Why I’m Doubling Down on Analog in a Digital Era

Summary

Podcast Summary: The GaryVee Audio Experience

Episode: "Why I’m Doubling Down on Analog in a Digital Era"

Date: April 13, 2026
Host: Gary Vaynerchuk
Theme: How Gary views the post-AI landscape, the enduring (and increasingly important) role of analog experiences, entrepreneurial opportunity, and adapting mindsets in a rapidly evolving business world.

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Episode Overview

In this high-energy, in-depth conversation, Gary Vaynerchuk discusses why he’s investing more into “analog” or real-world experiences—even as the world accelerates into hyper-digital and AI-driven futures. The episode explores the enduring value of in-person interactions, the forthcoming changes to entrepreneurship, the long tail of opportunity created by technology, and the importance of mindset, self-awareness, and adaptability.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Barbell World: Extremes of Tech and Analog [00:00, 09:37, 10:14]

• Gary predicts a "barbell" world: On one end, extreme, scaled technology and AI; on the other, a resurgence and premium placed on authentic, in-person, analog experiences.
  • "Real life is going to explode. We're going to live in this barbell world. Extreme technology but extremely scaled... real life restaurant, real life studio, podcast. Real life is gonna explode." – Gary [00:00, 09:37]
• Value of Analog Experiences: As digital becomes ubiquitous and cheap, in-person meetings, conferences, and unique offline moments will surge in value.
• Analog is not a retreat, but a competitive advantage and business opportunity.

2. AI & the Future of Wealth Creation [01:11, 03:23]

• AI as a wealth creator: Gary shares how AI is simultaneously creating ultra-scale for a small set of companies, but also empowering individuals to build niche, profitable offerings ("hyper micro wealth").
  • "It has the chance to create hyper micro wealth...kids building out products very quickly and having success...Are we all gonna have the ability to have 150 people paying us 10 bucks a month for the most narrow little app we built?" – Gary [01:11]
• The Middle Squeeze: Middle-scale companies could be squeezed out, while the long tail (individual creators and micro-entrepreneurs) thrives.
• Not "the last chance": Gary doesn't believe it's a now-or-never moment for innovation and opportunity.
  • "If you put a gun to my head, I would say no, it's not our last chance." – Gary [04:31]

3. Surviving and Thriving if Everything Disappeared [05:35]

• What if Gary lost everything? His answer: leverage his best skills (buying and selling), start from analog trading, then rapidly develop new digital offerings and rebuild brand through content.
  • "I have the ability to buy and sell. And that would get me going...I would get very serious about developing in this AI ecosystem...build an app that's $5 to $50 a month and I would make unlimited organic content..." – Gary [05:35]

4. Brand in the Age of AI [07:17, 08:03]

• AI doesn't erase the need for brand. As AI automates more, consumers still gravitate to brands and personalities.
  • "It's all gonna be about brand because you have to discover it." – Gary [07:17]
• Abundance creates noise—but also opportunity: Even as platforms are flooded, discoverability and trust sustain the need for personal and company brands.

5. Content Strategy & Social Media in 2026 [11:41, 12:49, 14:01]

• No drastic change in Gary's social media playbook: He still "day trades attention," adapting to formats, platforms, and culture shifts, but his approach is rooted in fundamentals.
  • "To me, I stay in my latest...Day Trading Attention. I live in that environment." – Gary [11:46]
• Long-form written content is surging: Newsletters, deep-dive LinkedIn posts, and articles alongside short-form and visual content.
• Testing everything: Substack, Beehive, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Pinterest, Instagram, each with nuanced tactics.
• Pop culture's role: Understanding and riding waves in slang, fashion, and culture is vital—even for B2B.
  • "Pop culture is relevance...For somebody who's listening, if they're also into the same thing I'm into, immediately we are connected." – Gary [15:18]

6. How AI is Changing Teamwork and Hiring [17:05, 21:25]

• Human teams still critical—for now: AI is shifting the nature of roles, automating some tasks (like note-taking and basic project management), but strategy, creative, and analog experiences still need people.
  • "If you're a project manager...who only takes notes...well, that person has already been kind of smoked out and asked to do more." – Gary [20:24]
• Cautious scaling: Gary is wary of over-hiring in a moment of rapid tech change, preferring to grow with flexibility.
• Output wars: Efficiency matters, but so does keeping teams big enough to compete in creative output.

7. Personal Mindset: Detachment and Resilience [32:21, 36:02]

• Self-worth != Results: Gary decouples his sense of self from business wins/losses.
  • "My detachment...because I have an incredible relationship with losing, I like it." – Gary [33:06]
• How to cope with loss: Reframe it as an opportunity to learn and repeat.
  • "I loved playing again. I didn't think me losing in front of my sister or mom meant that I was lesser than." – Gary [33:18]
• Advice for parents and kids: Instill self-worth internally, not from external validation.
  • "I think it's like as young as that. I would tell my children. Like, people making fun of you. People saying you're awesome means nothing. How do you feel?" – Gary [36:02]

8. From Mason to Architect Mindset in the AI Era [37:26, 41:21]

• The shift from executor ("mason") to creator/strategist ("architect") is essential: Gary urges people to re-skill, boost curiosity, and actively cultivate the architect mindset:
  • "If you're a Mason and you want to become an architect...you have to believe that. You need to start using these tools to help you think better, to put in the work." – Gary [41:21]
• AI coaches can accelerate transformation: Use AI as accountability or ideation partners.

9. Advice for Immigrants and Anyone Starting Over [43:08]

• Self-awareness, humility, curiosity: The trio of traits to succeed in any new environment—digital or analog.
  • "I think there's three things to rely on. Number one is self-awareness. Who are you?... humility... and then curiosity." – Gary [43:08]

