C (3:51)

Yeah, I don't know if to call it luck or what have you, but I can say one thing. You're not a gatekeeper.

A (3:57)

Yeah.

C (3:57)

You're always trying to put everybody on, in the. In the. In the sense or idea of wanting to see everybody win. I think the last time we saw you was in Cannes. You invited us on your boat. You also extended, you know, the welcome and your resources of the people that were there to look out for us too. So I appreciate that.

A (4:15)

Thank you for saying that.

C (4:16)

But I do want to ask you, would you consider yourself a visionary?

A (4:20)

I think I have visionary tendencies. I think that I'm very good at seeing around corners. I'm incredibly intuitive. You know, I keep going to sports. Cause it's my favorite thing. And I'm with you guys, like secondary play, you know, you get to the high levels. You gotta be careful. Cause everyone's good. But like, as a kid, backyard football, I was so good at picking the ball off. Cause I would just watch the quarterback. Like, I'm just. The anticipation. You know what I'm very good at? Not saying no. That's an interesting place to go. Maybe might unlock something for someone. AI, no. I'm like, maybe, yes. Right?

D (4:59)

But you got to navigate it.

A (5:01)

It could end up being no. But I start with maybe, yes. Because if you start with no, you're cooked. When you start with no, it's over. When you start with fear, it's a wrap. The world's all fucked up because fear is on offense. Both sides of the political aisle, all the bosses, all the corporations, everyone's weaponizing fear. They're all doing the same exact thing. I'm gonna scare you on immigration, I'm gonna scare you on socialism. I'm gonna scare you on, like, just all the same stuff. Fear, fear, fear, fear, fear. So, anything new? You know, the Internet, people thought that again, I'm a little more grown than you guys. People thought it was really stupid. You guys were little. Like, it was like I was just getting into the business world. Everyone thought that was a fad. There was unlimited articles that I looked up to those magazines saying, the Internet will be done. This is stupid. In five years, we'll like. And social media that you guys know, social media was corny when you guys were coming, right? And I was like, I don't think so. Like, all the nightlife guys that I know that are my age, that run all the best spots, they laughed at Internet kids back in the day. Now they recruit them. They're the most important people coming through, right? So I'm just very good at, you know, super. Let's go take it to your game. Super Bowl I. 30,000 empty seats. You know that, man.

D (6:27)

No.

A (6:27)

30,000 empty seats. It was not a big deal. Now it's 30,000 empty seats. Forget about tune in and all this. So I'm very good at maybe with a sleeping to. Yes. I'm also very good at willing to put myself out of business. When you start making paper. Let me give you an example. I've watched you guys from day one, which is why I can. I'll give you love. I want the brands to invest in you. I want you to win bad. I'm still mad at you for that game. I bring it up every time for that jets game. You really hurt us in that one. And I'm mad at all of you. Actually as a Jets fan, but now you guys build. And like I'm watching this like this. I mean, I'm like so joyful right now and I'm like, but here come AI influencers and here comes this. And what if podcast starts to fall? Most people, when they work so hard for seven years and they get in a spot where they're about to cook and some new stuff comes, they're like, that's bad. What they're really saying is, I'm scared. But sometimes when you're at seven years in and building what you need to build, you might need to jump on that thing to double accelerate instead of, you're gonna lose anyway. One more sports reference. You can never be in prevent defense in life because just like in football, you will lose also too.

B (7:50)

Gary, I want you to be give yourself a little grace. Like when you're talking about things that started a long time ago. Maybe Channing and I were too young for it. Fred definitely saw it.

A (8:03)

Hey, Chad.

B (8:04)

I'm just saying, he was like, hey, Fred was there.

A (8:07)

Yeah. He was like, guys, Fred.

C (8:14)

I saw it.

A (8:15)

Fred. Fred. Bad news for the razz boys. I remember when Fred, Fred, bro. I was building businesses when Fred was drafted. Fred's young to me.

B (8:25)

Hey, Jay, what's funny about it though? He said that and I had to

A (8:29)

continue, but you want to get in there. You want to get him. But I was like, yeah, you want to get in.

D (8:34)

What has he done?

A (8:35)

I'm gonna get him. I'll let it get him.

D (8:36)

Fred was there.

C (8:38)

And I get flat too, because I talk about Charizard. A Gengar.

A (8:44)

Yep.

C (8:44)

Grenada.

D (8:45)

Jesus Christ.

C (8:47)

They don't know you plugging me with a versa. Juicy Jaguar refriend, first edition.

A (8:51)

You know what I'm saying?

D (8:52)

Please, please don't tell me that I gotta get a charizard Rainbow, bro.

A (8:56)

Collectibles. Real talk. It's like. And everyone kind of knows. Like, when I started talking about this eight years ago, I had real people hit me up and be like, you're losing it straight up from love. They're like, what are you talking about? Sports cards. You're like an important businessman. Back to, are you a visionary? And I'm out here making videos like, you need to buy sports cards. Everyone's like, he lost his damn mind. In fact, the only time I gate capped, but I wasn't gatekeeping, I was checking myself. The only time I did not make public content, the second I knew something was happening was when I thought trading cards and collectibles were about to explode. I thought I was forcing it subconsciously. Cause I grew up with it. I'm like, listen, I'm about to put out receipts and I don't want to be wrong. So let me like I spent a year crossing my T's and I's before I made my first videos about Giannis and sports cards and what I thought was going to go down. Collectibles is a big deal. Look at us, we're grown men. The four of us, our daddies at our age right now did not wear clothes and act like this. Look at us, we look like teenagers. Youth culture, culture changes. You know. A Charizard is $400,000 for the best one. It's art. Now it's Andy Warhol. I'd rather buy a Bill Russell 57 Topps rookie card. Cause what I think Bill meant for the game, for the culture, that collectible means more to me than buying a vase from Sotheby's, from Europe, from 18. But a 50 year old businessman just a generation ago, he was buying that. We were buying sneakers and rare watches and we're buying collectibles. And I think it's phenomenal because it's fun, it keeps you youthful and it's just fun. Like I'm like up at night trying to buy 1940 Superman rookie cards. Cause I real talk like I'm doing my life and I'm doing that right now because I they're like $8,000 for not even in good condition. I think they're going to 100. Like that's, you know. And so that's happening. Yeah, you're gonna have to.

