It was like it was like such gratitude of being in America. So you know it was it was hard work and discipline and non-complaining. I also learned not to eat breakfast and lunch.

9:17 Is that still today? Yeah. My dad did not eat breakfast or lunch and I don't eat breakfast or lunch like 35 years later. That's been like my framework. All this intermittent fasting that got popular like 5 years ago and I've been on rep tip for 20 years.

9:32 Let me ask you this. So, if your dad hired you today, what would you tell your dad about pricing? Would you tell him raise your prices?

9:40 Well, if I'm thinking about your audience and all that and what I Good news, let me tell you the real story. I started working my dad's store in 1990. I didn't launch wine library.com until 1997. I made a big impact on my dad's business before the internet. The internet obviously took us to the moon and then Wine Library TV I got wine internet famous and that took our business to the moon. But the the there was several things. First I was into merchandising. So my father's the first impact I had on my dad was making signs for the store. A box with wine and be like $4.99. I'm like no one wants to buy this [ __ ] I'd make a big ass sign and be like this wine pairs with [ __ ] chicken and it's better than $10 wines and all of a sudden we're selling three times as much. Like that was number one. Number two was the customer is always right even when they're wrong. My dad was very good about customer being right, but my

10:29 dad's very principled. So if a customer was trying to be cute, he didn't like that [ __ ] That's a battle not worth fighting. You cursing out a customer on the floor who's trying forget about stealing. I'm talking about being cute with a coupon or something. So a little bit of that little controlling the emotions. Uh and then the biggest thing, my dad's liquor store was called Shoppers Discount Liquors. We sold beer and liquor. I was very good at listening to the customer. I knew that people wanted to buy more premium wine from us.

10:55 So I brought in a lot more premium wine and I also got educated about wine and started really getting wine nerdy. There was more margin in wine than there was in beer and liquor. So really th those were some of the big and and then most of all brother employees. If my dad was on right now and you were like yo OG Sasha that's his name Sasha what uh what the kid teach you? He would say to treat the employees better. And I don't blame my dad. My dad's not a bad person. You know what was going on, Tommy, was that in Russia everyone stole because the government owned everything. Tommy, right? Every so my dad just thought everyone was going to steal in America, too. They didn't he didn't like, you know, like he just grew up in an environment where employees stole everything. Everything in Russia was the black market. You worked at the butchers. The government owned the butcher store. You would steal some of

11:46 the meat and try to trade it for some clo Everything was scarce, you know. So, you know, my dad's first piece of advice to me the first day I went to the store was keep an eye on the employees. They try to steal. That was his first piece of advice to me. So, he I I think I transformed him from seeing the employees as enemies to seeing the employees as teammates.

12:04 Very, very valuable lesson. You know, it's funny. I didn't know you were there seven years before the What did you see about the internet? Because there's Bitcoin right now, there's AI, but you were like, I mean, this is before you even had anything to buy domains really. It was hard to get a website up in 1997. How did you see that the worldwide web and what was going to happen with it?

12:26 You know how like some people are like talent agents or like remember like back in the day? How old are you, brother? Tommy, how old are you?

12:32 42. Great. You're a hair underneath me. I'm 50. You might have caught this, but you definitely are probably aware of it. back in like the 70s like these ANR guys in music they'd have to go to a [ __ ] club and like catch [ __ ] you know Guns and Roses playing to 50 people and be like these guy you know what I mean? I have that in business. I do. I have it like to be dead serious. Here's your answer. In 1995, I went into a dorm room because there was some commotion and they're like, "You got to see this." It and I had heard of it like a little bit like on the news or something. The the worldwide web, the information superighway. Bro, I did not own a computer. I was not a tech nerd. Like I wasn't that kid. Um, but I literally watched literally for the young kids listening, I watched someone go on the internet on AOL. Like I stood behind him on a desktop computer and heard that [ __ ] if you remember and watched a

13:32 human go on the internet and I was like what the you know like like quick like I was like and and then I waited an hour cuz everybody got like 5 10 minutes to [ __ ] around and I sat down this changed my life brother. I [ __ ] just typed in like buying baseball cards and we didn't even go to the web. We stayed in AOL and I found a bulletin board where people were like Eric Davis rookie card nine bucks like looking for Don Russ 82. I was like what is like my brain was and I was like this is that prodigy [ __ ] that some kid told me about a couple years a like this is real. I'm giving you my internal thinking and bro 20 minutes later I swear to God on my kid's health I was like this is going to change my life. That's it. Like I don't know what else to tell you. just knew that every [ __ ] person on earth was going to do this [ __ ] and that I had to figure out how to use it for business and the two

