Starting a Business, Building Brand and Overcoming Doubt | Tea with GaryVee Ep #86

Summary

The GaryVee Audio Experience

Episode: Starting a Business, Building Brand and Overcoming Doubt | Tea with GaryVee Ep #86
Date: September 25, 2025
Host: Gary Vaynerchuk

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Overview

This "Tea with GaryVee" session dives into pressing questions from entrepreneurs, creators, and professionals about building businesses, creating authentic brands, pushing through self-doubt, and leveraging modern content platforms. Gary provides candid, no-nonsense advice about education, content volume, brand differentiation, the reality of entrepreneurship, and the necessity of persistence and self-reflection.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Re-Evaluating College and Traditional Education

• Question at [01:48] — Valens, a college student, asks if they're wasting time in class as opposed to working on something meaningful.
• Gary’s take: Classroom learning has value, but it's not where meaningful impact is made.
  • “If you're trying to do something meaningful, it's going to happen in real life.” ([03:32])
• He criticizes outdated curriculums, especially in communication and marketing, and promotes learning skills through real-world experience and free online resources.
• Advice: If you’re not incurring debt, enjoy the college experience as a “last vacation”—but real value comes from action outside the classroom.

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2. Standing Out as a Creator in a Saturated Space

• Question at [04:11] — Carl asks Gary how creators can catch attention amid trending formats.
• Gary emphasizes:
  • Consistency and tenacity are crucial.
  • Audience focus over self-obsession: “The best way to be a creator that pops is to be 100% focused on the audience.” ([05:08])
  • Value comes in different forms—comedy, knowledge, beauty—but everyone has unique value to offer.
  • The addiction to affirmation and outsourcing accountability is rampant.
  • Memorable Moment: A frank statement on accountability:
    • “The great addiction is getting affirmation for their bullshit.” ([07:32])
• Bottom Line: Don't just follow trends—be original and care genuinely about your audience’s needs.

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3. Content, Consistency and Doing the Work

• From [11:26] onward:
• Ryan’s Story: A financial advisor pivots to working with millennials but hits a plateau in social growth.
• Gary’s Response: Calls out “compliance” as an excuse, asserting the real issue is lack of content at scale.
  • “The answer to your quiz is social media content, organically, at scale, at scale.” ([12:46])
  • Recommends 50 pieces of content a day, not one.
  • “You have to be a 1 percenter if you want a 1% outcome.” ([16:28])
• Pablo (Team Gary) jumps in ([15:32]) to explain the team’s obsession with algorithmic detail—hours spent refining thumbnails, hooks, and analyzing platform performance—and the necessity of that level of focus.
• Gary contrasts his seven years of being a “one-person shop,” doing 15-hour days, with people seeking “1% results” on average effort.
• Suggests live streaming and using LinkedIn and TikTok, constantly iterating content, and “stitching” (clapping back at bad advice online).
  • "Stitch the fuck out of them." ([18:01])

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4. Mindset and Overcoming Self-Doubt

• Question at [20:05] — Cody, 39, lost everything in 2021, feels unworthy, and cannot hold a job.
• Gary blends empathy with tough love:
  • “You’re definitely worth it, but if you’re on your fifth job, you’re doing something wrong... four companies in a row aren’t wrong.” ([20:21])
  • Suggests radical accountability: reach out to ex-bosses, get candid feedback, be humble, take notes, and act on constructive criticism.
  • Emphasizes that adversity reveals character, and recovery starts with owning one’s role in setbacks.

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5. Rapid-Fire: Overrated/Underrated & Agency Insights

• Fun Segment at [21:56] — Jake from Tampa asks “Overrated or Underrated”:
  • Being the face of your business: Underrated for those comfortable with visibility but not required.
    • “It has become another moat, another differentiator, another non-replicable advantage.” ([23:20])
  • Post Malone: Underrated, especially for his humility and entrepreneurship.
  • Brands doing social in-house: Overrated for big companies, underrated for small startups who get it.
    • “If you don’t know how to grade the homework, how do you know if the homework’s good?” ([25:31])
• Jake, who owns a social agency, and Gary trade advice on honesty and client fit. Gary suggests agencies should be candid—even if it means losing a client—when in-house is the better move.

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6. Written Content: Blogs, Email Newsletters Still Hot

• Question at [28:26]: Are blogs/email newsletters dead?
  • Gary: “Absolutely not,” referencing Substack, Beehive, resurgence in long-form email.
    • “Long form written content is massively hot. ... The medium is hotter than ever.” ([28:36])
  • If it’s not valuable, people will unsubscribe—but platforms themselves are thriving for those who deliver real value.

