4 business strategies you need to win in 2025

Summary

Summary of “4 Business Strategies You Need to Win in 2025” – The GaryVee Audio Experience

Released on March 5, 2025

In this episode of The GaryVee Audio Experience, Gary Vaynerchuk delves deep into four critical business strategies essential for achieving success in 2025. The episode features engaging discussions with Gary’s business partners, Martin and other partners, who seek guidance on franchising, location strategy, maximizing margins, community building, and establishing a robust holding company. Below is a comprehensive summary capturing the key points, discussions, insights, and conclusions drawn throughout the episode.

---

1. Franchising vs. Staying Private

Discussion Highlights: Martin and his business partner explore whether to franchise their successful espresso bar and cocktail concept or to maintain it as a private venture.

• Overinvestment in Media: Gary emphasizes the common industry mistake of overinvesting in media while underinvesting in creative organic efforts. He states, “We think that there's an extreme under investment in creative organic and an over investment in media that is wasted on creative” (00:00).

• Pros and Cons of Franchising:

  • Pros: Rapid expansion, brand recognition, and leveraging local entrepreneurs’ strengths.
  • Cons: Potential for inconsistent quality, increased operational complexities, and possible strain on resources.

• Gary’s Advice:

  • Due Diligence: Gary advises spending significant time researching franchising through YouTube and podcasts to understand the intricacies and challenges franchisors face (03:07).
  • Operational Commitment: He warns about the “endless game” of maximizing margins in liquor, suggesting that franchising could lead to operational headaches if not carefully managed (03:30).

Notable Quote: “Maximizing of margin in liquor is an endless game. Like get really good really fast if you keep doing it.” – Gary Vaynerchuk (01:33)

---

2. Strategic Location Selection

Discussion Highlights: The conversation shifts to selecting optimal locations for expanding their espresso bar and cocktail concept, comparing Wrightsville Beach vs. Raleigh and Charlotte.

• Current Success: Their existing Florida location has seen tremendous success, generating over $400,000 monthly with 30% margins (02:24).

• Location Challenges:

  • Wrightsville Beach: Limited availability and higher costs, with properties previously housing breweries that failed due to poor fit (07:13).
  • Raleigh and Charlotte: Potential for larger markets but require significant investment and strategic placement.

• Gary’s Strategic Insight:

  • Best Location Over Ownership: Instead of purchasing real estate, Gary recommends leasing prime locations to minimize upfront costs and validate the business concept effectively (04:30).
  • Testing the Concept: He suggests using high-visibility locations to test the viability without the financial burden of owning property (04:46).

Notable Quote: “Use the best fucking location that we can afford. Pay the rent, high vig… Let’s see how good this concept really is.” – Gary Vaynerchuk (04:46)

---

3. Maximizing Margins Through Execution

Discussion Highlights: Gary underscores the importance of exceptional execution over mere concept innovation.

• Execution Over Ideas: He draws parallels to established brands like Burger King and McDonald’s, emphasizing that execution is paramount to success (03:06).

• Innovative Offerings: The partners discuss their unique offerings such as 20 different espresso martinis and fire pit tables, which differentiate them from competitors (09:34).

• Financial Strategy:

  • Liquidity vs. Ownership: Gary advises maintaining liquidity by not tying up capital in real estate, especially with rising interest rates (04:30).
  • Revenue Streams: Highlighting the significant revenue from liquor sales compared to coffee, Gary suggests focusing on high-margin products to sustain profitability (09:58).

Notable Quote: “It's all execution. Like Burger King and McDonald's and Wendy's. There's unlimited… Don’t worry. Don’t do it for that reason.” – Gary Vaynerchuk (03:06)

---

4. Building a Community and Enhancing Customer Engagement

Discussion Highlights: Business Partner 2 seeks strategies to transform kayak tour customers into super fans, emphasizing community building.

• Digital Infrastructure: Gary recommends creating digital spaces such as Discord servers or enhanced Facebook groups to foster interaction among customers (22:25).

• Engagement Tactics:

  • Q&A Sessions: Hosting regular interactive sessions like Google Meet hangouts to engage with the community directly (24:30).
  • Content Repurposing: Utilizing podcast appearances and content snippets to drive engagement and participation (24:55).

