#AskGaryVee Episode 119: How Should You Spend Your Last Two Weeks at a Job?

- On this episode I film the show right before I take the stage at Good Day New York. (upbeat hip hop music) ♫ 'ey, Gary Vee! ♫ You ask questions ♫ And I answer them ♫ This is the #AskGaryVee Show. - Hey everybody, this is Gary Vay-ner-chuk and this is episode 119 of the #AskGaryVee Show. Um, we are in some sort of room here. I'm about to go on Good Day New York, co-hosting. Guys, you know, let's talk about the people that have crossed over, you know, Michael Strahan, Mario Lopez, you know, listen, also I think when you really think about it anybody that's co-hosted or hosted morning shows has really come from somewhere else, and so maybe this is a preview to me one day being the host of Good Morning America! I don't think so, but I'm excited about it my mom's more excited about it, so from 9 to 10am today in New York City tri-state area on Fox 5 I will be the co-host of the show. I'm gonna do a little segment on wine, so that should be fun a little throw-back Monday for me. Big shout out to the entire Vayner Nation, I really appreciate the tremendous words and kind remarks from episode 118, a little impromptu, we decided to play basketball. India texted me and said she got choked up, many of you did, I really appreciate that. So with that, India, DRock you're gonna have to move. - You messed it up. - Let's get into- - The show. Damnit! - The show! (both laugh) That was a good one, I kinda set you up. People that watch it backwards will see I set you up for it, I made a movement and it caught you. Let's get right into it, because I've gotta get on the air.

- [Voiceover] Galen asks, "How would you market "to Amish people if that was your primary market? "#BuggyHustle. " - Galen, this is a tremendous question, and I think it opens up an opportunity for me to give a broad answer. The truth is, I'd probably spend six months to a year before I would say a word or market, for me personally, because I completely am undereducated on that market. I don't know what makes that market tick, what do they, you know, obviously, what, if anything, are they buying? You know, obviously I'm not deeply knowledgeable. Obviously I have headlines on what I think is going on there, preconceived notions, but I've learned in my 40 years of life those tend to lead you to disaster when you're making assumptions on the market when you don't intimately know it. You know, for me, the two core businesses I've run in my career, the wine business and an agency that markets within social media, if you pay attention closely, they were markets that I spent five to seven, eight years being deeply in before I took the reins. One, obviously, in a family business growing up in it, and two, really participating in it, being a thought leader within it, jamming with it, using it, and I mean, I was using social media hardcore for, you know, five, six years before I started VaynerMedia to then give advice around it, and so that's what I would do, and that's what I think a lot of you are making huge mistakes on. Interacting with so many of you on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, I notice this quick, you know, I wanna sell sneakers, right? I wanna be in the sneaker game, and yeah, you kinda like sneakers, but do you understand the sneaker business? And I went with the huge pause there, Staphon, for a specific reason: When you decide to jump into business, yeah, you may like wine, but do you understand the wine business? Yeah, you may have a Twitter account, but do you understand social media business? Yeah, you may have some kicks and have six or seven pairs or even 50, but do you understand the sneaker business? And so if I'm marketing, I'm in business, and if I don't understand the market, if I don't deeply understand the competitive landscape, the supply and demand chain, what I'm gonna do, the marketing opportunities, the white space that I love to play in so much, then I'm gonna lose, and that's why so many people lose. They confuse enthusiasm or hobby for business skills, and so before you do anything, before you jump into anything, I highly recommend, you know so many of you are starting T-shirt companies without doing a hardcore audit of the 50 hundred T-shirt companies in the market, and what they're doing and how much they're spending. Do your damn homework.

- [Voiceover] Daniel asks, I've started a startup that many others have tried to do before me & amp; failed. Am I stupid to think that I'll be the anomaly? - Daniel, that's a tough question, because the truth is, there are some mountains that are very difficult to climb and thesis's that people love to think are real, and they're never able to really fully get there. I think the anonymous social network space is gonna end up being one of them, I think that brings out the worst in people and ultimately kills itself from within itself. That's one preview to a space that I'm not bullish on, that I think a lot of people are gonna try to climb that mountain, that said, it just takes one tweak, one turn. You know, there was a lot of industries where people couldn't figure out how to win, and then eventually somebody came along and won that game, and so I think that very similar to the first answer in this episode, it comes down to your chops, your skills, your patience, your infrastructure, and really really does come down to your skill set. I really do believe that, you know, anybody can do anything if they're good enough, if they're the first of that thing. I just think that people have to be very realistic to also understand how special and rare that actually is.

- [Voiceover] Nathan asks, "I'm in the middle "of transitioning to a new job. "I was wondering what your advice would be "for my last two weeks? " - Nathan, I'm gonna give you some really good advice that I think a lot of people here need to hear as you transition from job to job. I actually think the last two weeks of your job are one of the most interesting times you can have in your career. It's something that I've spent a lot of time on, paying attention to the behavior of people that have spent last two weeks at Wine Library or VaynerMedia. I think that your actions in those two weeks will really be much more impactful on your future career than you may realize. I think the grace and being the bigger man or woman, and humility, and all the things that come along with it, are all those great traits that I like to talk about pretty often, are so imperative in those last two weeks, because everybody's watching. Your coworkers are watching, and definitely your employer is watching. It's stunning to me how many people have come back around at a year later at VaynerMedia, asking me for help, asking for a job back, when they were actually terrible, or not terrible, that's not fair 'cause I'm very competitive. You know, they were, oh I'm going to this great gig, and like trying to impact other people to make them realize how they're going to this amazing place, and it's funny how the grass is not as green once you land on your new location, and then when you're lucky enough to work for somebody who's a good guy and that has some power and then you go ask for something, all you had to do was be the bigger woman for those two weeks and I would go out of my way to help you. I think way too many people burn bridges on the way out, bridges that they need, because the shortsighted nature of our society, much of the themes of the 200 episodes, or 150 episodes, or 120 episodes. Lou, how are you my man? Come give this man a little bit of daps on the #AskGaryVee show, I know he watches it. How are you? Thanks for having me on. - I've been jabbin' away on social media saying local TV will never be the same. - I love it, I'm excited. Let me finish this show, I'll be with you in a second. I think burning those bridges is a devastating play that way too many people feel, out of excitement sometimes, or out of, you know, cynicism and all the negative things that then kinda makes me feel that it's fair that they're unable to mend those relationships and get value out of those past relationships. To me, there's no value in anything other than being over the top awesome, giving love to everybody, making amends with people maybe that you didn't work well with, the last two weeks. I think you treat it like the last month of high school, senior year, right? You just make it all good.