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7. Small Business: Live Selling & TikTok

• From [29:42]: Peyton, who runs marketing for a family Angus beef company, asks about TikTok Live and time investment.
• Gary’s advice:
  • Go “all in” for 3–4 months; only then can you know if the platform is right for you.
    • “If you don’t do it, you’ll always wonder, could it work if I put a lot of effort into it?” ([30:26])
  • TikTok is unique because of random feed distribution; it’s a massive chance for discovery.
  • On the role of AI: Don’t worry about mastering every new tool—AI will come to you. What will always matter is your unique story and identity.
    • “You don’t need to come to AI. AI is coming to you.” ([33:10])
  • Individual quirks—even look, personality, tattoos—are brand elements that differentiate and drive buyer loyalty.
    • “Your tattoo on your left shoulder is potentially why you would sell Angus beef.” ([33:54])
  • For product sales, combine TikTok and Whatnot; even small live audiences matter if the buying process is frictionless.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [03:32] “If you're trying to do something meaningful, it's going to happen in real life.” —Gary Vee
• [05:08] “The best way to be a creator that pops is to be 100% focused on the audience.” —Gary Vee
• [07:32] “The great addiction is getting affirmation for their bullshit.” —Gary Vee
• [12:46] “The answer to your quiz is social media content, organically, at scale, at scale.” —Gary Vee
• [16:28] “You have to be a 1 percenter if you want a 1% outcome.” —Gary Vee
• [18:01] “Stitch the fuck out of them.” —Gary Vee (on responding to bad financial influencers)
• [20:21] “You’re definitely worth it, but if you’re on your fifth job, you’re doing something wrong.” —Gary Vee
• [23:20] “It has become another moat, another differentiator, another non-replicable advantage.” —Gary Vee (on being the face of your business)
• [25:31] “If you don’t know how to grade the homework, how do you know if the homework’s good?” —Gary Vee (on brands building in-house social teams)
• [28:36] “Long form written content is massively hot. ... The medium is hotter than ever.” —Gary Vee
• [30:26] “If you don’t do it, you’ll always wonder, could it work if I put a lot of effort into it?” —Gary Vee
• [33:10] “You don’t need to come to AI. AI is coming to you.” —Gary Vee
• [33:54] “Your tattoo on your left shoulder is potentially why you would sell Angus beef.” —Gary Vee

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Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Topic/Segment | |-------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:48 | Question on value of college and “meaningful” work | | 04:11 | How creators can stand out in a saturated space | | 11:26 | Financial advisor Ryan asks about content and business growth | | 15:32 | Content team’s obsessed focus on data, thumbnails, 3-second hooks | | 20:05 | Advice for someone struggling after losing everything | | 21:56 | Overrated/Underrated speed round | | 25:31 | In-house vs. agency debate for brands | | 28:26 | Written content, blogs, and newsletters still effective? | | 29:42 | Small business live selling strategies on TikTok and Whatnot | | 33:10 | On AI’s inevitability and what really matters | | 33:54 | Personal brand: uniqueness, individuality, and authenticity |

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Closing Thoughts

Gary returns repeatedly to core themes: accountability, relentless effort, audience-first thinking, and embracing both technology and individuality. His tough-love encouragement is always paired with empathy and authenticity, making the hour valuable for any ambitious entrepreneur—or anyone stuck wondering what to do next.

Key takeaway:
“The answer to almost every one of these questions is more. More truth, more effort, more content, more patience, and much more accountability.”

Transcript

[A]

Podcast nation. Before I get you into today's podcast, big announcement. As you probably heard at this point, because I had John from Stan on the show, I am an investor advisor to an incredible startup called Stan. Stan Store. I'm sending you right now to GaryVee.com, garyVee.com Stan, go check this out. We've done a GaryVee Stan store challenge, which actually has a weekly call with me. This is built for everyone who's been affected honestly by my overall content. The tech stack, all these features, and the minimal costs per month that Stan Store has built is really the tool that was needed for this world that I envisioned when I wrote Crush it, when I wrote Crushing It. And this overall thing I'm thinking a lot about lately, which is the individual empire, right? This creator entrepreneur, slash entrepreneur creator economy that I think is gonna eat up the oxygen. Very honestly. The thing that so many of you want in your life and the reason so many of you are not there yet, is you've got the strategy for me. You've got the ambition within yourself, but you don't have the tools for you to fully maximize it. And I believe you can find that at Stan Store. Stan Store. But specifically, I want you to sign up for it through my challenge because I want to get access with you. And plus, there's a bunch of cool things. So if you want to go see those cool things, go to garyvee.com Stan S T A N Now to the podcast. This is the GaryVee Audio Experience. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to episode 86 of Tea with Gary Vee. I am Gary Vee, live on whatnot. My summer rustiness. Live on whatnot. Right now. Everybody who's on my socials, I see you all. All right, let's go into it. Aaron, what's the first question Valens asks?

[B]

I'm a college student, but I often get the sense that I'm wasting my time in class. I want to create something meaningful, but I sometimes do feel insp. Inspired to be a classic student. What would you do in that position?

