The Biggest Financial Opportunity for People Under 25

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The Biggest Financial Opportunity for People Under 25

Podcast: The GaryVee Audio Experience
Host: Gary Vaynerchuk
Date: October 31, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into what Gary Vaynerchuk sees as the most significant financial opportunities for people under 25 today, focusing on the massive potential of social media, AI, and building a personal brand around authentic passions. Gary reflects on his entrepreneurial journey, lessons from his immigrant upbringing, the power of self-awareness, and actionable strategies for young people to leverage AI and digital tools to transform their lives.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Balancing Multiple Roles: Self-Compassion for the Busy

• Gary shares his approach to managing many projects:
  • He doesn’t beat himself up over dropped balls—"When you're juggling 13 things… six fall to the ground and break. I don't cry about the six plates that broke. I'm happy that I have seven plates in a world where most people have one." (01:09)
  • Success comes from not dwelling on failures but learning from them and protecting relationships with employees and investors.

2. The Power of Doing What You Love

• Gary emphasizes passion over traditional success metrics:
  • "I like working and running my companies more than golfing and sailing… It’s nirvana. I would argue it’s the ultimate human experience." (02:20)
  • Self-awareness allows him to focus on strengths and hire for his weaknesses.

3. Gary’s Origin Story & Early Media Experiences

• The accidental rise as a media personality:
  • Early adopter of ecommerce, Google Ads, YouTube, and social media.
  • Launched Wine Library TV on YouTube in 2006, bringing a fresh, irreverent style to wine reviews that set him apart.
  • Conan O’Brien’s compliment was a turning point: “He goes, get the fuck out of here. Your comedic timing's incredible.” (07:47)
  • Realized his natural talent for engaging an audience went beyond wine.

4. Intent Matters: Moving People Over Gaining Followers

• Gary’s purpose in media and business:
  • "If three people who had never heard of me… say, you know what? He's fucking right, and do something about it...this was a good use of an hour." (09:49)
  • Measuring impact by real, positive change—values quality of influence over quantity.

5. Building From Nothing: The Immigrant Work Ethic

• Describes building his father's liquor store into a $60 million business, only to leave and start over, eventually founding VaynerMedia.
  • "I worked 100 hours a week in a liquor store for a decade just to build a business for my dad… I left with nothing." (11:13)
  • Credits his mother’s example for his mindset and sense of gratitude—“99% of the people listening to this podcast did not have the mother I had… I feel like I’m just a messenger of what she did well.” (12:52)

6. Biggest Financial Opportunity: Social Media & Individual Empires

• Starting a business with no money:

  • "Social media, it's the greatest opportunity to humans ever, brother." (13:58)
  • Real-world example: a woman grows a 6-figure baking business via Instagram and TikTok.

• The rise of the 'Individual Empire':

  • Predicts anyone can make a living around their niche passions—be it “jigsaw puzzles” or “beer and jigsaw puzzles”—by consistently creating content.
  • "At bare minimum, getting $5,000 a year in brand deals… Best case, you quit your job." (17:59)

• The "crowded" myth:

  • “The opportunity's even bigger than it was before… You gotta go nicher and nicher. Your niche is you.” (18:38)

• Don’t Chase Trends—Chase Passions:

  • Warns against purely following money (crypto, real estate, cannabis, AI, etc.). “People chase real estate… people chase AI right now. They're not passionate about those things. They think the money's there.” (20:17)
  • If you don’t love it, you won’t stick with it.

7. Mindset & Motivation: Gratitude and Empathy

• On upbringing and drive:
  • Stresses the benefits of struggle—“It’s hard to be hungry when you’re fed.” (22:09)
• Empathy and gratitude:
  • The importance of acknowledging privilege and channeling it productively.
• “Purple, not Red or Blue”:
  • Advocates for nuance in cultural/political thinking and engagement—“We need to become purple as humans. This all-blue and all-red thing is fucked up.” (24:17)

8. AI: The Greatest Opportunity for the Young

• Reframing AI as opportunity, not threat:

  • “If you're a young kid and worried about this, you’re a fucking idiot… This is your biggest opportunity… It's a tidal wave, and you're still young and spry where you can ride this wave.” (32:23)
  • AI will kill and create jobs; the young can adapt fastest.

• Practical approaches:

  • Tells young listeners to actively use AI—“The way you learn about AI is with AI. Go to ChatGPT, go to Perplexity, go to Gemini and literally type in, ‘I'm ready, let's go through it.’” (34:29)
  • Demonstrates, in real time, how to prompt AI for business ideas.

• Concrete business ideas using AI:

  1. Local marketing agency using AI for small businesses (website, content, ads)
  2. Real estate content machine
  3. AI-powered resume/essay business for students—“$50 to $150 each, three to seven minutes and probably $4 of effort.” (36:54)

9. Culture, Civility, and Interpersonal Responsibility

• Civic decline and the loss of basic manners:
  • Laments the lack of courtesy and community (“Watching a 74-year-old woman carrying bags in an airport… nine 28-year-old dudes sitting and not offering a seat… I'm broken with that, brother.” (30:26)
  • Society’s focus on vanity and self–over shared responsibility
  • Calls out both political parties and public figures for setting poor examples

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On self-judgment and entrepreneurship:

  • “I don't cry about the six plates that broke. I'm happy that I have seven plates in a world where most people have one.” (01:13)

• On passion vs. perception:

