The smartest business man on the Internet gave the unofficial keynote at SxSW Interactive this year. He is the definition of authenticity, motivation, and inspiration.
Here are the best quotes from the talk:
I pride myself in listening. When you have people paying attention to you, your biggest job is to listen what they want. Deliver what your community wants.
I was scared of riding a bike, so at 8 years old, I rode a Big Wheels. I peed my bed till I was 12.
Your legacy is being written by yourself. Make the right decisions.
You don’t think Abe Lincoln did some crazy shit back in the day? He did.
It’s about the people that are here, not the venue, not the city, not the damn convention center.
It’s about embracing your DNA. People are lying to themselves. They want to be something they’re not. If you truly understand who you are. You need to love yourself more.
If I was chilled just a quarter of a percent more, I would be more appealing to people.
If you’re a jerk, your intern is gonna Flip-cam your career to the garbage.
I love being up at 3:00 in the morning chatting on AIM.
For some people, commerce and sales is unattractive.
There are a billion social media consultants telling you to use Twitter, and all this other stuff. The difference is: do you have the chops? Is your product good?
Your grandparents didn’t build a butcher shop because Walter Kronkite said it was good. You have to hustle your face off.
If your bottled water taste like ass, it’s not going to win. If your water lights up the world and nobody knows about it, and you don’t know how to tell that story, you’re not gonna win either.
It comes down to content and authenticity.
The work is when you go into the community and find your audience.
When I started in the wine industry, the game was slightly broken. We were all using the same vocab words.
If you see something that’s wrong, talk about it.
You need to learn the landscape of your business. If you don’t know what every competitor is doing, you’re dead.
Way too many people in this space are trying to hit ground-rule doubles, and I’m tryin to hit that shit out of the park.
I think about legacy over currency every second I breathe.
If you live for the weekends and vacations, your shit is broken.
When you go for what you want, you have to be able to pay the consequences.
The greatest thing you could ever have is your child to want to work with you.
I can monetize the flowers on your lawn.
The best person that talks about changing diapers on the Internet is going to make a lot of money.
Work after you’re done working your job.
All the kids in high school would be like, “What college are you going to?” I’d say, “Fuck you, I’m going to kill you”.
You can’t get anything unless you take it. Figure who’s got the money, and go after them.
The second I do something wrong, and I stop doing it, is the second it’s out of my life forever.
Delegate everything, except what you love.
I love my mother more than I love breathing.
The second I see something that changes the game, I’m all about it.
Putting out the content is like wiping the crap out of your eye in the morning. It’s just the beginning.
Cut out the people in your world that say no.
You don’t have a fucking shortcoming. You have you.
Gary and little brother AJ will launch VaynerMedia soon, a brand, marketing, and consulting company. He is also writing a book about how to build a business.
