Paid Ads, AI, and Organic Social Content — What Actually Works Now

Summary

Podcast Summary: The GaryVee Audio Experience

Episode: Paid Ads, AI, and Organic Social Content — What Actually Works Now

Date: December 23, 2025
Host: Gary Vaynerchuk

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Overview

In this episode, Gary Vaynerchuk dives deep into what actually works right now for businesses and entrepreneurs in digital marketing. Focusing on the evolving roles of paid ads, AI, and organic social content, Gary offers no-BS, energetic advice drawn from his personal experience, history, and vision for the future. He touches on platform strategies, using AI tools, the coming wave of AI influencers, and the mindset shift necessary to thrive in today's rapidly evolving marketing landscape.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Go All In: Every Social Platform Matters

• "All of them. All of them. I mean, what the hell are we doing here?... The answer’s all of 'em."
  — Gary Vaynerchuk [00:16]

• Gary insists that business owners should not limit themselves to just one or two platforms; every available channel is an opportunity.
• Excuses like lack of time, knowledge, or preference for certain platforms are unacceptable if you want to build something significant.
• Quote: “It is unacceptable to say you're going to build an empire and not use this when it is the foundation and the pipes of modern communication in our society.” — Gary Vaynerchuk [01:08]

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2. Authenticity Over Automation

• Posting on your own behalf, authentically, trumps posting just to “get something out.”
• Gary draws a hard line: “I’d rather you not post than it not be authentic.” [03:08]

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3. Best Platforms for B2B in 2025

• LinkedIn is the clear standout for B2B, acting today like Facebook circa 2015 — a rare imbalance favoring organic content exposure.
• Organic content should come first; paid amplification should only be used for content that’s already done well organically.
• Quote: “We’re in the era now of only spending media on pieces of creative that did well organically, because the AI algorithms… will show you if there’s interest.” — Gary Vaynerchuk [04:36]

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4. Using AI: Kill the ‘I Don’t Know How’ Excuse

• “There's literally. We are literally living in a world where the concept of 'but I don't know how' has been eliminated.” — Gary Vaynerchuk [05:27]

• Gary demonstrates how anyone can use ChatGPT (affectionately nicknamed “Chatty”) to instantly get marketing guidance.
• All excuses of not knowing how to market or use a platform are now invalid.

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Notable Prediction:

“Many people in this room’s grandchildren will marry an AI robot in your life.” — Gary Vaynerchuk [06:55]

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5. Deepfakes, AI Content, and Blockchain as Proof of Origin

• Gary warns that soon, nobody will trust videos on the internet — AI and deepfakes will become indistinguishable from reality.
• He predicts a pivotal event involving AI-generated content will shake social trust in the upcoming years.
• Blockchain will become essential for authenticating and timestamping the true origin of content.

"In 36 months, 48 months, you’re not gonna believe a single video on the Internet." — Gary Vaynerchuk [08:36]
“I’m already minting my videos from me on the blockchain. And to prove that I made it.” [10:48]

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6. Change is the Entrepreneur’s Constant

• Embracing change is the only prerequisite for entrepreneurship.
• Gary reframes the journey: “Entrepreneurship is basically losing all the time with an occasional win. And I like that.” [15:19]

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7. The Evolution of Influence: From Celebrities to AI

• Celebrities gave way to micro-influencers; now, AI-generated influencers are coming.
• Anyone creative can now create and monetize an entire persona/IP without ever appearing themselves.

“Somebody in this room in seven years might make $500,000 a year in brand deals of a character they created that posts on social media. Not even them.” — Gary Vaynerchuk [19:44]

• The influencer economy is now true “fame democracy,” but the next wave will see virtual and AI characters grabbing attention and brand deals.

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8. Don’t Fear AI — Compete With It, Or Lose To Someone Who Does

• Gary urges listeners to get over fear and start using AI to their advantage.

“You're not going to be put out of business by AI. You're going to be put out of business by someone who uses AI better than you.” [25:00]

• AI tools are multiplying rapidly, and the key is to stay current, test frequently, and seek out creative advantage.
• Ultimately, what matters will be your brand and execution, not access to the latest technology itself.

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9. Future of Digital Marketing Teams & Work

• Small businesses: the owner is often the “digital team.”
• Larger SMBs ($50M revenue, ~8-9% marketing budget): Teams of 4-7, including videographers ("shreditors"), a department leader, community manager, and creative/strategist.
• All content should be posted “day by day” for agility — “day trading attention.” Scheduling far ahead is too risky for relevancy. [35:19]
• Owners don’t have to love marketing, but must understand it at least as well as finance.

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10. Organic vs. Paid: Free Attention Is Still a Miracle

• Algorithms now reward merit and interest, not just big followings — anyone can “win” with the right post.

"Literally, if you’ve never posted once on social, tomorrow you could post a video and it could get more views than my post that day." — Gary Vaynerchuk [41:56]

• Don’t gripe about reach or algorithms — massive, free organic distribution is a modern miracle.

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11. Algorithm Control & Social Media Accountability

• You can directly influence your algorithm and feed by actively liking/searching for content you enjoy.
• The victim mentality (blaming tech, politicians, “the algorithm”) is a trap; embrace accountability and take charge of your inputs and mindsets.