B (11:01)

I know you love that. You gonna get you some.

D (11:03)

I'm not getting the Charizard rainbow.

A (11:07)

Cause that might not mean anything to you. Who's your favorite athlete of all time?

D (11:10)

Lawrence Taylor.

A (11:11)

Great. An LT82 Topps rookie in perfect condition that you could buy for 10k right now that long term will go up. You might want to buy that, you may not, but you might.

D (11:23)

But even for that where I would want to say because like you said, you're open book and you're not a gatekeeper. You try to help people out, you try to tell people the trends.

A (11:32)

Yeah.

D (11:33)

As the trends change, as the economy change.

A (11:35)

Yes.

D (11:36)

All of that changes. How is that tough on you to really try to keep people up? Because people are going to listen to you.

A (11:43)

Which is why, which is why I don't say much. Like it's not like every day for me and I go macro. I'm saying collectibles are good. I'm not saying, like, you have to buy Lawrence Taylor. In fact, Lawrence Taylor is likely not one because there's nothing that's gonna happen with lt. He's made the hall of Fame. I mean, he could become a game show host, but I know too much about LT to know he won't. And so. Lt's not gonna do anything that's gonna make that go crazy. Right. But that might mean something to you, like a piece of art, right? It might. And that's more common now than it used to be. Someone like you, that's not really about that. Life is starting to consider to buy something like that. I'll talk in macro, but not specific. I'm not gonna tell people to go buy a Mewtwo rare, you know, Pokemon, or I'm not gonna say, go buy Kevin Garnett rookie cards. You know what I mean? I won't go specific because it's too hard and I could be wrong and it moves too much. But I walk in here right now as bitcoin's crashing. I'm comfortable. Say out loud, I'm buying bitcoin left and right the last 48 hours. Because I'm cost averaging out like it was a buck and a quarter. It's 68,000. It can go down to 30,000. If I said here right now, y', all, you have to buy bitcoin. And you guys aired this tomorrow, I'm sure you have a process, but if you did and it goes from 68 to 42, people are going to be mad at me. But I'm saying 68 by now, for 13 years from now, Right?

B (13:06)

You're a leader in that space. You were ahead of your time. You saw around the corner and knew that social media would be a platform where you could do things like this. You mentioned how leaders on both sides, politically, are driving the subconscious with fear.

A (13:24)

That's right. They're trying to create their outcomes. Weaponizing, scaring people.

B (13:28)

Okay, so for you, though, what. What fears do you have as a leader in your space? What are some of the things that are true, that could truly be negative, that you would warn people against?

A (13:40)

The only thing I'm personally scared about is the health of my family. Real fucking talk. That's real, right? Like, I'm not scared of AI at all. Humans have shown consistently. You actually want to get off your fear of AI. Go. Go read about the history of electricity. Go to the library. Cause that's the only place you can get this. It's crazy. Libraries are important, y'. All. Cause I like doing research. You like it too? I love libraries. Cause everyone just thinks everything's on the Internet. A lot of stuff's not on the Internet. But you gotta go to the library. It's weird as hell. And once in a while, I do it rarely. Once every 10 years. I did it for AI. I knew the answers to AI were in electricity. And I knew I was struggling to get enough. So I just went to the New York Library and literally read old articles from the New York times in the 1819. It's crazy and it's all the same, man. People were scared shitless. Listen, we now know it. Could you imagine being around with electricity like everything was candle. People thought there were demons in it. People would not put electricity in their homes because they thought there were demons in it. Humans are scared of change in a real way. People hear something, that scares them. AI's gonna do this. It's gonna be written with biases. Right? That was the first thing 18 months ago. We better be scared of AI. Cause all the white dudes from San Francisco, ironically, we're here. Are gonna write it. And it's gonna be bad for minorities and women. Okay? Next it's gonna. The one that's got everyone shook. Do you know why everyone hates Airi? Everyone's scared to lose their job. Yes. Straight up, 100%. By the way, electricity changed everyone's job.

D (15:21)

I watched Terminator.

A (15:23)

Yeah, I get it. I get it. My belief is the following, man. Are you familiar that there's something called the atomic bomb? Are you familiar that it's been around for 70 years? I just believe in humanity, bro. Real talk. I believe in the human spirit, straight up.

B (15:44)

And so I want to have this analogy, please. The way you use the analogy, I want to make sure it's clear in your mind. It's, hey, we can have these things like the atomic bomb.

A (15:56)

Yep.

B (15:57)

But if people do the right things with it, it won't lead to the extinction.

A (16:03)

Better than that. Humans have shown we do the right things in the net. In the micro, a knife is bad. Let's talk about the knife. We should ban him. Someone stabbed someone yesterday. In the macro, we're the best. In the micro, we pay attention to the 0.1% of the worst. That's a bar, man. Give me something that's real shit. That's some real shit.

B (16:42)

I adapt myself.