14:27 things I used it for were the only two things I knew. I found eBay a few months later and started posting and buying and flipping and I started trying to convince my father that we needed a [ __ ] website for a single store liquor store in New Jersey. And I registered wine library.com. That was a name I was kicking around with my dad because I wanted to change our store from shoppers discount liquors and we launched one of the first e one of the first five e-commerce wine stores in the country.

14:55 It's quite the story. You know, I found out about Craigslist early on and that that changed my life forever because I posted 500 ads a day on Craigslist. Uh and you know this brother, like hustlers like us, like we find the thing. We're not scared to waste. You know what my biggest strength is? I wonder if this is yours Tommy and I wonder if for I want people to hear this. I'm not scared to waste my time even now when it's extremely valuable. Honest here, I get paid $350,000 to give a keynote speech for an hour, right? In New York City, which takes me 10 minutes to get to, but I'll sit and spend nine hours on something that might never materialize because I know if all I need is one of those things, Bitcoin, blockchain, AI, social media, I mean, it's happened to me, you know, time and time again. I've wasted many hours to not waste several hours that have changed the course of my life. And everybody out here, brother,

15:49 that's listening, many of them are scared to waste their time when their [ __ ] time is worthless.

15:53 Yeah. Well, they'll watch their Netflix and they'll do the, you know, Jeff Basos said, and this is probably one of the best quotes is, uh, in baseball you could get four runs, but in business if you hit a home run, you could get 10,000. And so that's basically VCs. you know, you don't hit them all out of the park, but you got to be willing to take the time, meet the people. And what you've learned how to do is recognize winners. And I'm sure real quick for people that you invest in because you could invest in Bitcoin is a little bit different, but when you're investing in a business, what do you look for in the person? What kind of traits?

16:29 I used to I've run the gamut, you know, again, I don't know if you're doing video or audio, but these stock certificates above my head, that's Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. They were the first three companies I invested in. I killed it. I like, you know, like, you know, sometimes your first album is your best. Actually, in music, a lot of times your best album is your your first album is your best album. But, you know, in those scenarios, I looked at the horse and the jockey. So, Twitter, Facebook, and and and Tumblr had already existed when I invested. They were early first first little couple first year, first couple months, first year. So, I could see what it was. I could taste it. back to like you know the internet thing and then when I met the kids EB Williams who was Jack Dorsey's partner he was primary for me they were really co-founders Mark Zuckerberg obviously went on to be one

17:18 of the iconic businessmen of all time and this really brilliant kid David Karp the founder of Tumblr who I would argue understood where social was going I think Tik Tok is more Tumblr than it is Facebook you see interest instead of social anyway all three of them uh I felt like they could will their way to the other side later Tommy because I want to teach people about my mistakes after those three where I loved both the platform and the person later I started investing in companies even earlier so I had to hear a pitch of an idea and judge the kid I started to overvalue education which was crazy because I [ __ ] hated school and thought every like it meant nothing but too many of the startups the kids went to Stanford and Harvard so I got tricked and so I started Ed overvaluing the college they went to. That was bad. I started overvaluing the idea because I couldn't see the product because they

18:13 were pitching me the idea. It was early. And I thought about how I, as a good operator, would operate it, but I didn't know how to judge a kid if they knew how to operate. I could judge their energy, their tenacity, their hopes and dreams. So my chapters for a long time in very early startup life, early stage, $4 million valuation, angel round, that was ve that that proved to be great because I hit some real home runs, Venmo and other things of that nature. But definitely in hindsight was a little bit more guessing than I would like because if I want to gamble, I'll go gamble, right? If I want to invest, I'm now looking for the jockey and the horse and I want to see the horse. Show me Your Little Pony. I need to [ __ ] see it, right? Like, I can't look at the deck anymore. Show me the product six months.

19:03 I can project if it's going to be different. Netflix was [ __ ] very different when it came out than what it is now. I can project, but I need to see it. I need to touch it. And so, that's where I'm at as an investor now.