10. Entrepreneurial Grit in the Shadow of AI [48:53, 49:11, 49:51]

• The field is always shifting, but entrepreneurship is about perseverance despite odds.
  • "Everything you learn along the way will set up your next thing. What are you gonna do? Lay down and cry?" – Gary [48:53]
  • "Real entrepreneurs know that the two years they work on something that Claude fucked up was two years of them working on something that sets up their next thing." – Gary [49:11]
  • "This is why there were so few of them before the Internet. Entrepreneurship got cool. So now people do it because it's cool. Do you know many entrepreneurs you talk to that are actually executives disguising as entrepreneurs? Let me give you the answer. Most." – Gary [49:51]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Change and Integrity: "When we're young and we're disrupting something, we like it. But when we're the one that gets disrupted, we don't like it." – Gary [11:34]
• On Resilience: "I have an incredible relationship with losing, I like it." – Gary [33:06]
• On AI’s Double-Edged Sword: "Is AI a shield and a sword and a gun versus RA in a war...? Yes, I understand that AI can do the job of...But what if they weaponize those 400 people with the same tools that we weaponize our 200 people?" – Gary [20:24]
• On the Durable Edge of Brand: "It's all gonna be about brand because you have to discover it." – Gary [07:17]
• On Pop Culture Trends: "Pop culture is relevance...we are connected by being born in the same place, people look for it, we're tribal." – Gary [15:18]
• On Growth Mindset: "You need to start using these tools to help you think better, to put in the work. You need to start reading, you need to start...you need to allocate some of your leisure time into more work." – Gary [41:21]
• On Humility & Ego: "Ego is just pure insecurity. Posturing, trying to be the big dog. That just means you're fucking scared. That means you're a bitch." – Gary [47:19]

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Rapid Fire (“Lightning Round”) Takeaways

• Top 3 AI tools Gary uses: GPT, Claude, and Meta’s emerging tools [51:46]
• Favorite prompt: "Does the baggy pants movement for men have another domino to fall...?" – Gary [52:13]
• On College Degrees: Still valuable for professions with legal requirements or if paid for; not if you’re creative/entrepreneurial and taking on debt [52:44]
• On "Industries to Avoid": None—unless you’re in a role that can’t evolve (i.e., “admin who doesn’t think”); otherwise, opportunities everywhere [53:28]
• Most misunderstood aspect of AI: Extremism in perception; the reality is full of nuance and contradiction [54:04]

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Closing Inspiration

• Why optimism over cynicism?
  • "It is historically true that we were scared of electricity and it wasn't. We were historically true to get off the farms. We did so much more. Humans are great. I know we're told that we're not, but 99.9% of us are either neutral or great...It is not practical to be pessimistic and cynical. It is not practical." – Gary [54:41]

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Useful Timestamps

• [00:00] Barbell world: analog + digital
• [01:11] AI, the future, and wealth creation
• [05:35] Gary’s plan if he lost everything
• [09:37] AI impact on creators & brands
• [11:46] Social media tactics in 2026
• [17:05] Team structure & AI’s effect on hiring
• [32:21] Growth vs. external validation & managing anxiety
• [41:21] Mason to architect mindset
• [43:08] Immigrants’ action steps
• [48:53] What’s the point if AI will automate it all?
• [51:46] Gary’s top AI tools

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Takeaway

GaryVee lays out a vibrant roadmap for thriving in a tech-saturated era: double down on analog value, embrace rapid change, focus on brand, cultivate internal resilience, and never underestimate the power of curiosity and human connection. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, creator, or simply navigating a world in flux, the practical optimism and grounded strategies shared here are as relevant as ever.

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Transcript

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

The person that's very comfortable with analog hosting a conference, having 25 people in this room right now while we do this. Brands are gonna find incredible value in the analog world. Real life restaurant, real life studio, podcast. Real life is gonna explode. We're gonna live in this barbell world. Extreme technology but extremely scaled. What we take for vantage us for is like that's normal, like being outside a pop up shop, you know, going to a sporting event, they're going to continue to increase in value. This is the GaryVee audio experience.

[Interviewer]

You know I've been watching you for eight years now. So I've been preparing for this interview for eight years and what I noticed about you is that you're right at so many things. I remember you predicted TikTok and you're the reason I started TikTok. I have 3 million followers there because you were like, you need to start TikTok and I remember you were talking about Voice, that we're going to talk to our computers with voice when it wasn't that obvious because voice wasn't good back then and now it's our reality. So when you're looking at this AI era, do you think it's our last chance to build wealth right now?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

That's a great question. I think my intuition so unlike, you know, one of the things I try to do is when I talk about things publicly, I've spent a lot of time thinking it through and I've seen indicators of actual human action that shows me an insight to the earliest of preview of something I think will be at scale. So that's why a lot of my predictions have worked out. Your question's interesting because my intuition is it has the chance to create hyper micro wealth. The fragmentation of vibe coding and all this stuff and the stuff we're already seeing, right? Kids building out products very quickly and having success. On the flip side, you're also alluding to clearly the super scalers, right? When you look at what Meta and Microsoft and Google, Apple, the biggest companies in China, you could see a winner takes all scenario where 12 or 13 companies. My gut is that the economy and the consumer behavior is so large that yes, there'll be 25 companies that take so much, right? You look at Adobe and Salesforce and ServiceNow, SaaS companies, I mean SaaS companies are clearly coming out of an incredible 30 year run and now walking into a potential buzzsaw. You know, I saw a headline yesterday, I don't know if it's true. I mean just, you know, I was busy yesterday but maybe it was Claude. Claude just gave everybody a Bloomberg terminal for free. You know, like those kind of headlines seem very real to me. They seem really natural. But it's almost like meta or anthropic or someone else is gonna eat up more Bloomberg and ServiceNow and Salesforce. It's like the battle of the titans. And then over here on the scraps, well, the scraps actually might be quite big and it might be a social media like era where all of us become, literally all of us become vibe coders. Just like I thought one of my great predictions in 2008 was everybody would have a social media account. When it did not seem like that. Are all of us gonna be vibe coders? And are we all gonna have the ability to have 150 people paying us 10 bucks a month for the most narrow little app we built? And between social, real life, analog and then having this thing like is everyone going to have a mini app that is monetizable because they themselves were able to build it? Not need a developer for 500,000? I don't know. I think I saw, I believe that the middle will be in trouble and the middle might be a vaynermedia. But I have a feeling the separation of the middle class of entrepreneurship could be real. The difference is the long tail could be quite at scale, maybe even then creating this middle, this middle class. I don't know. If you put a gun to my head, I would say no, it's not our last chance.

[Interviewer]

Okay, so we have a few, right?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I think so. And again, let me take another counter just to build on this conversation. If it is our Last chance and 79 companies make all the money, governments will get massively involved and like it may lead to a nirvana, like you know, back to where we come from and where we're sitting. Could extreme capitalism mean a different version of socialism, Right?

[Interviewer]

Coming back to the roots, you know what I mean?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Could a world where there's only 100 companies that make 80% of the monies, would they then be forced to subsidize all the displaced workers? Do we live in a three day work week environment with the other four days subsidized from the companies that we work from, do we have more leisure? Do we get more into the arts and family? And do we have side projects that make these micro pennies? I don't know.