A (16:47)

Right? I think about this every day. I don't know what happened. Thank you, God, for the mom. You gave me the circumstances. You gave me my inability to be confused. I walk Around Earth every day. And I see nothing but love. Straight up. I'm aware that if you're looking for negativity or hate or you're shook rubbernecking, the fuck are we looking at an accident for?

C (17:13)

Nosy.

A (17:15)

I get. If you turn on the news, I get how the algorithms work. There's no politics in my algorithm. There's a lot of jets, football, nicks, cards, wine, happy, joy, rainbow. By the way, I can change every. Don't believe me about the algorithm, everybody. Don't believe me that you're in control of the algorithm, not the algorithm on you right now. Everybody, stop the podcast, Go to Instagram, go to search, type in rainbows, Enter, like, three posts out. Go back to the search, put in happiness, like, five pieces of content out. This is the most important part. Type in GaryVee. Follow that account. Like, three things go out. Put it down, Come back in the morning, show me your Stream. Email me GaryNerx. Tell me what happened. The algorithm isn't controlling you. The algorithm is exposing you. You on one today? I am on one today. I'm clean. I'm clean today, man. Do you know why I'm so excited about AI? Cause I have zero musical ability in my body. But when they make this AI music, I've got real bars. I'm gonna be the biggest rapper in the game. I just can't sing. I just can't flow. I have none of that shit. I got that white fucking man shit in me. But the AI's gonna give it to me. I'm gonna be like, all right, give me a metro boom and fucking beat. And give me a little baby cadence and Louisiana Prime. Wheezy, like cardifor, like boom, boom. But all my words now play. I'm gonna fucking own Spotify. I'm gonna own. Cause the shit I've got to say is so fucking real. And I'm often countercultural. Cause I don't fucking follow. I go back and I'm like, let me think. I would have been good 800,000 years ago. I would've been that dude under the tree and be like, I would have been a good philosopher. Comes natural to me. Like, I'm not gonna rush to anything. I'm gonna stay quiet. You know, it's funny. I was a bad student, but I was good at history. I'm good at pattern recognition. You know, I'm good at that shit. That's a little bit of, like, the stuff we were talking about. So, yeah, I'm optimistic, man. I'm really straight up optimistic. Let me say this. Everyone who's scared about AI and mad about the work stuff, when they realize AI is gonna save your mom's life, wait till people realize what AI is gonna do to medicine. Yeah, you might lose a job, you'll get another one. But when your daughter lives because of AI medicine, and she wouldn't have without it, I think you're gonna have a different take on AI.

C (19:47)

Gee, you've built wealth, influence, access. Those are the things you talk about. And I'm sure you've also talked about failure or how many times you didn't succeed. Yeah, but people kind of listen to whatever they want to listen. They sort of missed that. So one give us a little bit game about failure, but also the aforementioned portion of that Tell us about what's overrated about success.

A (20:16)

I'm going to start there because it's a great question because that's not asked of me often. There's many things that are potentially overrated about success. It's predicated on who we are individually. We talk in this world now so much in the macro, but everything's micro. I'll give you a wild one about me. One of the overrated aspects of his success is being known. It's crazy what I'm about to say because I'm one of the actual most prolific content creators of the last 20 years. I'm private as hell. And for the people that really follow me, they know that because I don't share anything about my family. One of the overrated things about success is lack of privacy. You know, I don't mind when I'm out and about. In fact, I love people. So I'm crazy. I'm a lover boy. I like strangers. Like they're my family. I'm like, I was in radio row and I'm dapping up people like, they're my boys from the 80s. I like people. It's a beautiful thing. I like it. It's easy for me. I'm not scared of people. I love people, all kinds. I grew up with such great diversity as a kid too. So it was locked in for me early. You know, going to MLK elementary school, you know what kind of life that is, you know, like. And we had it good. It wasn't just black kids. Like, we had Asian and Indian and white, like. And it was just like this beautiful thing. So, like, people are natural to me. But when I'm with my family, I have a 16 and 13 year old. They're trying to maximize time with dad. They're not about that like person that rolls up and wants to tell me, like their business idea. They're like, it's limited to begin with, given dad's life. Like, I'm not trying to share you right now. That's a downside, right? Listen, downside comes in like the pressure of being the financial beacon in your circle. Have a funny feeling you all know what I'm talking about. All of a sudden everyone's looking at you and forget about the shit we hear about like a cousin comes out of the woodworks. And it's not even like, of course it's sometimes that, but it's even just true day to day. Like true day to day where you have a family member that's got good intent for you, but it's in the air like you're the one that will fix it if there's a problem. It's the pressure of being the guy for me, that comes natural. But I've seen it really hurt a lot of my friends. For me, it came natural cause I was an immigrant kid and my mom from day one was like, I had some really. I've had a real epiphany about my childhood. I think one of the biggest issues in the world right now is kids are getting grown too late.

B (22:46)

You say getting grown too late?

A (22:48)

Yes, sir. I think kids, I think there's too many parents that are treating their 22 year old man son like he's nine, still on the payroll on this fucking, you know, this whole like, let's share our location. I was out at a business meeting with a 26 year old dude and his, his mom called him three times. He had to call him back cause mom saw that he wasn't home yet. I'm like, you're 26, bro. I literally took him to his face. I'm like, disconnect with your mom's location now. So I think we have an issue of grown late right now. All well intended. You know this, like you have kids, like we all know, like we all know you don't come from something, you got something you want, good for your kids, but that's the fuck up. I had grown too early syndrome. My mom lost her mom at 5 in Russia. It's tough. My dad lost his dad at 15. I was the oldest and the only one that was born in the old country. Now I got siblings here. My mom, I'm getting goosebumps. My mom from the get was like, if something happens to me and dad, you're in charge. I'm nine.