“I am super happy in life because I think everything is my fault. And that’s not beating yourself up. That’s understanding the power of accountability and that you can change.” — Gary Vaynerchuk [47:15]

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12. Action Step: Posting for Mission-Driven Growth

• Everyone should post something, ideally a photo and a few genuine sentences — more reach is available than ever, regardless of your follower count.
• Use the given event hashtag (“WeAreWarriorRising”) for amplification.
• Quote: “Do you know how crazy it is that you can post on these platforms for free and reach millions of people? ...It’s free, friends.” [51:00]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Quote | Speaker | |-----------|-------|---------| | 00:16 | “All of them. All of them. ...The answer’s all of 'em.” | Gary Vaynerchuk | | 01:08 | “It is unacceptable to say you're going to build an empire and not use this...” | Gary Vaynerchuk | | 03:08 | “I’d rather you not post than it not be authentic.” | Gary Vaynerchuk | | 04:36 | “We’re in the era now of only spending media on pieces of creative that did well organically...” | Gary Vaynerchuk | | 05:27 | “We are literally living in a world where the concept of 'I don't know how' has been eliminated.” | Gary Vaynerchuk | | 06:55 | “Many people in this room’s grandchildren will marry an AI robot in your life.” | Gary Vaynerchuk | | 08:36 | “In 36 months, 48 months, you’re not gonna believe a single video on the Internet.” | Gary Vaynerchuk | | 10:48 | “I’m already minting my videos from me on the blockchain. ...Proof of provenance.” | Gary Vaynerchuk | | 15:19 | “Entrepreneurship is basically losing all the time with an occasional win. And I like that.” | Gary Vaynerchuk | | 19:44 | “Somebody in this room in seven years might make $500,000 a year... Not even them.” | Gary Vaynerchuk | | 25:00 | “You're not going to be put out of business by AI. You're going to be put out of business by someone who uses AI better than you.” | Gary Vaynerchuk | | 35:19 | “Day trading attention. Literally. I would be scared to schedule my next week social media post because too much can change in a week.” | Gary Vaynerchuk | | 41:56 | “...tomorrow you could post a video and it could get more views than my post that day.” | Gary Vaynerchuk | | 47:15 | “I am super happy in life because I think everything is my fault. ...That’s understanding the power of accountability and that you can change.” | Gary Vaynerchuk | | 51:00 | “...you can post on these platforms for free and reach millions of people? ...It’s free, friends.” | Gary Vaynerchuk |

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:08 — On making social media non-negotiable for ambitious entrepreneurs
• 04:36 — The new paid ads playbook: amplify what worked organically
• 05:27 — AI as the destroyer of all “I don’t know how” excuses
• 08:36 — Deepfakes, the future of trust, and minting content on blockchain
• 19:44 — The future of influence: from celebrities to AI-generated personas
• 25:00 — Why you should run toward, not from, AI (and how you’ll lose if you don’t)
• 35:19 — Why you should never schedule social content weeks in advance
• 41:56 — The power of zero-followers: Anyone can go viral now
• 47:15 — The power of accountability in business and life
• 51:00 — Why organic reach is still a miracle, and your next steps

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Summary Takeaways for Non-Listeners

• Be on every platform you can—stop making excuses.
• Embrace authentic content—don’t automate what should be genuine.
• For B2B, LinkedIn is massive right now; always start with organic before paid.
• AI removes ‘how’ as an obstacle—learn to use tools like ChatGPT for instant marketing answers.
• Trust in online video is about to collapse thanks to deepfakes; blockchain will help anchor authenticity.
• The next big opportunity is AI-generated influence and creative IP—you can participate even if you don’t want to be on camera.
• Don’t fear AI—someone savvy with it will outcompete you if you don’t step up.
• Teams and workflows must be agile, creative, and able to "day trade attention".
• Algorithms reward interest, not previous clout—everyone has a shot.
• Ultimately, nobody is coming to rescue or restrict you—embrace accountability and take control.

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Final Action:
Take a photo, write something genuine, use the hashtag (e.g., #WeAreWarriorRising), and post to your social channels—because you never know which post could change the game for your message, business, or mission.

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End of Summary.

Transcript

[Interviewer]

11 + million followers on Instagram. 6 million. Correct me if my numbers are Wrong. Million on LinkedIn. The list goes on and on and on. Gonna talk a little bit about how these companies can grow their business with social media. So let's dive into what platforms?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

All of them.

[Interviewer]

If you're just getting out.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

All of them. All of them. I mean, what the hell are we doing here? This is the GaryVee audio experience. Let me get this straight. You want to build a business to make money to enhance your life and your family, and you're not willing to go on more than one or two platforms cause it's so hard. Get the fuck outta here. Look who we're talking to. The answer's all of em. Gary.

[Interviewer]

I'm guilty of this. So I'm a little nervous right now.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Don't be nervous. Don't be nervous. You got this. Let's clap it up for him.

[Interviewer]

It's because I don't use it and I found it.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Listen, I'm gonna. I apologize for interrupting, friends. You don't need to use it. There are many businesses that have done well without is not required. It is just ludicrously easy in the scheme of the many things one can do in business. That has the biggest upside, if you understand it. But you don't have to use it like there's no absolutism in anything in life. You don't have to be good at social media to build a business, but it's there. You definitely should not be using your political or subjective opinion of the medium as the reason you don't do it, or more importantly, as the reason why you don't want to put in the work to do it so you justify it when in reality it's because you don't want to fucking put in the work to figure it out and do it. That is unacceptable. It's unacceptable to say you're going to build an empire and not use this when it is the foundation and the pipes of modern communication in our society. But you're allowed to to just be okay at entrepreneurship. Hey everybody. Hope you're enjoying the podcast right now. Make sure you follow the podcast. That's why I'm interrupting. Let's keep going on this show, but follow the podcast. They'll make my mom super happy.

[Interviewer]

So I was nervous in that sense. Jason and I were in an Iowa event earlier this year. We were talking. He said he was trying to get you to come to this. I said, no way. Eyes lit up. He goes, do you want to be on Stage with him. I said, hell, yes.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I'm very humbled. Thank you.

[Interviewer]

Back at the office, you got to post something before you go out there. So they posted something on my behalf, you know, so that's why I'm nervous about that. So, talking more about the platforms.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Wait, they posted as you.

[Interviewer]

I know. I sat down.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I'd rather you not post than it not be authentic.

[Interviewer]

All right. I sat down with Danny and we went through it all.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yep. Fair enough. He didn't press the button, but it was yours. Okay, fair enough.

[Interviewer]

So, hoping to get one at the end of this, too.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I got you. I got you.

[Interviewer]

So there's so many platforms out there.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes.