[Interviewer]

So what if tomorrow everything crashes for you like VaynerMedia, you lose your followers. What would you do if you have a laptop and AI?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

If I was to lose My reputation too. Like, my face fell off and I have a different face and my name, I start from scratch. Me personally, I mean, in real life, before I get into AI, in real life, what I would do first is buy and sell. That is my ultimate strength. You know, I'd walk up and down where we are in this part of Manhattan and go into the SHMATA stores and buy something for three bucks and list it on eBay for nine bucks and sell it. Like I have the ability to buy and sell. And that would get me going. To your point and to what I just answered the prior question. I do think I would get very serious about developing in this AI ecosystem and try to figure out how to make something that's 5, 20, $30 a month cost as an app. And how do I create content on Twitter and LinkedIn? If I lost my reputation and my personal brand, but I kept my knowledge of how to make content on social, I would build an app that's $5 to $50 a month and I would make unlimited organic content on LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok and try to get customers.

[Interviewer]

That's very interesting approach. I just talked to Bill Gurley who's like a legendary investor, and he told me, you can't even imagine how many websites are there that are just like password photos that charge you $6. And yes, AI can do that, but because we're still so used to going to a website and paying and they're making tens of thousands of dollars a month and we just don't realize it because for me, as a person in Silicon Valley, right, I'm looking at all the businesses and like, okay, I can totally see how anthropic releases new lines of codes tomorrow and this business is done.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

It's not how consumers work. He's right.

[Interviewer]

Exactly.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

It's not how it works. And in fact, I would argue what I do for a living and what I'm obsessed with actually explodes in this next era. It's all gonna be about brand because you have to discover it in 30 years by default. Somebody will be like, oh, let me go to the main AI thing and I don't need to, but there is going to be a long period of time here. AOL dial up three years ago was still a huge business for them. Think about that.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, so there's this long tail. We still need to adjust. We're as humans, we take some time to adjust to new reality.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

So when you're Silicon Valley girl and you even know who Bill Gurley is, you live in a different world than the 99.9% of people on earth who've never heard of Bill.

[Interviewer]

And that's opportunity for everyone who's listening.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Correct.

[Interviewer]

Because transitioning to that era together with smart small companies, small businesses, other people educating them, I feel like there is a lot of potential there.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

When you layer what I've been obsessed with about the last 20 years, which is there is an advertising and brand building ecosystem called social media that does not cost you money. And that's the point about AI apps. It really doesn't cost you money anymore to build something in the way that I grew up. But the fact that you can actually get awareness that you're one TikTok away from having people know who you are and building a platform, that's intoxicating.

[Interviewer]

But do you have another worry talking about social media? Right. I see a lot of AI content and we're getting flooded with so much content, we're competing more. But also another thing that I'm always thinking about, what if this social media platform, like why would they pay human creators? Why would they not generate AI creators? This is much more personalized content, it's free and they don't have to pay anyone.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Well, platforms don't pay people.

[Interviewer]

Well, some of them do.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

No, they really don't. Like meta doesn't pay people. TikTok doesn't pay people. They don't pay people. They are an open vessel that people go on and create for. And then businesses come and sit in between people that make content and people that consume content. And then businesses advertise on there or go to a creator and do a brand deal. Now if you're saying why would l' Oreal go to you like they might today versus someone that looks kind of like you, that they could even own like a Mickey Mouse. Exactly.

[Interviewer]

And make 100 videos versus one.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

They're going to do that. That is gonna. Now, right now there's stigma around that and big companies are scared to go too deep into AI cause there's pushback. But over the next five to ten years, they will. Now, what they might use you for though is you might be one of the hundred faces they use, 99 of which they own the IP. But you're gonna be able to do this. I think the rise of analog value is gonna be extraordinary. So we're sitting in this world right now where people, a lot of people behind the scenes doing stuff. I think, you know, for me, and I think, you know this about me, I'm comfortable and good in both environments, both with my Thumbs. And right here, that person's gonna do incredibly well. The person that's very comfortable with Analog, hosting a conference, having 25 people in this room right now while we do this right? Brands are gonna find incredible value in the Analog world. Real life restaurants, real life studio podcasts. Like real life is gonna explode. We're gonna live in this barbell world. Extreme technology, but extremely scaled. What we take for advantage, us four is like, that's normal. Like being outside a pop up shop, going to a sport. They're gonna continue to increase in value. And so yeah, you're gonna be like, the game's gonna change. But I remind influencers, influencers are crying to me quite a bit right now, like, Gary, AI did it. I'm like, you took money From Real Celebrities 20 years ago, none of us existed. And all of that money went to Jennifer Aniston. And you know, and if you were on Shark Tank, you were the only business people. I, GaryVee, do not have a television show. I get comped for speaking fees and appearance fees greater than most of the sharks. Right. That would have never been possible. So the world turns, shit changes.

[Interviewer]

We just get too comfortable in our space.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Well, what's funny is when we're young and we're disrupting something, we like it. But when we're the one that gets disrupted, we don't like it.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, right. How are you adjusting your social media strategy right now?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I'm spending, I mean nothing because of what we just talked about. To me, I stay in my latest. My last book I wrote was called Day Trading Attention. I live in that environment. So if AI wasn't even happening right now, I'd still be focused on what I'm focused on. Long form written content, so much more. Substack, Beehive, LinkedIn X longer form content. So I hired two full time writers on my staff. Journalists who basically. So Matt will listen to this entire interview and he may hear something that I've said for the first time ever or reinforce something I'm talking about lately. He will start to transcribe not in an AI world word for word, but like pretty much. So that can be done. But what he's gonna do is he's gonna come up with 15 to 20 follow up questions. I'm gonna sit down and interview with him. Which is why I needed someone who had a journalistic background. Cause if it was just transcribing, I can AI that. And then we will create a first person article about the Barbell theory. Why Analog is on the rise. Right So a lot more written content.

[Interviewer]

Interesting. And I feel like it's becoming so much easier. Cause I remember a couple years ago I met. Four years ago I met someone from LinkedIn. They were like, you should be on LinkedIn. I can't write, so I'm so bad at that. And then ChatGPT came around and my LinkedIn's growing like crazy.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah. And I've always had ghost writing infrastructure for my books. Cause I've never been able to write and. But I've always wanted it. You know, it's funny, every book I've written, everyone with my written content, people come up to me, they're like, man, it sounds so much like you. I'm like, it is fully me. Cause it is truly transcribed for my words. I don't write differently than I talk because it's just the transcription. But so writing content. I'm incredibly focused on being. And I'm pushing my team right now on this, on just being remarkable on every platform. Like Obsession to how to win Snapchat Spotlight, Obsession to understand how to be great at YouTube shorts, to make sure I'm feeding the LLMs of Gemini with my content. Because I believe that YouTube and YouTube shorts are an incredibly important source for Gemini future AEO geo results. So I'm hyper focused on Google ecosystem and Gemini. What's that?