19:14 Let me ask you a few repeat questions I ask every person that comes on. Um, what's one piece of game-changing advice that you wish you knew in your 20s?

19:22 It's not advice. It's I wish I knew what my kryptonite was in my 20s so I could fix it. Gary Vee, Tommy, as you can tell on this podcast, he's as a public figure very canderous. Shoots it straight. Gary Veaynerchuk in real life, if I like you, even if I even I don't even need to love you. If I like you, I struggled with giving you actual feedback because I was scared that you would get scared and get [ __ ] up or like I didn't I didn't value cander. So, I wish in my 20s I understood that cander was a gift you were giving to people, not a scare tactic.

20:00 There's a great book uh firm feedback in a fragile world because very hard to accept feedback.

20:05 We call it internally kind cander. Kind cander. Yeah. 2,700 employees at Vayner X and our our marketing firm, Vayner Media. And we call it kind cander. And it I've been training it to my team and it's changed our business.

20:23 Give me an example. I you know this brother, you're you're now in your career. A lot of our managers use cander or feedback as an excuse to be a dick face. The end. We have managers, you and I, who have kids that are more talented than them reporting to them and the manager is going to suppress them because they're scared they're going to leapfrog them. So if you just call it firm feedback or if you just call it cander, well now you got a [ __ ] problem because people are going to weaponize it by calling it kind cander and holding our leaders accountable to it. They know they're getting graded by the people that they're giving feedback as well. And one of the things we ask is did they have any question? Did the person giving you this feedback show any live level of humanity? What does that mean? It means that you know it's that old Mary Poppins song. I don't [ __ ] remember it, but it's like

21:14 a spoonful of sugars down in a delightful way. That's it. Like I'm a buyer. Like like you know, you're going to have to tell someone that they're they're on the verge of fire getting fired or they're not doing a good job. But starting with a little bit of like, "Hey, brother." And not like [ __ ] overcoddling [ __ ] Like just checking the box. Just be a [ __ ] human. Be like, "Yo, you show up. You're a [ __ ] dude. Like, hey lady, you're awesome. Like you got a lot of creativity, but like hey, these things have to happen or like the calculus is going to, you know, it's sports. You're going to get benched.

21:53 You're awesome. We love you, but you're going to get benched." And sometimes that's less opportunity. And sometimes, unfortunately, that's getting cut from the team. And like, but I think you got to be a human.

22:02 I love it. If you had $10 million in your account, that's it. Where are you putting the money?

22:08 So, I have 10 million, but I have nothing else. You have no other businesses, but you still have connections. You still have relationships.

22:15 Oh, I'm I'm starting a business that I'm in charge of. You know, I I'll decide what I want to sell or do, but like I'm not investing it. I'm not buying real estate. Uh I'm not buying Bitcoin. All things I like. I'm I'm starting a business cuz I can turn that 10 into 100 easy. Yeah,

22:32 bro. You could take my connections away and I'm doing the same thing. I have seven meaningful businesses. I I call myself the business juggler. I have seven real businesses. I have a TV production company called Vayner Watt. I have a huge sports agency for all the sports fans. Vayner Sports reps. Bo Bashette just signed with the Mets for a buck 40. Sauce Gardner, Aiden Hutchinson, Kirk Cousins. So I got Vayner Sports. I have a huge restaurant group with five very successful restaurants in Manhattan, three in Vegas, brand new ripping called the VCR group. And then I have Vayner Media, 400 million in revenue this year, Tony. 400 million in sales, not valuation, not some [ __ ] 400 million in sales. I got Vfriend Friends, which is my Pokemon meet Sesame Street thing that I'm building. That could be the biggest company I ever build, right? Like I'm a real [ __ ] operator doing over a half a billion in revenue in my companies.

23:23 Like I'm an operator. Yes, I'm a motivational speaker and an author and a personality and a personal brand and you know and yes, I know people see me in 15 second clips on in feed or on LinkedIn, but like I'm a real [ __ ] operator. I was 34 years old before I made business content on the internet and already built a big business for my dad, you know, and restarted with nothing because I built a business for my dad. Sometimes people try to [ __ ] uh, you know, flame me and they're like, "Don't listen to this guy. Trust fun, baby. His dad gave him a winery." They make up all sorts of [ __ ] that they have no idea my story. I worked 22 to 34 every minute, [ __ ] 100 hours a week, 7 days a week in a liquor store and started Vayner Media in a [ __ ] conference room in another company cuz I had no money to my name for rent because I got paid nothing working for my liquor store cuz my dad didn't pay himself either. It was all

24:11 going back into the business. But the problem for me was he owned the business and had that asset. I had [ __ ] So like I don't need anything. I'm a [ __ ] operator.