  • “When I say to people I like working and running my companies more than golfing and sailing…90% of the audience is like, this guy is not telling the truth. But I know it to be true for me.” (02:18)

• On making a difference:

  • "If three people…say, you know what, he's fucking right, and do something about it. Well, this was a good use of an hour." (09:49)

• On business and upbringing:

  • “It’s hard to be hungry when you’re fed.” (22:09)

• The “Individual Empire” vision:

  • “We are dangerously close to where everybody in a decade can make a living around things that they love… You are one TikTok post away from your life changing.” (15:16)

• On the current generation’s opportunity:

  • “This is the biggest financial opportunity for somebody under the age of 25 ever, ever. Bigger than the Internet in 94.” (33:44)
  • “Your niche is you.” (19:28)

• On AI and adaptation:

  • “The way you learn about AI is with AI.” (34:29)

• On cultural polarization:

  • “We need to become purple as humans. This all-blue and all-red thing is fucked up. And they're both out of their goddamn minds.” (24:17)

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Important Timestamps

• 01:09 — Gary on juggling many projects and self-compassion
• 02:18 — Passion for work over leisure activities
• 07:47 — Conan O'Brien's compliment & origin of “GaryVee"
• 09:49 — Purpose in moving people, not just gaining fans
• 11:13 — Story of building his father's business, starting over
• 13:58 — Social media as the greatest equalizer
• 18:38 — “Opportunity is even bigger now; go niche.”
• 20:17 — Warning against blindly chasing trends
• 22:09 — “Hard to be hungry when you're fed”
• 24:17 — Purple thinking and empathy in culture
• 32:23 — AI is the biggest opportunity for the young
• 34:29 — Learning AI by using AI
• 36:54 — Concrete AI business idea: resumes and essays
• 30:26 — Commentary on loss of civility and community

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Tone & Style

Gary’s tone is passionate, direct, and often laced with humor and a bit of Jersey grit. He’s unapologetically positive yet grounded in reality, mixing practical advice with motivational storytelling. Throughout the episode, the mood is motivational, energetic, and candid—emphasizing self-awareness, responsibility, and the need to seize the unprecedented opportunities of the digital and AI era.

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This summary captures the central insights, actionable advice, and signature candor Gary offered, making it easy for listeners to absorb the core lessons of the episode—no matter their starting point.

Transcript

[A]

I know it might have scared you on Halloween because we're a little late, but here it is. Hope you enjoy it. Also have a TikTok live today at 1pm if you want to check that out, check out my Instagram post this morning. There's a way to get a link to it. I know. Instagram to TikTok. We bounce around in here. Audio Instagram, TikTok. Audio Instagram, TikTok. This is the Garyvee audio experience.

[B]

You go and speak and you do a lot of public speaking. You have. We were saying earlier that we're kind of similar in that, in that realm. The other side of your life is business. Running businesses, running companies, doing all of that stuff. How have you balanced the two and what do you see as the primary difference in them? Because one is you're selling, you, it's very different. And then you're selling.

[A]

That's a great question.

[B]

Media companies.

[A]

So a couple things. The way I balance it is first, and this is important, this may help some people that are busy, especially working parents. The real answer to your question of how I balance it is by not over judging myself and giving myself grace. When you're doing 93 things like I am.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, when you're juggling 13 things, I don't know if you know about this, but six fall to the ground and break.

[B]

Right.

[A]

I don't cry about the six plates that broke. I'm happy that I have seven plates in a world where most people have one.

[B]

Oh yeah, that's smart.

[A]

So first it's relationship with myself.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I'm so entrepreneurial. I have so much stuff going on.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Stuff fails.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I'm not dwelling on my failures. I want to learn from them. I definitely don't want to hurt other people.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So like I'm always conscious of that. Investors, employees, that's very real to me.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So first it's that. Second, I work like real talk, like, how do you get a lot done? Like I have 11, 12 hour days. That's real life.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, and that's not for a lot of people.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I don't think you have to work that hard. I just love what I do.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, it's just real life.

[B]

It's the most fun that you have.

[A]

Yeah. I always tell people this. I'm like, I'm telling you, you may not believe me, especially if you're not that kind of person. When people tell me they get a high from running, I'm like, you're full of shit. I'M like, what are you talking about? Like, running is the worst. But it is not lost on me that there are many people that really get a tremendous joy from running. I have no idea what the fuck you guys are talking about. So when I say to people I like working and running my companies more than golfing and sailing and laying on the beach, it's not lost on me that 90% of the audience right now is like, this guy is not telling the truth. But I know it to be true for me.

[B]

Yeah, you enjoy.

[A]

I really enjoy it. I'm very blessed. It's why I talk so much about doing what you love. It's nirvana. I would argue it's the ultimate human experience. So hours judgment and then self awareness. I know what I'm good at, and then I hire for what I'm not good at.

[B]

When did you realize that the Gary Vee part of it was something you were good at? Was it because you ran companies and you can deal with people?