• Proactive Content Creation: Emphasizing the importance of generating consistent and authentic content to build a loyal customer base without heavy financial investments (26:37).

Notable Quote: “Are you going to pick up what I'm putting down?… If you want to change the world, you need to talk to the world.” – Gary Vaynerchuk (22:25)

---

5. Establishing and Scaling a Holding Company

Discussion Highlights: The latter part of the episode focuses on building a holding company similar to VaynerX, with insights from Gary on strategic growth and leadership.

• Vision and Flexibility: Gary shares his approach to maintaining a macro strategy while staying adaptable on a micro level, ensuring the company remains current with market trends (15:47).

• Hiring and Leadership:

  • Experience vs. Intuition: Reflecting on his journey, Gary acknowledges the importance of hiring experienced individuals early on rather than relying solely on intuition (16:39).
  • Firing Ineffective Leaders: He stresses the necessity of swiftly removing underperforming team members to maintain organizational health and avoid nepotism (16:39).

• Industry Insights:

  • Private Equity and Talent Agencies: Gary recommends looking into industries like private equity firms (e.g., Apollo, BlackRock) and talent agencies (e.g., CAA, UTA, WME) for models of successful holding company structures (18:06).

• Future Focus:

  • Embracing AI and Innovation: If starting over, Gary would focus more on integrating AI and other emerging technologies to stay ahead of the curve (19:03).

Notable Quote: “I was never going to be overly romantic about social media… I was romantic about being always current.” – Gary Vaynerchuk (15:47)

---

6. Enhancing Team Culture and Leadership

Discussion Highlights: Business Partner 3 inquires about fostering a culture that aligns with the holding company’s goals and effectively onboarding new acquisitions.

• Cultural Alignment: Gary discusses the importance of ensuring that new acquisitions share the company’s vision and values, facilitating seamless integration (20:47).

• Leadership Transition: He outlines his strategy of appointing active CEOs for new ventures while maintaining a role as chairman, ensuring continuous oversight and strategic direction (20:47).

• Self-Selection of Top Talent: Gary believes that by fostering an inspiring and inclusive culture, the company attracts top-tier talent willing to align with its mission and drive growth (20:50).

Notable Quote: “They are self-selecting. Like, I’m going to be the best and I’m going to go over to Snapple or Reebok when Gary buys it.” – Gary Vaynerchuk (20:50)

---

7. Actionable Takeaways and Final Insights

Discussion Highlights: Gary concludes the episode by reiterating the importance of strategic planning, community engagement, and exceptional execution. He encourages business leaders to:

• Leverage Digital Platforms: Utilize various digital channels to build and engage with communities effectively.

• Focus on Execution: Prioritize flawless execution of business concepts over chasing unproven ideas.

• Adapt and Innovate: Stay adaptable to market trends and incorporate emerging technologies to maintain a competitive edge.

• Cultivate Strong Leadership: Build a team with experienced leaders who align with the company’s vision and can drive its growth.

Notable Quote: “If you think you're onto something… You're gonna be in a very competitive spot.” – Gary Vaynerchuk (10:33)

---

Conclusion

In this insightful episode, Gary Vaynerchuk provides invaluable guidance on franchising, strategic location selection, maximizing business margins through excellent execution, building a loyal customer community, and establishing a scalable holding company. His pragmatic approach, combined with real-world examples and actionable advice, equips entrepreneurs and business leaders with the strategies necessary to thrive in the competitive landscape of 2025.

---

Key Takeaways:

1. Balance Media Investment: Prioritize creative organic efforts over excessive media spending.
2. Strategic Leasing: Choose prime locations through leasing to validate concepts without heavy financial commitments.
3. Execution is King: Focus on impeccable execution to outshine competitors.
4. Community Building: Foster genuine engagement through digital platforms and interactive sessions.
5. Scalable Structures: Develop a flexible holding company model that can adapt to market changes and incorporate new technologies.
6. Leadership and Culture: Cultivate a strong, aligned leadership team to drive sustained growth and innovation.