B (23:52)

She was already prepped.

A (23:53)

With me. But she was prep. Exactly. I don't have judgment towards my. My mom killed it. I talk often about my mom being the greatest of all time, but like, this was like, you know, so I was growing at like 14. At 14, I was already working in my dad's liquor store. I was already like, better businessman than him. I was like, do this, dad, do this. Like, I was already making my own money. I didn't get a gift. After 11, everything was like, you want Sega Genesis? Go get it. Some flinging, slinging and shoveling, snow washing, like, so I was growing moon early.

D (24:25)

It gotta be. You say 26 is too long. Yes, sir, that's you a grown ass. I think 11 is too soon.

A (24:34)

I agree.

D (24:36)

What's that mid ground for you? Like with your kids now?

A (24:39)

Yeah, I'm a big fan. We've been talking about it in the office a lot. 18's a watershed moment. And then I'm on some. Let me give grace to the kids. And actually, you're gonna be surprised by this. I'm on some 20. I have an interesting relationship with 25. So I think of it in three numbers. 18, 22 and 25. 18 feels right to me, but that's me. 22 is like some on. You went through college or like what the years are supposed to College. Fine. I'm even on some because I'll tell you where I'm going with this. I'll give you the 25. My thing is on your 25. Fifth birthday. Shut your fucking mouth. I am done hearing. It's mom's fault, it's dad's fault, it's Instagram's fault. When the fuck is it your fault? That's rude, right? Like, listen, here's my thing again. I got lucky. I grew up in, like, not the best places. Most of my friends had a fucked up sitch. Dad was an alcoholic, mom wasn't there. Like, real shit. My thing is, if you've ever seen. Man, I went to a hood college. I was such a bad student. I thought I was not gonna go and trick my parents. My mom smacked me in the face and said, you're not gonna embarrass me. You're going to college. I went to Mount Ida College. 90% of the kids in Newton, Massachusetts were on financial aid. 80% of the population at my college was black and Hispanic. On financial aid. I'm not talking about fucking hb. This was ceelo and spades and guns and knives and basketball. Like, I went like, my guy, my guy. I went to D Wayne's fucking D. Wade's spades party for the first time seven, eight years ago during an NBA All Star. My first draw in the tournament was Chris Paul. And his mom, his mom is a gangster spades player. I caught her on a deep cut, throwaway move that you have to like really play spades like that. This woman turned to me and she said, and she's a player. I got her. Cause she thought she was playing a white dude who didn't know what the fuck he was doing. I did this on her 100% more. 100%, 100%. I did this move on her. She turned, she said, boy, what you know about spades? I said, way more than you think, Mama Paul. So. So in that culture, in that life, like I saw my college crew, there was a lot of kids. One of our friends is in jail for life for murder. He didn't make it to the other side. The rest of my crew, everybody became a much better man than what they grew up with if they had the strength to do it. If they found their community to help them, then everyone that looked like them can too. And so that's the excuses. I'm sorry, right? The excuses thing is what I'm trying to talk about, the blaming. We become addicted in society with fingers. Everyone's throwing fingers at all times. Where the fuck is the thumb? Where's the thumb? Where's the thumb?

B (27:37)

My question to that would be, would be this. I had this conversation actually today on message. Someone put a message out on their social about racism.

A (27:49)

Yes.

B (27:49)

And this is a black man. And he was basically saying, like, I feel like if you speak about racism, you're now becoming a victim. And he's like, I don't want to be.

A (27:58)

Yeah.

B (27:59)

He's like, I don't want to be around people who are victims. I don't want to be around people who are blaming others.

A (28:05)

Yeah.

B (28:06)

And my reply to him was this, if I see, I can call you on.

A (28:13)

Yeah, yeah.

B (28:14)

I don't have to believe that that bullshit can hamper me from becoming correct. Everything that I was made, supposed to be and I will work to be.

A (28:23)

That's right.

B (28:23)

It also doesn't mean I have to allow your bullshit.

A (28:26)

Hey, you don't have to give a

B (28:27)

pass without giving, with giving it a pass. So my question to you would be, how would you.

A (28:32)

What's the balance of that? It's such a great question. I think of it as this way, one man's point of view. There is a systematic issues in society. But you said it so beautifully. That doesn't mean that that needs to completely impact you in a way where everything out of your mouth, your whole being is based on the excuses of why not. So I think, you know, it's funny, you're saying something very important. I think things are blended and things are easy for me to decouple. Both things could be true. There could be systematic sexism, racism, separation of wealth. Scares the fuck out of me. I hate it. Because, you know, Charles Barkley said, we don't have a black and white issue, we have a rich and poor issue. And there's. There's some real things to debate in there because we know, right? Look at the enormity of black wealth that's been created in the last 40 years in America compared to before because of the rise of sport and entertainment. And just the culture. I mean, the culture, the culture is black culture and then it becomes culture. I always say to my brands, you want me to sell to 14 year old white girls in America? I'm going to Southside Atlanta, making it cool there, and I'll see you in 24 months.

B (29:50)

Did you see the SNL, the news report? And there's a young white actor, I don't know who he is, and he said, he's like, let's be real. He said, gen Z culture is just black culture. Of course, black people take something and they make it cool. And then young teenagers see it and they start to utilize it and then

A (30:09)

it becomes a thing and it's starting to blend. Adversity is the foundation of success. Black in America, because of our history, is that. But now you're starting to see it with Hispanic, right? Look what happened to music. Hip hop was crushing. And by the way, you know what made rock and roll good? Those south boys that were poor as shit. You guys know you had teammates from the south, white boys that were more hood than the black kids on a team, right?