[A]

Actually, I'll tell you a cool story, especially for the comedy crowd. The greatest compliment I was ever given went completely over my head when you just said, when did you know? I knew after the fact I did something. Let me tell you the story. Okay, YouTube comes out. I was right about dot com. For context, everyone. I launched an e commerce site for my dad's liquor store in 1997. When that was like, what are you talking about? And exploded. Built a huge company for my family. For my family. I had to start my own thing later. Immigrant family businesses. You all know who. If you know, you know everyone. So I was right about the website then. I was really one of the first significant email marketers in 1997. I was right about that. Then a website called Google came out. I don't know if you heard about it. And they had this concept of Google Ads, where if you searched ads with pot up. I literally did that first day. One, the day it launched, I bought all the wine terms it crushed. I built this huge company. Then YouTube comes along and I'm like, man, this is interesting because I've been watching MySpace. I'm like, MySpace is doing something interesting. Which is why I was an early investor in Facebook, Twitter, all those things. YouTube comes out. I'm like, this is cool. A year earlier, I asked my developer who does the tech stuff, I'm like, can I make wine videos to review wine on our website? Cause better than words would be me tasting it and telling people. He came back. He's like, no, it costs too much to host the videos. If, like 50 people watch this video, it costs like $4,000. I'm like, we'll be out of business. No way. So when YouTube comes out, Eric Castro, I always want to give him flowers. Eric Castro came to me. He's like, hey, there's this new site, YouTube. And I think you can do what you wanted a year ago. Make wine videos. And we can just embed the video. And we cost nothing. I'm like, nothing? That's a good price. $3.99 is right price. So I start this wine show, Wine Library TV, in February of 2006. I do a show every day. It's a 20 minute video. They're still up online if you want to go look at them. 20 minutes of me drinking wine, reviewing it. And I broke out because prior to that, all the wine critics, Robert Parker, the Wine Spectator, it was all stuffy shit. You guys know the wine world. And I'm out here comparing wine to, like, Hulk Hogan's jockscrap and Big League Chew and, like, very irreverent. I was 30 years old. I'm me. I'm who I am here, Jersey Boy. Like, I don't have that in me.

[B]

Yeah. Even when I would go to New Wine.

[A]

But that's why I was dangerous.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

All the snobby sommeliers in New York that were pissed, they knew they had a problem, which I knew what the fuck I was talking about. So they could talk about my style, but not my substance. You know, like, they were stuck. I get some traction, and I make this video where I showed people how I built my palette when I was 17, because I wanted to be in the wine business since I was 17, but my parents wouldn't let me drink. So I would read these reviews, and it'd be like, boysenberry and cassis and all these words I'd never heard of. I was a Jersey Boy. I was like, apple, orange, strawberry. I was like, what the fuck is a gooseberry? Right.

[B]

Hero sandwich.

[A]

And then luckily for me, that Whole Foods started coming around in that time in Jersey. It wasn't just shoprite and AP anymore. And I would go there and they would have these weird fruits. So basically, when I was 18, 19, 20, I would go to a Whole Foods or a Wegmans as they started to pop up in Jersey, and I would buy weird flavors of things, of the things I read in wine descriptions. Cause I was like, well, if I'm gonna have to sense what a gooseberry is in a Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, Shouldn't I know what a fucking gooseberry tastes like?

[B]

Right?

[A]

Anyway, I did this video on one episode where I tasted all these different things, including dirt. Like, I actually ate dirt, which I think is normal, but everyone thought was crazy. Conan o' Brien's producers saw it and reached out to me and asked me to do the Conan Show.

[B]

Right.

[A]

First I get this email, and I think it's my friends. Cause this is the era where me and my friends were catfishing each other 24 7, making pretend we were, like former pretty girls from high school and saying, like, oh, I always liked you. It was really, this is no joke, a funny time where we were just catfishing 24 7. So I'm like, this isn't real. I wait a couple days. They reply back. I see a phone number, so I call. It's real, brother. You're gonna love this. I've never done television in my life. No local, nothing. And my first TV appearance of my life is the Conan Show. And you may know this, Conan doesn't rehearse. It's all improv.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

So I'm literally behind this curtain, and they're like, go. I go to this wine skit where we taste four wines and the stuff I smell, his armpit. We eat dirt. We crush. It's the last segment. It's the, you know, like, the not.

[B]

Famous person, the last spot, the comic spot.

[A]

Conan's like, all right, everybody, we'll see you tonight. So it ends. Everybody claps, the new audience. And he turns to me and, you know, he's like seven foot fucking nine. So he looks down at me. I'm like a midget in this video. And he's like. He's like, man, that was really good. I'm like, thank you. He goes, so where do you perform? And I go, perform what? He goes, where do you do your skits? I'm like, I'm a wine store guy. He goes, get the fuck out of here. Your comedic timing's incredible.

[B]

Amazing. So that's when you knew.

[A]

That is when I knew. A year and a half later, once I realized how. Not only did I know Conan was awesome, but I didn't at that point. Even though I loved comedy. Like, Richard Pryor was what I listened to. My car, Eddie Murphy. I loved Stand Up Jerky Boys. I loved it.

[B]

We were just doing Jerky Boys before you got here.

[A]

I love that. Is that right?

[B]

It's like my glasses. Yes.

[A]

I, Andrew Dice Clay. I lived through all that hbo, when HBO was what Netflix is now. Like, I lived through that. Yeah. Sam. That stuff was. I loved it. But I didn't understand how respected and revered Conan was. And I didn't understand how profound that compliment was. So three years later, I kind of woke up to it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I was like, wow. I just got lucky in the DNA game of my cadence and my timing and Jersey. And Jersey. Yeah. I mean, I think this goes back to what we talked about earlier, you know, when you and I were growing up. Your best friends made fun of you 24 7.

[B]

Constant, constant, constant.

[A]

Like, my way of showing love is making fun of people.