By implementing these strategies, businesses can position themselves for sustained success and adaptability in the evolving market landscape of 2025.

Transcript

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

This is the GaryVee audio experience. Love, is that a good thing? Is it powerful? Does it matter? I mean, the shit that people do for love is everything. Right? That's how I feel about brand. It's everything. We think that there's an extreme under investment in creative organic and an over investment in media that is wasted on creative. That could have been better. Money's expensive now. Don't own the building and see how great this concept really is.

[Martin]

Martin. Oh my gosh, that's genius.

[Business Partner 1]

So we, we moved from New York to North Carolina in 2021. We bought three historic properties, converted them into, you know, boutique hotels, added some restaurants and an espresso bar and one.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And, and there's a Florida location. Right.

[Business Partner 1]

We were looking. So we had, we started the burger, the burger concept that we were looking to franchise and start Florida. We actually stepped back on that now because the espresso bar has taken off some so insanely. I mean, we're turning away 100 to 200 people a night on the weekend.

[Martin]

And we found the margins were really good. So right now, from an excitement standpoint, from a profit standpoint, the cocktail, the coffee shop slash cocktail bar, it's coffee by day, cocktails by night is. We're doing about $350,000 a month.

[Business Partner 1]

Last month we just did over 400,000. Yeah.

[Martin]

So we're gonna percent margins on that. We're. Because there's no food involved. It's all liquor.

[Business Partner 1]

Yeah. So we're running just, just, just over 30%.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And you're probably starting to realize like the maximizing of margin in liquor is an endless game. Like get really good really fast if you keep doing it.

[Business Partner 1]

Yeah, yeah.

[Martin]

So we were talking to the franchise company about doing the burger restaurant and realized that there's no one in the franchise space that doing anything with the espresso, coffee shop and cocktails by night. And we've been getting a lot of emails and people asking, are you franchising? Can we buy a franchise? How do we do this in Raleigh? How do we.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Have you two swallowed the concept of franchise or meaning like, do you feel like you've exaggerated? Like, like, do you feel like you've fully thought through if you want to be a franchise or do you think you're being intoxic by the short term value of it?

[Martin]

Possibly.

[Business Partner 1]

That's one. That's one of the questions we wanted to ask you because, because we also own like 90% of the real estate of all the buildings and we were in the middle of buying another building and opening a Concord espresso bar location, too, on the other side of town.

[Martin]

So should we stay private? Should we franchise? And what do you do you know anything about the industry and do you have connects?

[Business Partner 1]

Yeah. So we wanted to pick your brain on our minds. One side, we're like, oh, speaker speed. Before someone else tries to do the same thing we're doing. And then on the other side.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

So, by the way, I'm sure if you go to Google or chat GPT, you'll see this. This is not the first time I've heard of coffee and cocktails.

[Business Partner 1]

Yeah, I'm sure.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Cocktails by night. There's like four places by me, and I did it 10 years ago. Like.

[Business Partner 1]

Yeah, yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

It's all execution.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Like burger King and McDonald's and Wendy's. There's. You have unlimited. Like that. Don't worry. Don't do it for that reason.

[Business Partner 1]

Yeah, okay.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Okay, look, I mean, the answer is both work. What I'd like you to do is spend like 100 hours of watching YouTube videos and listening to podcasts from the perspective of franchisors who understand, like, it's all fun and games until the first person and they give you money and you're all pumping and they're complaining to you.

[Martin]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Business Partner 1]

Yes.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Do you like babysitting?

[Martin]

No.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Gonna hate being a franchise.

[Martin]

Right. But it's like a catch 22, of course, but fast.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You know, fast money is seductive, but often leads to headaches.

[Martin]

Yeah, yeah.

[Business Partner 1]

So, yeah, I mean, that's good insight on that. And then. And then the. On the other side of the equation. Right. Because now franchising would become like a separate thing from what we're. If we were did franchise from the hospitality group. So that. So us growing the hospitality group. And, you know, thanks for connecting us to Tony and David. We spoke to them.

[Martin]

So much value.

