Gary Vaynerchuk on AI, Self-Awareness, and Why Almost Everyone Is Pretending

Summary

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THE ED MYLETT SHOW

Episode: Gary Vaynerchuk on AI, Self-Awareness, and Why Almost Everyone Is Pretending
Date: June 23, 2026
Host: Ed Mylett
Guest: Gary Vaynerchuk (“Gary Vee”)

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Episode Overview

In this high-energy, insightful episode, Ed Mylett sits down with entrepreneur and thought leader Gary Vaynerchuk to explore the rapidly changing world—including AI’s emergence, the role of self-awareness in authentic success, and why so many people today feel compelled to pretend. The conversation dives into actionable advice about leveraging technology, building real businesses (versus simply branding), the psychology of endurance, and the enduring influence of family, humility, and legacy.

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Key Topics and Insights

1. AI: The Disruptor of Our Time

• AI’s Impact:
  Gary compares AI’s transformational power to that of electricity, the automobile, and especially the iPhone. He urges everyone—not just techies—to recognize and embrace its implications.

  “It’s more internet and electricity and the automobile. Like it’s big. Big. Right. It’s not derivative... People that are highly functional, successful and continuing to build...if they don’t have a computer harness like an open claw already set up, they’re already behind the 1%.” (05:10)

• Action Steps:
  Experiment daily with AI tools—be it ChatGPT, Claude, Runway, Perplexity, etc.—and don't fear “not knowing.” Use AI to help you figure out how you can use AI in your work.

  “Using AI to get better at AI is the most meta crazy thing ever...Technology laughs at humans’ opinions of it. AI is not going to kill you. A human using AI is going to kill you.” (08:41, 09:51)

2. Macro Patience, Micro Speed

• Nuanced Patience:
  Gary clarifies his famous patience mantra: He advocates for taking risks and acting with urgency on a daily basis, but maintaining patience for long-term outcomes.

  “When I say patience, I don’t mean complacency...Patience in the macro, speed in the micro. When you lack patience in the macro, you go into compromising your moral compass and you go into gambling behavior, not business building and investing behavior.” (10:10, 13:51)

3. Endurance, Fatigue, and Operating vs. Content Creation

• Sustaining Energy:
  Gary discusses how his focus has shifted post-COVID from being a content machine to being a CEO/operator of multiple high-profile businesses.

  “I am six or seven now active businesses that are generating between eight and nine figures...where I am either the active CEO, active co-founder, or active chairman of the board.” (18:55)

  • He notes that, unlike what many assume, his self-worth isn’t tied to work, and that detachment gives him endurance and helps prevent burnout.

  “I don’t think I get burnt out...because it’s not that important to me.” (22:52)

4. Origin, Humility, and Family Influence

• Grounded by Upbringing:
  Gary’s worldview is shaped by his Soviet roots and early immigrant experience, propelling his desire for “optionality,” not money or fame.

  “I was born in the Soviet Union at a time that it was like North Korea...Because of socialism, everyone’s depressed, everybody’s apathetic, everyone’s indifferent.” (23:07)
  “The goal was never financial or fame. The goal was really...I just want optionality. I don’t want someone telling me what to do.” (25:36)

• Parenting and Validation:
  Both Ed and Gary get emotional discussing how their parents’ affirmation of kindness—rather than external success—became the anchor of their confidence.

  “My mother...her great to do, her pom poms came out when I opened the door for the elderly lady...All I heard is you have a golden heart.” (28:52)

5. Authenticity vs. Pretending

• Pretending Is Epidemic:
  Gary argues most people spend their lives pretending to be something they’re not, seeking validation, which ultimately leads to unhappiness.

  “You imagine getting to the end of your life, bro, and you pretended the whole way there?” (57:41)
  “Almost everyone does, Ed.” (57:45)

• Living for You:
  He implores listeners to self-audit, stop peacocking, and pursue paths based on genuine interest or expertise—not what’s trending for quick gains.

  "You need to live life for you. Not to impress others." (56:45)

6. Content Creation: Real Skills, Real Passion

• Be What You Are, Not What Sells:
  Gary exposes the dangers of creating content in areas you neither know nor love.

  “What do you know? Or what do you love? Now, if, God forbid—which means, God willing—you’re both, now I’ll show you where you can win as a content creator.” (53:25)

• Document Before You Arrive:
  He encourages documenting your learning journey (“document, don’t create”) rather than posturing as an expert you are not.

  "I think it’s way cooler if you’re making content on the path to becoming a great real estate agent...Let’s see how this works out versus faking the funk and saying, Buy my course." (41:40)
  "You will wake up every day for three years making a podcast no one's listening to—to get to the other side." (54:27)

7. Analog Businesses in a Digital World

• Countertrend Prediction:
  As AI and digital life accelerate, Gary believes community-driven, physical (analog) experiences and collectibles will rise in value.

  “I think in 14 years, it’s going to feel like 2065, which means building businesses that were built in 1965 is the opportunity...The big upside is analog.” (44:15)

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Memorable Quotes & Timestamps

• On AI and Urgency:
  “AI is not going to kill you. A human using AI is going to kill you.” — Gary Vee (09:51)

• Macro Patience, Micro Speed:
  "When you lack the patience in the macro, you go into compromising your moral compass and you go into gambling behavior, not business building and investing behavior." — Gary Vee (13:51)

• On Parenting and Self-Image:
  "Please give thought to what you're putting on a pedestal in your household. Your children will find their identity in that." — Gary Vee (31:22)

• On Endurance:
  “I am far less attached to my professional career than someone would believe if they didn’t know me.” — Gary Vee (22:52)

• On Living Authentically:
  "If you lean into self-awareness...winners...know you’re pretending, and then you've already lost before you started." — Gary Vee (56:45)

• On Documenting the Journey:
  "Document, don’t create...I would have cried...if it was actually out there [when I was coming up]." — Gary Vee (41:40)

• On Content and Happiness:
  "There's a lot of people who have a very happy life making $230,000 a year and live within those means. And there's unlimited people that push themselves from 230 to a million, and they don't live within those means and they hate their life." — Gary Vee (55:23)

• On Giving and Expectation:
  "I think when you actually give, it means you're giving without expectation...A lot of people have wanted to give to us, but they were manipulating the relationship, not giving." — Gary Vee (61:27)

• On Legacy (“Good Boy”):
  “Deep down, like real talk, I'm ultimately, I'm just a good boy, you know.” — Gary Vee (27:58)

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Major Timestamps for Section Reference

• AI and the Future: 05:04 – 09:52
• Macro Patience/Micro Speed: 10:00 – 13:51
• Endurance & Ownership vs. Content: 18:35 – 22:52
• Roots, Family, and Humility: 23:05 – 34:12
• Authenticity vs. Pretending: 56:43 – 59:06
• Content Creation Masterclass: 49:42 – 54:56
• Analog Business Trend Predictions: 44:15 – 46:41

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Themes & Takeaways

- AI isn’t optional—embrace or get left behind.

- Success is rooted in knowing yourself and defining success by your own standards, not society’s.

- Patience with long-term goals but urgency in daily action fosters real accomplishment.

- Legacy and confidence are built on character, not on external achievement.

- You don’t need to be an expert to make content, but you do need to be honest about where you are on your journey.

- The world rewards authenticity and endurance, not posturing or chasing empty trends.

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In Closing

Gary and Ed’s discussion is an inspiring, practical blueprint for thriving in a world changing faster than ever—by becoming self-aware, leveraging technology, staying grounded, and building a legacy based on real intention. The call to action: Find out who you really are, double down on it, keep learning—and stop pretending.

