DIG 2015 Kickoff Keynote by Gary Vaynerchuk: entrepreneur, investor, author, public speaker, and internet personality.
From Gary:
I have been a businessman for as long as anyone close to me can remember. You can be fancy and call it being an "
entrepreneur," but at the end of the day, I do business. While most eight year olds were learning how to properly squeeze a lemon, I was managing seven lemonade stands across my neighborhood in Edison, NJ. When I turned twelve, I set my sights on my local mall, where I became something of a legend selling baseball cards on weekends. In high school I joined the family business, a liquor store called Shoppers Discount Liquors that my dad started. It wasn’t long before I became obsessed with collecting wine.
My core thesis has always revolved around one question:
Are you marketing like the year you actually live in? That’s it. It’s not about where things are going to be in 5 years, and it’s definitely not about how we’ve always done it. Do what works. Right now.
In 1997 I was selling wine with an email list while most stores were still faxing their customers. Building on that, I quickly came to recognize the importance of e-commerce, and launched
WineLibrary.com, one of the very first wine sales sites. As soon as Google Adwords came out, I was the first (and for a long time the only) person to advertise against people searching for “wine.” All of this helped me to grow the store from a $3 million business to a $60 million business, and it was just the beginning.
Within a year of YouTube popping up, I knew it would be an incredibly powerful platform. Armed with a Flipcam and a NY Jets bucket, I started
Wine Library TV in 2006 to share my knowledge and passion for wine with a community that desperately needed a fresh voice. It wasn’t long before 100,000 people were watching my videos every day (shout-out to my Vayniacs – love you guys).
In the spring of 2009, my brother AJ and I launched
VaynerMedia, a strategic creative agency focusing on social and digital. VaynerMedia has helped Fortune 500 companies like
GE,
PepsiCo, and
Mt Dew execute against their
KPI’s, and build their digital brands through micro content and other storytelling techniques. The idea took hold, and what started as a 6-person project 5 years ago has swelled to a 400-strong team spread across the country.
After years of angel investing in companies like
Twitter, Tumblr,
Uber and BirchBox, I just
launched VaynerRSE, a $25 million seed fund that will help invest in and launch the next generation of world-changing technology companies.
When I’m not spending time with my family, who mean everything in the world to me, I
speak and share my experiences in business with people around the world. I have also found a passion for storytelling, so definitely check out my latest book,
Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook. I’m so excited you have taken a few minutes out of your day to drop by.
Don’t forget to say hey. PS:
I love to hustle!