[Business Partner 1]

So much value from that. So we want to just pick your brain on, you know, maybe trying to duplicate what you're doing up north in the south. Right. Essentially.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I mean, I think. Yeah, I think. I think you don't need to own every piece of real estate. Obviously, real estate's a great asset, but, like, if you feel like you got something with the coffee and cocktail, my point of view is that keep your cash. Money's expensive now.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

So if you're borrowing, you're paying higher interest rates.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And, you know, open another location in a great fucking location. Like a great location. Pay the vig. Pay the vig. Don't own the building and see how great this concept really is.

[Business Partner 1]

Got it.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Like if I was the third partner and we were having our meeting and I was like the elder statesman and you know, like I was the older brother or whatever. The right way to test this is to go to the best fucking location that we can fucking afford. Pay the rent, high vig. But we're paying the vig because it's in the best fucking location in the state of North Carolina.

[Business Partner 1]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And let's see how good this concept really is.

[Business Partner 1]

So. So you would recommend. Like why.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I like that. Because you. Context.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

If all of a sudden. I'll give you an example. Why. Let's say we pay something like we get. We do that instead of the down payment. Right. On an asset of a building cross town. We now are using that cash to get like a real fucking killer spot.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

But what if that spot's doing a million a month? Because you see the kind of location I'm talking about.

[Business Partner 1]

Yeah, yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Also we could see if it's doing 300,000amonth and everyone's like, what the. Gary? Well, we have all these other competitors here.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And. But now we learned.

[Martin]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And we didn't have to put all that cash down to buy the real estate to find out that lesson for.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

This one exact lesson. Where I'm going. Yeah. Best location.

[Martin]

Yep. I love it.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah. That's what I would do if I was the partner right now. Because you've got something. Let's really understand if you got something. Got something.

[Business Partner 1]

Got it.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Where would you go after hearing that for me, where would you go?

[Business Partner 1]

We're looking. Well, right now we're looking for a spot. We're in Wilmington, like downtown, most of our business. And then there's Wrightsville beach, which is like the more bougier side of town. Landfall. Yeah.

[Martin]

Right. Beach, I guess would be like if we were looking at Long island like the Hamptons versus Jones Beach. Jones Beach.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Is it a seasonal.

[Martin]

Except it's more populated and less seasonal.

[Business Partner 1]

It's not. It's not seasonal. It's just that it's non stop and it's grown. So we're look. We're looking for something there. And then we were then having. We. We think two would be enough. And then we'd have to set our sights on Raleigh and Charlotte after that.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah. So let's talk about that area. You were thinking about buying a building there and.

[Martin]

Yeah. In Wrightsville.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah.

[Martin]

Wrightsville Beach.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Is that the good. Is that the Hamptons one or the.

[Business Partner 1]

That's the good part of town. It's the good part of town. Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Are you able to get a better. Are you okay? What about what's the best. Are there better locations than where you. Is if you were to rent?

[Business Partner 1]

There's not a lot available there, so it's kind of like you have to take what it is.

[Business Partner 2]

The.

[Business Partner 1]

The location where we. We would be getting is on a main road. It's very popular where it is.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

So why would the building be for sale?

[Business Partner 1]

The. The. It used to be a.

[Martin]

Question.

[Business Partner 1]

It used to be a brewery that went out of business. Multiple breweries that just didn't. Weren't a fit. And now the building is. Is up for sale. For. For sale for that.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

So why. That math was not good.

[Business Partner 1]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No good spots to rent, but here's a good spot to buy that we can afford as small entrepreneurs. Everything smells bad to me.

[Business Partner 3]

I know.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Nothing.

[Business Partner 1]

Yeah.

[Martin]

Yeah, you're right.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

But I know something. Do you know what I mean? Kind of thing.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I don't want to talk you out of something that might be remarked. I could be 100 wrong.

[Business Partner 1]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

But, boy, does that make no sense to me.

[Martin]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's seven minutes from the actual beach. It's 11 minutes from the biggest area that everyone in Wrightsville beach shops and dines.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

But talk to me about that area.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Is that 11 minutes literally have nothing. Nothing.

[Business Partner 1]

You know, it's. It's like.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I mean, for you to open. Yeah. Right now I'm gonna test my concept.

[Business Partner 1]

Yeah, yeah.