[Interviewer]

Why shorts not long form both.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

But Shorts allows me to pump out a lot of how to. Why? Right. There's a little bit of a different thing there. So just hyper fixation on the craft of the written word, the images, testing new formats. I call it pack platforms. So I need to know everything that's happening on Substack x, Pinterest, Instagram, TikTok shorts, all that. That's algorithms within those. What kind of content, what format, what kind of. Is it a reel, is it a full on LinkedIn? Right now, imagery is doing incredibly well. Video crushed last year, it's declining a little bit this month. So what's the algorithm within the platforms doing? And then C culture. What is happening in popular culture across everything? You know, America has long in popular culture fed from black culture. Now we're seeing Hispanic culture, we're seeing Korean culture impact so much of US Pop culture. Slang term, slang terms. Quarter zip, Labubus in then out. The Starbucks bear tumbler for three weeks, then not Stanley cups, then not.

[Interviewer]

I love your fashion when you're talking about this. Like I see.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Well, because pop cult, you know, bag, baggy pants. For guys like pop culture is relevance. Right. I can make one reference in here of something that's happening in popular culture. And then for somebody who's listening, if they're also into the same thing I'm into immediately we are connected. Right? We are connected by being born in the same place people look for. We're tribal, we love sports, religion is because the way it is cultures and I met immediately. We're just from the same place. It is what it is. But by the way, when I walk outside right now, if somebody's wearing a Jets hat, they're immediately my brother. So, you know, I think pop culture, especially in B2B environments is very misunderstood. But even B2C environments, the biggest consumer brands I work with in my day to day, I think they underestimate pop culture.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. Even creators. Like I'm talking to so many big brands and they've never advertised with creators. And I'm just surprised. So you're saying you're not running faster because of AI, you're just doing whatever you're doing?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I'm saying that I don't have a different social media strategy right now because of AI per se. Meaning I am. I mean, the AI is what's powering these algos on these platforms. But it's not like it's changing my overall macro thesis. And it won't change when AI is eating up the world, which is if I wake up from a coma right now in seven years and everything's different, it will not take me long to get back on the bike and be successful. Cause I'll just spend 100 days paying attention to. Where is everyone paying attention to. Oh my God. AI changed everything. We're back to reading newspapers. Okay, I'm gonna make newspaper ads. Like, it's not complicated. The thesis is simple. Understanding how to be good at the thesis is hard.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. Has your hiring changed because of a. How many people do you have now?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You know, it's funny you say that. We at Vayner. So I have many different companies, but the biggest one I run is VaynerX, VaynerMedia, and there's Chuck Media and the Tamara Group, three very large advertising agencies, all of which do something pretty similar. We're exploding and I'm having this very, very challenging game where we are. I mean, I was in Seattle yesterday, as you heard. Before we went on here, I met with the three biggest companies that are HQ'd there, all of which are like, we want to do more with you. We want to do a lot with you. One, that's two that are already working with us. A third that wants to jam with us. So the demand of customers is exploding. I still need an extraordinary amount of human beings because it's human based business. A lot of the work of project management creative strategy is getting changed by AI. So like on my flight yesterday, which was very long, train, nine hours on the ground. Nine hours on the ground, four hours in flight and it started snow right before we took off. My team was with me. They had to go to LA. They left 15 minutes before us. They got out. We got. Yeah, that's right, train. So anyway, I caught up with my work and I had a lot of time and I was really worksmithing on the plane. How do I cadence this? I don't want to hire all these people only to fire all these people. And maybe not even them, maybe different people within the organization. My preference is to not fire at all because I think there's a really shocking naivete from some of the biggest companies in the world or even mid sized companies. Yes, I understand that AI can do the job of. It is not lost on me that 100 people can now do the work of 400 people. I'm just worried about the output wars of the future. What if you're competing with somebody that has 400 and you have 400, you cut 200 and they still have 400. And in our world, you and I, we're like ah, we're out flanking them. We're going to be better, we're going to make more EBITDA. We're going to. But what if they weaponize those 400 people with the same tools that we weaponize our 200 people? In my world, advertising, if my 400 people now make 27,000 ads and your 200 people make 16,000 ads for whatever human element is there. And I understand it doesn't work that way, but this concept of is AI a shield and a sword and a gun versus RA in a war, right. You would think 200 will be 400. But what if the 400 also have shields? And so there's something here that I haven't fully figured out. I'm definitely being cautious. We are definitely first and foremost attacking things that do not have value. For example, if you're a project manager at VaynerMedia and your sole, because every project manager comes in different shapes and sizes. But if you're the kind of project manager who only takes notes like that is how you. Well, that person has already been kind of smoked out and asked to do more. If you're one that wrangles people, well Gemini's suite with Google calendars and all that. So we're just kind of chipping away at the thing. But ultimately, if you're in production and the video can be made for $8,000 that used to cost $8 million, we're here, we're within striking distance. So there's thoughtfulness to the type of people we're bringing on. We are also building out incredible capabilities in analog. So podcast production, live social shopping production, which is obsession of mine, experiential. Like, I was just talking about analog. We're building out all those capabilities. The robots doing the physical setup of this mic are still a few minutes away. Enough minutes away that I'll probably be on the other side of my career, or at least in a different chapter. So we're just kind of taking it day by day.

[Interviewer]

Was there something that you transformed with AI, with a new team that blew your mind? You're like, oh, my God.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

My mind has not been blown since kind of the. You know, I had a lot of friends in Silicon Valley talking that machine learning was getting better and better, and then you started to hear it. ML become AI. And then when that. I mean, I was. I remember. I'll remember it for the rest of my life. I was at a Raiders Rams game in Los Angeles with Be Friends president Andy Craniac, and my brother called like four times, which got me a little worried. And then I finally got him, and he's like, bro, something has happened. He's like, do you know what ChatGPT is? You know, it was that day that everyone freaked out four or five years ago, whatever it was. Now, three years ago, four years ago, it did not take me long. It took me a good 24 hours to be like, oh, crap. You know, this is like, okay, I understand what I'm playing with with this first version of ChatGPT, but, like, this is now the cat is out of the bag. I started doing enough research and no, it just, you know, to me, it can do everything. So why would I. Like when nanobanano had a update and it was unbelievable, but I wasn't like. I was like, maybe I'm impressed on how fast everything is happening, but I'm in a point where, like, yes, it's normal for you. To me, basically, here's where my head's at. I'm gonna take my phone and be like, build this app. I want it to do this. Enter, done. So if I'm already there, everything in between is just a step to that. That's where I think we're going anything

[Interviewer]

you transformed in your process or you just started executing by yourself. I mean, like building.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Probably the biggest thing that happened to me is I am an anthropologist pop culture strategist. So having that level of thinking power with me that I used to rely on search and like just digging around the Internet, that was profound.