[A]

Probably not overanalyze it. It doesn't sound like this person's really struggling. They're probably starting to grow up a little bit and realize, oh, wait a minute. You know what I've been taught and structured to believe, which is be a good student at all costs. She's probably. Or he. Is she right?

[B]

I'm not sure. Valens.

[A]

Valens. Okay. They're. They're probably, you know, struggling, like, with a very harsh reality that a lot of career students face, which is at some level you start to realize, wait a minute, the real world doesn't really map to how I figured out the school system. And if they're trying to do something meaningful, you're not doing that in the classroom. I promise you nothing meaningful is happening in the classroom. You're learning good skills, you're learning inner people skills, you're learning how to reverse engineer a system. You know, I have a lot of feelings and very substantial, you know, opinions that people like. But Gary, education, I mean like education is remarkably free on the Internet. And I think the biggest and best educational systems that charge money to kids are struggling to keep up with it. I go to some of the best, for example, my world comms and marketing. I go to some of the best comms and marketing schools in the, in the world. Their classrooms are, let me say this politely, a fucking joke. There are literally kids in the top communication schools in the country are now being taught how to write a press release or like basic, like, here's Twitter, have you heard of it? It's like fucking asinine. So, you know, I think, I think there's a lot to that question. Here's what I would say to everybody who's sitting in, you know, university or college right now and questioning the roi. If you're, if you're not going into debt, your parents are paying for it, you're a great athlete and you got a scholarship, some other reason you're not paying for it, well then enjoy your last real vacation because keg stands and hooking up and playing video games all day and like, is fun, you know, in your early 20s, late teens. But if you're trying to do something meaningful, it's going to happen in real life. Aaron, let's go to the next question Carl asks.

[B]

In a world full of creators, how do you stand out from everyday creators? When you're following trends and formats, how.

[A]

Do you catch attention, consistency, having the humility and the self confidence to be your full self, not worrying about growing followers every day. You know, there's a lot of mental strategies that go into actually being a creator. There's a. Here's a good one, Aaron. Actually being good. Aaron, you do know that 99% of people are not good enough for us to give a fuck about what they're posting. And by the way, that was a very nice number that I just put out. The numbers higher than that. And the reason they're not good enough is they're worried about them. You the best way to be a creator that pops is to be 100% focused on the audience. It's August 27th. I look at you six and you guys are in your grinding like you're in your at the liquor store packing out shelves era. I do you know what I should be doing right now? I should be sleeping in Santa pay. You do understand that, right? I should be maybe waking up soon to my chef cooking me some eggs and my trainer coming in in the Hamptons. That is what my contemporaries are doing right now. Instead, I was in this seat last night to almost one o' clock in the morning and now I'm back. We started at 8:45, we didn't even start at 9 for effect. Fucking grinding here with one massive thing to do this morning which is to provide value for the next hour. Answer people's questions, teach people that are on regular social media right now, that's you all, how to come over here to live social shopping. Because separately, I'm telling everyone that live social shopping is the way Aaron did her first whatnot this weekend. I'm proud of you. I literally believe that. That literally I believe this, that millions of people have tens of thousands of dollars of stuff in their house and they're broke. They're broke. And yet in their basement, their closets, their garages, their living rooms, in their third room that they don't even use because they bought a house that was too big for their means, they have stuff, sneakers, video games, Legos, clothes they don't wear anymore. And they could literally just go on whatnot and sell it. Virtual garage sale every day. But the missing component in so many people's game is tenacity, is consistency, is just calming things down and putting in the work. People become addicted. Addicted. The great addiction is, is not opioids. The great addiction is getting affirmation for their bullshit. We become addicted to somebody saying, you're right, they suck. And they become your parents, your partner, your boss, politicians, the world. We've become addicted. My friends, this is not about generational warfare. This is about pop culture and human societal norms. People didn't complain like this in 87. So we've become completely, completely, completely foreign and yucked to being accountable. And so I don't fucking know. I'm just out here trying to fucking put out content that brings people value because that's how you actually stand out. Think about what he said, following trends. Like people literally think like, oh, if everyone's doing this trend, I'll do it and the trend will get me there. Oh, big winner. Classic Toys 117. Classic Toys 117 with a monster win. Classic Toys. Tell us all about yourself. You know, so how about, how about doing something meaningful? Like think about, think about just a sentence. Hey, I can't break out and get followers because I'm following the trends like everyone else like that by just like, just separate yourself and just to go to a Zen place of simplicity right now and think about how obvious that is, that that's not going to work. How about trying to provide fucking value? And that value comes in a lot of shapes and sizes. For example, value is comedy, right? When we laugh, we escape the things we're worried about. So no shit comedians are popping off. Beauty is valuable. Like there's a reason very attractive males and females get followers. Like, beauty brings people value, right? But that's fucking like luck of the DNA draw. Or like, you know, you're not ugly, you just aren't. You're just poor, right? Like some people, we live in a world now where people spend real money on looking different like that, Fine. But everybody has the ability to bring value. People know shit. People know like everything about Beanie Babies. You could start a Beanie Babies channel. People know everything about mma. Like my son, by the way, his knowledge of UFC is so deep at this point. If his mom and I allowed him to be a public figure, like he could crush like deep cut UFC. Like he'll talk about the 19th ranked middleweight like nobody's business. He knows his shit. That's valuable for, by the way, he's valuable to me because I want to get my UFC game up. We're in the business. He knows more about UFC than AJ and I, and we're in the representing MMA fighters business. That's his knowledge base. He has a lot of sports knowledge base. I, I know a lot about business and marketing and I've been an old soul my whole life, so I can speak about old soul shit. So that's it, man. That's all I got. How do you stand out? How about giving a fuck about the audience which you're asking for? People are literally asking for people to make them famous and make money on their back of their attention. It is give, give, give and then ask. It's not give, give, give and then take. And. And Mike says people are lame. I disagree with Mike Cohen. People aren't lame. People are confused. People have been mis parented in the last 40 years. People have really leaned into insecurities versus confidence. People have leaned into materialistic status versus thoughtful, soulful human Deep connection shit. People got fancy people. People are hurting, and the only person they can blame is themselves. I'm hurting, and I don't blame anyone else. Is the road to recovery. I'm hurting, and it's these people's faults is the way to dig your fucking hole deeper. That's real shit. Ryan, how are you? Good, man.