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Transcript

[A]

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[B]

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[B]

Welcome back to the show, everybody. So I want to introduce a newcomer to the program. Probably haven't heard of this guy before, like he's a rising star. I like to pick people when at the bottom before they get to the top. So that's how I grabbed this guy today. I say that tongue in cheek because you don't have to introduce him. Everybody on the planet knows him. He's one of the great entrepreneurs, one of the great voices, I think visionary voices for the future on earth. And he's had a big impact on my life. He doesn't know it because we've only met each other from a distance a bunch of times. We speak all around the world together and never see each other backstage, like literally 50 different times. Let me tell you my favorite thing about him. I was thinking about it. There's this list, I'd like to think I'm on it, of people who have created the most free content to change other people's lives at no cost. And the top of that list of all time is this man. He has helped more people, in my opinion, through this type of medium change their lives and never asked a dime or a dollar from them to do it. Millions and millions and millions of people he's helped out of the kindness of his heart and the brilliance of his big brain. So we're going to talk with Gary Vee today. Gary Vaynerchuk, welcome to the show again, brother. Good to have you.

[A]

That's incredibly humbling. Thank you for saying that. It's a I before I get any credit for it. It's all because of Incredible mothering, the American dream, and many circumstances and, and a lot of good deposits by my father as well to not keep him out of it. So thank you for that and I'm excited to chop it up with you. And we're recording this right after the Knicks beat the Cavs. And so I'm, huh, you're catching me at a perfect. When I saw my schedule today. Cause I'm very like, I don't know what I'm doing the next day, but I look this morning I'm like, oh, this is perfect because I'm. My energy is 11 out of 10.

[B]

Well, this will probably be out when it's over, but. So we'll see if you're still a visionary. Who do you want? Do you want OKC or do you want the Spurs?

[A]

I want the Spurs. I think we match up better though. I think some of the pedals are coming off the bloom for the OKC play. I think the, the foul baiting that Shay is doing is starting to get scrutinized and so. And the Knicks are playing well. But honestly, you know, this was a season where it was like, let's just please get to the finals. So there, it's hard to say there's house money when you have, when you're playing this well and you got a real chance. But I don't underestimate either San Antonio or Oklahoma. So when this comes out, my fate will be sealed, it sounds like. But I'm very grateful and especially I have a 13 year old son. To be sharing this journey with him. So great is like I'll remember it forever. So I'm grateful.

[B]

Yeah, you're known for wanting to buy the jets and I'm known for wanting to buy the Red Sox. And somewhere over the next 10 or 15 years if both those things happen, that would just be epic. By the way, this is inside baseball stuff here, inside sports. But I should tell you this. Greg Ginsky.

[A]

Oh yes.

[B]

I've known Greg since the second grade.

[A]

Get out. I didn't. You know what, actually that has been brought up in some armies for everybody's listening. Greg is my partner in Vayner Sports. He runs vaynersports Baseball and is a really great partner and a great baseball agent and friend and he's a great surfer. He likes. Both of you guys look way too good for your age. There was something in the water of that elementary school.

[B]

Yeah, you only hear that once you get like really old. But I love Greg and Greg, shout out to you buddy. I finally got you on the podcast. And we'll have you on as a guest as well. So. All right, so listen, I want to, we got to be serious today about a few things because the world's changing so quickly. Just interviewed Peter Diamantis a couple hours ago. We were talking about this. I think you're one of the most visionary people. You saw a lot of things before anybody did. I was thinking, even, like I remember I was already doing really well on social media. Like, hey, there's this thing called TikTok, everyone. I'm like, no one's doing that. It's for kids. I didn't listen to you. I ended up way behind. So I'm going to listen to you this time. What do you see now? Just your overall worldview. Obviously, AI is here.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

And moving even faster. Is this bigger than the Internet? Is it going to change things more? What do you see?

[A]

It's more Internet and electricity and the automobile. Like it's big. Big. Right. It's not derivative. You know, I would say the, the last thing that was like this, in my opinion, was the iPhone. The mobile device that was a true computer changed everything. Right. All the companies, we think about all this, many of the things, if you really look at the crux of where some of my foresight came from, it was betting the farm on the iPhone, that the iPhone was going to win the world. And then, as you can imagine, then when the App Store came out, it's like any app on there had a chance of being monstrous. And that kind of led to a lot of my points of view. It is, to your point, it is much more like Internet than social media's. A is a version of the Internet. A part of the Internet matters quite a bit because it democratized, you know, communication and distribution. But I, I, yeah, it's very big, brother. It's very big. I, I'll go 301 before I go 101, 301. People like yourself and many others listening that are highly functional, successful and continuing to build. If they're, if they don't have a computer harness like an open claw already set up, they're already behind the 1%. So that would be the first thing I would put out there. If you don't know what OpenClaw is, go Google it. Go understand it. This concept of agentic agents running in real time at all times, that's going to be the tick tock for you. If you and Max and the rest of the team don't have that set up, that really good summer exercise to figure out how to get your open claw. Okay, what does it do? Does it help you make content? Does it help you manage your contacts? Does it, you know, do shopping for your analysis? So that's the 301. The 101 is. No one listening to the Ed show should not already be actively using AI every day. Whether that's Claude, whether that's Higgs Field, whether that's, you know, Runway, whether that's Nano Banana, whether that's Gemini, Open AI, chatgpt, Perplexity. Like everybody who's listening should be dabbling. And what I mean by that is it running your world, you don't need it. Like, you know, doing anything too crazy. You need it, you need to be tasting. It's kind of like everybody who didn't use the Internet.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

In 96, 7, 8, 9, 2000, that were real players, they lost market share and opportunity. The difference is with AI, and you already said it, it's moving faster than the Internet did because it's building on top of the Internet, on top of social, on top of the blockchain. When the Internet came along, it had to establish all of its foundations of websites and browsers and all this. And so we have a compounded. You know how those charts go, right? It's compounding. And so, yeah, I mean, listen, content creation, strategy, thinking, creative output, management, admin, life, all this stuff. There's a lot of things already being slightly disrupted and we haven't even hit the crescendo moment. So, yes, do I think every person that's listening to this should spend 10 to 20 hours researching how they can use AI using AI. Let me give you an example. You literally go to, you know, Claude or ChatGPT. I do voice interaction more than I do writing because I'm better at.

[B]

Same here.

[A]

You're literally just type. You literally record and you say, hey, chatgpt, I'm an architect. I listened to Gary on Millette's show. He said, I have to use this. I really don't know what are the five apps an architect should use? Five AI apps an architect should use to be better at his or her job. Using AI to get better at AI is the most meta crazy thing ever. Right? I made a career of educating the masses on things. Now a lot of people can just search that. My strategic brain is not going to outpace the wisdom of AI. And so I'll have to adjust. Everyone will have to adjust. But as an opener, please do not put your head in the sand. Do not use a political, ideological point of view. On this technology to really make the excuse that you don't want to put in the work because you're tired and finished or you're lazy and unmotivated, or you're indifferent, or you're scared. This is a inevitable outcome. Technology laughs at humans opinions of it. And I just hope that everybody gets to working because AI is not going to kill you. A human using AI is going to kill you.

[B]

Oh my gosh, that's so good.

[A]

You.

[B]

So you, you and I are interesting. You talk a lot, especially with young people. Like hey, be patient.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Right. You got time. Then the other side of the coin is when you hear what you just said, people are like I gotta, I gotta hurry up here. Like I gotta, I gotta get in front of this, I gotta catch up.