[Martin]

Go in that area. Skip the 11.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

11 minutes.

[Business Partner 1]

Go in there.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Like, go directly. Of course, you can buy 11 minutes out. You can't buy in the heart of the heart because it's way more expensive. Not available.

[Business Partner 1]

Right.

[Martin]

You're right. Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

If there was a spot there, I would get off what I want for you, which is to see if this is a $10 million concept.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[Business Partner 1]

Yeah.

[Martin]

Best location. So that being said, just because of the population here, we have a ton of. We. We just. Wilmington just doubled in the past two years, so they went from 130 to 150,000 people to 300 plus.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Is that because, like, all the northeast people are moving down?

[Business Partner 1]

Northeast people moving. A lot of New Yorkers came down here for sure.

[Martin]

And putting a location in Wrightsville beach would still only put us 20 minutes away from our other location.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Coffee and cocktails. That's like a century away.

[Business Partner 1]

Yeah. They don't really. That side of town doesn't really come to the side. And vice versa.

[Martin]

Concept. Because there's no food. We are the Before Dinner spot and we're the after dinner spot and we're.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

What about the breakfast spot?

[Martin]

What's that?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Are you also a breakfast spot because of coffee?

[Business Partner 1]

Yeah, yeah, the coffee, the. So the call. The call. Obviously the majority of money, the chunk, you know, like 80 of the money is made at night. Obviously.

[Martin]

We only have an agriculture license so we actually, we get pastry delivered and we don't really have breakfast there. We have very limited.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

People buy coffee. Right.

[Business Partner 1]

Or nick coffee croissants, like some baked good.

[Martin]

Well if we're doing it out like if on a good day we'll do a thousand dollars in coffee, but we're doing five, six thousand dollars in liquor.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Makes sense.

[Business Partner 1]

Yeah.

[Martin]

So do you think that opening a location in Wrightsville Beach, 20 minutes away versus going to a bigger city for best location like Raleigh?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I like, you know, you know this, your infrastructure right now of you being able to drive back and forth 247 versus like two hours.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Like this is why I'm pushing you to something very specific.

[Martin]

Yep.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You're gonna be in a very competitive spot. There's plenty of other places in this 11 minute spot, I'm sure as well.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Right. So like I assume your side of town, there's less good like bar, like less than what would be in the heart of the 11 or.

[Business Partner 1]

No, actually there's a lot we're kind of. And that's.

[Martin]

We're in the heart of downtown. You can literally walk to everything downtown from where we are. So people will literally make a reservation and we're reservation only, Gary, so people will make a reservation.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Are your drinks really good? Did you nail it?

[Business Partner 1]

They crush. They, they crush. Yeah. We have 20 different espresso martinis. It's a big menu, but we also.

[Martin]

Have a signature cocktail list. So it's not just espresso.

[Business Partner 1]

Yeah. We have like 40 different drinks on there. So it's a big variety. We do flights of espresso martinis and stuff.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

So I just get really excited about staying very close, going to the heart of the competition.

[Business Partner 1]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Apex. I'll tell you why. If you go in crush against the most competitive best spot in your town and it's doing 700,000amonth, well that changes how you're going to look at Raleigh. This data is too valuable. It's almost like if you, even if you went out of like if you, if we were on Zoom, Gary, we opened and went out of business. Well, I didn't. Fuck you. We now know that you.

[Martin]

It's true. It's true.

[Business Partner 1]

Yeah.

[Martin]

Okay. So the last. The last little thing is in this concept. We run natural gas lines and all of our tables are fire pits outside. And that's part of the appeal. People sit down at a fire pit table. We make homemade marshmallows. And our concept is really s'mores by the fire with espresso martini flights.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

So cool.

[Martin]

Yeah, yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And.

[Business Partner 1]

And that.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

That's what makes final look crushes the after dinner. Right. You become the dessert spot.

[Business Partner 1]

Become the dessert spot. That's exactly.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Is really cool.

[Martin]

The location that we found that we wanted to buy has a kitchen. It has the outdoor space that we can turn into fire pits. That's been our hardest thing is finding like a place that we can have indoor and outdoor area. Put natural gas lines down and have the ideal outdoor space.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Use the location 11 minutes in the bougie place as the preview to if you have to be in New York and innovate on the idea.