[C]

How are you doing?

[A]

I'm well, my brother. How are things? Good.

[C]

Yeah, it's going. It's going. Hey, I appreciate you taking my questions.

[A]

So.

[C]

I have been a financial advisor since I graduated college. So 22 years old was a traditional financial advisor. You know, going after retirees, pre retirees, because they had the money.

[A]

Yes.

[C]

Back in 2023. Basically got rid of my business that I had started from scratch, and now I only work with millennials. So I'm trying to relaunch my whole entire social media. I'm running a YouTube channel. I had a podcast, but became kind of overwhelmed and really just trying to tell my story and relate to people. But I feel like my YouTube channel hit about 485 subscribers in, like, three months and then just hit a wall. And my content is more of, like, storytelling, talking about, here's what I've done with clients and here's how it can relate to you. And I'm just trying to figure out, is YouTube the way to grow that business? You know, I'm sure you're aware compliance is very strict.

[A]

Compliance is not the issue. I hear this constantly from the biggest companies in the world and kids like you. Compliance is just reality, Right? It's a restriction. You don't need to make fake claims financially or things that put you in a tough spot to gain audience. Right. Compliance is the great subconscious and conscious excuse of financial professionals. The thing that everyone's not doing, brother, is they're not making enough content in enough places and using the social media algorithms to their advantage. And you know that if you're following me, I have pounded this into the oblivion. For example, you look like you might be in shape. You know, people that complain about not being in shape don't go to the gym, brother. Like, not only was I Here at 8:45, Mike had me doing all sorts of weird shit today. And fucking this and fuck it. I don't like it. I don't like it. But the work I've put in has given me some dividends, right? And so, you know, YouTube's the answer. You know the answers. You know what I'm about to say. I literally believe your pretty face with those nice light blue eyes needs 50 pieces of content a day, not one. Yeah, I don't know what else to tell people. Like I could have not. I can. Adrian, could you put up GaryVee.com attention? I. I am so desperate about this that not only am I not asking you to give me that. Thank you so much. Not only am I not asking you guys, this is the book. It's $25. It will help you grow your business, but yet I am so desperate to not even ask you for 25 bucks. I made a 44 page deck for free. It's literally linked right now. It's garyvee.com attention. I've said this and you know this ry over and over and over again. And yet I'll tell you what's happening and you're gonna really resonate with this. People try for a day or a week or a month, they don't get the results and they quit. No different than fitness, no different than anything else. The answer to your quiz is social media content, organically, at scale, at scale. And it is more important than everything else. And until you do it for 18 months at an extreme level and have nothing to show for it, I don't believe it's time to quit. But what about LinkedIn, for example? Where are you at with that?

[C]

I'm heavy on LinkedIn.

[A]

What does heavy mean? Like, how many posts a day of original content clipped with thinking about the thumbnail, thinking about the copy. Pablo, are you available? Get over here. Stick with me here, right? Yeah. Pablo is on my team. Team Gary, my content. Pablo, how are you, my friend? Good. Pablo, can you explain to people the sheer hours of just looking at math and looking at algorithm? Like, just explain like what you even do sometimes. Like, like for 10, 12 hours a day, just talk for a minute. Like, you know what I'm trying to explain. Yeah, explain like the insanity of it.

[C]

So just spending dozens of hours every day kind of going over what can I do in different modules of the business.

