Get any group of ten or more young entrepreneurs together anywhere in the world, and you will inevitably hear the name Gary Vaynerchuk.
You might know him from his wine videos, his vlogs, his stage appearances, or you might have taken a selfie with him at a flash mob.
However you know Gary, his name is constantly uttered alongside the word “hustle”.
Rarely agreeing to do one-on-one interviews, It was a privilege to sit down with Gary and really unwrap the truth and power behind some of the sound bites and one-liners he is known for.
Gary tells me his business is “daytrading attention”.
In world increasingly subsumed in instantaneous messages, Instagram photos and often shallow sloganeering, Gary is expert at commanding the attention of young people already bombarded with self-help cliches and materialistic images.
What’s even more fascinating is that he not only grabs the attention of social media savvy young hustlers across the globe, he actually touches them and changes their lives.
One of my big takeaways from this conversation is the way Gary broke down his message.
Gary is the quintessential fast-talking New Yorker, and some can be put off by the intense, “live-for-the-grind” cockiness that has got him where he is today.
But Gary’s message seems to fly in the face of the very culture he is so adept at commanding.
It comes down to this: “Be patient, work hard and stop complaining”.
In a world of greedy gratification and overstimulation, convincing millennials to get over themselves and play the long game for the sake of their dreams, is quite honestly revolutionary.
Gary is this weird mix of humble and confident. He knows the game, and knows he is good at it. But he also prides himself on being a good listener.
It is easy to watch Gary’s YouTube videos, hear the slick, well-crafted, firecracker wisdom and think this guy is all about the talk.
Watching this conversation you meet a nuanced, multidimensional Gary Vee, far more than the image of the media phenomenon.