24:20 Well, one question. you got these businesses you're you're juggling. Is there ever, you know, I've always built to sell. If I can't sell a business in 5 years or less, not that I have to sell it if things are going well, but that's that's generally like you roll equity if you want to.

24:38 I I I love that. And good for you. And that's awesome. And you like that game. I'm completely the other way. I want to die and leave it to people.

24:45 I love it. So, there's no businesses you plan on selling ever if your name's attached to it.

24:49 I've had to sell two businesses. One was Empathy Wines. You could see it right over my shoulder here. These wines we sold that in 18 months we sold that business for just short of nine figures to Constellation Brands. I had two partners that started as interns with me at Vayner Media. They were my partners in that direct to consumer wine brand. They were also both about to get married. We got this opportunity. They looked at me with those puppy four puppy dog eyes and I was like, "God damn it." So, we sold it. They made some money. It's really lovely. And the other business I sold in my career was I was the co-founder and co-creator of Resi, the restaurant app that sold to American Express.

25:27 That company I ca I co-came up with the idea. I was an investor and put money in. We housed that company in Vayner Media. I was always there for Ben. Ben was the captain. I was the co-pilot. I I definitely made some big cash and strategic moves. I feel like my DNA is in that exit, but that was a big exit for Ben specifically especially. And so those are the two businesses that have sold in my time, but neither one of them were like the majority of my businesses were I'm like the lead. It's me. I own it. Like I don't have to factor anyone else's needs into the decision.

26:05 Just one quick thing. Have you ever heard Die with Zero? The book Die with Zero.

26:10 I haven't heard of it. So the book's just like, listen, when you're 35 compared to when you're 85, a trip means more, right? Like you could go do more, you could go hiking, you could do more. And you could give and actually see your money be given if you're, you know, 50, 60 years old and you could see, wow, I'm actually making an impact. You get to see your impact. So I'm not I'm not disregarding what you're saying. I'm just thinking so many people, they make they they do all this work and they're workaholics and then they go to their grave and then they don't get to see the fruits of their labor or their kids. And by the way, don't spoil your kids, but

26:42 I run very profitable businesses. I just did a $10 million over 10 year commitment to Charity Water to see that impact. I've been to Ghana. I've watched the schools I've built with pencils of promise. I don't want stuff, right? I don't want a Lamborghini. I don't want four houses. I don't want them. All I want is the New York Jets to win a Super Bowl. I'm a workaholic. Not for the I don't want the trophies. I want the process. like like I don't I don't need validation from the money. I don't I also have plenty of money. Myo my apartment's plenty nice. My I've had multiple homes. Like I've got stuff because I run profitable businesses and kick myself distribution. But to your point, I love how you frame that. I've been able to do enormous amounts of impact financially through charitable work and then also why I spend so much time building the Gary Vee brand. I've literally fundamentally changed people's

27:36 lives because of my content. And that feels inc. So I'm fulfilled as a human. And then for me selfishly, Tommy, I you know, I've said this a couple times recently because it's the only way I can explain it. Tommy, I don't know how you vacation, but the way I like to vacation cuz I go so hard is I want to plop my ass on a beach, [ __ ] do nothing, listen to music, eat three times, go to sleep, like be, you know, on some of these vacations, you know, as I've grown in my career, the places are nicer, right? You go from Club Bed to like [ __ ] Amanara, right? I've always been fascinated with the kid that is like just building a sand castle all [ __ ] day and then like the sun's coming down, it's time to like get cleaned up and go for dinner. And mom's and dad are like, "Yo, Johnny. Yo, Tommy, it's time to go." And this kid [ __ ] I I'm just laying there just listening to music and thinking and veging out. and literally

28:26 have watched this kid from 9:00 am to [ __ ] 5:00 PM build this [ __ ] immaculate whether it's whether he did a good job or him and his sister or the sister or just her whether they did a good job or not. I've watched eight hours of work. Hey Tommy, time for dinner. And then the kid just smashes it and runs up. Bro, I'm that kid. I just need to I just am curious and I'm enjoying to see how big I can build all this juggling. I don't need the financial payoff. I get enough of what I need from the day-to-day distributions and all that. That's what makes me happy. On the flip side, it was funny when you were like, I build businesses.