[Martin]

Mark. Oh, my gosh, that's genius. Right?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Like bring out the little thing in the middle of the table where people can do like treat it like your New York location. It makes me like this spot. More. Less capital. Expensive.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[Business Partner 1]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Gonna answer so many fucking questions. If you think you're onto something.

[Martin]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And it's so close to you that even if you guys are wrong, you'll will it to a decent outcome. I love it.

[Martin]

And we do the tabletop fire pits inside.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Well then you just completely.

[Business Partner 1]

Yeah. Just lines up with exactly. So all right.

[Martin]

You're right. We just have to be creative with it. That's cool. You're right. Because how would we expand it to major cities? We're going to have the same problem. How do we find the location?

[Business Partner 4]

Yeah.

[Business Partner 1]

We're not going to find outdoor spots. Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yep. Use location number two to answer all the questions I would have. If we are onto something.

[Business Partner 1]

Yeah. Yeah. Don, that makes total sense.

[Business Partner 3]

When I look at what you have built, and I didn't even know the word holding company existed until 2023. And in my mind, I had this idea of something that I wanted to build. And then I'm now realizing that that is the very thing that you have built. And so knowing what you know now, would you have built the holding company? And if so, if you can go back, what would you do differently?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Great question. Yes, I would definitely build it. I'm very good at being wide open and changing my mind in micros, but holding to a strategy in macro. I knew that I wanted to build the best marketing communications company in the world that was global and that I was open to it being a series of companies or a company. And I was never going to be overly romantic about social media. Right. We started this in 09, it's 24. We're 15 years in. I would have said in 15 years, if no one's doing social, then we're doing whatever that thing is. And I continue to do that. So I, I wasn't romantic about what services we did, how many companies were in the entity, if it was one or a hundred and. And more importantly, not romantic about what we did, but I was romantic about being always current. Right. Like, as you know, what's unique about my career is from 2006 to today, there's not a lot of people who have 18 years of on the record publicly following the flows of innovation around attention and communication at the same level that I do. And that's really humbling and good, you know.

[Business Partner 3]

So what would you differently like now knowing what you know now?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I would have probably hired more people with more experience from the industry earlier. I probably didn't need to. I was so romantic. See how romance is a problem. I was so romantic of staying clean with my own intuitive ideas. I demonized people from the outside that did it the old way and it probably wasted some time on simple things that I could have done by having people around. I def. I mean, this is my biggest issue period still to this day. I would have fired faster on people I knew weren't capable. It's just not good for business and it's not good for them, like because it leads to nepotism and resentment and it never ends up good. Anyway, I fired them eventually anyway, so that's a huge mistake of mine.

[Business Partner 3]

Conversations that I had with Andrea when I was asking how did you court her to come into Vayner? And I think that early on, like now looking at what Vayner is, it is a formidable force in the industry. But at the time. So when I look at myself and I. I know that I want to hire people with experience, but they have optionality. And so what was like a key factor. Could you go back and say, identify the pattern of.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I think you and I have the same skill, which is like, I think you'll be able to convince people to do it now. You just can't be fixated on one boy. But how did I do it? By being okay with all the people that didn't see it in the same way I did it when I was a boy. Every girl that I thought was cute that didn't want to be with me. In my mind, I was like, they're going to be really sad one day.

[Business Partner 3]

And oh, are they?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And so I think you need to take the same approach with this business. You're gonna identify someone and you want Ricky Thompson and he's gonna say no. And then literally you're like, cool. Next. That's it.

[Business Partner 3]

Who should I be talking to? Who should I be aligning to? Not in. Not in regards to building a holding company that looks like Vayner X. Anybody with the idea of holding companies. Because what I wanna do is I'm not the best at coming up with new ideas, but I'm really good at spotting patterns and then identifying for my strengths and building from there. So when you look at people who've successfully built holding companies out, inside or outside of your industry, who is. Who is the formidable leader? Who is somebody who's creating content? Who is the person that I can learn from?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

That's an interesting question. Private equity firms, okay, is an industry. You should look at talent agencies. Caa, uta, wme. Those are, I would say, talent agencies and private equity conglomerates. Apollo, blackrock, like, dig into those two worlds. Private equity and talent representation. They did a lot. They did a lot of M A, they. They did a. They did a lot of executive stuff. They did a lot of building from a small base to a big base. Those are two good industries for you to focus on.