[A]

Put AI on a shelf? I don't even give a fuck about that. Yeah, what about looking at numbers to understand what thumbnail, what preview? I mean, just like, just like hours, Aaron. Like our whole team spends hundreds of hundreds of hours a week, a week just thinking about the first three seconds or the 10th second of a clip. Every platform, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram.

[C]

Like, yeah, I mean, you can go as deep as you want and then it's about reasoning. Like, how much do you want to give into the data versus how much is the art? That's the Whole battle. Right.

[A]

But I appreciate it.

[C]

So as like a one person shop, you know?

[A]

Well, I was a one person shop for seven. This is the part that everyone gets confused about 2006 to 2014. I was a one person shop. This is where it gets good, right? Yeah. Like, I love it.

[C]

I know what you're gonna say.

[A]

I know. And I love what your face just did. Cause I fuck with you. Cause I saw what I needed to see, bro. I was a one person shop for eight years, and I did it every day, 15 hours a day. I just don't understand how people are asking for a 1% life without understanding. It takes 1% sacrifice, effort. You have to be a 1 percenter if you want a 1% outcome. Now, if you don't want a 1% outcome and you want to make a hundred thousand dollars a year doing what you want, good news, you can do 40% behavior. Yeah. So that just becomes the question. But you're competing against the world because the game is free. People are literally complaining that there's like the last. How do I break out, Gary? Well, everyone's doing it. No shit. It's free. You're complaining that you have a platform called social media that can change your life. That's free. And so you're crying that other people are doing. You're not doing that. Right. But I'm just now kind of. You know what I mean?

[C]

Yeah, yeah, it's true. And that's where, like, you know, there's not many financial advisors that focus on millennials. So it's like, you know, I know that I'm in a very small.

[A]

But you know what? There is a lot. Right. Like, yes. Ish. Right. Chase bank, for example, is a client of Vayner's. So I'm deeply researching at times, like, you know this. There's a lot of financial advisors on TikTok starting to pop up. Yeah.

[C]

There's also a lot of people that are acting like financial advisors that are giving terrible advice. And that's. That's the problem.

[A]

It's not the problem. It's your opportunity. Stitch the fuck out of them.

[C]

Oh, yeah. Oh, I have been good.

[A]

How? Yeah, More. Yeah. Okay.

[C]

And what's your thoughts on live streaming? So, like, I've been having this idea.

[A]

Of, like, you should do it. You should be on Kick and Twitch and YouTube Live, and you should be answering people's basic financial questions. Watch this. Look at my chat right now. Everybody in the chat. I need your honesty because we're going to help Ryan and I'm going to help you. At the same time, if you know for sure what I'm about to say, say, that's me in the chat. Ready? Who in the chat right now. Real talk. Like, don't want to admit it, but this is the first step to recovery. Have no idea what the fuck is going on with finance. And, like, just, like, don't know how to do their taxes. Are completely fucking confused. Like, don't know how to save money. Like, really, Your financial literacy is bullshit. Because, you know, they don't teach that shit in school. Instead, they want you to memorize what fucking Mars. How far it is from the fucking planet Earth. Who gives a fuck? Fuck.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

You see? Look at this, right? So, you know, like, you've got unlimited opportunity, brother.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And that's, and that's, that's why I started working with that, you know, demographic and stuff. You know, me being a millennial as well. Like, I understand that we weren't taught this in school. We were always told, like, save every single penny that you can get, save for your golden years. And it's like, you know, working with the retirees and pre retirees, the golden years might not ever come. So it's like, we need to live life now, right?

[A]

Yes. But most people. Most people misheard that and decided to go into massive debt for a. For a lease on a Mercedes and a fucking Louis Vuitton bag. That's not what we're saying either.

[C]

Yeah. Oh, absolutely.

[A]

Let's not put Gen Z and Gen Alpha and young millennials on a pedestal for living completely in debt. But they're enjoying life based on my hundred thousand dms. They're not. Because they're stressed as fuck. There's a happy medium and people have to find their own happy medium.

[C]

Correct. Find out what's valuable to you and what brings you value and make sure your spending aligns with it. Like, I 100% on board with that, Gary. I appreciate that.

[A]

Thank you, brother. I wish you well. Let's go into the next question. Aaron. Thank you, Ryan. More content, brother.

[B]

Okay, Cody asks. I'm 39 and I lost everything in 2021. I'm trying to restart my life, but I've struggled at every job I've had since then, looking for my fifth. Now I can't seem to shut the voice up in my head telling me I'm not worth it. Do you have any advice?

[A]

You're definitely worth it, but if you're on your fifth job, you're doing something wrong. Let's just be Incredibly transparent. You're not being accountable. What could happen is you lost everything and you're shook. You know, a lot. And this is gonna make sense. I'm curious how my crew here behind the camera's gonna act when shit hits the fan. It really does expose where your soul is sitting. Like, one of the great things that I thank God for every day is that I really feel like I'm at my best when shit is bad. Because I'm very simple. I'm grounded. I know who I am. I was parented. Well, my foundation is strong. I think for a lot of people, when shit hits the fan, they're at their worst. And that might be happening to this. Who is this again?