29:03 Like, I was smiling inside. I'm like, that's [ __ ] awesome. Like, that's that's his chemicals. That's how he likes the game. I don't I like my game for me. I don't recommend my game for anyone. Unless what I just said for the last four minutes lit you up on this. If you're listening right now, well, then let's go. Like, then do that. You can do that, too. You got the Tommy way, you got the Gary way, and you got a hundred thousand other ways. Just do it for you. Did you ever see Rocky four with Drago? So, I don't know if you know that. I'm Russian, so I I know what he was saying at the last scene. Drago, after he lost, is like yelling at the Russian crowd and the Russian premiere, and he's saying in Russian, he's like, "Fuck you all for booing me. Like, I was in this ring for me, not for the country, not for you, ya. I was for I was in it for I'm in here for me. It's me. I'm the man in the

29:52 [ __ ] arena. That's how I see life. I'm not trying to impress anyone. I'm not trying to convince anyone. I don't think I'm special. I'm just [ __ ] in the arena for me. And for me, I just want to keep playing. I'm intoxicated by the holding the breath of it all. And that's how I roll.

30:12 You know, I walked up to you. You were at Yano's event. It was out in the desert. Cristiano, who was probably 5 years ago, we drank plenty of wine. You went on there and you said, uh, you know, all you guys doing billboards, why billboards? I can beat you with social media. It might take a 100 tries, but I also went up to you and I said, you know, Gary, my mom and a lot of other people in my life say, when is enough enough? And you go, Tommy, I get that all the time. You said, I'm still having fun. I'm just getting started. It's just starting, it's starting to get easier.

30:42 And that had to be five, six years ago at this point. And I'll never forget that because I was like, "Yeah." I'm like, "Tiger Wood's mom didn't say, "You won four, you know, you win the the Grand Slam. You won all four tournaments."

30:53 Tommy, that's because a lot of people around us really think it's about the money. And by the way, it's a I just want everyone to hear this. You're everyone's allowed for it to be about the money. And I want to say a curveball to everyone here. I wish all of you knew me at 17. I'm not saying this gibberish right now because now I have money. I was saying this gibberish when I didn't have. That's why I was such a psycho and signed up for building a huge business for my parents and left with nothing. Dick zero. I left with fulfillment. Back to what you said, leave with zero. I [ __ ] lived it, bro. I gave all of my best youth years to my parents cuz I have that in my soul forever. I go into the ground knowing that there are very few sons or daughters on earth that did more for their parents financially than the revert. Like I feel good about that.

31:40 Makes me feel good. So anyway, that's why they're saying that Tommy, they think you're doing it for another this or another that or another zero in the bank account. You know this. The [ __ ] are we going to do? The [ __ ] are we supposed to do if we're not building?

31:54 Yeah. Yeah. Let's talk about talk about like not wanting to wake up in the morning. Like what do like I can't imagine disappearing onto a golf course and being like I'm retired. Uh we got under eight minutes so I'm going to speed through here. What's your biggest professional dream at the current moment? Like if you got the all these businesses.

32:12 I want V friends to become Pokemon and Marvel. I think I can do it. I'm super deep into it. I'm obsessed with collectibles. I'm obsessed with storytelling and characters. I want everyone to fall in love with Stoic Slime and Empathy Elephant. And I need to make Dynamic Dinosaur famous. I'm Walt [ __ ] Disney. I'm Vince McMahon. I'm Jim Henson. That is my biggest goal. And then when I build that and take it public or sell it because the Jets are available, I want to buy the New York Jets and I want to ride them into a Super Bowl.

32:42 All right, we're just gonna do this speed round here. There's 14 things. True or false and your reasoning. Okay, you need to establish a niche before you start posting.

32:53 False. Because you could, first of all, you don't even need a niche. You could be completely poperri like I am and talk about tons of different things. Next.

33:02 If you post too much, people will unfollow. Not true. No one's seeing everything anymore. It's the interest media era, not the social media era. People will unfollow if you post things that they're not interested in consistently. Plus, if you post more, you'll gain more followers than you'll lose, and you'll net out with more. Next.