[A]

Macro, patience. Micro speed. What do you mean in the macro? And you, this will really resonate with you. I think this is gonna land for you. As I break it down. When I say patience, I don't say complacency.

[B]

I'm really glad you just said that. Keep going. Yeah.

[A]

When I say patience, I don't mean, I'm not. There's a reason there's a different word called laziness, a different word called passiveness. There are different words in the dictionary. Patience. I think the reason I pitch it so much Ed is and you know this, a lot of young men, but and young women, they, they want things too fast and they get sloppy. And you know this, this is really up and I'm glad people can hear this. We know people through our lives who've compromised their morals because of lack of patience. They've made a strategic over leveraging thing that really set them back. They've, they've compromised much. All because insecurity led them to wanting to have something to close the gaps of the emotional holes they had. So I talk about patience because I know everybody wants. Listen, I was a 19 year old guy. I know what a 19 year old guy is thinking about when of the opposite sex, of needing validation. I get it. But I like talking about patients because you remember you're talking to a guy who's 34 years old, still working in a liquor store building a business for his daddy.

[B]

It's crazy.

[A]

Started over at 34 and I've been easily able because I was capable to create everything for myself. Because why I'm frustrated when a 27 year old is willing to borrow money on a credit card and buy a cryptocurrency hoping to hit the lottery. And I feel like a lot of People that are running around the world today are really much closer to gambling than they are to investing. They're much more into financial over leveraging than they are to operating and building. And so that's why I talk about it. But that is not to be, you know, confused with. I just want you to off from 20 to 30 nothing. I want you to be high risk 20 to 30. Because that's when you can really actually be high risk. You don't have the family, you don't have the responsibilities often that you have later in your life. But yeah, I think people want to take certain things I say out of context.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because it's leveraging for them. They want to take the counter and it's. And it's. That's what's tough about this fast paced world. You know, this is why I like doing these kind of shows is you get to go deeper a lot of in a clip. You know why I write my. I don't know if you know this Ed. You'll find this fascinating. Let me show you something right now. Visually, I know people at home can't see it. Let me show you something. Take a look at this. I write the copy to every one of my Instagram posts.

[B]

Whoa, whoa. Okay. You wrote that.

[A]

This is a WhatsApp with me and my team sharing different content.

[B]

Look at this.

[A]

You will see there's a lot of content shared. And then you'll see when I am writing the copy. Yep.

[B]

You're voice writing it. You're saying too actually wrote.

[A]

I actually wrote for some weird reason I haven't once in a blue moon. I've gotten to voice here. But I'm still doing a lot of writing. I don't even know why.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Might have just motivated me to get back to my best form. But the reason I write every Instagram copy is I need to hedge the lack of context the one minute video has. Wow.

[B]

So that I didn't. The way I was. I was talking and thinking out loud. I mean interrupt you like. I'm so glad you gave that context. I wanted to ask you that for like seven years. Because also observing you like, you're not a calm dude. You're not a laid back dude. You're. You're wired tight. You're intense. You're fast. You're New York super ambitious.

[A]

Everything's very fast. I have an interrupting problem because I comprehend quickly if I hear it. Bad reading comprehension. God given verbal and audio and visual comprehension. And so. Yes. But. And that's why I think it's so important that I stand on that patience platform because I got to nuance it here. And I know knowing our audiences, there's a 27 year old that needed to hear what I just said because I really do talk about it being. When you lack the patience in the macro, you go into compromising your moral compass and you go into gambling behavior, not business building and investing behavior. And that's what I'm trying to mitigate, especially where I think we're in an era where civility and good is really on its back foot. The political atmosphere has created, you know, the, the rewriting of history, the false narratives have really confused the youth of what it really stands to be, a sustainably successful person, first emotionally, then financially. And I do feel a sense of responsibility that the clarity is very real to me and I know that I have the platform and I know that I'm a rare breed of like, you know this. I'm a little funny for as a personal brand in the plethora of male popular brands, I have some, I have some off speed pitches that are not right down the. And I believe in them and they're authentic to me. And whether they're right or wrong is completely irrelevant. They're true to me and I'll just share them.

[B]

Yeah, no, you are, and you're right about that. The other thing too, you said something a minute ago. We're kind of sharing a brain. We're in a good flow. One of the things I think that's underestimated in the digital world and Internet world is like, everything's quick, everything happens in a buck. Everyone's driving a Lambo, everybody's in the Caribbean on vacation, everyone's got. And when I look at you, because I've done this now, I want to talk to you about endurance and fatigue for you. So talk about you personally. Right. Like, okay, so you've been doing this twice as long as me and probably three times the amount of content. Okay. And I know the pace I've gone the last, say, eight or nine years. The amount of content I've created.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I have felt fatigue from it. My, my super strength as an entrepreneur, though has been my endurance through ups and downs, through days. I didn't want to do it.

[A]

Have you.

[B]

Do you. Which, how about you? Like, do you. Have you?

[A]

Imagine that.

[B]

You guys. Imagine the amount of content this man's generated. So, guys, the last eight weeks or so I have not been feeling on my game and I'm like, what the heck changed? What is it then? I remembered. We switched from one of the places we live to another and I stopped taking Im8. I'll never do that again. Im8 is unbelievable. Ima is the way to simplify your supplement routine once and for all. It's got 16 supplements it replaces with 90 ingredients across nine major organ systems in one drink. And that's why when you're on it, you feel great. And if you stop, you feel the difference. IMH Daily Ultimate Essentials has 16 supplements in one drink for $2.61 a day though. Go to im8health.comed right now or click the link in the description here and use code ED for a free welcome kit five free travel sachets plus 10% off your order. That's code [e-mail] ED these statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease you know one of the things that frustrates me? Bank fees and banking fees. As the son of a guy who worked in a bank for a long time, that stuff frustrates me. And that's why I love Chime. Chime is changing the way people bank. They offer the most rewarding fee free banking. This is fee free banking built for you. They're not like traditional old banks that charge you overdraft and monthly fees. They have thousands of free ATMs. Why would you pay to get your own money? You're not switching banks. You're upgrading to America's number one choice for banking. I got to tell you something. The the younger me would have benefited from this so dramatically when I was worried about overdraft and bank fees. And currently I can tell you I'd benefited from it right now as well. I'm really excited about them. Chime's not just smarter banking. It's the most rewarding way to bank. Join the millions who are already banking fee free today. Head to chime.com mylet that is chime.com mylet it only takes a few minutes to sign up and you'll be glad you did. Chime is a fintech, not a bank. Banking services for MyPay and Chime Card provided by Chimes Bank Partners. Optional products and services may have fees or charges. Do you go through periods where you're like, I not today man. I don't want to do it today. I'm fatigued. Does this matter anymore?

[A]

This matters anymore. Never. Because I'm very aware that content is the top of the sphere of opportunity. Post Covid because I got into routine of not film. You know don't forget pre Covid I did a five year run where I filmed every minute of my life. So I was vlogging.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

At a level that was so high. And post Covid. What? What? One of the craziest things about me Ed that I don't even think, you know like people that are actually thoughtful and pay attention. I don't think people understand how much of an actual day to day businessman I am and not a content creator. So I'll give you some. I know your audience is a level up so this is going to really hit. I am six or seven now active businesses that are generating between eight and nine figures of top line revenue where I am either the active CEO, active co founder or active chairman of the board. Right hand to the CEO. MM Vayner X VaynerMedia ED is a 400 million a year revenue business. Awesome. And I am like the actual CEO. Like if you look at my calendar like that is taking up most of my time. Vee friends, my Pokemon marble thing which started in NFTS and now is trading cards, comic books, coins. That is a hefty eight figure business. And selling physical collectibles. I am the active true day to day CEO. Kind of like Elon was with SpaceX and Right. I'm really in those two Vayner Sports have you know back to Greg's business. I will tell you, AJ will tell you my brother. Those guys run that business. But I'm a meaningful. I mean I'm like recruiting sophomores in high school.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. Geez.