[Interviewer]

Now it's done for you.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Well, it's done with me. With you, right?

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I'm the one who's saying, hey, facial hair. This is a real thing I did. Hey, you know, give me the historic comps of how long the trend of beard, mustache or clean shaven face. Like what are the historic trends and what were the pinpoints? And this is actually the prompt I gave. I remember that when friends got popular, all my friends started to clean shave. Cause Chandler and all the boys were all clean shaven. Like, what were the tipping points? Why? How? What hipster mustache mullet? Because I'm looking for business opportunities or marketing opportunities that might be one or two years before everyone else can see it. And I think a lot about the razor business. You know, men are becoming increasingly focused on their looks.

[Interviewer]

K Pop Demon Hunters, Haja Boy's Breakfast

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Meal and Hunt Tricks Meal have just dropped at McDonald's. They're calling this a battle for the fans.

[Interviewer]

What do you say to that, Rumi? It's not a battle. So glad the Saja boys could take breakfast and give our meal the rest of the day.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

It is an honor to share.

[Interviewer]

No, it's our honor.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

It is our larger honor. No, really, stop. You can really feel the respect in this battle.

[Interviewer]

Pick a meal to pick a side

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

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[Interviewer]

Is that what you're seeing now?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah, I mean, that's been a trend. I mean, you can see videos of me seven years ago, six years ago, talking about male makeup. Like, yeah, I mean, I just think that men are so loaded with so many insecurities that we are like now adding another one and joining the ladies with our visual, you know, like obsession. Yeah, you're seeing it. You're seeing some of the streamers do looks maxing and all. That stuff like, yeah, I mean this has been going on. It makes sense. We're all living public lives. Boys always wanted girls to like them. It's always been social media. We're all that, you know, it just makes sense. I mean the world is actually good. In all the trauma, the world is actually in a lot of ways better than ever. So we focus on dumb shit like our looks. You know, when it's the Great Depression or the Black Plague or World War II, no one has time to like worry about their fucking looks. So I think we get very confused by the negative headlines. The net net of the world is good, rendering a lot of 17 year olds and 40 year olds to have time to focus on their looks. So yeah, I look at that kind of stuff anyway. I'm bouncing around as I tend to do, but my ability to have thought and then open app and talk with GPT through the potential of a trend and then also go to web and also do my social listening on social media, Reddit, other things of that nature. I've become a much sharper, more effective strategist in the last year.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, I feel, I feel the same. When I was flying here yesterday, I was playing with Claude skills. Yes, like a skill that you can execute. It was preparing me for this interview and I'm like, this is fascinating. I feel like I'm a superhuman with all these tools because Perplexity computer every day sends me stocks to buy cloud scales, does my research. It's just fascinating.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah. But I also think it feels like a superhero today. The same way I felt with the iPhone that first year with the iPhone. So I bought the iPhone the day it came out, especially in New York because of Wall street and any big city. There was BlackBerry obsession and I felt like a superhero that first year because I could go on the Internet for real, not like the way the BlackBerry people could. And that gave me a hyper advantage. Like I would go and do at that point I was already out a little bit, I would go and do something and I could look something up before I went on stage or went into a meeting. And that was like powerful in a way that I didn't have to do with my laptop. Even though that used to have that. It was just so fast. You feel like a superhero with Claude Perplexity GPT Meta's infrastructure starting to get very impressive. A 16 year old in 7 years is like that's gonna be like basic. Like by the way, a 22 year old next year or the year after, maybe 24 months that becomes the most basic of basic to remind everybody who's listening. Your grandmother in the office did not have Internet, did not have AI, did not have social media, didn't have an office. To your point, did not have mobile computing, did not have computer in office, did not have Internet. Like, yeah, I mean, this is just technology.

[Interviewer]

But do you feel that we're in this period of time and we are like 1% that are grasping technology? Do we need to run faster to make the most out of it?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Well, it depends on the human ambition. I mean, I think a lot of people are gonna check out of this era. I think there's a lot of people who've made a lot of. Let's talk about Silicon Valley. I have a lot of Silicon Valley friends who were psycho all in going so hard during early web 2, 2005, 6, 7, 8. Blogging, podcasting, and then social, who made enough money and are in different part of their life now, who have given a shit about AI and blockchain could care less.

[Interviewer]

I feel like this is just such an opportunity and it's unique for the next 10 years. I feel like, yes, we have this year.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes.

[Interviewer]

And then it's basic for everyone.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I don't think. I think that makes sense that you think that, and I understand that. I think you and I will see each other in 10 years and be like, man, you were right. It just. As much as it looks like AI creates a winner takes all world, I. I have a funny feeling it's not going to. Okay. Because don't forget. Hey, everybody. Hope you're enjoying the podcast right now. Make sure you follow the podcast. That's why I'm interrupting. Let's keep going on this show, but follow the podcast. It'll make my mom super happy. There is the human. Like, it's gonna take too much time. You know what people don't do well, hang with me for a second. Let's play this game. Let's take that point. Let's say 10 companies won everything. Do you literally think that 8 billion people are gonna be like, yeah, that's awesome.

[Interviewer]

No.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Okay.

[Interviewer]

And the government.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah, so that's it.