[B]

Cody.

[A]

Cody. And it's okay, Cody. I don't, by the way, I don't look down on people who are at their worst when shit's bad. I'm empathetic, so you're definitely worth it. But what I would do, and this is gonna work, what I would do is reach out to the people that fired you tomorrow and ask them nicely. Cause this would be a nice gesture on their part to give you five to 10 minutes and tell you why you got fired and take notes and be humble and own it. And then read it and then address it. Like you have to make changes. Something's not working. And I'm gonna go with my intuition that four companies in a row aren't wrong. I just. That's just where I'm at. But you're definitely worth it. You're just in a rut. Jake, how are you? Good.

[D]

Gary, how you doing, man?

[A]

I'm well, brother. Where are you from?

[D]

Tampa, Florida. Originally from Pittsburgh, but I've lived in Tampa for 12 years. So I used to love the kind of random. I used to love the segment that you did called Overrated. Underrated. And I was wondering if I could throw a couple random topics at you for fun.

[A]

That's really fun. Let's do that. Yeah. By the way, something. I'm so. I'm going full pledge, Gary. I'm sure not lost on you since you brought that up. And not lost on probably a lot of people here is for the last three, four years, I've been much more. Gary Vaynerchuk, the CEO of Vayner X and V, friends of Vayner Sports and Vayner Watt and all the Vayners. But starting in October, November, and definitely in 2026, I'm coming back. This is why I've been doing T more. I'm gonna be streaming More. I'm contemplating this late night version of this show called Winding down with Gary Vee. With a glass of wine, I'm gonna be vlogging a lot more IRL streaming. So, like, literally when I'm traveling to a keynote in Dallas, Danny or Train or somebody else is literally backpack. We're live on Twitch or like Kick. Like, I'm really going there. So I'm excited about it. Anyway, nonetheless. Oh, we have a winner. Hold on, buddy. Treasure Scoot. What was that? The sign pack. Treasure Scoot. I will let him talk. All right, so I'm ready for overrated. Underrated. I'm actually thinking about bringing it back is where I was going with that long winded thing. So let's rock and roll. Fire away.

[D]

All right, let's do it. All right. Number one being the face of your business.

[A]

Underrated. And I'll tell you why a lot of people should not be the face of their business. Because they're introverted. They don't want the attention. They're uncomfortable with it. And that is wonderful. I do not believe that most people should. I don't think you have to. There are much big. I'm the face of my businesses. I do very well. There are people that have much bigger businesses than me that you've never seen or heard of. So it is not required. On the flip side, in the post 2015 world, it has become another moat, another differentiator, another non replaceable replicatable advantage for someone who can do that. So it is underrated. Especially because you can build your face for free on social media.

[D]

100%. These are gonna be super random, by the way.

[A]

I like random Post Malone. I think Post Malone is underrated. I believe that Post Malone is incredibly intuitive as an entrepreneur. I don't even want to speak to his music because I don't like talking about shit I don't know. I haven't consumed it deep enough to have an opinion. But I like the way Post moves when no one's watching. I live a life where I'm able to be in rooms and I see incredible humility at this point of his career. Maybe he always wasn't like that. Maybe he was. I don't know. But I like the people he surrounds himself with. I think he's entrepreneurial. I've seen him interact with brands that we work with and I feel like he's professional. I think he's got good intent to those partnerships and without knowing him, because he could be a very bad guy or a very great guy or better than I think without actually knowing the human, my hot take is underrated.

[D]

I could see him doing the super bowl halftime show at some point too.

[A]

I think that's right. He's, he's the kind of artist that's one contemporary hit away from being next level. Right. He could do a collab with some like a K pop or you know, you know, Rigato. Like he's just one song away from being the most listened to artist in the world. He's already at that level and so that's interesting. Yep.

[D]

Next one. Brands doing social in house.

[A]

I have a very real take on this. I think it's very overrated. Vayner VaynerMedia's biggest growth in the last 13 months is to be has been going into Fortune 500 companies and replacing the in house team. In house teams for Fortune 500 for Fortune 5000 companies. Overrated. For small startups who know social media. Underrated. Right. Small startups should not be hiring agencies like mine. Big companies should not be building in house agencies because they don't know what the. If you don't know how to grade the homework, how do you know if the homework's good? The only reason in house agencies have been built in Fortune 500 companies is they became cost saving centers because TV agencies like Droga5 Wyden and Kennedy 72 and Sunny, they, they claim to be able to do what VaynerMedia does. They charged a lot of money for it and they sucked at it which made brands go wait a minute, this blows. Let's bring it in house. The problem is in house teams are also not good at it. And so I think it's an overrated move. I mean it's been stunning to see the quality of the in house work of the last 50 companies we've audited. And, and that doesn't mean the players are bad by the way. I want to make this very like if you're a person that works in house at an at a brand doesn't mean you're bad. The system's bad. And so and those players can't change the system. So companies need to be accountable for how they're putting their in house. For example, most companies put their in house team on a KPI against followers at a time where followers are declining in value and its views achieved. You know, like we just have to be smarter, more strategic.