[A]

The Restaurant Group, VCR Group, Fly Fish Club Capons, Hefty 8 Figures. Vayner Watt My TV production company will be there next year. The wine business I still run through my best friend. Wow. What happened during COVID was wow. I went Gary Vaynerchuk operator and then Gary V content creator. I made a switch 2014-19 I was doing a lot of this stuff. Most of them were much smaller including vaynermedia. Vee friends didn't exist yet. The wine business I was still running. Vayner Sports was small and growing. The restaurant group didn't start yet. The TV production group didn't start yet. My. My sports portfolio with the pickleball team and all that didn't start yet. So pre Covid even though I was running VaynerMedia successfully and the wine business and starting with Vayner Sports a little bit they were smaller and prev the personal brand was a top of Sphere of opportunity. And I was able to go kind of all in on all post Covid. I got so accustomed to operating 12 hours a day and I stopped traveling as much as such a big source of content. I stopped speaking as much. I stopped doing this as much. And you know, in a lot of ways, like, probably the best chapter of my career these last five years is interesting because as you know, I was so far ahead on personal brand. I definitely took a little bit of a foot off the pedal last three, four years to kind of build the operating business empire. But I was able to really still sustain and accelerate. Even though I wasn't feeding my content machine with as much fresh content, I. I just became more strategic. But it was the first time in 10 years where, yeah, I didn't want things that used to be filmed for the vlog. I would no longer want to film it. I was out of practice. We were also not doing the vlog. I also worried about the person that I was having the meeting with not being their full self because we were filming it. Um, but in the macro, probably the most interesting thing when I analyze myself is I am far less attached to my professional career than someone would believe if they didn't know me.

[B]

What do you mean?

[A]

I mean, the reason I don't think I get burnt out or like tired or fatigued or like this is because it's not that important to me.

[B]

Okay, keep going.

[A]

Let me break it down further. I am truly the byproduct of so good, of poor immigrants. Where the propaganda in my home for my great grandmother and my grandmother and my mother and father was. Everyone just died so early in the Soviet Union. My mom lost her mom at 5. Her. My dad lost his dad at 15. Nobody lived. 65. Everybody was drinking vodka. People don't know. I ed I was born in the Soviet Union at a time that it was like North Korea, not Iran today. If you're born in Iran, you can leave Iran now. Only UAE and Turkey and a couple places will take you for vacation or what have you. But you can leave. Like, there's a lot of people from Iran in Canada right this second on vacation with a visa. If you're born in North Korea today, you're in jail. You're not. I don't know if again, I know a lot of people. Americans are not geopolitically educated. You're not allowed to leave. I was born in a place where you were not allowed to leave. And because of that and because of socialism, this is why so many Cubans and Russians get scared when socialism gets thrown around. No one does. Everyone's depressed, everybody's apathetic, everyone's indifferent. Everyone's stealing from the government because the government owns everything and it's just a sucky life. And. And that's why the cliche of, like, Russians drinking vodka, if you understood the deeper reason, which is the suppression is so extreme that alcohol was the escapism from your real life. And because everyone's drinking from 15 to 50, and I mean really drinking, no one's living. So I grew up in a household where, right. Like, everything's for health. Everything's like your propaganda. And then I was personally scared of losing both of my parents because they both did. Was the oldest from the old country. And my mom would say things like, if anything ever happens to us, you've got to take care of your siblings. I feel like by the time I got to 18, Ed, and this is probably why I was willing to build a business for my parents and, like, not resent that and like, all that, I was kind of. I've been kind of playing with house money since I was 18. And the goal was never financial or fame. The goal was really the reason I love entrepreneurship and why I've always done what I've done is I just want optionality. I want. I don't want someone telling me what to do. Yeah.

[B]

You also seem to me, bro. I think. By the way, what does surprise me about what you said is the magnitude of your business life. I knew they were big. In fact, Andy's always telling me, bro, if you knew how much Gary's really got. Gary's this, you know, like, he's always telling me. So I do have a little insight from Fella. I didn't know all that. But the. This second part, I. I see your heart through all of it. I see your love for people for all of it. I. I don't think me either. I. I think it's why we both, you know, quietly got pretty wealthy and we don't talk about it because I don't think it's your end zone. I think that there's a lot of cliches on the Internet about gratitude rituals and stuff. I think you're a very grateful man. Also. I think you live these things.

[A]

You. You have the luxury. And the same to why I show up here is like, we have, you know, this. We know a lot of stuff that other people don't because we have access to a lot of people.

[B]

Right. Right.

[A]

You know what's really been fun about Getting a little bit older is your reputation. You know, I think people are very confused. Like you can only act on the Internet for so long.

[B]

That's so true. You know, like eventually you can get

[A]

away with it and you can even die without people really knowing you. But I've always been very big on. I'd rather the 1% of winners knew the truth about me than the 99% of people that are by default cynical, envious, jealous, because I don't. I'm not mad at them. I'm actually deeply empathetic to them. Right. Like if you want to tear down other people if you're mad at other people. But I, I do get great joy out of knowing what's being said behind my back by people that know me. That is my North Star. My North Star is knowing. I know every, for example, with us. I know every interaction I've had with Andy in my entire life. All of them, right? Because I remember everything. I just know how I show up.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

Well, I'm a giver by nature. I, I actually have probably a flaw of vulnerability or asking. Right? It's that immigrant stuff. Like no complaining, do everything yourself. So unlike a lot of people I've, I've navigated last 25 years incredibly built on not asking and trying to give and you know, and listen, my mom did a bang up job like deep down, like real talk, I'm ultimately, I'm just a good boy, you know.

[B]

This blows my mind, I have to tell you, by the way, this is side of you I don't think most people know or see. It's why I love this format too. I, I just had a conversation with someone last week. I won't say who they were because it's not relevant, but somebody that everybody would know. And I said to him, I direct quote, I said to him, I said, I just think I've been a good boy, Gary. I mean verbatim that quote, that's crazy. And it's actually where my self confidence comes from.

[A]

Mine too.

[B]

I don't, I don't know that I'm any smarter than anybody else I had a thing with. I'll tell you quick. I was. Met Wayne Dyer when I was very young. At the end of it, he gave me a bunch of compliments about what I was going to do in the world. And he said, and it's not because you're talented or smart or you talk really well, although you do. He said, I just think you have a beautiful heart and great intentions. He goes, would you do me a favor all your life, attach your confidence to your intentions, not your abilities or your results. And I've held on to that all my life. I do see that in you.