[Business Partner 3]

If you were building Vayner X again and you had nothing, what would you be doing differently or the same that you did? You look back at yourself and you're like, damn, that was pretty incredible. Or even when I had nothing, I could have leveraged it in a different way.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

It's a good question. You know, that's a hard question in that what I would say is I would still want to build. If it was today, it's pretty easy for me to answer. I still want to build the same thing, which is in. In several years. I want this to be this huge conglomerate. What I would do is I would have different services, right? I would be focusing on AI right now. I'd be focused on. On things that are of the moment that people don't have figured out that I could build on top of.

[Business Partner 1]

So good.

[Business Partner 3]

When we were meeting in Vive and we had lunch, you had said something that I am still trying to wrap my mind around. And I was just like. What you essentially said was, are you going to pick up what I'm putting down? And you talked about acquiring a company like Cracker Jacks. Or Snapple and taking it from like a $40 million company that was once like a behemoth and then you turning into a $400 million company based on the principles of people who are actually getting what it is that you're trying to inculcate the current team with. So there's like, it felt like you were drawing a clear line in the sand of people who get it and then those who don't and the people who get it are going to go on to this next iteration. And to me, I felt like, are you building the holding company specifically for that, or would you just not start focusing on that acquisition? And does the team know that culturally.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

The team knows, people like James and Andrea and other senior leaders, that my goal with Vayner X is to build a holding company that is the best marketing company in the world, then anoint an active CEO and stay on as chairman and then go build a either private equity firm or a holding company of brands and build that company and then take the best players from Vayner X over to the owned and operated businesses, from services to owned.

[Business Partner 3]

And that's been very open in the organization.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes, it's actually probably been very inspiring to the best players because they are like self selecting. Like, I'm going to be the best and I'm going to go over to Snapple or Reebok when Gary buys it. That's one of the reasons I do believe the 1% of 1% here, you know, are probably here because of that. Yo, everybody, thank you so much. Just jumping in real quick in the middle of this podcast. Thank you so much for listening to this episode. It would mean the world to me if you could leave a review for this episode and I'm gonna get you back to your pod right now because you don't need me talking about that. But I realize I'm lagging on getting the support of my podcast listeners. So viewing this episode, episode and overall would mean the world to me. 5 star 4 star 3 star It 2 star 1 star Honest feedback's fine. All right, back to the show.

[Business Partner 2]

Just quick context to to catch you back up to speed. Franchisor of get up and go kayaking. We have 32 locations now, four different states. Most of them are in Florida, but Texas, Tennessee and North Carolina are the others really just focused on expansion. Just took on a director of franchise operations to kind of help with some of the operational side of things. Free up a little bit of my mental capacity to focus on growing the business. But one of the big Questions I had is about turning a commodity like kayak tours into more of a community. Like, how do I. How do I turn my customers into super fans? What are things that you would do to make that happen?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I think extending the story meaning, you know, creating a digital. Creating a digital infrastructure, whether it's on text, whether it's on a closed Facebook group, like, you know, a discord. Where can you put everyone digitally that they can interact with you and them is like a really big deal.

[Business Partner 2]

Yeah, yeah, we do, we do the close Facebook and the text group and those have been great. I love just hopping on the text group and talk to me a little.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Bit more about that. So if you've done that, what's going on with that and what hasn't allowed that to feel like a community to you?

[Business Partner 2]

Yeah, I think it's mostly because I'm the one initiating the conversation and I want them to initiate the conversation. So how do I get them more engaged from that side of things? You know, similar to the way that you text your community. Like I'll just show up randomly and say, hey, hope you're having a good Tuesday, you know, and. And a lot of people reply being like, oh my God, thanks so much. And it's amazing. But like, how do I get them to initiate that? You know, is. Is I think the next level of community?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah, I mean, I think, I think you. And. And where. And do you have a discord or.

