Gary Vaynerchuk

Lewis Howes:                 This is 5-Minute Friday!!

Welcome, everyone, to today’s show! Our guest is the legendary Gary Vaynerchuk. That’s right! Gary runs Vayner Media, which is one of the world’s hottest digital agencies. He’s also a prolific angel investor and venture capitalist, investing in companies like SnapChat, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Uber, and Birchbox.

He also hosts the, ‘Ask Gary Vee Show’, and is a public speaker who delivers keynotes all over the world, at a number of different events.

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Gary Vaynerchuk:          I’ve got to be smart about it, I have to look back on how we titled it, but I know what I said, which is: “It can be taught, but you can only go so far, because of natural talent.” You know, it’s fun to have this conversation with you, because you’re such an athletic freak, you know, most people don’t lie on the couch and say, “I’m going to be on an Olympic team,” and then pull it off.

I think that I could play basketball every day, every day of my life, from the time I was fifteen, and put in fifteen hours a day, and I think I’d be really good. I’d have a much better handle, I’d shoot better, I would have been more competitive with you on the boat that day.

But would I have been good enough to be in the NBA? Absolutely not.

Lewis Howes:                 Maybe D3, college.

Gary Vaynerchuk:          Maybe, maybe. And I do think, right now, that everybody thinks they can be an entrepreneur. And so, my point was, it’s much more talent than the conversation.

I don’t think you can read The School of Greatness, and my books and all these other books, and watch SkillShares and watch Chase Jarvis and listen to Ferriss and read Branson and even go to business school and have mentors and go to Y Combinator and then all of a sudden, just because of that, you become a great entrepreneur.

I think of it like the music industry. Think of all the kids that are born into, you know, you’re Clive Davis’ grandson, or you’re Whitney Houston’s daughter, or you’ve nothing but access, you’re in the studio all the time, you learn the business, but if you don’t have the chops, if you don’t have the vocals, you’re only going to go so far.

Lewis Howes:                 Right. Same thing with football players, and in athletics, too. You see some children of former NBA, or NFL stars, who excel, but then others who don’t do anything.

Gary Vaynerchuk:          Here’s the punchline: It’s much more talent than people realise. I see it every day. And the video I made was, like, “Look, you have to be okay that, by pouring in eighteen hours a day and learning everything, might only allow you to build a business that makes $100,000 a year.”

There is an absolute misconception, with the American Dream as entrepreneurship and everybody can do it. The difference between entrepreneurship and football is, everybody who’s listening right now, or watching, can start a business.

So, for me, I have to do this. It’s why I failed school, it’s why I sold baseball cards when I was fourteen. So, for me, I’m okay with the failures, the losses along the way, it’s my natural state. I just want people who are listening, to find their natural state and not force them into the current narrative.

Lewis Howes:                 So how does someone find out what they’re best at? And what are you best at?

Gary Vaynerchuk:          You know, I’m best at selling. I’m best at using my words to make things happen, whether that’s selling me, whether that’s selling my agency, whether that’s selling a bottle of wine, whether that’s selling a book, I’m good at that. I’m good at storytelling, to make a transaction happen.

How one finds it? I don’t know. And I think about this a lot. I think about self-awareness, I think about EQ, I think about finding that. I’ve been talking more about finding the five people that are closest to you, to tell you the truth.

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Lewis Howes:                 Hey, guys! If you enjoyed this inspirational clip from a past episode of the show, then you’ll love the free book I’m giving away right now. It’s called The Millionaire Morning. It includes some of my best tips for starting off your day with a millionaire mindset. Get your free copy at themillionairemorning.com and just pay shipping.

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