[A]

In fact, this is a big shout out to all the parents while I wear this dad gang hat. I will tell you, be very careful what you cheer for in your house. My mother, she grounded me with my bad grades, but she didn't make me think I was lesser than because of it. She showed me accountability. I was in school, you can't get D's and F's and just quit quote unquote, get away with it. I was a really good athlete until about fifth grade. That's when, that's when. Strength, power, size, size, athleticism, my hand eye coordination's off the charts. I was crushing third and fourth grade, every all star game, all that stuff. My mother only made a big to do when I was being nice. If you are, if you're a parent right now and you and let's listen. I believe in pretty privileged. So I'll say it this way. If you're at home right now and you're fortunate that your child's just really gorgeous like good looking guy, good looking girl, if you constantly are reinforcing that, that is where their self worth will come in. If you are constantly only focused on the fact that they're a great athlete, that is where their identity will mold. The great mistake most parents are making is, is you're putting getting good grades on a pedestal. Which is why for a hundred years we've created so many workers. Because they want to go into systems that reward them every quarter. They live for getting a good review and getting a raise every year, a good rapport card. But my mother, her great to do her pom poms came out when I opened the door for the elderly lady or when I was, you know, my whole life all I heard is you have a golden heart. You have a golden heart. Oh wow. And that got so entrenched that I myself also only, only resonate with who, who I am as a human. And listen, I'm a human like like on the record when I'm not Mother Teresa. I've made plenty of missteps like my intent is off the charts. I've never wanted needed out of insecurity to do something wrong by someone. In fact, most of my missteps were lack of candor because I didn't want to hurt people's feelings by telling them the truth of them not being good at work or you know, things of that nature. And I. So I would just tell everyone, please give thought to what you're putting on a pedestal in your household. Your children will find their identity in that. And you need to be thoughtful about what you put on as a North Star.

[B]

Yeah, I tell you, man, like, there's some similarities here. Success leaves clues. By the way, I've made way more mistakes than I wish I had made. But my parents both the same way. In fact, my dad lived long enough to see me get wealthy. Honestly, I. I like, literally did not care, could care less. How are you treating people? Are you giving it away? Are you calling your sisters? Are you being kind? I got to ask you something. This has just occurred to me. My dad's been gone about six years. I think it's six years. I still try to make him, I mean, emotional. Yeah, I know where I still try to make him proud of me.

[A]

It's the only thing I live for. The only time I get emotional is when I am being honored at a non profit event and my parents will go to those things and I have to speak about them with them in the crowd. You know, there's that. There's that moment when Stephen Bartlett, like really went there deep with my mom.

[B]

Yeah, I saw that clip.

[A]

I got emotional. Like, you know, weirdly, I just want to give him flower. My best friend Since I was 14 who runs the wine business, Brandon Warnicke. Recently, I got choked up talking about him, and I'm like, oh, my God, he's gotten so deep in my heart. Talk about family. That isn't, you know, your blood. Yeah, yeah, it's. Yeah, I. I'm very. It's very clear to me that I live to make my parents proud.

[B]

Isn't it interesting, people listening to you and I talking and, you know, we both affected lots of people and to know that our motives and outcomes are pretty simple.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, I would argue that the foundation of my humility is knowing that I had nothing to do with it. Like, to me, I'm the byproduct of my parents. I get a lot of pride in my businesses, the employees I've shaped and, you know, the things I'm trying to build. But even that is a struggle, though. I do feel like I had more of a thumbprint me. Like, the thing that has kept me uncomfortably grounded is when you know that, you know, that was very kind of you, the way you started this podcast. Literally in my brain, I'm like, good job. You know, like, what did I do? I didn't have sex at that exact second we didn't parent myself. And then there's circumstance, right? The American dream, like coming from communism and you know, growing up and then, and then there's like, if I wasn't lucky enough with all my chemical DNA talents, then I got lucky that I wasn't born in America to a third generation wealthy family. I got to grow up from the dirt. I got to go to Martin Luther King elementary School. I got to get into fights and grow up in really the lower middle class Jersey era of the 80s. You want to talk about being turned into a man, quick, go grow up in the 80s, in the early 80s, mid-80s in New Jersey, on the wrong side of the tracks. You become a man real quick.

[B]

So many of you have asked how to see me speak live and for the first time ever, you can come see me speak live in person. All of my speeches have been private events, but now I'm teaming up with Life Surge, speaking all over the country. Life Surge is a one day faith based event where you'll walk in hungry for success and you'll leave ready to build your resources to leave an impact on others. We're talking faith fueled finance, growing your resources, crushing obstacles, and then, yeah, using it all for something way bigger than yourself. I'm joining Life Surge in a few cities this year and I'd love to see you there. I'll be sharing the stage with legends such as two time football champion Tim Tebow, star of Duck Dynasty, Willie Robertson and leadership hero of mine John Maxwell, pastor and author Craig Groeschel and worship with artists like Natalie Grant. Tickets are on [e-mail] and just for my listeners, you can use the code ED30 for 30 off a ticket. There will be a link in the show notes so click through and take some time to join us. Cities are being added all the time, so if you don't see one near you now, check back. I hope to see you there. Like a lot of you, I've become even more obsessed with my health, my strength, my energy, just my overall wellness. And you know, a lot of people assume GLP1s cost a fortune and that assumption keeps them from even looking into treatment. But the reality is there may be some affordable options. And RO helps people find the lowest cost path to FDA approved GLP1 treatment, whether that's through insurance coverage or cash pay options that are more accessible than most people realize. ROE wants to help people lose weight and by the way, it's not just about losing weight. And that's why they have the lowest cost options out there, whether you're paying with insurance or not. They got a free insurance checker that you can look into that makes it easy to see whether you're covered or not. All you do is submit your insurance card. RO handles the rest. No paperwork, no waiting on hold, no confusing phone calls. It's going to take away all of the mystery. It's really great, you guys. Go to ro.com mylet to see if you qualify. That's r o.com mylet to get started on row go to row.com safety for box warning and full safety information about GLP1 medications. Have you noticed your sheets slipping off the corners lately? Or maybe your pillows just don't feel supportive like they used to? You want to get a better night's sleep and be healthier? Replace your bedding. That's why I upgraded our bed with bowl and branch. They make everything your bed needs. Their signature organic sheets, pillows, blankets and comforters are all designed to be breathable and incredibly soft. And they actually get better over time. Bowl and branch bedding, from their organic cotton sheets to their breathable pillows and comforters, is made with the ultra clean materials that are gentle on skin and free from harsh chemicals. Their fabrics are breathable, soft and temp regulating so you're not overheating or tossing or turning too much. So upgrade your sleep with bowl and branch. Get 15% off your first order plus free [e-mail] MyLet with code MyLet that's bowl and branch B O L L a n d branch.com mylet code mylet to unlock 15% off exclusions apply. You know, all that's true, by the way, but you also are the person who did all that traveling, who did all those interviews, who had all that vision, who, who put that camera in front of his face 10 trillion times. Let me ask you this. Let's. Let's do a little. For a second. Yeah, let's do a little clues of success for people listening who want to someday have a podcast where they're talking about their mom and their dad and they've got something to honor them with. Right?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You were going through that, your business life. And I'm like, how much of that happens without his personal brand? Well, without the attention. So a lot of.

[A]

Yeah, a lot of it. What people forget about my career is, you know, history rewrote it as like, Gary built his dad's business on social media. It's just not true. I built my dad's business on being on the floor for 12 hours a day and being good salesman. So literally Ed high net worth individual comes in and hey, I need a bottle for a gift for a boss or an employee. And then an hour later, Ed's going into the car with four cases of wine saying how this happened. You know, so yeah, so you know, I won. I built that business for my dad on first being good salesman. Then I did it on direct mail email marketing website early 90s, late 90s, early 2000s. Marketing behavior, not social. I didn't make my first video for the Internet until I was 30 years old.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

There's not a video that in existence and the business had already been 40 something million a year at that point, up from 3 million. So I'm a good businessman who then happened.