[B]

I literally was thinking on the way here. Cause you talk about not giving a shit about what people think about you. And I thought of the line, what's the difference between not giving a shit about what people think about you and being an asshole? And I was like, I could say that to Gary. Cause I know where he came from. And he'll know that I'm not calling him an asshole.

[A]

Correct. And by the way, an answer for it. It's called intent.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

When I come and do this and take time out of my day.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I'm doing it for a couple of reasons. One, I respect you.

[B]

Thank you.

[A]

I mean it. I like what you do. Two, I'm aware there's a lot of people in this audience that may not know me because, like, you know, everyone has different audiences.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

What am I doing here? Am I here to, like, peddle a book or a new movie? This is not normal stuff, like the way we grew up. And you go and do the. I'm here because if three people. Three brother.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

If three people who had never heard of me.

[B]

Right.

[A]

If I was the right style of love, which is Jersey love.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That got them to say, you know what? He's fucking. Right. And do something about it. Well, this was a good use of an hour.

[B]

Does that math work?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

For someone who's been through a lot of marketing and DMs and stuff, if you walk away with three, that's enough.

[A]

You'll love this. Listen to what I said. I'm not looking to get three fans.

[B]

Right. To move three.

[A]

To move three.

[B]

Right.

[A]

I'm gonna walk away with hundreds of fans. Cause I'm good.

[B]

Right?

[A]

Right. Like, I'll get hundreds out of this.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I'll also get 25. And, like, fuck that, dude. It was too much. And I get that. I'm not confused by what my energy is, but it's not about how many I get. It's not by how many I lose. I know that for some reason, the way I communicate, what I talk about, what I Observe, I have 15 years of track record now to know I'm gonna change, move, adjust. Three people. And is it worth it? Of course. One person.

[B]

And has that changed through the years when you. No, because before, like, you're doing. You're building companies, you're doing this stuff to. Is there now that you've been successful?

[A]

No.

[B]

Is there Move people?

[A]

I was successful because move people was the real game I've always was playing.

[B]

Really?

[A]

Yeah. Really real time.

[B]

Starting the wine.

[A]

Yeah. Like, look, think about my life. I built a huge company for my dad. I left with nothing. I started my next company in a conference room because I had no money. Cause I spent all. I literally worked 100 hours a week in a liquor store for a decade just to build a business for my dad. Really? It was immigrant shit.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And by the way, did I leave with some resentment? Of course. I'm a grown man. Like, I was 32. I was like, fuck, I have nothing.

[B]

Right.

[A]

I started a new company.

[B]

You literally, just to be clear, for me, for our listeners, you built that. You took a liquor store and built this into a $60 million a year business.

[A]

That's right. Not $60 million valuation revenue.

[B]

Right. And then you.

[A]

It wasn't my business.

[B]

It was for your parents. And you left with your back to zero.

[A]

Back to zero. Like, When I started VaynerMedia, which is now a $400 million a year business, we started it out of Buddy Media's conference room in Columbus Circle. Cause I couldn't afford rent, even though I had just built this huge business.

[B]

Right.

[A]

I didn't build Wine Library for my money and my bankroll. I built it as the great thank you to having the best parents in the world.

[B]

Right.

[A]

That's how I thought about it right now at the tail end, why I left was I was starting to build resentment towards my father.

[B]

That's real talk, right?

[A]

Like, I didn't want to feel that way. But now I was getting older. I was about to start my own family. I went to the bank because I wanted an apartment for me and my wife at the time. And they were like, you can't get an apartment. You're worthless. But I'm like, yeah, but I built Wine Library. And they're like, that's cute. That's your dad's. And it kind of was like the first time that I had to wake up and be like. Because I was. I was.

[B]

I was.

[A]

I would use the word obsessed. I was obsessed with Building something big.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

For them. Cause to this day, at 49 years old, it is the thing I'm most grateful for. Like, my mom did it, bro. Like, she did it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like, again, I think. I'll tell you what, back to what I just said earlier. One of the other reasons I'm here for this hour is out of guilt. 99% of the people listening to this podcast did not have the mother I had. Out of gratitude, 99% of the people did not have it. And I feel like I'm just a messenger of what she did. Well.

[B]

Right.

[A]

My mom lost her mom at 5.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

I think about her all the time. I'm like, how did this woman become the greatest mom of all time without even having an example? It's insane, you know? So I'm very proud of my gratitude. Yes, sir.

[B]

I have a question for you, please, that you just touched on a little bit. And it was from my. From one of my producers. You hear a lot. You're very good about sparking people and getting them kind of out of their rut and making them at least think about what they're gonna do and how they're gonna go. And her question was, you hear a lot about start a business, do a thing, do a thing. She goes, how do you start this business and do these things when it's just you and you have no money to hire people to work with you?

[A]

Social media, it's the greatest. It's so funny where social is now.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It's in such a bad place as a brand because of the political unrest. It's confused people that it's the greatest opportunity to humans ever, brother. Literally. Let's use an example I know of, which is similar to this bread thing. God, I don't want to get this wrong. There's a woman that I just came across. Is it bread or is my brain just breaking? Cause you got bread in front of me? There's a woman.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Is it cookies? I'm just. You know what? I don't want to make this up. There's a woman I've recently come across who either sells bread, cookies, pickles, cupcakes, I just can't remember. I apologize, audience. But she literally is good at it. She saw my content, she said, fuck it, I'll just start posting about it. And long story short, just by posting on Instagram and TikTok, two years later, she makes $750,000 a year, take home baking her fucking thing and shipping it to people around the country. And she's a Pig and shit. Happy. And it's changed her life.