B (30:37)

I'm not saying they were ingratiated and

A (30:39)

quote unquote, like you said, or my favorite, you know what northeast white and black dudes were always confused by. I was like, no, no, the kids were recruiting. I remember I was recruiting a kid for Vaynersport, a black kid. And I was like, I'm gonna go hunting and fishing with him. And like northeast people are like, wait, black people like hunting and fishing? They didn't even know, right?

B (30:59)

He loves.

A (31:00)

Yeah. The jets coach, Aaron Glenn, he's a cowboy. You know, like there's all these subcultures, but it's adversity, Jewish culture In America, those were people that ran from a country because they didn't want to get killed. They started from zero and they pitched, built. It's just the same game. That's why you're seeing the Hispanic, you know, impact so heavy now. Now Rigaton bad. Who's doing super bowl bad bunny, right? That's not Gloria Estefan. That's a different game. So you know what I mean?

D (31:30)

So, but bg, how do you sit down in all these rooms because people don't like, we'll listen to you.

A (31:37)

Yep,

D (31:39)

70 year old white billionaire listen. What's different that you can sit in every room and people will listen to you?

A (31:46)

Because I've been in every room. That's why I tell all the people that are mad at de and I, yes, anything out of whack gets crazy. But bro, the reason I can sit in every room is because I grew up in every room. You know, my life just got. This is why I'm so driven with gratitude. I did go to Martin Luther King Element elementary school. I did spend four years of college playing spades and Cee Lo, right? But I also worked at my daddy's liquor store that was literally in the middle of the tracks. One side of the daddy's liquor store was Union, New Jersey, Elizabeth, like Hood. They came to the liquor store buying seven dollar jugs of wine and a six pack of Budweiser. And the other side of the tracks was short hills and Milburn and they came in and bought $900 wine. You know, I feel like I can be in rooms because I, when I'm in rooms, if I was in Asian gaming culture, I come in humble, I can't be in the room. I can be in rooms because if I'm in a room that I don't know, I show respect. And I'm in a lot of rooms because I was in a lot of places. By the time I was 20, I just, the luck of my draw had me in so many different places that, you know, I was an immigrant. This is a funny one. I grew up in Edison, New Jersey, the capital of the immigration of Indians to America in the 80s. So I'm the immigrant in first, second, third, fourth grade, right? Cause I was the only one not born in America. Black, Asian. My second grade picture is crazy. Four Indian kids, four Asian kids, four black kids, four white. It was crazy United Nations. But then here came all these Indians and everyone was like, who are all these people? But I had empathy for them because I'm like, I remember feeling not American. So I became boys with all the Indians. And those kids was trying to sling and make money too. Problem is they got straight A's too. They were crazy. These Indian gangsters were crazy. I was getting Fs, but that's cause I was slinging and trying to make money. These kids were slinging and making money and getting straight A's.

C (33:47)

So that explains how we started. We're wanting to see everybody win your foundation.

A (33:52)

How you can win 100%.

C (33:53)

But let me ask you, what excites you more? Building companies, building people, or building legacy? Or is it a combination or a blend of.

A (34:01)

It's a combination of both. Of what you just said. Combination of both. I love building up people that impact the businesses I'm building in parallel. I've seen like four or five alumni on this trip. It's funny, I watch people move. People that look like me built things. Many people, we would all know they have feelings when people leave them. I'm not gonna be as aggressive as slavery, but like I'm stunned how many big tycoons that we look up to have feelings. When a kid leaves and goes, tries to build something for themselves, I'm the reverse. I'm cheer. I want my alumni, motherfucker. If my alumni is better than me, I want them to build shit bigger than me. I just. I don't understand this concept of not realizing the world is abundant. So I love building up people. Clearly that's why I'm sitting here right now. I'm hoping that someone that's listening hears something a little different this time and it switches. But I love building companies. I got too many companies, you know, like. Cause I love it. In fact, I have big companies, but they could be bigger if I had less of them. But I'd rather make less money and enjoy my game. And as far as legacy, I think about it, I think in sports terms. My life is framed in sports. No question. That is probably the selfish part of me. I'm curious of how all time great I can be. And I'm still working on it.

B (35:23)

I have a question about evolution, please. You don't become an all time great without evolution. And you continue to use sports. All you sports time. Tom Brady, greatest career of all time.

A (35:34)

Yes.

B (35:34)

Greatest player of all time.

A (35:36)

Please don't remind me.

B (35:37)

But he had to evolve, right?

A (35:38)

Hell yeah.

B (35:39)

The first Super Bowl.

A (35:40)

Yeah.

B (35:40)

It wasn't about time.

A (35:41)

No, it wasn't. He had to make sure he didn't make a mistake.

B (35:43)

It was about defense.

A (35:44)

I remember. I remember that game.

B (35:45)

To MVP Tom Brady. They don't win at that point.

A (35:48)

Yeah.

B (35:49)

And then he becomes the greatest of all time, wins three more, goes to Tampa Bay. So that evolution, was it Sir Sir Isaac Newton.

A (35:56)

Right, whatever.

B (35:57)

He said that. He was like, for every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction. Everybody was like, oh. And he was basically kind of just like.

A (36:04)

That was a real bar, by the way. Yeah.

D (36:06)

He was like, you do some stuff.

A (36:07)

He's basically like, you do some stuff.

B (36:09)

He like, you do some stuff happen on the outside.

A (36:11)

100%.

B (36:12)

But that's how knowledge had. Cuz at that time, nobody never stated.

A (36:16)

Yeah, that's right.