- [Voiceover] Nils asks, "If you were to make "a video game, what type would it be "and on what platform would you sell it? " - Nils, this is a pretty interesting question. There's two spaces that I think video games are really interesting, and one is obviously mobile. I still think mobile, kind of word, simple, like, the game that works for the 13 year old and for the 84 year old grandmother are always super interesting to me, very basic, you know, just simple word, brain quizzes, you know, Hangman 3. 0, that kinda stuff is super interesting. But the place that I'd probably go since I love so much the game of following where I think the puck is going to be, is I'd probably make a virtual reality game, one that had, you know, kind of like the Zelda of VR, which was a completely open world where you could do a whole lot of stuff. I don't know if I would go shooter, though I think that's gonna be the breakout win early on, I'm a little bit more into like, Gauntlet really affected me in the early days, it was like one of the first four player arcade games that me and my boys back in '84 would roll into Chuck E Cheese with quarters for days and just get down with it. And I was always pumped to be the princess, by the way, everybody would fight for the wizard, I'm like I'll be princess, she was nasty. Anyway, so I would say some sorta open-ended Zelda-Gauntlet adventure type game, for virtual reality, that I don't think would pop for another 24 to 36 months, but if you follow the narrative of my 20 year career and hopefully what I do for the next 40 years, I'm always going to bet on where I think the market's gonna be 24, 36 months from now use my disproportional ability to sell, to keep me afloat for those 24 to 36 months, and then be there where the market's gonna be there. When I started selling social media to brands in 2009, they didn't wanna buy it. Only now, only as we head into 2016 budgets, am I starting to see some real upside. And as you can imagine, that bodes well for my business. I would do the same thing in the video game industry. - [Staphon] The stream just shut down. - Why? Just crashed on you? Cool. - [India] So, Britt.

- Hey Gary, this is Britt Michaelian, and my question for you for the #AskGaryVee Show is, what women in business do you think are just rockin' it on social media? I love to follow people who are doin' great stuff and I'd love to know who you think is doing an exceptional job on social media. Women in business, thank you, have a great day. - Women in business, social media. This is tough for me for a couple of reasons. One, I really don't follow anybody. You know, all I'm really doing is putting out content and engaging with my own audience and so I'm not trying to duck the question, obviously there's plenty of people that pop to mind that I think are incredible entrepreneurs and business women you know, Katia, CEO of Birchbox, an investment of mine. Obviously since I'm an investor in it, I'm a little bit closer to it. I think she's an incredible operator and entrepreneur, Rachel from MikMak, another investment that I've made that I'm in love with. Brit, Brit Morin's probably crushing it. Britt Dako, another investment of mine. These are businesses that I'm closer to, you know, Spoon University, Gals, either, they're crushing it. Again, I have no clue what they're doing on social, I know what they're doing in marketing, in operating, in leadership, in being a CEO. I assume Brit is doing a great job 'cause her brand is at the forefront, and I have seen stuff in the past, but I've been very head down for the last 24 months really on this show, and running VaynerMedia, and obviously the Vayner/RSE capital venture stuff, so I've been a little busy, though the truth is, and I'm just gonna let it out of the bag, I've never really followed anybody because I just don't have the time for it and I'm really gonna only do my thing anyway, which could be a weakness, by the way. I don't think this is some great, oh I'm so cool, some amazing strength that I don't follow anybody else. It's just how I roll, and as I always say here, you need to do you. So, I apologize that I don't have a great answer to that question. Savvy Auntie historically has done an amazing job I'm a big fan. So, those are some of the answers. Tight show, very focused, I think what you're seeing in my demeanor is I'm starting to get mentally prepared for The Show that I'm gonna be doing. Not "the show" but the show I'm doing today. Question of the day, what female entrepreneur is killing it on social media? If I can't answer it, you guys will. You keep asking questions, I'll keep answering them. Oh yeah, one last thing from today's episode.

Next Friday, not this Friday, yes, next friday the 31st, I'm going to be flying in three of you to take over DRock, Staphon, Steve, Unwin, that's Stunwin, India, all of their jobs, for the one year anniversary of the #AskGaryVee show. I'm picking three super fans. Fill out the form, they're all handling that, we'll get you more info on that. DRock, maybe take over the thing, I don't know what you're gonna do. But, bottom line is, three of you are coming next Friday to take over the crew's job, hang out with us, we have a meeting, it's gonna be a full #AskGaryVee experience for three of you. I hope you win, I hope you get picked. Good luck! So if you're available fill out the form and I'll see you in eight, what is it, seven? Like, 11 days? (mumbles) Whatever, I'll see you soon! (everyone laughs) (upbeat hip hop music)