[Interviewer]

It's just funny to hear this from you because you're the one like, hustle, do this.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Like, yeah, but hustle do this if it makes you like people like to. People don't like to take my sentence in its totality. Hustle go hard. If you complain and are a crybaby and you don't realize that accountability can help you Hustle if you like it so much that you would do it if it was free. I would build businesses if it was free. Meaning, like it made me, like it's my joy. I build companies the way people like to go golfing and cooking and watching movies. It's more fun to me. You know, it's so funny. We put on a pedestal someone who's a philosopher or a great reader, someone who reads books all day in the room, is a real thinker and writes, oh, wow, so noble. That's what I do. I just do something with it on the other side, you know what I mean? So I think hustle, if it makes you happy. One could argue that the extreme opposite of hustle is what I also do, which is complete, simple, complete lack of materialistic stuff, completely checking out, detached. I mean, the more you know me, the more you would realize I'm incredibly detached from my career or my public Persona. I. I'll make it very blunt. I don't give a fuck about Gary Vee or my Vayner empire. I do not think it makes me better than who cares if I'm good at business? Some people are good at skiing, some people are good at singing, some people are good at writing. Like it just happens to be something I'm good at. I have my self worth wrapped up into who I show up as, as a human to people in my life, that I'm a nice guy, that when I.

[Interviewer]

Was that a switch ever in your life?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Absolutely not. Never. It was ingrained in me by my mother and my circumstances and my DNA.

[Interviewer]

What would you say to someone who thinks their worth is tied to their results and that makes them very anxious in this era?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Correct. I would tell them that first of all, it depends on what results. Right. You know, if you're saying financial results,

[Interviewer]

I don't know, I'm in Silicon Valley.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Great.

[Interviewer]

Your company's valuation, I would say I

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

understand it's a very common human trait. I would also say that almost everybody I know on earth that is wrapped up in that metrics mindset has incredible anxiety and anxiety sucks.

[Interviewer]

How do you separate yourself? But I feel like it's easier to say for you because you have all the millions followers already and millions of dollars.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You're saying that because you don't know me. If my friends that have known me my whole life will tell you that I have the millions of followers and dollars because I've always been this way,

[Interviewer]

even when I have the reason it's not that.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Right? My detachment because I have a. Because I have an incredible relationship with Losing, I like it.

[Interviewer]

What do you tell yourself when you lose?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

That I sucked and that was funny and let's not try to do that again. And like what can we do? Like I love the challenge. You know, I was the kid when I, when I was losing in sports or ping pong or pool, like I loved playing again. I loved playing again. I loved playing again. I didn't think me losing in front of my sister or mom meant that I was lesser than. I also grew up with bad grades. So I very quickly had a relationship with the machine that was quite healthy which was, oh wow, I'm really not good at this. But I don't have my self esteem wrapped up in being a DNF student. Look how well I'm liked. Look at this stuff I'm doing off the schoolyard in business, selling my trading cards lemonade. So I played outside of this short term validation framework. And I also was incredibly structured to not struggle with peer pressure in high school and in college when so many of my contemporaries did everything for validation amongst their peers. I did not. And that was just tremendous parenting. Luck of the draw with DNA and the circumstances I grew up with, you know, when you're growing up Soviet, but you're growing up in America in that era of the 80s, I just had a different framework.

[Interviewer]

What are you telling your kids?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Well, they're not me. I'm trying to leave deposits on that. But they're growing up in a very different environment now. Luckily my children share a lot of mine and my ex wife's DNA and are also a little bit cocooned. Like my 17 year old daughter does not live her life for her friends or, or boy's attention. So she's cooking with gas. My 13 year old son also, I would have said three years ago, I'm like, he's already starting to really develop this. And so look, DNA is a real fucking thing. And then when you have parents that are conscious and are pushing you on the right things, the only core thing they're for sure they have different is environment. I grew up in an environment with very little. They've grown up. My son defaults to thinking, yeah, you go to a Knicks game, you sit courtside, I sat in the last row, you know, literally actually, actually in my first Knicks game. So you know, I think, I think it's, I don't have this ideology for my children to be exactly like me or just like me or they need to be hungry like I was. I want them to be happy and lack any anxiety like I was and that comes into this. Not anything else. This.

[Interviewer]

Any tip how to teach that?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

What's that?

[Interviewer]

I have a four year old and a six year old and I feel like they really rely on what other kids think of them. What do you tell your kids?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

I pounded that narrative into my kid verbally.

[Interviewer]

Just tell them.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Like, I think it's like as young as that. I would tell my children. Like, people making fun of you. People saying you're awesome means nothing. How do you feel? What do you like?

[Interviewer]

Yeah. And learning not to react to positive things and negative.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

The reason I can deal is I today have 95% validation, 5% skepticism and pushback. It's the goat emojis in my Instagram posts that I have to not pay attention to. Not the you suck, Gary, or you got lucky or you're a snake oil. To me. It's not hearing the accolades. I'm telling you that that's where the lack of anxiety comes from. I don't need to have a house or a plane or a third home or a Nobel Peace Prize or 40 million followers or an exit to impress Bill Gurley. You, Kevin. I don't need that. It is not what my life is about. I like it, but I feel like I'm an athlete who wants to be great on the field, but off the field, that is not the man that I think I am.

[Interviewer]

I absolutely love this mindset and how people like. I feel like everybody should learn this type of mindset. Especially now, because also I have this question from my team. Please, who read your piece? AI splits people into architects and Masons.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yes.

[Interviewer]

And half of my team thinks they're

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Masons, but they have the ability to become an architect.

[Interviewer]

So how do you deploy that mindset when you know you're losing right now because AI is replacing you? But how do you go to the next step of your career utilizing this mindset that I don't need external approval. And this mistake of failure is in me.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

How do you lose £25 when you know you're not feeling great? I'm asking you.

[Interviewer]

Well, it's either or you die sooner than if you don't.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah, there's that outcome. But how do you do it? I'm not saying what the outcome is. And you're right about that.

[Interviewer]

Like, I don't know. I don't have this problem. My husband has this problem. He loves sugar.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah, me too.

[Interviewer]

So, yeah, he just feels worse. And for him it's stopping sugar completely.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

That works.