[B]

Same here.

[A]

Understand the power of notoriety and brand building and of course much. You know, listen, I made a video that was titled. One of the first videos that were not wine that I ever made was titled Facebook should be worried about Twitter. It went viral and it opened up all my doors in Silicon Valley.

[B]

Oh my gosh. Do you think that. How do you feel about that? Andy and I talk about this too. I and I. So you were a businessman first. In other words, there was some reps and accomplishment and learning and growing and development of skills. Then the branding. Right.

[A]

Well, forget I branded wine library. So Gary Vaynerchuk was the architect. You know, I say this actually often. I have more pride in being Gary Vaynerchuk that built Gary Vee than being

[B]

Gary V. I get it. I know exactly what that means. But let me ask you this. How do you feel about. I don't, I don't have a strong opinion. Andy has a very strong one on this. But how do you feel about people who do it the other way around? So you're encouraging people to make content all the time. But then there's the type of content where people are teaching things they've never actually done before.

[A]

I mean, I think, listen, I don't blame anyone from trying anything. I don't think it's honorable to make content and say you're an ex. Like if someone's lying and said I built $10 million businesses, blah blah blah, it's, you know, anyone can do anything they want. I surely struggle with getting excited of taking feedback from someone talking about something they've never done. But I would argue that the audience needs to be accountable to themselves, not the content creator in that scenario.

[B]

It just seems to take so long if ever where that's sort of uncovered that doesn't mean, by the way, don't create content. I just think it means create content for where you are.

[A]

Well, that's right. I. You know, that whole document don't create thing that I talked about years ago, that went viral for me. And I also. Actually, I'll say this to everyone, I think it's way cooler if you're making content on the path to becoming a great real estate agent. The path of becoming a good business person. I mean, I would have cried. Oh, I'm so devastated in some ways that it wasn't around for when I was coming up. Because I know that, first of all, I've been doing business since I was 6 years old. For real, too. By the way, when I say for real, I mean more than half of my summer, starting when I was in second grade, was lemonade stand, washing cars, shoveling snow. Yeah. So, you know, my content at 20 would have been like, first of all, if it was actually out there, the timing would have been like, this is email marketing. This is why I believe in it. People are going to do email. It would have been like the same version of TikTok, just for websites and email and Google AdWords. But it would also been like, hey, I'm 20. Like, I don't know everything.

[B]

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

[A]

But I feel like I could be. I would probably make a lot of comparisons to athletes of like, hey, I think, like, I, I think I might be a young Tiger Woods. Like, I think I'm gonna be great because I've been doing this successfully and I see things. Let's see how this works out versus faking the funk and saying, buy my course. Because I like, like, I'll teach you how to do it. The first logical question is, have you done it?

[B]

Yep, Yep, that's exactly right. By the way, it's interesting. Lemonade stand, auto detailing, baseball cards. Those were my businesses before I was 20. All of those businesses, that same thing.

[A]

Ed, this is a good one to talk about. I want people to hear this because this is the courage of following your convictions. You know what I'm about to say. At the height of the garyvee brand, where I was like, really separating, had the credibility, but I was in a white hot moment. I start coming out with content in 2018 saying, Buy baseball cards.

[B]

You did.

[A]

And. And when I tell you, Ed, like, people that really know me, both from like the Fortune 500 CEOs or the other personal brand, like Agents LA, New York, San Francisco, London, Tokyo, everyone literally reached out to me and said, you're at this super high level of. And basically the argument for my inner circle was, you're about to explode into like. Which was inappropriate, I thought. But like, they believed I was so hot. They're like, you're about to be one of the five most important business.

[B]

Like, you're iconic. Iconic.

[A]

And they're like, this is gonna hurt you. And I'm like, but it's true. Yeah. I said, what's true? I'm like, I think sports cards are about to explode. And it was funny. They went way up. People were trying to figure out was that me? Was that. But I already saw the trend for a year before. In fact, that it's one of the few things I sat on for a year before talking about it because I was scared. I was forcing it subconsciously because I loved it growing up. Do I want this to happen or is this like I was checking myself because I didn't want exploded. Covid. Boom. Then they went down. Everyone's like, see what the. Now it's like, my God, even I went all in. I should have put every dollar into it.

[B]

That's right. No, I should have listened to you sooner too. And I wanted it to be true too. I wanted the same thing when you were talking about it. So I waited another two years. Am I just loving what he's saying? Because I love the business and I love sports.

[A]

Collectibles has become a huge massive. Especially as we go more digital. I'm very bullish. Analog Ed. One of the ideas I'm thinking about. Everybody feel free to steal this because the world is abundant. I'm actually contemplating starting a drive in movie theater business.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Yeah. Like I actually. Here's a prediction. This is how I think about it. And I don't want predictions. You know, I like to observe and then talk about it when it's happened. This is a little more in prediction land, but I think this is on. Here's how I think about it. It's 2026. I think in. In. In 14 years will be 2040. In 14 years, when it's 2040, I think it's going to feel more like 2065. I think the speed of technology is about to really explode. And then I think in 14 years, it's going to feel like 2065, which means building businesses that were built in 1965 is the opportunity. I think we're about to go into a barbell as we go. More extreme AI and digital. The big upside is an analog. You know, sporting events, live concerts, running clubs, hiking Meditation, resorts, hotels, restaurants.

[B]

Experiences, Is that what you're saying?

[A]

That's right. Physical, not digital.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Physical experiences. More community. One of the reasons collectibles works is because of the shows. If you go to San Diego and look at Comic Con, you realize real fast why collectibles work. It's a sense of community. It's tribalism. It's like sports. Yeah. And this morning, I've run into, like, 10 people wearing Nick stuff.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It's like, we're family.

[B]

Right, right, right.

[A]

Libelism. And that's what collectibles is like. Oh, you collect Daredevil. We're family.

[B]

Yeah. Everybody listening. You entrepreneurs, just listen to what this man just told you. First off, those are the businesses to go into and those that have businesses. You need to be able to create those experiences for your consumers, your customers, your employees, your vendors, whoever they are, because everything else is going to be pretty even. It's the experience you can create, the emotions you can generate. I. By the way, I know you don't like this because you're a New York fan, but the same thing happens. I sit back and marvel. I go to a lot of Red Sox games now that I'm in New England now. And I sit back and I, like, Marvel. It's different than other towns. New York has it, too. But you sit back an hour or two before the game, and you can see all these families walking down the street all in their Red Sox gear. And when you walk into the stadium together, it's. It's different.

[A]

Fenway is just like, you know, you're right. I despise. But couple fun facts. I'm so psycho. I'm actually trying to figure out if this is going to happen with the Knicks. So the Yankees win in 96ed.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

And I grew up and I'm a funny. I'm an 80s Yankee fan. So the Mets were more successful than the Yankees in that little weird window.

[B]

We're not talking about the Red Sox Mets series, so don't even try.

[A]

No, I can't even. Ed, how old were you that year?

[B]

I don't know, but I cried. I think it was. Oh, I could tell you I was 14 and I literally cried in my bedroom when the ball went between Buckner's legs, literally for an entire day.

[A]

I. I've many times thought if I was a Red Sox fan and I was that age, like that. That was just insanity. Nonetheless.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yankees win. And this is insane. Literally the next day, I didn't care about the Yankees anymore. And the same thing happened with the Rangers in 94. So I've been a 2 sport fan now for the last literally 30 years.

[B]

Nixon Jets.