[D]

Very true. Yeah, we have a. I actually own a social agency in Tampa called Brick Media and we work with like a lot smaller companies. Like I'd say 1 to 10 million in revenue is probably the range of clients that we work with. And our services are usually like 3 to 5k a month kind of thing.

[A]

Love it.

[D]

And I'm just. It's always just interesting how certain brands we work with, it makes a lot of sense for them to hire us. But then other brands, it's almost like I want them to do it in house.

[A]

Can I really like your temperament? Can I give you a great piece of advice as someone who's played the game you're playing? Mm. Even when you're desperate for money, if you can tell the in house team is going to be good enough and even if they hire you because you like did a great sales job, if you know they're going to fire you in six months because you can't bring them enough value against what they already have, tell them that truth 100.

[D]

And even with the followers thing you were saying, like we straight up tell people.

[A]

Yeah, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead. I'm sorry. Oh.

[D]

Oh, you're good. I was just saying. And even in the sales process, if I can tell that somebody is just all about the follower count and even if we try to explain that, you know, reach and engagement are kind of the main things to look at nowadays because it encompasses followers, non followers. If I can tell that they're just kind of not getting it, we don't even want to take those kind of clients on because it's just fighting an uphill battle from day one.

[A]

Yeah. Commencing is a terrible business model for service providers. Aaron, next question.

[B]

Okay. Are blogs and email newsletters still in?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

I recently unsubscribed from someone because I got sick of the daily lengthy content. Who has time to read that every day?

[A]

A lot of people do. A lot of people do. In fact, I would say the written long form is red hot. It's called beehive. It's called, it's called substack. I think long form written content is massively hot. I'm obsessed what's going on with those platforms. And so yes, it just seems like they were not getting value from that email anymore. In fact, my email needs to be better. I like that's a big agenda in Gary Vee 5.0, which is what I'm calling November 14th on because I turned 50, you know, 5.0. Pretty cool. Blah, blah, blah. You like that. We're going to be very serious about Substack Beehive, the email newsletter. I'm going to. I feel like on my tech service I'm replying To a lot of people. But everything I'm posting out is like, come and see this, come and see this. I want to do more value there. It's value, value, value. That email no longer provided value for that person. That doesn't mean the medium is dead. In fact, the medium is hotter than ever. Hotter than ever. All right, who do we have on screen? It says Garrett Gabriel. Maybe that's her name. Maybe it. Nope.

[E]

Actually, no. My name is Peyton.

[A]

Peyton, how are you?

[E]

Good, how are you?

[A]

I'm well. Where are you from?

[E]

I'm from Dallas, Texas.

[A]

Amazing. Little louder, please. How are things? What's your question?

[E]

Great. So my question is about tick tock live selling and I kind of in the same thing. So we have a small black Angus beef company business here in Texas, so it's all family run. So you know the struggles of trying to run multiple hat. Have multiple hats. Lots of things to do. Anyway, I'm trying to decide whether TikTok live selling is worth.

[A]

Yes.

[E]

Like, do I need to put extra time into it?

[A]

Yes. How.

[E]

How much time?

[A]

As much as humanly possible. I'll tell you why two things will happen. One, what, why TikTok is better even than whatnot is when you're live, it's going into random people's feeds and there are hundreds of millions of people on Coffee with Raj. Thank you so much for the push. There are hundreds of millions of people on TikTok and you're gonna randomly show up. Plus, if you put. Here's the problem with putting little effort, right? Like 30 minutes. Cause I'm empathetic. You got a lot going on, Peyton. But listen to me, if you don't do it, you'll always wonder, could it work if I put a lot of effort into it? So I'm a big fan of putting a ton of effort into something that you kind of intuitively feel might bring value. And then after three or four months of going ham, if nothing has happened, you're like, okay, this might not be working for me, but if you're only putting 30 minutes every three days and nothing's happening, I know it's in your mind and everybody else that's watching's mind of like, well, I'm not doing what Gary said, going ham. So maybe it does work. Do you see where I'm going? So I'd rather go ham for 150, 200 days and let something else that I already know what it is sit a little bit to get to the answer that I'm curious about.

[E]

Okay. And Then on a. I like, I know obviously that's where everything is going right now.