[B]

Right.

[A]

She is not the enigma. She is the preview of what everything is gonna happen. I've been thinking about writing a new book called the Individual Empire.

[B]

Right.

[A]

You like it? Yeah, I like it too.

[B]

Yeah?

[A]

Thank you. That was positive reinforcement. Thank you. The concept of the book is we are in a place now between social live shopping, YouTube streaming, Twitch and Kick and all that. I'm sure you see the young comics and all that. Drew Ski, right?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The blockchain, which people still don't understand, the NFTs, Bitcoin. But I do all these different pieces. We are dangerously close to where everybody in a decade can make a living around things that they love, are interested in talking about Star Trek, talking about old video games, talking about rock bands of the 70s and being able to sell merch, being able to get brand sponsorship. And you were one TikTok post away from your life changing. And that is happening at scale to people every day, brother.

[B]

Right, Right. Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

Look at the SNL crew. Marcelo, this new kid, Patterson who just joined. Like they're all growing up from social content, right?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You had to fucking work in. You had to go into like. There are people whose lives change from one silly video.

[B]

Yeah, exactly. You know, didn't have to go to a club, didn't have to get hired by anybody. Nobody had.

[A]

Nobody had that part, brother. You get it? This is the part that's lost. People don't get it. There used to be gatekeepers. You're good enough to be on tv, you're good enough to be on this stage. Now it's just you and the market.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

So I don't know. I think we're living in the greatest era of opportunity. So the answer is, how do you do it? It's social media. I think it starts with passion. I don't think you can work the 10 hours a day or while you have a full time job. When you get home after a long day, how are you possibly gonna muster up the energy from 7pm to midnight to work on something? Unless whatever you're doing is something you like. So like, if you like, I'll give you. I'm just gonna keep going with what I know to be true.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

Which spark some ideas for people. Puzzles. You know what I'm talking about, brother? Puzzles. Jigsaw puzzles. There's people like doing those.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Filming yourself putting together a jigsaw puzzle. If that's actually what you want to do over a beer and watching Love island in the background, filming yourself and posting clips of that on TikTok. Genuinely, actually, if you got a little something, if you've got consistency and perseverance, if you learn a little something literally leads to. If you do it consistently for two years, leads to you being on the other side. At bare minimum, brother, getting $5,000 a year in brand deals from jigsaw puzzle companies. That gives you $5,000 more than you had before, right?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That's worst case. If you're consistent for two years.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Best case, you quit your job. You hate and you are Jigsaw Jane, and you make 180k a year for Jigsaw Jane T shirts, 50,000 in brand deals from the five biggest jig. A $10,000 appearance at Jigsaw Con.

[B]

Right?

[A]

This is real.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And you know what's funny? I was saying this shit in 08-09-10 and people laughed at me. All of you know what I just said is real, right? It's real.

[B]

Is it getting more crowded to the point where it's. It's not even close.

[A]

The opportunity's even bigger than it was before.

[B]

It's even bigger than now.

[A]

Yes. You know what, everybody? This is so funny. This is the greatest opportunity in human history. And what do humans do? They're like, Gary. But there's. Everybody else is doing it, too. I'm like, no, Sherlock. But that's why this is an opportunity. And that's why notice the examples I gave Jigsaw. You gotta go nicher and nicher.

[B]

Right?

[A]

Jigsaw and a beer where you, like, notice what I'm about to do. You both like. You like to do jigsaw, but you're also a microbrew connoisseur and, you know, microbrews. So now what's your point of differentiation? You're doing the jigsaw, you're making your content, but you're also, real quick, let me tell you about this rogue ipa. And all of a sudden, it's the beer part that took off, Right? And that's where you're making your money. Not the jigsaw or both. Or you're the only beer Jigsaw person.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Your niche is you.

[B]

Right?

[A]

Like, I'm a Jets fan. Root beer, garage sale, like, all the things. You know, there's other people that talk about business and opportunity and social media and motivation and practical. But the more you give the world every little nuance of you, the more likely you have a point of differentiation.

[B]

What's cool about it is that it's Everything you've said today comes from a passion and a love. It all comes from whether you're dealing with kids or whether you're dealing with building these companies or dealing with your parents or all of these things. They're not fake things. They're not looking at the market and saying, what would possibly make a lot of money that I can kind of exploit and then show up and try and sell something that you're not into.

[A]

That's right. Or sell something that I think people are buying.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

People chased crypto. People chase real estate. People chase cannabis.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

People chasing AI right now. They're not passionate about those things. They think the money's there.

[B]

Right. Right.

[A]

And I just. I don't know. Maybe this is why I was an F student. Like, I was a real bad student.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like, real bad. Yeah. Like, my class rank was 243 out of 251. There was, like, eight people worse than me at North Hunterdon High School in New Jersey. I just don't know how to do things if I don't like them. And so, like, I failed school my whole life. I literally can't hang a picture on the wall. But I can build empires.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I think I believe that's true for everyone. Meaning not everyone is a good entrepreneur and a good business person. I get that. But if you understand what you're good at or what. More importantly. More importantly, what you like. And then, please, hopefully you're good at it. Cause then it's instant. Or if not, you can get good at it.