[A]

Nixon Jets. And so much so I want you to hear this. That when the Red Sox won the fourth game against the Yankees that year, I was actually rooting for the Red Sox to come back from three. Zero now. Couple things. One, that's psycho. I'm not even sure what that is.

[B]

I'm not sure what it is either. But I love it. I love it.

[A]

Underdog. I think that's underdog over everything.

[B]

I think that was God actually finally whispering to you. Truth and wisdom.

[A]

No, no, no, no. In fact, you know, like now. Now that you guys want a couple. Now I'm like, and by the way, all that win. By the way, no one is. I don't even know what it feels like to be a Nepo fan. But if you're 37 and you're from the Boston area, why do you even watch sports?

[B]

Yeah, I know, it's weird. That is true. It is true.

[A]

You grew up. I mean, the Red. And my best friend's a Cubs fan.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I took him the game when I was 14 years old. We met the first day of homeroom. This is Brandon, who runs the wine. Literally. Day one, buddies. By day four, four days in, I'm 14. I said, Brandon, if the Cubs ever make the World Series, I'll take you. And I delivered. We went. It was awesome. In Cleveland and they lost.

[B]

Awesome.

[A]

Thank God. Yeah, man. It's just, I don't know, like I, I Fenway so special. Like Fenway especially Foxborough's in the middle of nowhere.

[B]

Correct? No, no one knows that. Right.

[A]

Boston Garden, once it. The old one went down, this td, this thing is not the same. But Fenway is like, like, it's like, you know when we all Americans go to Europe and we go to like the churches and the special places. That's Fenway.

[B]

It is. It is Fenway. The good news is, is you may get the same things, but we could do this podcast in 20 more years and you'll probably still how that thing for the jets that you. By the way. And you know, I'm probably right about it, so I hope I'm not right. Just for your own, maybe we should just wait till you own the team.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Let me ask you a couple things, by the way. So people would kill to get 20 minutes with you. So I'm going to give them 10 of those 20 minutes right now. They walked in, they said, hey, I need help. I'm I really need help. So first off, let's just check a box on content creation. You're the guru, like, and I'm. I don't say this to be nice. I'm really good at it. I ain't at your level. This is. You're just the best. What type of content?

[A]

Let's break it down. Let me answer your. This is fun. Because you asked the question. That is micro. And I'm going to go macro. Hey, Gary, I need help. I'm going to talk about content. But this levels up to the whole game at the whole game. And I have a. As we're just jamming here and vibing, I feel like this is going to hit for you. The whole game is based on self awareness. The whole game. Ed. Ed, you and I especially know. I know myself inside out and knowing enough about you. Meaning, like you and me, we went through a whole plethora of hypotheses and feelings in our youth and our teens and our early 20s. A lot of it felt like you could do anything and everything and. And then even if you knew you couldn't, people like me, if you knew you couldn't, I was okay with it. A different version of me, and I don't know you well enough, tried to prove that they could. That was a waste of time.

[B]

Same here.

[A]

So for me, I hope everyone's listening. I'm gonna go very detailed, both in content. So, for example, many people right now are making millions of dollars a year just being on substack.

[B]

Right.

[A]

That's writing. Just substack.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Yeah. You don't need to be in front of camera. I think there's, in fact, I think a huge opportunity is to be a content creator that's off camera, just talking, using your hands.

[B]

Whoa.

[A]

Yeah. So audio, video, and written word are the three. And there's drawing and animation. There's some others. But the core three communication frameworks are written word, audio, and video. I. I feel like one of the things that separates me is I do all of them at scale across every platform.

[B]

Mm. It is for sure one of your separators.

[A]

Yeah. Because there's very few people on earth that have 3 million followers plus on both Snapchat and LinkedIn. Right. I run the whole plethora and everything in between. But I would say the first thing I would tell everyone about content and then I'm going to level it up to life is who are you versus who do you wish you were? I wish I was Jalen Brunson. I'm being dead serious. Like, I, I, I wish I was Joe Namath. I, I'm telling you, I'm serious. Right. I wish I was a professional athlete. But by fourth grade, I realized I was more likely to buy one than play for one. A lot of people are not self. Here's a big one. This was a real curveball. I, I threw the world because I had the platform at the time when I started making content around. You don't need to be an entrepreneur.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The number three and four and seven at Uber and like, and at Facebook and at Google. So this is something you may not know about me. A weird thing about me that we touched on earlier is not only am I a CEO, not a mascot, I'm actually a CEO. I'm very operational. In fact, one of the things I need to work on and in these next 30 years is dropping my coo ness because I like it too much.

[B]

But it's, I would never have known that.

[A]

Yeah, it's a very bad use of my time at this point in my career and for a long time. But I'm holding on because I pick joy over maximizing financially. But I can feel that I want to move on more. So I'm an operator by heart. There's a lot of people here who are operators, but not entrepreneurs. There are a lot of people here who are content creators, but not entrepreneurs. We are in the golden era of entrepreneur, creator and creator entrepreneur. I am entrepreneur creator. Logan Paul is creator entrepreneur.

[B]

True.

[A]

Got it. So we're all going to have different paths, but I would tell everyone, know how you make content best and make it about things you know or love, know or love, know or love. The biggest mistake people make, Ed, is they try to make content around where they think the money is.

[B]

That's a freaking fact.

[A]

Right? You know this when I know so many people, six months ago, they're the crypto guy. Four years ago, they're the real estate guy. Seven years ago, they're the funnels guy. Thirteen years ago, they're the affiliate guy. Like, you know, then they're the cannabis guy, then the wellness guy, then the collectibles guy. They're just as. Yeah. So what do you know? Whether that's sports, sci fi, cooking, travel, science, and. Or what do you love whether it's all those things. Now if, God forbid, which means, God willing, you're both knowledgeable and passionate about the same thing. Well, now I'll show you where you can win as a content creator.

[B]

That is really good. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. If you, like, really know Boston sports and really love it. You will wake up every day for three years making a podcast no one's listening to.

[B]

My God, Yes.

[A]

To get to the other side, bro, I did 150 episodes of Wine Library TV. No one gave a. And by the way, it wasn't like it is today, where you know that that's the cost of entry. I was pioneering when there was no light at the end of the tunnel. I just knew I had to.

[B]

Can I validate just really quick, by the way, that's a master freaking class, you guys. Right before we came in here. I'm scrolling. There's a dude I watch. Nerdiest dude on the planet. All he does all day is does Red Sox trade injury and starting lineup updates. I watch this guy every single day of my life. And he did a podcast for three years that I guarantee you nine people never listened to. And now he's growing, and he's growing

[A]

and what can happen Again, I want everyone to hear this because when you're on with us two, I just need to say this. And please validate this, Ed, because you've lived a similar but different life. Friends. There's a lot of people who have a very happy life making 230,000 a year and live within those means. And there's unlimited people that push themselves from 230 to a million, and they don't live within those means and they hate their life. Like, what I love about that Red Sox thing. Look, that's not.

[B]

Wait, I want to say something. I want to say something about what you just said. It is the number one thing. I'm actually just got a little choked right there. I don't know that you and I are the only two, but we're one of the few. What he just said, you guys go back, rewind if they still do that, and listen to it again. What he just told you is a trillion percent right. You don't have to grind that thing to a million bucks doing stuff you don't love anymore, don't want to do. Don't feel ethical about that. It's a. There's so many people really happy at the former, not the latter that he described.