B (36:17)

There are some people who may know what you know.

C (36:20)

G. But.

B (36:20)

But they don't state it.

A (36:22)

Yeah, they.

B (36:23)

They don't put their brand behind it. They don't put their name on it.

A (36:25)

They're not willing to deal with the ramifications that's about to ask you.

B (36:28)

What has made you so willing to say, I believe in this. I'm willing to not only put myself in it, but put you up on it too.

A (36:34)

Complete lack of fear. You asked me a real question. What am I scared of? I gave you a real answer. So if the only thing I'm actually scared of is the health of my family, I'm not scared about getting canceled on the Internet for 48 hours. I'm not. I'm not scared of losing money. I'm not scared of going all the way back. Ry. The thing that scares me to my bone is that my favorite Rocky is Rocky 5. When he loses everything and goes back to Philly.

B (37:03)

One more wrong, Tommy bro.

A (37:05)

When he loses everything. You remember Rocky iii? He's got the robot and shit. Before he went to Russia, like he was rich. He was rich. And I don't know why that Rocky came out when he goes back to the Philly hood because he lost it all. And I was romantic about it. Like, shook me. I'm literally straight up getting goosebumps. There's something almost romantic to me of losing everything and going to zero. Hearing the whispers from all of you, being like, damn, he really fucked up. He wasn't that good after all. I'm like on some. You know who I would have been as an athlete? The best. Which is crazy. Cause I love the Knicks just below the Jets. I would have been a badass fucking villain. I want everybody in the arena to boo me. Which is wild. Cause no one does. I'm like loved. But in my real. I'm just not scared of anything. I'm with me, I'm with myself. I'm in my cocoon. I know I have nothing but good intent. So even if I make a mistake, I have the grace to give myself because I'm a human. I will apologize if I am wrong. I will state back. I will be vulnerable when I understand. I've been on a three year run telling people that candor was a kryptonite for me as an operator. I'm just not scared. My man.

B (38:23)

What's sexy, but like, you talked about Rocky going back to Philly. What's the beautiful part or romantic part or something sexy part about that?

A (38:32)

Is it.

B (38:33)

Is it the losing that it's not

A (38:34)

that it's not scary?

C (38:36)

Huh?

A (38:36)

Right? That it's not scary? No.

B (38:38)

Okay, but I'm saying, like, would it be what makes it romantic? Losing it all or having a chance

A (38:44)

to build it again?

B (38:45)

Or to build it.

A (38:46)

I do love the rides to the Phoenix because there is a part of me that says I'm not scared because I real build it back up and I'll be like, told you. But really, it's, it's. I just. You. You know this, man, do I know. You guys know this. When you come from a place of less and then you get to a place of more, most people go into defense. They do not want to go back. And I just have this weird. Like, I can live in an apartment that has a rat in it with like a bullshit TV. Like, I don't know, like, I can eat $2 fast. I don't want to for my health, but, like, I don't know what it is, but it's just, I'm not trying to do dumb shit to make it happen, but I'm just. I'll give you one. When people get the most on tilt about America, like, America falling, I'm like, all right, I'll go to New Zealand and start over. Like, you know, I don't know. Like, I don't know. I've got, you know, I don't know. Right.

B (39:48)

It's still. Story of the parable of the talents.

A (39:50)

Yeah. I don't know it, but okay, so

B (39:52)

the parable of the talents is this. God, Jesus talked about people who all had talents, and there were some part of it, they buried their talents and someone else went out to multiply.

A (40:02)

Yeah.

B (40:02)

And in burying your talents, the. The fear of finally having something and being so scared to lose it, you didn't multiply to honor God. And in the way that you're living life, you are saying, hey, look, I have these talents. I have this ability now that I've built myself into something. I'm not too scared to lose it. I'll continue to honor it by building more. And I think that's a difficult thing to do.

D (40:29)

But it sounds easy. There's at some point when you can't lose. You get so much money you can't lose. You get so much investments that you can go 100 million. And then now I can't lose moving forward.

A (40:44)

Yeah, it's funny you say that like my financial advisor hates me. It's not how I'm playing. It's also funny that money is like the framework of the combo, right? Like, I don't know. I've had a wild relationship with money my whole life. I'm great at it, but I do not respect it. I definitely don't. I don't like it. Yeah, it's really interesting. You know what I like? And this is real talk? I like freedom. So the reason I got D's and F's in school was like, I'm like, no, I'm not doing homework, bro. I did not open a textbook in four years of high school. I got zeros on every book report. I did not do homework on my Scantron. I did A, B, C, B, A, C, B. I had freedom in fucking the system. That's what I like money for. I have freedom. But sometimes, you know this. I actually think most people get money and lose freedom.

B (41:39)

I agree with that.

A (41:42)

So I have money. I view it as optionality, but it's not my jail. And so, yeah, I mean, I'm detached. That's another thing. Lately a lot of people have been giving me flowers around humility. Like, you know, as my whole thing keeps going and more people know me. And I just think it's because I don't believe that I'm great either. Like, it's just really zen shit. Like, you know, as you get older, you're like. I'm like, damn. Like all this shit people are talking about. Stoicism, Buddha. I'm like, shit, that's like, I've been that. And that was because I lost a lot as a kid. Immigrant, got picked on for not speaking English. Then sports played 24 7. Early on, dominated first, second grade, I was killing it. Hand eye coordination, crazy. But then you guys know this fifth grade, all of a sudden, speed, strength, agility, athleticism, all this shit got caught up. And then like business, business. I'm trying to sell shit. 900 people say, no one says, yes. You start to fall in love with the micro. No, I'm in Love with the micro. No, in the. In fact, too much success early on. I always am scared for kids. Really good looking and really good at school and really good at sports. I'm like, mm, mm. You're about to get caught. I see a 16 year old that, like, just says, like, that guy, like, looks too good. He's got the girl. Wins too much in sports. N. Straight A going to Penn or Harvard. Tennis first. I'm like, mm, mm. This motherfucker's gonna walk into some fire at 26 and not know what to do.