[B]

Right.

[A]

I think there's something there.

[B]

Do we do a thing on this program called An Uncomfortable Moment?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Where we take a look at some stuff that maybe makes our guests a little uncomfortable, but maybe not.

[A]

Let's do it.

[B]

As a Jersey fellow. Jersey kid, we took a look at what your life would have been if you had different parents. And you were just a lazy. Gary. Gary, tv.

[A]

Gary tv. Listen, honestly, I look at that.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And you just showed me a picture of why I'm so grateful for my parents. Right. First of all, did you guys Photoshop my arms? They look very thin there. I'm a little bit concerned about that.

[B]

Yeah. This was before you started working out more.

[A]

Oh, fair enough. That might be true. Number two. Yeah, man. Listen, I'm very grateful that I was born with little, grew up with little.

[B]

Mm.

[A]

I learned. You know, I always say this thing, brother. It's hard to be hungry when you're fed. I'm empathetic to kids that have their parents do everything for them. It's hard to be hungry. Like, how on earth, you know? Like, do I have. Listen. And you can't overcorrect the other way. I mean, I was literal child labor. I started working my Dad's store at 14.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like, do I think my dad. My mom and dad, if they were sitting here, would say, we love our son. He's the best. Thank God he talks about us this way. But if we could do it again, we wouldn't have made him work 10 hours a day when he was 14. You know, but at the time, we were. So. Yeah. You're not thinking you're immigrant life.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You're fucking just trying to get by.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

Like, my first car I bought at a garage sale for 550 bucks. This is like, not like, you know.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. No, that thing of that. We overanalyze in every aspect. Adults, kids, all of it. And it's a luxury to be able to sit back and be like, how am I feeling?

[A]

Yeah, it is a luxury.

[B]

What am I like today Instead of just hustling and getting up and having a.

[A]

And I will say this. It's purple. It's not red or blue. I think I said it earlier, and I hope everyone heard it. I like that we're talking about these things. There's a lot of people. When you and I were kids, everybody who was an alcoholic father, it wasn't talked about.

[B]

Right.

[A]

You know, there was fathers. Fathers in our neighborhood would, like, slap their wives. That wasn't good.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

There's many things that are better now.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, like, macho men wouldn't talk about feelings, and that led to suicide. You know why Suicide is also up. We now call it suicide. Before, it was like, oh, dad slipped in the kitchen and died. Like, we hid things. The world is. The reason we know about stuff now is, like, people did all these things before they weren't reported. He had a heart attack. No, he didn't. He hung himself in the. Like, I grew up in this environment.

[B]

Right.

[A]

That's not what happened. We didn't report it the same way. And why did that happen? Because that macho guy couldn't talk about his feelings. He held it in so much, and he cracked. So I don't think, like, it's not one or the other, but using political terms, we need to become purple as humans.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Right. This all blue and all red thing is fucked up. And they're both out of their goddamn minds.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Completely out of their minds.

[B]

Yeah. No, it doesn't work.

[A]

Completely out of their minds. And like, I don't think hate or canceling or judgment or looking down on people is gonna motivate people. This is about the opportunity. And let me say it nice and slow. If you have the luxury of even hearing us talk right now, right. That means you are listening to a podcast on an $800 phone.

[B]

Right. You have a hundred dollar airline.

[A]

I'm on the board of. I have a very big event here in a couple weeks in New York. I'm on the board of an organization called Pencils of Promise. We build schools in third world countries where if you do not build a school, the way the kids in the neighborhood get educated is some 80 year old has one book and reads it over and over.

[B]

Right.

[A]

I'm on another board called charity water. 800 million people do not have access to clean water. It means that within an eight hour window they cannot get to clean water. 8,800 million, 100 million people on earth. That is 10% of our society.

[B]

Jeez.

[A]

I don't know what to say to everybody who's listening other than you have life by the balls. You are lucky you don't think so because cnn, Fox, your parents, your neighbors and everybody else has told you everything sucks.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The truth is, everything does not suck.

[B]

No.

[A]

You've decided to succumb to it. And there's humans like me and there's plenty of other people on social, not on mainstream media.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Mainstream media is a cesspool of garbage. And I'm talking both sides.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

All they do go turn on TV right now. All they do is scare people.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Scare, scare, scare, scare, scare. Literally the amount. Because I love reading culture. I go back and forth on FOX and CNN all the time. It is literally the same exact thing from a different angle, but both are doing the same thing, which is I'm gonna scare the fuck out of you.

[B]

Right. So you come back after the commercial.

[A]

Right?

[B]

Yep.

[A]

I just think that everybody who's listening needs to start listening to more positive, practical people.

[B]

Right. Like us.

[A]

Like us. I mean it, man. It's why I'm here. Yeah, I believe that. It's why I like comedy. Comedy's a son of a bitch. I've always loved you fuckers because you guys have been able to use the facade of stand up to actually get to real shit. When you like think about what Carlin and Pryor were saying when they were saying it, based on what was going on, they were doing God's work in a lot of ways.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I mean that. No I know they were talking about real shit. And that's what's happening now.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Now the problem is this new crop, I think we're getting sucked up a little bit too much in the red and blue.

[B]

Oh, big time.

[A]

So I think.

[B]

Big time. I think the comedy actually has camps now of like, you know. Yeah.

[A]

And so I think if you look back. Correct. And I think when you look at the OG comics.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

They were purple.