[Interviewer]

Like completely.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

But it's hard. It is like I go through patches where I also cut it out. So I'm your husband. I have the same issue. Sugar is the real bane of my existence to me. Let me tell you how I stopped drinking soda for every beverage 13 years ago, I hired a full time person. Literally 12 years ago, there would have been a man in here right now to make sure I didn't take a sip. Really for one year. I took an extreme measure of babysitting to get me into the discipline. He suffocated me to then get into patterns, to get into the discipline. And then it became my norm. If you are a Mason and you want to become an architect, you can cry about it, you can stop and start. We all stop and start in health, in wellness, in work. But you need for it to become your actual pattern. It becomes your norm. To your point. Sometimes it's cold, but it starts here first. If I had that whole team right now, I'd be like, listen, you can do it. You have to believe that. If you don't, what are we gonna do? It first starts mentally and then it starts physically. You need to start using these tools to help you think better, to put in the work. You need to start reading, you need to start doing this. You need to start hanging out with these people. You need to start taking from your leisure, which you're using to get a escape from your concern. And you need to allocate some of your leisure time into more work. You have to go to the gym and eat better. That starts with your mind, but then it has to happen with your actions. And then you just have to stay into that conversation. Like this is staying in a conversation. The reason the world is so tight right now is we've stayed in a negative conversation for 10 years. But like, my news feed is not politics. My newsfeed is not telling me that the world is going to shit. My newsfeed doesn't tell me that my parents had it better than me. You're in control of your algorithm. You're in control of the people that you spend time with. Look at all the people that are listening to this right now. These people chose to follow you and listen to you. Some are here because this is the first time they're listening to you, because they follow me knowing enough of your platform and definitely knowing my platform. These are people that are choosing offense. These are people that are choosing optimism. These are people that are choosing to try to figure it out. That same person could have a twin sibling who right now we're on a. This is a Saturday morning that you and I are filming this, who might be watching Netflix this morning, which is lovely and you should have leisure. But why are they watching it? Are they watching it because they have a little side dish of leisure and enjoyment? That's beautiful. But if it's their main course and they're doing it because they had an anxious week and they're devastated, they have to go back Monday. Now I'm concerned. Does that make sense? Like, to me, leisure and escapism needs to be side dishes and a moose bouches, not the main meal. When it's the main meal, you are escaping your actual life. That isn't going well. And that's what I think.

[Interviewer]

And the idea of having hiring someone, you can totally hire an AI coach who's going to plan out like you hire someone who took soda from you.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You could.

[Interviewer]

That could be an AI coach.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

What's even crazier with AI is your AI coach can be the AI itself, which is a whole new phenomenon.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, yeah. And it's fascinating how it works. You just take your strategy, talk to it maybe once a week. Updating on your strategy creates a plan for you so you have something that you talk to.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You know, it's funny. So I have this company called Veefriends. It's my Pokemon meets Marvel meets Disney meets Sesame street universe, collectibles, toys, cartoons. I'm really loving it. 250 plus characters. There's a character that I'm about to write a kids book about called Curious Crane. So I have a character in Veefriends called Curious Crane. Crane is a bird. For everyone who doesn't know this, I'm excited about it because I actually think curiosity is going to explode in cultural value, because I think it's a trait that makes you very conducive to doing well in the AI world. Would tell a lot of your masons to get their curiosity up.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, yeah. And it's something that's really empowered by AI because you can go down the rabbit hole incredibly in the world. Okay, let's talk about people who are watching, who are immigrants, because I have a lot of immigrants watching. You came to America at age 3. I came when I was 25. For someone who arrives today, what is the third? The first thing they should be doing tomorrow morning is knocking. Stock your fridge now. How about a creamy mocha frappuccino drink? Or a sweet vanilla smooth caramel, maybe? Or white chocolate mocha? Whichever you choose, delicious coffee awaits. Find Starbucks Frappuccino drinks wherever you buy your Groceries.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Been out here all morning. Not a single bite. Guess the fish finally figured it out. Just like hackers do when Cisco Duo's on guard with Duo's end to end fishing resistance, every login, every device, every user stays protected. No hooks, no catches, no bites. Cisco Duo fishing season is over. Learn [e-mail] I think it's a framework. It's funny, we used curiosity. I think it's a framework of self awareness, humility, and curiosity. So self awareness is if you come from Guatemala, Poland, South Korea, and you're here in the US or by the way, you're an American who's deciding, like, oh, I don't. One of those people, which you're allowed to, and you're moving to Sweden or you're going from India to England or England to Argentina. No matter what shift you're making, a lot of people listening here will move to other countries because of jobs. Their wife's the big executive, they're the entrepreneur, and she just got a big job. And now you're moving to Portugal when you are new in an entirely new country, immigrant. I think there's three things to rely on. Number one is self awareness. Who are you? Right. When I came over, you know, I was a kid, but the older generation, these people were engineers in the Soviet Union and they were literally cleaning toilets. That was the second part, humility. You know, humility is a superpower. You know, I'm aware that my humility does not show up on the Internet because that is not the way I communicate. But I will tell you that in my real life, behind the scenes, it is one of the beacons of my success. I've never gotten away from the kid that immigrated. Like, with all the stuff on paper, I still don't think I'm better than. I don't think I have earned the ability to not put in the work or to be gracious or to be kind or whatever it might be. So I would say self awareness, who are you? What are you good at? You have to then see if that's available to. To you in the country. Sometimes it is, sometimes it's not. Nuclear engineers from the Soviet empire literally had to clean toilets because America wasn't just giving them jobs, and then they had to build themselves up and they owned a pharmacy later on, you know how it all worked out, right? Humility. I know that you were the big dog in India, but maybe here in Poland that doesn't work. Or you were amazing. You were a good creator in America, but now for some reason, you Live in Indonesia and you don't have that many followers in Indonesia. Humility, Right? And then back to curiosity. For me, I would just again, face got ripped off like that. John Travolta. John Travolta. Nicolas Cage movie reputation lost. I find myself in Peru. This is where I'm going. Who am I? I have good people skills. I have work ethic. I know how to buy and sell. I know consumer behavior. Next, Humility. I'll go work at a store as a cashier. If I have nothing. If I have nothing. And then curiosity at night after I get back from the store. What's going on here in Peru? Where's my angle? What can I do? What can I sell? So that is my advice, that emotional framework. And then you have to act on it.

[Interviewer]

Humility. And it means you're teaching yourself or you are. You have this trait. So remembering where you come from, right?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

That's right. But even I believe, based on my mother and based on how she would have parented me, that even if I wasn't an immigrant, even if I was my brother, the third in the family, born in 1987 in America when we were on our way to middle class, I still think if I had the same exact DNA and I have the same mother, I think humility is there not because I came from Russia and remember, it's just because I don't. Because I think it's icky to be the other way. I don't think it's like a. I remember where I came from, though. There's part of that. I'm sure it's more like, I just don't understand. Well, actually, let me rephrase. I do understand. I'm just not insecure enough to not be humble.

[Interviewer]

Love it.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Ego is just pure insecurity. Ego is just pure insecurity. Posturing, trying to be the big dog. That just means you're fucking scared. That means you're a bitch.

[Interviewer]

And that places limits on what you're doing because you're trying to feed your ego versus building.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah, you're just. You are not good internally. Thus, you must render your peacocking to trick everyone around you. And by the way, I'm not mad at it. Do you know that? I'm not mad at people that are like that. I'm sad about it. I wish they could like themselves for all. Do you know how many shortcomings I have? Plenty. We all do.