[Business Partner 2]

No, no discord. No, just the Facebook group and the texting group.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And what's happening with the Facebook group?

[Business Partner 2]

Facebook group, we typically like repurpose some of our content so that it's more Facebook ish friendly, you know, not as like we'll repurpose a lot of our blog content in shorter form just to deliver, hey, here's five restaurants we recommend in this area. Or here's some other things you can do while you're visiting this area. And it's just been a lot of us kind of giving tips and little like local knowledge things in there. But again, it's. It's a lot of us being the ones that are initiating the. The conversation.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah, I mean I think doing Q and A sessions, doing this like Google Meet out, like get more physical, go to that text group and Facebook group and put out a Google URL hangout and be like, I'm here next Wednesday, the 14th from 7 to 10, answering questions. I think that will take you to the next level.

[Business Partner 1]

Cool.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah, it will work. And build off of it and then you record it and then you take a snippet from it and then you post it on social and you tell people how to sign up for the text to get into this. You know what I mean?

[Business Partner 2]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah.

[Business Partner 1]

Cool.

[Business Partner 2]

Thanks.

[Business Partner 4]

I know one thing, Gary. Everybody's happy if they hear about us and they walk into a store to buy our product or they come to buy it from us, or they go to Amazon.

[Martin]

Right.

[Business Partner 4]

There's 100 million homes out there, and a good 70% of them, I think, could use our product if they. If they learned about it.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

How much. How many podcasts are you going on? A week or a month or a year? Not enough.

[Martin]

Maybe three.

[Business Partner 4]

A year.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Three year.

[Business Partner 4]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I think that's probably the biggest strategic focus. I think you should be going on podcasts just for the content. Just for the content. I. I would go on even tiny podcasts that are in your niche to hitting, you know, hitting the kind of. Right. Demo just so that we can post, produce the content from the thing for more. I think that's the key. My number one performing wine text ad is me doing a radio show.

[Business Partner 4]

Yeah. Well, some of our best content has been when I've made. Made something or. And it was just impromptu thing that turned out.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And I think more of you. So you don't have a lot more money to spend on making more, but you have your time, which makes more. Got it.

[Business Partner 4]

And my heart.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah. I mean, listen, the whole company's built on your intent. That's. That to me, is already secondary. That's a given. Nobody knows your intent or heart if they don't see you. I think the right move for you is to spend more time on podcasts and then clipping the clips from those podcasts and putting them into organic. And when they do well on organic, turning them into a performance ad.

[Business Partner 4]

That's great.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

That's the. That's the thing I would do if I bought the business tomorrow and we were partners. That's what I would spend my time on.

[Business Partner 4]

That is a good to know.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I think that's the one. Because what we need is more content from you, but you don't have the dollars to spend on it.

[Business Partner 4]

Got a lot of ideas from your book.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Thank you.

[Business Partner 4]

The section in there, of all the examples. Oh, golden. I've got a. I've got a list of things to do.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Look, I think. I think the founder story is doing better and better and better, and I think that Earthkind would really benefit from you being on a podcast once a week with the intent of getting one to three clips out.

[Business Partner 4]

Okay.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

So now we got to figure out how to get you on those podcasts.

[Business Partner 4]

Got it. Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Are you able to look at the podcast rankings on Spotify and. And Apple and in your categories of health, wellness, all that stuff, Business, whatever it might be, female empowerment, entrepreneurship, all of it. I think you should make a list of, you know, all the things you could see yourself on, and then we could. Maybe I can call in some favors and we should attack it. If you want to change the world, you need to talk to the world. I have big ambitions to change the world. I talk to the world every day.

[Business Partner 4]

Amen. Articulating a vision in a way people can see it and taste it is much harder than most entrepreneurs realize.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I think that's a brilliant statement. And then the other thing is, many that can articulate it don't say it often enough in enough places at scale. Yeah. Where. That's where you're at right now.

[Business Partner 4]

Yes.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I need you out and about. I need more content from you, and I want it to be free, which is, in essence, is you going on podcasts.

[Business Partner 4]

That's. That's golden.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I think so.