[B]

Oh. Carlin would grow up either side.

[A]

Correct. They would be purple.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Right. Like, when red went too red, they'd shit on them. When blue went too blue, they shit on them. Right. Now we're like, we have to pick sides.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And it's fucked up. I have no interest. I'm purple all the way. Fuck everyone. I want to win.

[B]

How do you digest? Do you digest news or you just running around?

[A]

No, bro, look at this. Look at this. On my phone. Look at this app right here. So this is an app called Break the News. Break the Web. Excuse me?

[B]

Break the Web.

[A]

It's AI and what it's doing is it takes all the information of everything and it gives me the headlines that are going on in the world right now. I'm constantly trying to pay attention.

[B]

Right.

[A]

I want to know everything, but not because I think my two fucking sense matter. And I want to go pontificate.

[B]

Right.

[A]

I want to figure out what the fuck all you 8 billion fuckers are thinking about and why.

[B]

Right, Right.

[A]

You understand?

[B]

Yeah, completely.

[A]

I'm not here to add my 2 cents and think I know anything. In fact, I actually think the most audacious thing on earth is to think another human being should see the world exactly like you.

[B]

Oh, God. Yeah.

[A]

I would never. The reason I don't go too political is I don't have the audacity in me to think someone who grew up with, for example, a cursing that I've been doing. If you grew up in a Southern home where your grandma was your idol and her number one demonization is, boy, you don't curse. And now you're listening and it's jarring. How could I possibly judge you?

[B]

Right?

[A]

But please don't judge me. Where I grew up in Jersey in the 80s, and this is like our love language, right?

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

So, you know, I just don't have the audacity to think that someone should see the world the way I see it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That doesn't mean there isn't right and wrong.

[B]

No.

[A]

I think we should all agree that.

[B]

Murder is bad and also that you're all working towards the same thing, which is to be safe and happy and take care of your family and be happy.

[A]

But how people define it is different.

[B]

Yeah, but I mean that's the one thing that's really the most upsetting in the culture right now is there's. It's okay to have different views. And even if you're sucked into Fox or sucked into CNN and you see this world through the fearful lens that they're showing you, there still should be a thing that we need everyone on the block to be okay or our block is shit. Well, I'll tell you that part.

[A]

There's a couple things that happened. I think wisdom has been, I think vanity has emerged and wisdom has declined. Like for example, as a 49 year old man, like I wear a ball cap and like T shirts and we all wanna look young. Like we have put youth culture on a pedestal. The kids that know tech young, everybody wants to look good. You got 68 year olds out there looking all thotty and hot and shit. I'm like, this is crazy. Like, you know what I mean? Like literally, like, right? Like literally 68. Like, I'm like, they should not be this sexy. Like this is weird cover up. Like, you know what I mean?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And what I will tell you breaks my heart actually. Here's a public service announcement that I hope triggers someone to do something about it. Do you know what kills me? I'm sad that we lost our way with the following. So I travel a lot.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

When I'm in an airport and I watch a fucking 74 year old woman carrying two bags walking and there's nine 28 year old dudes sitting on the seat on their phone playing a game and they don't have the courtesy and civility to stand up and give that woman a chair.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I'm broken with that brother.

[B]

I know.

[A]

And I would say that we've lost that. That's where, like that's where church, that's where good parenting, good cops and firemen. Like we've lost a little bit of that hometown thing. And I think it's get it, I think we can get it back. But I think we have to acknowledge that we all have to step up.

[B]

Well, it's a, what you're describing is vanity, which is thinking about yourself and not thinking about the other.

[A]

That's right.

[B]

You have to think about the other. And people don't realize if you think about the other and act for the other, you actually selfishly become better.

[A]

Also we have politicians on both sides of the aisle who literally act like fucking seventh grade boys.

[B]

Right?

[A]

Like we are very far away from JFK back to this point, standing on a pedestal and saying, don't ask what the country will do for you. What are you doing for the country? We've lost our collectiveness, to your point. And more importantly, like, we're embarrassing out there.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like when I tell you I so look down on 90% of public servants because they don't know how to act civil. Like basic manners. And it trickles.

[B]

Yeah. No, it's an example.

[A]

They're like, oh, negativity is up. No shit. The people that run the world are fucking douchebags across the board. I'm saying this as bipartisan. I mean this as if one side is better than the other. As if. Yeah, come on.

[B]

I can't let you leave without asking something about AI.

[A]

Please.

[B]

Because you, you're talking about it a lot and I'm not even gonna ask you a question. Tell, tell me, tell them what? If you're a young person.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And you're scared of AI, I'm gonna ask a question. And you were scared of AI and people, you just hear, you hear rumblings that all the jobs are gonna go away. What do you say to young people about the AI revolution that's upon us?

[A]

That the only class you should pay attention to is history or do it on your free time. Because when the tractor was invented and the automobile and the typewriter and the computer, they all said the same thing, right? And by the way, for anybody who really understands, AI is big. Like, it is bigger than the things I just mentioned. But I will say this again. When the tractor was invented, 80% of the world worked on a farm, right? If you're a young kid and worried about this, you're a fucking idiot. This is your biggest opportunity. I understand if it's an OG like you and me, and you're like, ah, fuck, we gotta learn something new. We're old dogs, we just wanna eat the same fuckin bone. If you're a 22 year old, it's the best shit that ever happened to you.

[B]

Why?