[Interviewer]

You got LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes.

[Interviewer]

TikTok.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yep.

[Interviewer]

The list goes on and on.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

YouTube shorts, Snapchat, Spotlight, Pinterest, depending on your business. So go ahead.

[Interviewer]

Is there some more for B2B? What would those be?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

LinkedIn is by far the play for B2B. LinkedIn is insanity. LinkedIn is acting like Facebook did in 2015. There's more attention than there is content, which is just supply and demand of attention. That's why I named the book Day Trading Attention. Because now it requires to understand what I know daily. Not like, oh, six months ago. I was kidding. Six months ago was like 47,000 years on these algorithms ago. But LinkedIn is by far the B2B play. There is some activity in action that you can get out of x Twitter on B2B. Those two really stand out. But LinkedIn is an incredibly fruitful. If you have a SaaS business in here, you need to be posting on LinkedIn daily, organically. And then, God willing, for some reason, that piece of content gets a lot of views organically. Then you amplify it with paid. The days of spending paid media dollars on guessing on your content are over. That was Facebook 2015 ABCD testing. What does best CAC LTV. We're in the era now of only spending media on pieces of creative that did well organically, because the AI algorithms in the platforms will show you if there's interest from people in the content.

[Interviewer]

These 12 businesses that are just getting into it, just testing this, I went on. I had a LinkedIn account.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes.

[Interviewer]

But I went in there to do a professional one. There's so many different options.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes.

[Interviewer]

What do you do? I mean, it's. There's so many. I was confused.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Well, you do the work. You know, I don't know if you heard about this, but there's this thing called AI. Right.

[Interviewer]

Hold on. I can show you, my threads.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

So great. So you literally go in, I'll do it for you right now. You will never have a problem again. You will never say, I don't know how to do ever again. There's literally. We are literally living in a world where the concept of but I don't know how has been eliminated as an issue. I'm literally going to ChatGPT right now. Hey, Chatty. I'm a B2B SaaS business, and I want to figure out how to market on LinkedIn, my SaaS product. What kind of content should I do? What kind of content should I produce? What kind of account should I do? And if I wanna do working media dollars, what's a good resource for LinkedIn ad spend? That's it. We live in that world now. That's it. I'm talking over it right now. So it may or may not catch what I do, but I usually do my invoice. Literally every excuse you have of not knowing how to do something. Well, Gary, I don't know how to use TikTok, I don't know how to make content, or I don't know how to run ads on Facebook. It's over, suckers. It's over. Your bullshit's over. It's right here. This will answer properly, by the way, or at least within striking distance. So, you know, that's. That's it, buddy. That excuse is finished.

[Interviewer]

Chatty.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah. I call ChatGPT chatty. We keep it tight, keep it warm. I got cozy with my chat.

[Interviewer]

Mine is Zara.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Fair enough.

[Interviewer]

I asked her what her name was.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah, I get it. Be careful. Cause you might get romantic. By the way, that's my big prediction for the room today. Many people in this room's grandchildren will marry an AI robot in your life. I know, I know.

[Interviewer]

I've heard you say that multiple times.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I believe it more than anything. You know why? Cause I don't predict. This is already happening in Japan right now. It will get here. Your grandchild is gonna marry a robot and it's gonna fuck with you. I mean, you know how some people, like, really want you to marry within the religion? This is a fucking robot, dude. People are gonna wish they married outside their religion. This is gonna get you.

[Interviewer]

I don't.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I don't either. And that's evolution. I know you may think it's crazy, but it's incredible what's going on, the time and era. But I always remind people. Do you think the world just stops when you're alive? Literally, not too long ago, electricity was completely demonized by people. People were scared to bring electricity into their home. You should really, really look into the history of electricity. I truly believe if you did an hour of research on the history of electricity that it will calm you and help you understand what's about to happen in this next couple of years. On how people view AI. Humans are scared of new things. It's how we're built, which is why the people that aren't scared win. Fear is the weapon.

[Interviewer]

Talking about AI, you've been talking recently. In the next 18 to 24 months.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes.

[Interviewer]

We're not going to know if it's actually Gary Vee up there.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Deep fakes somebody else.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah. In a world where I really don't fear, this is gonna be an interesting little bubble. Every person in this room. Bless you, brother. Every person in this room is not gonna believe a single video they watch on the Internet in about 36 months. Again, I was a terrible student, but I was really good at history and I never really understood. In hindsight, I just. Now I believe I subconsciously understood it would be valuable for me for my goals in business. I use history to predict the future a lot, or at least understand the current. That'd be more accurate. In 36 months, 48 months, you're not gonna believe a single video on the Internet. You're just not. I'm sure you're seeing the videos you're already seeing. And like, you know, I mean, you think you know because you see bad AI and you're like, oh, that's a fake girl, you know, but you've already, all of you have already. If you're active on social and going through the feed, all of you have already consumed a human that is AI that you didn't realize was AI already. And in 24 months, the technology's moving by the nano minute, let alone day, which is gonna lead to more videos of me saying terrible things or silly things than are videos of me as one of the most prolific content creators of the last 20 years. Literally within a half decade, there'll be more content of me on the Internet that's not me than there is me. We will all know that. We will stop believing all of it. There'll be some significant event in the next 12 or 24 months that really hits the culture and causes hoopla or issues like, you know, a mayor or governor or something important, saying something that makes people act. It's gonna happen. And I worry about that because I really do think that video proof has been the judge and jury of our entire human society for the last hundred years. And to remind you, that's kind of new. The motion picture. This is why I keep trying to get people to understand their history. The motion picture video is a new invention. And I think a lot of us here think about what's happened in the political sphere the last decade of where what's the value of truth and like interpretation? And I'm sure many of us have thought about those things. We're really going to a very extreme place soon. Now I'm optimistic. In fact, I believe the blockchain where Bitcoin and Ethereum and NFTs sit actually has an incredible opportunity to be our counter move to this. For example, I'm already minting my videos from me on the blockchain. And to prove that I made it. Cause I minted it. So proof of providence, as they say, if you got nerdy on the blockchain. So listen, let me just promise you one thing. You need to have way more optimism on the number one underrated brand in the world, which is the human race. I don't know if you know this, but we've had an atomic bomb running around now in multiple countries for a half a century. And here we are. And I promise you, in 1952, if we were having this talk and we, America had just dropped a bomb less than a decade ago. And I said, in the future, 13 to 15 countries will have the atomic bomb. But get this, in the next 70 years, no one's going to use it. That would have been hard to believe then. I believe in the optimism of all this. But yes, I think deep fake videos at scale are coming. It's going to cause a decade of confusion. And I think we as humans will invent the counter move, the cat and the mice game, the cops and the robbers game. And yeah, I'm just mentally preparing for it.