33:21 Taking a posting break helps reset the algorithm. Uh, false. Uh, posting better content helps reset the algorithm. The algorithm is just people. There is no algorithm. It's people's interest in what you're saying. Taking a break and coming back and doing more bad [ __ ] isn't going to help you. Next.

33:39 All you need is one big viral moment. Most people get into levels of depression because they have a viral moment and do nothing with it. It's the reverse. You don't need a big boulder. You need thousands of little pebbles consistently. Next.

33:53 Only viral content is valuable for bringing in followers. Um, yes, there is. Uh, I would say yes is I would say big f posts that earn a million views will get you more followers, but posts that get a thousand views will also bring in So, does an individual piece of content that gets tons of views bring in more followers than the others? Yes. Is it more likely like the gym that you'll more likely get 4, 7, 9, 13, 23 every day if you do that consistently for 365 days versus worrying and hoping for the lottery ticket? That's the framework you need to bring to this. Next,

34:32 being too broad confuses the algorithm. Absolutely not. Are you making [ __ ] that people are interested in? Again, there's no algorithm. The content is shown to a small group of people quickly, some your followers, some not. And if people are not engaging with it, staying on it, reading it, clicking it, sharing it, liking it, DMing it, or just sitting on it and consuming it, then it will decline. Following trends or hot topics matters more than originality. It's and not both or both can work. Like trends being contextual, being relevant, being of the moment, phenomenal. But if like you know quarter zips are hot, but you say something stupid and not valuable, you're not going to be able to ride that trend. Both matter. Stake and sizzle.

35:12 Next, you should use trending audio on 90% of your reels. I would say false. I mean I mean first of all, you should be talking in more of your reels if you're if you're only if you're using only visuals like talking matters, but I I think catching a audio cl uh trend before it pops is even better than riding one that's popped. So I think you got to again mix it up.

35:36 Long form content like long YouTube videos are dead. Uncomfortably false. We just sat here for 40 minutes and gave a ton of [ __ ] value. Plus, now we have a piece of content that we can chop up into 13 pieces of content. Long form video, I would argue, is the starting point. Long form video is crushing on Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube, podcasts. That's an excuse of the week. Next,

36:01 once you monetize, the algorithm punishes you. One more time, the algorithm is just people. If you start trying to sell, sell, sell, less people are interested in being sold. They want information. So, like I wrote years ago in jab, jab, jab, right hook, you got to give value, give value, give value. But you should have no shame in asking. But if you're asking asking asking asking you're going to lose attention.

36:23 Gary, if somebody were to reach out, I mean, there's a million ways to get a hold of you, but where would you have them contact you where your team could get back to them? That's very gracious and I do think people can find me but Garyve E is a very easy way to find me everywhere. I appreciate you brother Tommy. I wish you a great great healthy happy year and I hope we uh cross paths again.

36:44 We will have a great day my man. Thank you so much for doing this. Thanks so much for listening to this episode like always. We're going to close it out with the Tommy truth which is a little slice of wisdom from me to you that can help guide you in whatever you're striving towards right now. High expectations are the key to everything. You don't get results by aiming low. So, my friends, what I would tell you right now is have big, big, hairy, audacious goals. Dream bigger. Ask for more. If you shoot for the stars and you land on the moon, you're still doing great. And that's it, guys. We'll talk to you next week.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Gary Vee's No BS Advice for Building a Business Empire"?

Tommy Mello (Host), Gary Vaynerchuk (Host).

What is "Gary Vee's No BS Advice for Building a Business Empire" about?

Gary Vaynerchuk shares his journey from humble beginnings working in his family's liquor store to becoming a successful entrepreneur, emphasizing the importance of hard work, accountability, and betting on one's strengths. He highlights his achievements in building Vayner Media, investing in high-profile companies, and establishing himself as a key figure in social media strategy and digital…

What is mentioned in this Tommy Mello episode?

18 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Vayner Media, Gary Vaynerchuk, V Friends, Wine Library TV, New York Jets, Bitcoin. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Gary Vee's No BS Advice for Building a Business Empire"?

The episode runs 37 min; the transcript is about 7,807 words in 82 timestamped sections.

More from Tommy Mello

• All analyzed episodes
• Books mentioned on Tommy Mello
• People mentioned on Tommy Mello
• Topics mentioned on Tommy Mello