C (43:16)

How do you have the athletes right now?

A (43:19)

That's right, because you guys didn't grow up in the era of all this. Aau, one sport, all the co. Like, you guys grew up different, Right?

C (43:25)

We grew up understanding. Not to put. Well, I always say the shine before the grind.

A (43:32)

Yeah.

C (43:32)

That we grind at first. And then.

A (43:34)

That's right.

C (43:35)

All of that came.

A (43:37)

It's tough for these kids. Fred, Fred, you would have been on. There would have been an Instagram of a clip of you as like an 8th grader getting offers to Alabama. Like, it would have been. It just. They got it different. Which is why it's all about parenting now and getting. We need to get in our caves with our crew and get our shit basic. Cause the world's complicated. We gotta get basic. G, I need your help, please.

C (44:00)

Man to man.

A (44:00)

Man to man.

C (44:01)

How can I stop spending money on whatnot?

A (44:04)

I can't do it either. It's so fun. Yeah. Whatnot is a live shopping app that has collectibles and we're just buying cards, opening up packs. We love that. We love that game. It's our casino.

C (44:15)

It has everything.

A (44:16)

Yeah.

C (44:17)

And I hear you talk a lot about Tick Tocks.

A (44:19)

Yeah.

C (44:19)

Tick Tock Shop.

A (44:20)

Yep.

C (44:21)

AI Influencers.

A (44:22)

Yep. You're paying attention, my man. Thank you.

C (44:24)

Of course.

A (44:24)

Thank you.

C (44:26)

We have some stuff.

A (44:27)

Oh, you guys.

D (44:28)

You guys are people buying car?

A (44:31)

Yes, sir.

D (44:32)

Come on, man. No, but that's crazy. More than cars.

A (44:36)

It's really not.

C (44:37)

It's really more than cars. And when I talk about whatnot and. And Tick Tock Shop and AI Influencers, like, really. I've been working behind the scenes before. I bring to my people what we're trying to do with Pivot.

A (44:54)

This needs to be on Tick Tock more than whatnot because of the way that algorithm works. I'll talk to you about off camera. Let me answer yours. I do it for investment purposes. Like, I made real money. I bought a Super Mario. You know Mario from Super Mario? I bought His Japanese rookie card on eBay 24 months ago for $35. It sells for 3,500 now. That's just a good investment. Yes, sir. You know what I mean? Yeah.

B (45:20)

And I'm listening to you and it's like a thing with football players.

A (45:23)

Yep.

D (45:24)

Right.

B (45:24)

It's when your entire self worth is attached to your career, of course. What do you do when that career goes away?

A (45:31)

Tough man. It would be a kidney.

B (45:33)

I had to move back in my old neighborhood.

A (45:35)

My guy. That's why I started Vayner Sports. I was so infatuated with the depression that came along with the transition. Infatuated.

B (45:43)

How do you separate that?

C (45:45)

Right.

A (45:45)

You're.

B (45:46)

Because you're a builder of business.

A (45:47)

Yes.

B (45:48)

How do you separate your self worth from what you've been able to build?

A (45:53)

Because my mama made me see, like drilled in me so consistently that my self worth had to be based on how nice I was. I just got very fortunate, bro. That's real talk. My mom just. That's what it was like by the time I was 17, like, I fully have my self worth based on how you men talk about me behind my back when I'm not here. That's it. That's where I don't. Nothing else. And I get it, but it's just true. And then that's why it's so awesome. That's why I'm unstoppable. There's a great term in boxing. Like, you know, a fighter that has nothing to lose is a dangerous fighter. Right. So you go into it. This is why someone who's like 7 and 19 knocks out a kid on the come up at 21. Oh, that person just said, fuck it. I don't give a shit. You know what I mean? And he's in the clothes. He's like. And it's like, you know, and that's kind of. I have that mentality because I'm just not attached to my 21 and O. I'm not attached to my best season. In fact, it really. This is a weird one going on with me right now. I came out the gate hot this year. In fact, you guys said, you're on one. I'm on one. Actually. I actually called my brother two weeks ago and said, bro, just on some random theatrical shit. Cause I knew I was locked in. I said, bro. I don't usually call him in the middle of the day. We talk night. Da da. He's like, what's up? I said, can you look up Jerry Rice's career? He was like, what like, just. I'm super left field. I was like, can you pull up Jerry Rice's career? He's like, okay, what's going on? I was like, what was his best season? He looks, he's like, 95 was kind of crazy. 1800 yards. I go, Bro, this is like two weeks ago, three weeks ago, mid January. Three weeks in the year. I'm like, bro, I might have a 95 Jerry rice season this year. I've done more. This is real talk. I have done more. So I had a funny vacation. I usually travel, warm weather. I was in New York, me and my wife just like, you know what? And I just had time, right? I just started, like doing stuff that I don't normally do. I was just like. And I wrote this thing called intentionality and impact. I'm very improv. I'm very improv. I'm very osmosis. I value longevity, continuity, vibes, loyalty. And I say, you know what? I got too much going on. I got eight or nine real businesses going crazy, and I got like 30, 40 people around me who've been with me for 10 years. And I'm not really giving them enough direction. They're just, homie, they're in the family now. They're doing shit. But I was like, you know what? And I just started writing down, what are the three things I want vaynersports to get done this year? My restaurant group, which is exploding, Vayner VaynerMedia, is gonna do $400 million in revenue. It's a big ass company, not in value in revenue. You know, Vayner Sports is exploding. You know, I'm pretty excited. Oh, I'm gonna probably be in Pittsburgh. We have Sonny Stiles, we rep from Ohio State. He's gonna be a top 15 pick. So we're excited about that. You know, vfriends is completely out of control. I'm literally actually, no bullshit, building next Marvel and Pokemon in front of everyone's eyes. But it's like the third thing I'm doing and no one can see it. And like, I'm building this crazy podcast network. I decided this year where I'm gonna do four shows. I'm gonna build a network where I'm the Ryan Seacoast. I'm like doing all of them, but I'm gonna build a network. So I've got all this stuff and then I've got these incredible people Sid on my team who's run my content. Hannah park, my chief of staff, Justin Navello, my brother in law, who's in my. And I'm like, everyone here can do more too. And I just started writing down what do I. And I'm just fucking locked in. And like, what's been done in 30 days on this? Cause you know, the student doesn't come out that often. Like I don't do that often. So when I did. But it's. But it was. It wasn't the action. It was where I was at. I was ready to make 26 crazy. And it's all just so easy for me because of what we talked about, the good shit before. I just got. So the reason this is all gonna work is. Cause I'm okay if it doesn't.