[Interviewer]

How does that blockchain work to tell if it's true or not? Because that is some.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

The blockchain's incredible. The blockchain is decentralized servers that no one owns. If Meta is upset, I mean, I'm sure this is not lost on anybody. If Meta's upset with you, they can stop you. You're blocked, you're out, it's over. Right? We've all lived through the last decade above and beyond that. If the US government tells Meta to be mad at you, they can do something about it. The blockchain. Not Meta, not Google, not Apple, not Microsoft, not Tencent, not Alibaba and not Russia, not China. Not America, not Brazil. No one can do anything about it. It's decentralized and owned by no one. And it is a ledger of proof. It is a big deal. And right now everyone's caught up in the crypto scams and the bitcoin and the money of it all. And they're missing the plot. The plot is we have invented already a ledger of proof that is human to human and nobody can manipulate it. That is profound. Do you know that we print the US dollar at will against no thesis or grounded in anything? Do you know that other things have had value in the past? Like other things have been considered money? Humans walked this beautiful land right here around gold and didn't even look at it. Things change. And so the reason bitcoin will be interesting is there's only a limited amount. Enough people already have decided it's money. We're already at the tipping point and there will never be more and no one can do anything about it. That's interesting to me. And I think that will form further than just currency. I think it will be the layer of content because of the technology day that we now live in. So stuff to think about. A lot of nerdy stuff to think about. It's super exciting, I think. So listen, I think change is epic. Otherwise it'd be boring. And if there was no change, we'd all be outside right now with a club hitting each other over the head with like leopard clothes on. Like, which does sound fun. I agree with you. I'm kind of into it too, bro. By the way, some people are trying to bring that shit back, you know? But I just think that. I just think, especially for everyone in this room, if you're truly an entrepreneur, if you're actually. Let's go back to the. Let's get a little lower level than where I've been floating. If you're in it for this, the only thing you need to be ready for is change. There is nothing else. Entrepreneurship is basically losing all the time with an occasional win. And I like that.

[Interviewer]

Sounds great.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

It's being alive. I'd rather die on my own sword than someone else's.

[Interviewer]

So you bring up change. Let's talk about the change of influencers. So, influencers, we had celebrities.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes.

[Interviewer]

Micro influencers. Now we're going to go to AI Influencers.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

That's right.

[Interviewer]

So that's going to take it. If you don't want to step from the camera, take a picture of yourself and plug it in and tell it what's say.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And Sora too All of you should download it. Good job. The dude was like. I just did. I was like, good, good, go ahead.

[Interviewer]

So things are going to change. What do you see after AI influencers? What's.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Well, first we have to get to AI influencers. And listen, fame has changed all the time. Do you understand? If you were a pilot in 1952, you were famous. Now you're getting yelled at by someone cause the flight's delayed by six minutes. Like astronauts, right? And as a matter of fact, athletes were really not that famous. You go back to the 50s and six, like literally new York Yankees were like winning World Series and then in the off season working like in a hardware store in Hoboken. Like, fame moves, right? You know, starting with the real world and then Survivor. Like we got into this era of the reality celebrity about 25 years ago. We all know that because we lived that extended into what we're living with now. Andy Warhol had this whole concept of 15 minutes of fame. I remember in 2007 on stage, I said, I took a twist on it. It got a lot of juice at the time in Silicon Valley. I said, we're gonna go from 15 minutes of fame to everyone's gonna be famous to 15 people. And I think we've really gotten there. I think I nailed that one, you know, and that's where we're at. And so like now every, I mean, I don't know, you guys all know it. Like every single 15 to 18 year old on Earth's goal in life is to be an influencer. Like that's their career of choice. And really what that means is to be an entrepreneur means that I want to live on my own two feet and get brands or to platforms or find some, sell some T shirts or I just want to, I want to make money by being me. And by the way, people made money by being them. You know, it's not how we all grew up, but like Eddie Murphy was a comedian and he made money by being him. We just now all have that opportunity. We judge that because we're like, they don't have talent. Guys, your opinions on someone who has 5 million followers, if you're like, they're not pretty, they're not funny, you're an idiot. You're an idiot. Of course they are. They have 5 million people who decided that they like them. And you think your opinion is more valid than 5 million other people's opinions. The audacity, the lack of humility, the lack of deep understanding of how the world works. So I think Influencer will continue to evolve, but I also think it's mass democracy. And now all these influencers. Every time I make a video on social that the AI influencers are about to do to the influencers what influencers did to celebrities in Hollywood, they get mad. I'm like, how could you be mad? You're a hypocrite. Your brand deal came out of Cindy Crawford's pocket or Karl Malone's pocket, right? That used to go to celebrities. So now you're mad that somebody's gonna build characters like, but they're not real. I'm like, mickey Mouse is not. So that's what I think, my friend. And by the way, I apologize. I'm trying to give some people some ideas for businesses. You might be creative. Look at the great Vince McMahon. Vince McMahon literally built Disney. One of the great IP companies in the world. Intellectual property cop in the world is the wwe. They own Hillbilly Jim. They own Brutus the Barber Beefcake and the Ultimate Warrior and Big John Studd. They made characters, but they made it out of a human wild concept. Everything else was Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse and Betty Boop and Transformers. He did it out of humans. But it's the same business now. You can literally create with these new tools a world, literally. Your Harry Potter, your Bugs Bunny, you're Paw Patrol. And you can literally create these. If you're that some of you have even suppressed your creative talent. You may not even think that's cool. You may not realize how. Some of you may not realize how creative you are. This is gonna be a nirvana for people that are creative or closet creatives. Haven't even thought about that part of your life. But then you think back and you're like, but wait a minute. I used to make up stories for my kids when they were 2, 3, 4 years old. When I ran out of books, I just made them up. I did that for my brother. I just made up the story. He was 11 years younger. So now that I'm doing my vee friends thing and creating that world, I'm like, wait a minute, I've always been like this. And so you can create five influencers, not even characters. A person, a guy with a red headed afro who's funny, who grew up in Nevada and skateboarded and like literally create it and start posting. And you own that intellectual property. You can say, it's weird. Oh, that's weird. Or you could say it's not weird. And you could literally, somebody in this room in seven years might make $500,000 a year in brand deals of a character they created that posts on social media. Not even them. So for all the people that could be in front of the camera, they made a lot of money in this era, right? But for some of you that didn't want to do that, but you're creative, you might create the person's front of the camera and so you're the creative director behind the person. I don't think that's bad or good. It just is. And it always starts. Usually in the porn industry right now, there are unlimited onlyfan girls that are fake. I know a 14 year old or 16 year old kid in Pakistan just cooking. He makes more money in a day than his family makes in a year. With creating fake onlyfan models. Life.