[A]

And by the way, I grew up so in the dirt that I have friends that are true nine to fivers true. Budweiser at the bar at five, softball team six to seven, wrestling three nights a week. And literally happier than friends that I have that are making 45 million a year.

[B]

That's what you meant by self awareness earlier, isn't it?

[A]

Yes, that's Right. And so I just want everyone to take advantage of this podcast. There's a lot of versions of this. I've done a lot. Ed's done a lot of. But maybe this is the moment that you were ready to hear this, which is like, you need to live life for you. Not to impress others. You need to, you know, only you know you even as well as people know us. Ed, there's so much no one knows. My mom knows me better than anyone on earth. There's still things she doesn't know. Yep. And I don't mean like something I did. I mean in my soul. Because there are certain things a human keeps to themselves. And I just need people to understand that. If you lean into self awareness, like, you know what a lot of people do out of insecurity and lack of self awareness? They peacock in front when they're not that guy or girl. And the issue with that is the winners. And I feel like I'm one of them. And when I say winner, I mean emotionally intelligent people that can snip you out. They know you're pretending and then you've already lost before you started.

[B]

Oh, my God. You imagine getting to the end of your life, bro, and you pretended the whole way there.

[A]

Almost everyone does edge.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

That's. That's why, by the way, that's why we have politically unstable times like this. The only thing that's happening in the world right now in this whole political era we're in, it's just exposing how many people are unhappy on both sides. And I spend zero time trying to hurt someone's feelings because they don't see the world the way I see it.

[B]

Likewise. Likewise.

[A]

Like, so it's. Most people are fronting. People are insecure. They want outside validation. Most people are stuck in sixth grade their whole lives. And meanwhile, back to the point of the question. Everyone listening right now, whether it's about bowling or fishing, how to be an accountant or how to be a stay at home dad, everyone here has the potential if they lock into, they like it or they know it. Expert. Ish. I don't mean expert. You're not the grand puba even. Listen, I do think I'm at the top of my craft and I never go there. Like, just be who you are. Expert ish or passionate, you know, that's what's made me dangerous in collectibles. I'm both. I know my. But I. I love. Like, I. My friends laugh at me. They're like, mother, you get more excited if you find a $29 item at a garage sale and buy it for a dollar. Then when you land $15 million deals at Vayner, I'm like, and it's not even close.

[B]

I just watched a clip of you today where the guy. You'll know the clip. The guy is now cleaning out garages for 699 bucks. And you went.

[A]

Because that one, everybody, please go find it. It's called sick. I think if you put 699 Garyvee into search, you'll find it. That one I went ballistic on Ed, because if you watch the whole thing, not just the social media clip, this guy had a real business and it was working. And he knew how to run the Facebook app. Like, he had it. He had it. And he was not realizing that it was a big business, not a side hustle. And he loved it, and he had it, but he was scared because he wanted stability. And I was trying to explain to him is if you got back those 57 hours a week, you would make four times your base salary and you would like it. And so, yeah, that one really set me off because it was the most clear interaction I had on film of someone who, like, couldn't see what was like, already had happened. He'd already built the actual business as. But he. Because he saw it as a side hustle. You know how I think of it? Like love. You know, some people are like, no, no, that's my best friend. I'm like, no, you two are in love. But they can't. You know how you have some.

[B]

Yeah, I don't know. Yes, I do.

[A]

I'm thinking of. They're like, making pretend they're friends or in their scenario, because I knew both of them for so long. No, they really, really, I think, subconsciously were scared to ruin the friendship.

[B]

Yeah, man, but I already have it. Yeah, I know one right now, actually. I know right now. I do. By the way, in an hour. I don't think I've. I've done 8, 900 of these. I don't think in an hour I've covered this much ground on this much different stuff with somebody. So, like, I'm super grateful for that. I really want you to know that, man, like, you and I should do this, like, once a year, except we need to do it in person.

[A]

Well, you just beat me to the punch. I was about to break the fourth wall, everyone. Ed and I promised each other right before we hit record that the next one's in real life, because we both agree that it's just Better. And we'll also make more time, so we'll do that, brother. And let's. I look forward to that.

[B]

I do, too, by the way. All right, last thing I want to make sure when they leave here, Right before we went on, you were telling me about a couple cool things. By the way, let me tell you how good this dude is, you guys. I said, hey, man. And I don't even say this to most guests, but in his case, because it was him, I'm like, hey, what can I promote for you? He goes, basically said, bro, don't worry about it. I just want to give whatever we got to do. For everybody. Listening to your audience, you know them better than me. Don't worry about me.

[A]

You know, it goes. I'm sorry to interrupt you. It goes to the beginning, which is like, look, I think when you actually give, it means you're giving without expectation. You know this, Ed. So many people have wanted to give to us.

[B]

Yeah, they're making a deposit for the withdrawal, bro.

[A]

They were manipulating the relationship, not giving.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, no one here will find it hard to, like, find me if they decided they got value here. But whether it's, you know, you know, I don't say this. This. This is the one plug. I'll say, because it's actually been the thing that's really getting me off lately, this Vee Friends thing. I'm building this Pokemon, Disney, Sesame Street. I'm starting to realize a much more Jim Henson than I realized, this concept of using characters to bring love into the world while you're building the monster business. Intellectual property. But. But in Vee Friends v. Friends, if you want to look it up for friends, there's two characters, and they're two of the top 10 out of 280 characters. One's called Fearless Ferry.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And one's called Ambitious Angel.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And through comic books and trading cards, specifically, the amount of fathers that have reached out to me. Oh, and said, you know, I went to the trading card store. I always bring my son and daughter. My daughter's always bored, but me and my son love it. And mom's out, and I bring her. We stumbled on your V friends. And the fact that my daughter is getting self esteem out of. Listen to the characters I created. Ambitious Angel, A little brown girl.

[B]

Beautiful.

[A]

Fearless Fairy. The strongest powerful character in our world. Fear. You know how much I hate fear. Fearless Fairy. If you're a girl, dad, and you love collectibles, please dig into Be Friends. Go to ebay and type in Be Friends. You'll be stunned. On sold items. I. I think I'm pulling off the greatest rope of dope of all time. I am so known people definitely don't know about my business executions as we touched on. But I literally think, Ed, there's a dark horse chance that I'm building one of the premier meaningful intellectual properties and it's going to happen. And in 15 years, when I open up a amusement park and when it's like this Pokemon like thing, everyone's going to be like, how did that happen? It's almost like I'm like, look over here, look over here. But meanwhile, I'm in the lab over there.

[B]

You know, I don't have any doubt about it, brother. What you are, bro. Like, I just think I believe in the law. Reciprocity. You reap what you sow. There's a passage in the Bible called the parable of the sower. When you plant the right seeds, eventually there's a harvest.

[A]

And you know what? Great. You know what's great about it? And if you're a planter, that is okay. If there's no harvest, then you're unstoppable.

[B]

Oh, my gosh.

[A]

And that's it. I. I'm aware that doing the right thing leads to the right thing, but when you're in a place where you don't need it to happen, then you're completely, utterly unstoppable.

[B]

This is one of my favorite shows of all time, bro. He's. I'll tell you this, he's a force for good in the world. He's a good boy. To quote him earlier.

[A]

Thank you, my man.

[B]

And I'm sure your mom is proud of you for the right reasons and your dad, bro. So I'm proud of you. Thank you for today.

[A]

Thank you, bro.

[B]

This was epic. All right, everybody. I don't have to ask you this one. Share this episode this one's going. This one. I love you all. Max out your life. This is the Ed Milan show.

[A]

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[B]

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