[A]

Because it's a tidal wave. And you're still young and spry where you can grab the board and ride this wave. When you're 72 and this tidal wave comes and you're like, motherfucker. You're kind of like, fuck it, I'm just gonna put my head in the sand and let this thing kill me.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

When you're 22, what the fuck are you crying about?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Some jobs Will go away.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Many jobs will go away. You know what else is going to happen? Millionaire kids. Do you know how many kids are about to become millionaires because they understand AI? So either bitch and cry about it because you're fear based or realize this is literally the biggest financial. We're talking about it financially right now.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because we're talking about jobs.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

This is the biggest financial opportunity for somebody under the age of 25 ever, ever. Bigger than the Internet in 94.

[B]

And where do they.

[A]

It depends how you deploy it. So for example, let me explain what I mean by that. If you're a 17 year old smart kid, you can literally call every local business and be like, hey, I'll build your new website. Your website's old. They're like, how much? You're like 500 bucks. They're like, wait, my last quote was 4,000. You're like, yeah, 500. You know why? You can build it in a fucking minute with AI, right?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I mean, I can literally sit here for 24 straight hours on Sirius and like tell people 9,000 examples of where AI can do that for you.

[B]

Right? Yeah.

[A]

It's a profound.

[B]

And they're not going to do it themselves to just go out there.

[A]

And by the way, everyone's about to ask this, so let me say it. The way you learn about AI is with AI, go to ChatGPT, go to perplexity, go to Gemini and literally type in, I'm ready, let's go through it. And this is profound. Like, this is how you watch this. I'm gonna do it in real time. I'm going to ChatGPT. Here we go. Hey, Chatty. I call ChatGPT. Chatty. Hey, Chatty. I'm a 19 year old dude, I'm fairly ambitious. I hear AI is going to take all these jobs. But then I heard Gary Vee on this podcast say that actually, stop being a bitch and be scared. Go on the offense and use AI. I'm a good hard worker. If I'm motivated and I'm motivated by money, I need some cash. Because all these girls out here, you know, the girls out here, they need the cash. I need some cash. What five businesses can I start if I'm willing to really work hard using AI to disrupt the incumbents that don't use AI. That is kind of easy for a 19 year old that kind of knows tech. But I'm not a developer or anything. Chatty. I'm just a normal 19 year old that kind of understands tech. What's like a Good thing I live in Topeka, Kansas in a 100 mile radius. Like what things should I be looking at where I can have a huge advantage? So first of all, why? What I just did was important. A lot of people are using ChatGPT and AI like they use Google search, right? Notice how I did a very different thing there. First, I use my voice because I'm a much stronger communicator on voice than I am typing. Second, I'm very, very specific because I want people. Now here's my answer. Got it. Chatty here. I like your energy. You don't need to code her AI. Here we go. Local marketing agency 2.0 My World. You could take money from Gary Vee and VaynerMedia. The path. Every roofer, landscaper, dentist, H vac company lawyer in Topeka is still posting blurry Facebook photos and paying outdated agenc. Your advantage. Use AI to pump out clean branding, TikTok ads and even customer service chatbots. You can use Canva, AI, ChatGPT or Opus Clip. You can look at a big time creative agency and almost no overhead and be a competitor to them. How to start? Walk into 10 local businesses and say, Hey, I run a TikTok Instagram Google Ad business for $500 a month and I can get you leads in 30 days or you don't have to pay me and then you can follow up. The next one was real estate content machine. The next one is AI powered resume and college essay business. High school and college kids around Topeka need jobs and scholarship. Parents will pay for professional polish. Use ChatGPT or others to help write resumes, essays, cover letters and package it with a Canva design template. And charge 50 to $150 each. This will take you three to seven minutes and probably $4 of effort.

[B]

That's pretty great. I think I'm gonna do that. The resume part, this is, this is really important shit.

[A]

Like we are now in an era where you don't need to follow my content to come up with the ideas. You just ask AI to help you get good at AI and keep asking it and keep asking it and keep talking to it.

[B]

Keep saying yes just to get. When they're like. And would you like me to come up with a plan? Yes. And now would you like me to implement that?

[A]

I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you because you're clearly showing me in the way you're talking that you're starting to play.

[B]

Yeah, completely. But here's the thing. Every time I use it, my Daughters. And my eco warrior daughters tell me that I'm ruining the planet. So I have to talk to my. I call them Scoots.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I have to talk to them quietly.

[A]

Yeah. So I would tell your kids to stop being fucking hypocrites and ask them why they wear clothes. Cause the textile industry is doing plenty of damage to the environment, and we're gonna get better.

[B]

I think AI is gonna fix the water problem.

[A]

But don't forget, like, the AI energy, electricity it uses, it's also offsetting. You know, there's that, but then there's also an offset. Everyone gets into this absolutism, right? Like, are you gonna be mad at AI using up electricity when you yourself are using a phone all day? Like, what are you doing?

[B]

Right?

[A]

Like, and again, the reason I like using clothes, like, tell her your kids like clothes.

[B]

Love clothes.

[A]

Great. Tell them to stop buying clothes.

[B]

Right?

[A]

It's damaging the environment, Right? Fast casual is destroying the world.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

The hypocrisy. Nothing is less effective than a hypocritical child, right?

[B]

This is fantastic.

[A]

Thank you so much for having me.

[B]

This really was great. Thank you, Podcast nation.

[A]

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 Stanley, 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, this creator, entrepreneur, 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.