[Interviewer]

How do I know if she's real or not?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You know, the question becomes long term. You're not going to know long term. It's the Megan Fox Netflix movie that you watched. Even more extreme. Long term, short term. Sometimes you know, sometimes you don't know. Like literally, I believe this time next year you won't know. You won't know. That's how advanced the technology is. I just want to remind people who are scared about this stuff. Let me just play role play with you. Could you imagine this is Earth right now, we're living and somebody runs in and says, hey, crazy news, somebody just invented a gun. We're like, what's a gun? Like there's this thing and you press this click and it shoots a thing and it goes right? And we're all sitting here with our fucking swords. This happened, by the way, we're chilling in here, like, all right, what are we gonna do with our swords? Dude runs in like Paul Revere and is like, yo, there's a gun now. I would have been crazy. I would've been like, everyone's gonna be dead in a year. But we weren't, right? I just need everyone. All of a sudden it was like, AI's gonna. This is it, it's over. Everyone's gonna lose their job. And it's a. I'm like, guys, it's not over. And definitely for the smartest and the most creative and the most strategic, this is gonna be nirvana. And I ask all of you, should the smartest and most creative win? I feel like this group really likes merit and capitalism, right? Democracy. So you better shut your fucking mouth. When somebody comes along and builds something in AI that blasts you out, I better not hear you cry. Because if you cry, that's socialism. It's really true. I have some of my most hardcore, like, red as shit friends who are like, this AI thing's fucked up. I'm like, you're a bitch, By the way. I'm gonna say something profound. How many people here saw Star Wars? A little bit. Just raise your hand if you know Star Wars. Actually watch the first Star Wars. Star wars one. The seventies one. Not Episode one. The Jar Jar bullshit. The first one. Raise your hand if you've seen the first Star Wars. I will tell you four. Exactly. I will tell you. That's right, sir. That's exactly right. I will tell you. This is really deep. I don't know if I've ever shared this. I don't know why, but even as a child, Obi Wan getting killed by Darth Vader felt weird to me in like a good way. This is getting super weird. Just stick with me. I don't like when people have an ideology but then change their opinion on it when they get hurt. If AI puts me out, I'm gonna be happy. I'm gonna be Obi Wan. I was an old Jedi and it was time for me to get killed. If you believe in the game, if you believe in the principles of capitalism and democracy and the merit and no eighth place trophies, you have to be prepared to die. You can't cry about the new thing because it's going to screw you up or you're tired. And so I'm ready for it. I'm ready to fight. It doesn't matter that I've been good and right for 30 years. But I'm not going to cry about AI because I'm a real one. And I think you should all stop being scared of it and crying. I think you should understand how to use it. You're not going to be put out of business by AI. You're going to be put out of business by someone who uses AI better than you.

[Interviewer]

So true. The Architect.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

It's a weapon.

[Interviewer]

Let's talk about the AI tools. Let's talk about the CHAT GPTs. Gemini, Perplexity, Claude. I hear you talk about chatgpt a bunch. Do you test the others?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

All of them.

[Interviewer]

And what do you when you're testing them? What are you looking for on that?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

To see the results.

[Interviewer]

The results.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

The results. How good is the information I got on the other side from my opinion? If you want to test different AIs, test it with things you really know. I really know the New York Jets. I really know a lot about wine. I grew up in that business. I know a lot about marketing. Make sure you test with things you know, because that will be how you can quickly get a feel. Go to your real interest or knowledge bases on your testing, but just testing the results. But my long term view on this is a little nerdy. I don't know if anybody here grew up in big data, but big data seemed like a big competitive advantage 10 years ago. And then everybody realized, well, all the other big companies have it too and it's actually a commodity. I actually think the LLMs that everyone's trying to figure out right now, which, who's gonna have it better. I don't think this is a Google search game where there's a winner takes all. I think there's gonna be commoditized and Apple and Microsoft and Google and Facebook and Chinese companies. I think there's gonna be a lot of strong LLMs and I think it actually gets commoditized over the next decade. In the short term there's a lot of value in it, but I think AI is gonna, especially with AI startups, there's gonna be a lot of lost money because it's similar to Web one, Web two, the crypto booms. People get very caught up. But then a lot of things get commoditized. So as builders in AI and as investors in AI just gotta be very thoughtful. Like don't get seduced by the moment where you feel like you got it, everybody's gonna have it and then what happens? And you gotta be very strategic. Which is why I think brand is gonna matter quite a bit in an AI world, reputation. That's why I want people to build their personal brand. I think those things are gonna matter.