[A]

But let me say, let me say something about that real quick, if I may. You're a young woman, so you didn't get to live through this. But you saying. And everyone's saying everything's going, where do I go with this? Is what people said in 1993, 4, 5 and 6, saying, I know everything's going computer and World Wide Web. Where do I start? And the answer was, don't overthink it, because it's so big that it's just going to become normal. Do you understand? It's not like you need to figure like every AI is oxygen. It is going to impose its will on everything. For example, the clips we get from this show that I'm gonna put on social, I'm gonna be speaking Spanish because it's now default in Instagram. I didn't need to have to go and figure out language translation, even though me and my team were doing that along the way. I've always said to them, it's going to happen in platform. And that one really gave my team talking broader Team, team Gary Vee definitely Vayner. I told them two years ago this was gonna happen, it's now happened. And they're like, okay, Gary knows his shit. Pete. I'm telling you, like, do not worry about AI. Meaning it's just gonna be like, it's gonna. I'm gonna say it this way. You don't need to come to AI. AI is coming to you. You're not gonna be able to fucking avoid it. Every.

[E]

I don't need to worry about, like trying to find the best AI platform to use to. To help run my social or the marketing side of it.

[A]

Correct. Because you're not going to be able to avoid it. And again, it's still going to require you thinking like, everyone's got this. People either hate or love AI. And the people that love it sometimes come from, oh, AI is going to do my marketing for me. Awesome. That's not how it's going to work.

[E]

You still have to have something to put into it.

[A]

You're going to have to have ideas, you're going to have to have effort. If. Just think about it logically. If I did everything for everyone, then it wouldn't work for anyone because everyone would have the same thing. Yep.

[E]

Right, I agree.

[A]

So every single person that sells Angus Beef has the same tools as you and everyone's doing the same shit. What the fuck do we have? What we have is Our uniqueness. Your tattoo on your left shoulder is potentially why you would sell Angus beef. That is real life. Do you know that? I'm not making a joke. I'm saying the uniqueness and individuality that we have as human beings, our own ideas, our own uniquenesses, you know, like. Like, literally, there's a woman out there who would see you in a piece of content and say, this is a badass bitch like me, because we both believe in tattoos on our shoulders. I'd rather buy my fucking beef from her than someone else. That's how this shit actually works. What's your brand.

[E]

Like?

[A]

What's the company's name?

[E]

The brand's name is Gabriel Premium Beef.

[A]

Gabriel, like, how do people find it? Is it Gabriel Gabriel Premium Beef, or did you go with a shorter name? Please, God.

[E]

Oh, no. I know. No, I came into this. My grandfather owned it before me, and he's. Well, I don't own it, but he still owns it. I took over the marketing about a year into it, so all this stuff was kind of set up already, and I just, like, took it. So, no, it's gabriel@gabriel premiumbeef.com. so, yes, it's a long one, but they do find us. We found we've had really good success on Tick Tock.

[A]

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. So if you had really good success on TikTok, have you. Yeah. You know you're about to. Correct. This is. You're walking into a buzzsaw. I do not want to be everyone's affirmation. Human. You. This is what all of you know. All of you know the answers to these questions. The answer is more.

[E]

Just more.

[A]

Can I ask a personal question?

[E]

Yeah.

[A]

Do you work out?

[E]

I do.

[A]

Great. Do you understand that that's benefiting you? Do you understand that if you ate like, shit and didn't work out that you would not be in the same shape that you're in?

[E]

100%.

[A]

That is this game. Like, you got to do more. What's nice about social media that's hard about working out is, like, at some level, no matter how fucking strong your muscles are, everyone has their ceiling. Like, Train's a big fucking dude. Like, you know, his chest is looking pretty good to me. You haven't really looked at his. I'm gonna make him take his shirt off soon. But, like, right now, I still don't know where it's at. But, like, even if he can do more than I can do on bench, he's gonna hit his limit, right? The limits on social creative is much higher than they are on working out. Like, you have so much more room to go. And if you've hit some success on TikTok, I need you to triple down.

[E]

Just keep going. So. And like, what? Not so. The problem is like, and it's live, so it's better than like the Tick Tock shop. Because I can't put like our meat on the shop. You know why? Saying like, they don't take raw meat. They won't accept it.

[A]

Yeah. Yet.

[E]

Yes. Yeah, I know. I'm waiting for the day that they do. What? Not like, is that an avenue I need to take as well?

[A]

Or maybe the problem with whatnot is I brought all the people into this room. What's great about TikTok is TikTok gives you audience. Whatnot doesn't have that level of audience and the algorithm doesn't work the same way. Got it. That's why it's both. But you may want to do a little something here because even 20, 30, 40 people, the lack of friction and the ease of buying the meat is worth it, you know. Okay, user 823-4958, the reason you can't contact TikTok about it, they have terms of like, there's no, like Johnny TikTok. Yo, Johnny TikTok the meat, can you put it on there? It doesn't work like that. They're fucking massive.

[E]

I've tried, I've tried a million different ways.

[A]

It's not going to happen. They have master terms of services and they have reasons for that, you know, because, you know, produce has different laws and different issues and, you know, there's things like that. So. All right. Anyway, see ya.

[E]

Bye. Thank you.

[A]

You're welcome.