B (49:57)

Now my question to you would be young people who watch our show and I love the social media media post where there's a young entrepreneur or someone who is searching. They ask you a question. You answered three things. If you say, hey, these are three foundational principles of building a brand or business.

A (50:17)

Yeah.

B (50:18)

And here's ways to start. What would those things?

A (50:20)

Maybe a weird one first, that I really believe in. Number one, curiosity. The real stuff that I'm seeing is people that are curious because there's so little friction to do shit now. So number one is curiosity. And the action is take full advantage of ChatGPT and Gemini. Literally, the stuff I'm doing on this thing, I'm curious like, why did this happen? When did this happen? How did this happen? Why did this just happen? Break this the fun one. Okay. I don't understand this chemical thing. Break this down in NFL terms. Like, you know, that does it. It really does it. So using AI in this moment where it can tell you the answers to everything and using your curiosity. Cause it will lead you to something new and clever. Look, I think number two is some sort. I'll call it dmp. I'll say discipline and patience. It's just real, y'. All. If I did a pushup right now, I would not look like y'. All. A push up is not going to get. Get me there. And I really think people are like that. I made a social media post and like in the famous words of Chris Rock, like, what do you want a cookie? You need to post 800 times all month for 13 years and then talk. Then we can talk. It's this level of patience and discipline that no one wants, which goes to the third principle, which is perspective. You have to understand why you're doing things. I'm. I'm telling you, the reason everyone got fast is they want to impress everyone else. People Are living their lives out here trying to impress people that they don't even know or like, like living their life making your life to impress people on the other side of these cameras that you don't even know. People being shook when Johnnypants 19 says you suck in the comments. Like living their life. Like people are scared to post about their yoga interests or their startup idea. Scared because Sally Pants McGee R7 might be like, you look terrible today. Your lighting's off. I think we need a shift. But we need to stop blaming. This isn't the. The algorithm's fault. This. What's that?

B (52:41)

Blaming number three. You stop blaming number three.

A (52:43)

Yeah. Accountability is over everything. It's like to me like accountability is the oxygen needed in our society. We just absolutely default into blaming everybody but the one person that is actually capable of changing the script.

C (52:58)

I know you gotta go. Yeah, but I see b friends.

A (53:02)

Yes, sir.

C (53:02)

Helen kept Collab with top 5.

A (53:05)

Yes sir.

C (53:05)

Congrats on that.

A (53:06)

Thank you.

C (53:06)

Just really quick before you leave though, because you said your self worth is determined by what people say about you in the.

A (53:12)

In rooms behind my back that know me based on my actions towards them as a human.

C (53:17)

Okay. And looking at a lot of times people you. You asked that question about the glass half empty.

A (53:23)

Yes.

C (53:24)

Right. And that's perspective.

A (53:25)

Yes.

C (53:26)

I want to ask you what your thoughts on. Oh like are you more of a it's about who you know type of person or more so about who knows you.

A (53:38)

Man, it's so crazy where my brain goes, I'll answer and then I'll answer yours. I think it's more of how you feel about yourself. Like those two things are important, but like I think those things mean nothing compared to how did you wake up today? And how are you talking to yourself about you then? I'm 50. 50 on that, brother. I think network matters. I think people should push curiosity to meet different people, different shit happens. I think who you hang out with is real. I think optimism, practical optimism. Circles change the perception. If we sat here and dwelled. That's why everyone's fucked up. Everyone's just in politics all day and it's important. You can't put your head in the sand of injustice and shit like that. But all day, like you've got to, you know you're gonna lose every football game if the defense goes out on every play you gotta score, you know. But I also think having attention who knows you that matters. Attention's the currency. You can't sell anything. God. Trading cards, energy drinks, hats, a different way of looking at the world. You can't sell shit. A pastor makes nothing happen if the church is empty. So attention is the currency. What you do with that attention becomes your legacy, man.

C (55:05)

I think.

B (55:06)

You know, they say sometimes the sequel doesn't live up to the original, but this is even better than the first time, man.

A (55:13)

We really appreciate you, man. Thank you, guys. Thank you, everybody. If you enjoyed this podcast, please go back and look at the prior episodes. They're loaded. I appreciate your attention, and thanks for being part of this journey. See you later.