[Interviewer]

How often do you test them? We're big in our office, we push our people to use AI every day. Do you test Gemini? Do you test it?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes.

[Interviewer]

Daily?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes. Like, you know, sometimes I'm busy and like I won't test something new, but it's. I mean on the flight here, me and my brother looked at six different new things. It's also coming out every day. Like you don't have to test, I don't have to test the big ones that often. Right? Like once you test Perplexity or Gemini or you know, you know, OpenAI and you know, ChatGPT. Like you, I'm testing the derivatives, these small startups that are building apps, trying to figure out who's moving fast, but the speed in which you can close the gap on a startup. When I invested in Twitter in 2006, seven, excuse me, I was like okay. It'll take somebody a year and a half to build a competitive product to this. We have some great AI companies here. I know it's not lost in them. They're too small. That like that app can be replicated pretty quickly. And I think so. That's why I think brand and other things are going to be the moat, not the technology. You build an awesome app, if someone's looking to compete with you, they can look at it and pretty much replicate it for nothing. Because copiloting is here. We all told every kid to be a coder. Unless you're one of the best coders in the world, the rest of the market is getting commoditized. Being an average coder is now the worst job to have. You better be an electrician. Yeah. Electricians are about to cook. It's true. Electricians are about to do super well. The amount of electricians we need to stand up the infrastructure for AI and electricity. Like literally, if you have like a. If you have a bozo kid in school right now and he's like 15, you're like, what are we gonna do with him? Make him an electrician? If he's great with. Or she's great with their hands. I'm not kidding. The numbers are staggering on conservative estimates. And that's just amazing, isn't it? How crazy the world works. Especially with the way world's bid. Who could have ever thought that electricians were gonna be the heavy six figure compensated? And I love that. Right? We had the rise of white collar. I think we're about to have amazing rise of blue collar because of the infrastructures. And I think that's awesome. And then someone's gonna cry about it. But Gary, I went to Yale and I have so much debt. And now my bozo buddy who just drank beers and did keg stands makes 500k. Being an electrician, I can't get a job. I'm like, that's the game. You should have been born 30 years ago. You know, just the way it works. Just the way it works. It's our job to adjust to the reality of what's happening versus having an ideology of how it should be that benefits us. And that is the breakthrough. Right? I appreciate that, Kel. That is the line. Our job as parents, as humans, as American citizens, as entrepreneurs, as bosses, as leaders is to adjust to what's actually happening versus wanting it to be a certain way on an ideology that. That has self interest to us. That's good. I think so. I think that's the Mindset of a true leader, entrepreneur, winner. Man, you know, there's some real stuff coming, brother. Yeah. Like, I'll give you an example. I love hard work more than anything. I can clearly see two, three day work weeks in an AI world in 20 years. I'm not gonna cry about that. Like, I got 3,500 employees in my marketing company. It's like, you try to get someone to come to the office five days a week, it's like, I'm more likely gonna win the lottery. I don't cry about that. It just is. I can adjust to it. I can hire people who do want to do that. And then the people that don't want to do that are like, why didn't get the job? Because I didn't. You didn't want to. Like, it's just. That's the game. You know, we've said that in our office.

[Interviewer]

I stuck with four day work weeks, not two to three.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

That's 20% off the norm. And people are complaining about that. And they're allowed, by the way. They're allowed. I'm on both sides of this. I have a bunch of CEOs and owners and entrepreneurs. Like, these kids don't want to work five days a week. I'm like, why would they want to work for you for $70,000 a year for five days a week when they can make 80 grand on TikTok brand deals by dancing in their living room? There's no crying in baseball, my man.

[Interviewer]

How about the AI tools that are more specific to social media? The ones that can.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

They're all gonna be in the platforms. There's not a single tool cap cut. All of this is gonna be by default in the platform. It's already happening. You can already use these tools on your Instagram stories, you know, take out the people in the background or put yourself in a new setting. Everything will be default on the platform for free. You'll be. The way you post inside of Facebook or Instagram or TikTok will be just be there. It will be default tool. That's why I don't invest or talk about outside tools. It's all gonna be there. It's there now.

[Interviewer]

Are you using any outside tools right now?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No. Sora 2, I guess, but Sora 2 is gonna be a TikTok in itself. It's just. It's gonna be TikTok, where all of it is AI, and we'll see if that works or not. Whether they win or somebody else builds a platform like that. I can see a social Network where every single piece of content is AI seems natural to me.

[Interviewer]

Feel it's going a small to medium sized business. Let's go small.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Good.

[Interviewer]

How. What do you feel their digital marketing team looks like right now? Size wise?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

A small company. They themselves the owner does it.

[Interviewer]

Let's say a company doing 50 million 5050.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

How much do they spend on marketing?

[Interviewer]

Eight, nine percent. Girls.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I think they need four to seven full time employees.

[Interviewer]

Videographers.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes.

[Interviewer]

Content. I mean content.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I think a shreditor, somebody who shoots and edits like trane does for me. Like a shreditor. Somebody who shoots and edits. I think a leader of that department. Like. Like the throat to choke if they're not doing what you want. I think that you need somebody who is doing community management like in the trenches. I think that's a lost art that has a tremendous amount of value. And then the ideas person. Sometimes the shredder doesn't have enough ideas. Sometimes they do. But an ideas person, the creative or strategist.

[Interviewer]

What are you using to post in the distance? Setting it up. Do you set it up for the week? For the month?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Day by day, day by day.

