We Got Gary Vee’s Unfiltered, $350M Truths About Building Businesses

1. Society Forgot How Hard $1M Really Is

“Do you know how f*cking hard it is to make $1M a year?”

One of the greatest things Gary says happened in his career is that he’s always been able to stay grounded. Case in point: One of the early VaynerMedia offices wasn’t in LA, San Fran, Tokyo, or London — it was in none other than Chattanooga.

Why? Because “When you go to Chattanooga, Tennessee, if you make a $1M a year, you’re on a f*cking pedestal.” Knowing that keeps you grounded.

2. Your Empire Starts With Your iPhone

We asked Gary: “Let’s say you had to start an entire empire from one laundromat today, what’s the playbook?” Took him milliseconds to answer:

“I’ve talked for 15 years about how building your personal brand is the moat. It’s the one true asset that doesn’t get commoditized. Even in an AI world,” he says.

“On Main Street, there’s a HUGE opportunity for people to build brand.”

3. The 10-80-10 Rule for Builders

Gary has a great line:

He thinks “winners and people aspiring to build big things spend way too much of their time in the middle.”

So in his business, he lives by the 10-80-10 framework for leading without getting stuck in the weeds:

4. To Invest, You Need a Jockey and a Horse

“Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr were my first three investments of my life,” Gary told us. “I only judged what I smelled. I went on pure intuition about the human and the thesis.”

But then he hit a rough patch.

One tough lesson came from investing in an app that later got crushed by Tinder. “The founder was young, and I didn’t spend enough time analyzing his grit and merit.” Now, Gary says the key is this:

Great ideas aren’t enough.

5. The Power of B and C Players

Gary says he can usually tell right away if someone is a C player. But even that is not a dealbreaker.

He believes most companies at scale need plenty of B and C players, not just A’s. “Not everyone’s the sharpest… That’s just real life.”

And there’s another catch: Gary thinks personality matters more than raw skill. “Give me an A+ personality and a C player over a C personality any day. C personality is death on arrival.”

6. Never Get Stuck in the Middle

We told Gary we recently visited the Harry Potter store and noticed something simple but powerful: greeters. A way to make every customer feel special.

It reminded us of Walmart’s greeters — one of Sam Walton’s secret weapons. Gary broke it down masterfully:

Bottom line: Sometimes the riskiest thing to do is play in the middle.

We spoke for well over an hour on all this (and so much more). If you want the whole episode, check it out here and subscribe to the podcast:

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