[Interviewer]

Okay. If someone's watching right now and they're like, okay, I'm gonna work on all of this, But I really want to build in this AI era. What do you think is the biggest opportunity right now?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

It goes back to the last question. There's a million of them. I just don't know the person that's listening right now. Are they? Some. I mean, for example, if you're overly charismatic, the biggest opportunity is to go live streaming on the Internet and then drive all of that audience to an AI app that you built.

[Interviewer]

That's 10 bucks before it's automated by AI. Because have you seen in China how they're doing this? They just basically put an item in front of the camera and it's automated, and there's this AI person already wearing it or showing it. It was.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

That's right. Including the influencer as AI. It's me. And I put your face on me. And I'm a woman selling makeup.

[Interviewer]

I mean, when I think about this, why would I start if it's already being automated?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Because everything you learn along the way will set up your next thing. What are you gonna do? Lay down and cry?

[Interviewer]

I don't know. Find something else. Cause I feel like a lot of. Because I'm talking a lot of entrepreneurs. They're in the stage, they're like, oh, I really want to do this. But then, yeah, it's just gonna be taken away by a big company.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

You're too young for this. But in 2005, 6, 7, 8, 9, in Silicon Valley, the same thing was being said. Why would I start this? Google's gonna copy it. You're just talking to fake entrepreneurs. Real entrepreneurs are willing to lose. Real entrepreneurs know that the two years they work on something that Claude fucked up was two years of them working on something that sets up their next thing. Real entrepreneurs don't know how to do anything else. Real entrepreneurs don't lay down and cry. Real entrepreneurs don't say, fuck it, I'll just go get a job. Real entrepreneurs are real entrepreneurs.

[Interviewer]

They just do what they have to do.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

This is why there were so few of them before the Internet. Entrepreneurship got cool. So now people do it because it's cool. Do you know many entrepreneurs you talk to that are actually executives disguising as entrepreneurs? Let me give you the answer. Most real entrepreneurs have no idea what the fuck you're talking about. Like, you should have seen what my chemicals were doing when you brought that up. Like, when you were, like, bouncing. What are you talking about? A real entrepreneur is swimming in a. The ocean. And when you say, well, we're not gonna make it anyway, let's just drown to the bottom, like it's life and death for a real entrepreneur. You can't do anything else.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. That goes back to knowing who you are.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Correct. And by the way, let me say something right now. This is actually a beautiful segue. I need everybody to hear this. If you're listening right now and you think you're an entrepreneur, but these last three minutes of this talk are triggering some weird feelings. Do you know how awesome it was to be the number 7 at Facebook? Do you know how incredible it was to be the number 9 at Tesla? Do you know how epic it is to be number 34 at LinkedIn? Microsoft? I mean, like how cool it is

[Interviewer]

to be a podcaster.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Correct. Like this concept that like, again, I grew up, entrepreneurship wasn't even a word. Being a businessman was not cool. And then I ironically was part of the movement that kind of made this thing cool. But I have been talking for 10 years of like, please, it's only cool if you are that it's not cool to be a teacher if you're not a teacher. It's not cool to be, you know, fuck. It's not cool to be anything if you're not actually, you know.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, that is a good ending. And I have a few questions that are fire rapid, like, yeah, 15 seconds. What are your top three favorite AI tools that you use?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Daily GPT, Claude. And honestly, the Mangus is really meta's. Like, I'm like just a couple weeks going in, but it's.

[Interviewer]

Do you use it for Instagram?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. Because I feel like they have access to all the data.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Correct.

[Interviewer]

Do better analytics than anyone.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Correct.

[Interviewer]

Okay, that's a good one to work on. What's your favorite prompt?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

My favorite prompt is me intuitively feeling something that's happening in culture. Right. I'll give you one right now. Does the baggy pants movement for men have another domino to fall like I will?

[Interviewer]

That's a very advanced movement. So you know exactly what's happening and you're trying to predict what's next.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Correct. That is almost everything I'm doing. Is that for me, for what I like to do professionally and personally.

[Interviewer]

Okay. College degrees in 2026. Yes or no?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

For 50% of the people that are listening right now? Yes. They need that degree to do the profession legally in medicine for the most creative and entrepreneurial people. Yes. If mommy and daddy paid for it. Because 18 to 22 as a full pledge vacation to hang out with other 18 to 22 year olds is a lot of fun and you will work your whole Life. No, for 18 to 22 year olds that are taking on substantial debt, who are creative and entrepreneurial.

[Interviewer]

Makes sense. One industry to stay away from none.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Everything's in. I mean, I'm. I mean, look. Betting your whole life to be an admin who doesn't think. An admin that's a mason, not an admin. That's architect bad admin. That's architect. Huge. I'm gonna hire people that have the power of 13 and 13 admins for me, and she or he is gonna sit at the top of that and I'm gonna pay that person a fucking fortune to make my life effective.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. And the last one. What's the most misunderstood thing about AI right now?

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

The counter to whatever anybody's thinking. So for the people that are delusionally thinking this is the greatest thing ever, the counter of the negatives that are gonna happen, and for the people that think everyone's fucked, and China, perplexity and anthropic and America and Russia, there's gonna be nine countries and nine companies and everybody else is fucked. Are out of their fucking minds. The counter to the extremism of what people think.

[Interviewer]

Thank you for your positivity and energy. It's really charging, right? What you're saying gives energy to cream versus like just lie down.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

And I think that sits. Thank you. And I want to end with this. That doesn't sit in some blind optimism or even the great parenting that I was given. It sits in historics. It is historically true that we were scared of electricity and it wasn't. We were historically true to get off the farms. We did so much more. Humans are great. I know we're told that we're not, but 99.9% of us are either neutral or great. And if I am wrong, here's why I'm this way. And if I'm wrong, I promise you, you're not gonna worry about your job. If I'm wrong, we're all dead anyway. So either I'm right that you should choose practical optimism and there's gonna be a million opportunities for you if you go insular and work on you. Or if unfortunately I'm wrong, I'll see you in fucking heaven. Like, you know. You know, like this. I mean, I don't get it. It's not practical to be pessimistic and cynical. It is not practical.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. Love it.

[Gary Vaynerchuk]

Thank you, everybody. If you enjoyed this podcast, please go back and look at the prior episodes. They're loaded. I appreciate your attention and thanks for being part of the show.