[Interviewer]

It's all anything we see.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Day trading, attention. Literally. I would be scared to schedule my next week social media post because too much can change in a week. You have to understand, I believe marketing is the offense of a business. Let's talk sports. Marketing is offense. Marketing is offense. The amount of people here that dismiss it or see it as a cost center or don't put in. You know what the biggest issue for a lot of people is? They don't know how to judge if it's good. I really do believe that marketing today is so important for a small and medium sized business that you kind of have to understand it as. As the owner. At least at the same level you understand finance. I don't think anybody here has. I'll speak for myself. I am not a cfo. My financial literacy like coming into the game was nowhere. I'm still super bored. Vayner 3500 employees. I'm running a $350 million a year P&L and my CFO comes in, I'm like yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, like I'm still not that but I know it. You understand? Like I'm not in it. I'm not passionate about it. I don't want to talk about like you know, all the treasury and the taxes and the bank covenants and that is boring ass shit for me. But I understand it. So that my CFO can't put us out of business. I need all of you to view marketing that way. I don't need you to love it or understand it the way I do, but I need you to understand it enough to know what's going on so that you can judge if you hired some bozos or if they're good or if the agency you work with is good or bad. I think it is a prerequisite at this point and I think a lot of people are mailing it in, which then keeps them. A lot of people here are good because of sales or because of financial discipline. They're a good defensive team. Right? They're good at winning games 10 to 7. The problem is when you run into a competitor that has a big time offense, you lose 24 to 10 even though you beat everybody 10 to 7. Up until that point, marketing is important. It is the oxygen and the offense of a business and it is starting to gain an important and I think everyone in this room should understand it a little bit more.

[Interviewer]

What do you feel the next Netflix show Social Dilemma.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Right?

[Interviewer]

What's going to be the Social Dilemma documentary in five years that we're going to talk about versus what the current.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Social dilemma was over coddling. We've created zoo animals who has a kid over 18 in their lives. Raise your hand. Raise it high because it's awesome. Congrats. Ready? I'm gonna tell you the greatest secret. Let me tell you where the secret comes from so you can respect it more. It's not my opinion. I get probably 10 to 45,000 DMs a day across my 55 million followers across all the channels a day. I for years have read a shocking amount of them. Now I use AI dump it all in and really get a sentiment one more time. 18 years or older. Let me tell you the greatest insight that I have that blew my mind six years ago because I didn't know it, because I didn't know what rich kids were dealing with. If you have an 18 year old and really it's definitely 22, 18 is still on the hairy young side. I'm going to go 22 years old and old. Raise your hand. 22 and older. Anybody who just raised one more time high, please. 22 or older kids, man, some of you look good. If any one of your children that are 22 or older are still getting money from you, you've got a problem. A dollar. I think the Social Dilemma documentary of five years from now will be understanding that we all over corrected over the last 30 to 40 years in parenting, you can't be your kid's friend. You can be friendly, but you cannot be your kid's friend. And more importantly, you cannot be your kid's bubble. And let me really hurt the feelings of the people that raise their hand and are hearing me and are like eh. Cause do you remember OGs what it was like back in the day when you, when you needed a little help after you were 22, you borrowed money from your parents and you paid them back. These little fuckers aren't interested in that concept. But I'm not gonna shit on them, I'm gonna shit on you. Let me tell you the insight that blew my mind. DM after DM, conversation after conversation. When you're a 25 year old man and your parents are giving you money, you're taking it because you want the car or the watch or go out on dates or you want to live in a nicer place. But the insight is they think you think they're a loser. You so don't believe that they can stand on their own two feet. You're paying, you have no idea what you're doing to their self esteem. They're telling you to their face, thank you daddy. But behind your back they're not saying that. I cannot explain how much pain is going on. This is my prediction for what is not being talked about. So much right now that will be talked about now. This is the most important part. This is not an absolute sentence. Everyone has their own. Then the last thing I'd be interested in is to tell someone how to parent. Everyone knows their own circumstances, so there's a million variables to the story. But I think it would surprise the room how much pain someone who's taking the money is in because they're not outwardly saying it. That is the insight that I believe is most misunderstood today that in five years will be talked about more. One man's point of view.

[Interviewer]

Completely agree. You've been talking a lot lately about one piece of content. Me putting out a first post on LinkedIn could get as many views as one of your content pieces that you put out because of AI. AI looking at the video and getting.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Because of the algorithm. This should excite all of you if you feel like you could do something. Let's say it's not just for business. What about this incredible organization? What about these algorithms? This social media marketing is not just for making money. One of the reasons I like the craft is its communication. Maybe you want someone to an election next Year at this time. Maybe you want more people to know about this incredible organization. Maybe you want to support your neighbor because their house burnt down and you're trying to raise some funds to get them back on their feet. The nobleness that communication from humans is incredible. I need everybody to hear this. I've worked very hard for 20 years to amass my following base. Literally, if you've never posted once on social, tomorrow you could post a video and it could get more views than my post that day. We are in the greatest era. We are actually no longer in social media. We are now in interest media. I'm sure all of you know this, who consume content on TikTok or Instagram. You're not getting content from the people you followed nine years ago. You're getting content of the thing that you're currently into. Fishing, politics, sports, like whatever you're currently into. And so yeah, I think this is incredible. Merit kind of stinks for some of us OGs that built up big followings. But actually back to what I said earlier about being Obi Wan, I cried zero about that. I'm actually excited for all of you. I'm excited that if you make something of value or something that hits funny, silly, attractive, informational, I love that you guys and gals can literally start your journey today. That's profound levels of merit. Nobody in Hollywood deciding you're good enough. Nobody in the local media deciding your story's worth it. You have the ability to literally reach the entire world. That is bananas, my friend.

[Interviewer]

Does that differ between videos and just regular posts with still images? Is one better?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Obviously there's no better. It ebbs and flows and it changes every day. Hence why I called the book Day Trading Attention. It changes all the time. Sometimes a photo does better. Sometimes written copy only, Sometimes a photo with long copy, sometimes a short video, sometimes a long video. It ebbs and flows. But the one common thread is that people were genuinely interested in it. And again, we can't judge people's interest. I think we all know that being attractive is something some people will be interested in. In being funny, being informational, being vulnerable, being a good storyteller. There's a lot of ways to go about doing it.

[Interviewer]

That's exciting.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I will say this and maybe this will also liberate some people of maybe some anxieties, concerns they have. The algorithm doesn't change you or isn't coming at you. The algorithm is exposing who you are. This whole people get caught up in these conspiracy theories of like China's pushing this I remember the one about a year ago, TikTok in China is pushing engineering and math and brilliance and here like just like brain rot and garbage. And that's how they're getting us. And I'm like, that's not happening. And people believe this stuff. And I'll like, if you all opened your Instagram or TikTok and I got to like take it and look at it for five, I would have tremendous insight into what you're at, where you're at, what you're into. Some of you definitely don't want me to do that. But I'll tell you, this is very important to me. I want you to hear this. If you feel any times like, if you feel like you're on your phone too much and you don't feel good after, it's probably cause you're consuming too much politics. And I will tell you, you can change that. Literally. How many people here don't love their algo right now? Just raise your hands. Let's be a little vulnerable and honest. Raise your hands like you don't love it. Good. Six, seven of you. Fair enough. I will tell you, this is unbelievable. For the six or seven of you that were honest, which means about 15 or 20 in the room, you can literally go to Instagram or TikTok right now and go to search and literally search happiness. Enter and like 3 or 4 posts, kittens enter 3 to 4 posts, think about things you're into. Cooking, skiing, the Utah Jazz. I don't know what gets you excited. Hit Enter like 4 or 5 posts, close your phone, you will be stunned what your algorithm looks like tomorrow. And so we are in control. The world has done a really good job in tricking us as and scaring us into thinking that we're not. We are 100% in control. And so I highly recommend you play with that. I think you'll find it interesting. It really is stunning. And by the way, we change. I'm sure everyone here goes through ebbs and flows of like, you get into the news, you get a little bit deeper and you're like, you get out of it after a cycle. There's other things. Your interests change, but you're literally going to search on your social networks and type in some words, like four or five posts from those words, do 12 minutes of work, your algo changes forever.

[Interviewer]

It's true. I cleaned mine up for this. Boats to Milwaukee. Tools to Gary Vee. No, it is so true on that.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

So it's, it's profound. I mean, we have become unbelievably good at this. It's TikTok's fault. It's Mark Zuckerberg's fault. It's Facebook's fault. It's Trump's fault. Biden, Mandani, America, Russia, we have lost our way with Thumbs. It's your fault. I am super happy in life because I think everything is my fault. And that's not beating yourself up. That's understanding the power of accountability and that you can change. Nothing scares me. I live in New York City. We have a new mayor. Some of my friends are like, this is it. It's over. I literally today, seven or eight of them on the flight out here, I'm like, move. Utah's awesome. I'm going there right now. Salt Lake crushes, move. Like, I don't know what to tell you. You are fundamentally in control of everything. And these politicians have done a good job on both sides saying, this is what's scary and you can't do anything about it. But I can help you. And I spend my life making content saying nothing scary. Here's how you get happy and make money, and I can't help you, but you can help you. And that is what I believe. Accountability, it just works. It's true. You could be in a very toxic relationship. I get that you're insecure. I'm aware that you became insecure because one of your parents or both your parents put you into that place or circumstance or something left field. But people who've been insecure have done the work. Whether it's therapy, whether it's changing what they read and consume, whether it's changing who they hang out with. There are people that have come out of much tougher circumstances that have achieved. Look at some of the variables that the people in this room have dealt with. And I just think we're capable. Let me phrase. I know humans are capable, but it takes accountability. Because the blame game has really put people into a rut. And so many of these kids are blaming mommy and daddy for everything. And that's not gonna work. I mean, and as if there wasn't enough things to divide us. Gender, race, politics, nations, now we're into this new generational warfare. These Gen Z kids are getting unlimited content in their feeds. The boomers fucked it up for you. As if there wasn't enough things to be mad at each other for, we found a new thing. Like when I grew up, who's in Gen X here? Remember when we were growing up, I never even heard of any of the generations who knew what gen? I didn't even know that was a thing. So I just think the world continues to find things to divide us to make you mad at someone. Like there's some 26 year old walking down the street today yelling at some poor 80 year old woman being like, you Boomer ruined it for me. She's just buying pasta at the store. Like, leave her alone.

[Interviewer]

That was New Jersey, right?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes, Jersey's a little interesting.

[Interviewer]

One last question. Please sit up here tonight to do to support Warrior Rising. Get their mission.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes.

[Interviewer]

What should we all do right now as far as to post? How would you do it? What would you say to grow?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I would tell everybody to take a photo if you're not interested in being photography of camera. But I would tell this crowd you should definitely be front of camera because this is one of the more attractive crowds I've been in front of for a long time. But if you're not comfortable with that, just take a photo of something here and write several nice sentences and post it. You never know who's on the other side again. This was one of the most important things I said tonight. We're not in social media anymore. If you have 19 followers, you might get 5,000 views on YouTube shorts or on LinkedIn or on Facebook for this post. That is profound merit. So I would say, by the way, I'm gonna remind you, it's free. Do you know how crazy it is that you can post on these platforms for free and reach millions of people? Do you know how advertising has worked up until this point? If you want a newspaper ad in the biggest newspaper in this town, you don't just get it for free. If you wanted to be on TV or radio or send a direct mail flyer or buy Google AdWords, it wasn't free, friends. This is free. I love when people are like, I'm shadow banned, or I hate Instagram. I'm not getting views. I'm like, motherfucker, it's free, it's free, it's free.

[Interviewer]

Do we tag you in this?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

How do you get more views? I think that you use that. Let's make up a hashtag. What hashtag would you like to use?

[Interviewer]

We are Warrior Rising. We are Warrior Rising.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Great. For everybody that posts that, I will look for that hashtag tomorrow morning and I'll reshare a bunch of them to give a ton more awareness to the organization. And more importantly, you've already accomplished what you tried to do there. I filmed this whole thing. I'm gonna put this on YouTube. I'm gonna have clips from it. Like, this is important, 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.