A biography for Gary Vaynerchukhasn’t been written yet.
“I really chess-play culture shifts. I'm really good at understanding what worldwide cell-phone use means. That's what I do. I try to picture it three to four to five steps ahead.”
“If you really want to dominate the competition and make big bucks, you’ve got to be the best. Do that, be that, and no one will be able to touch you. With one exception. Someone with less passion and talent and poorer content can totally beat you if they’re willing to work longer and harder than you are. Hustle is it.”
“I love people, and the hustle.”
“There's always a wine bully. The one person who did read the 'Wine Spectator,' who tells you what to drink and why the '97 is better than the '98. I want to punch the wine bully in the face. I want to make sure this generation of wine drinkers isn't elitist and snotty. I want it to be about family and bringing people together.”
“Vince McMahon is one of the greatest storytellers of all time, but WWE's not striving for the kind of innovation it's capable of.”
“The thing that I'm most passionate about, I'm writing a book called 'Jab Jab Jab Jab Jab Right Hook,' and it really focuses on how to story-tell in a noisy, ADD world.”
“I attract a crowd, not because I'm an extrovert or I'm over the top or I'm oozing with charisma. It's because I care.”
“I have Internet fame. Real fame is more intense.”
“When I was 17 or 18 I wanted to become a wine expert, and my parents wouldn't let me drink. So I was devastated. All I could do was read, and I read and I read. And I'd read something like, you know, 'Subtle hints of cassis.'”
“Really, truly, try to figure out what your palate is all about. If you've determined that you don't like dirty old stinky wine - old-world flavors - you probably like new-world fruit bombs. Stick to Shirazes and California Cabernets or Zinfandels.”
“You cannot underestimate people's ability to spot a soulless, bureaucratic tactic a million miles away. It's a big reason why so many companies that have dipped a toe in social media waters have failed miserably.”
“Storytelling is the game. It's what we all do. It's why Nike is Nike, it's why Apple is Apple, it's why Walt Disney built Disney World and it's why Vince McMahon makes a billion dollars.”
“It's about stories. If I can tell the story to America, whether it's Riesling or a boxer from Harlem, it will sell. I know on my gravestone it's going to be, 'Storyteller.'”
“I'm not afraid to call a wine that tastes like Skittles or green peppers mixed with orange marmalade. I'll say, 'It tastes like chicken.' I mean, that's not what people think of when they think of wine, but that's what it tastes like to me and it hits home.”
“The chef that grew up with the grandma who cooks tends to always beat the chef that went to the culinary institute. It's in the blood.”
“Too many companies think they want to do a video blog to sell merchandise, but if you turn your site into QVC, you lose. I have an audience that trusts me. It's about building a global brand - not selling four more bottles of Pinot Grigio.”
“I want people to know their palate is a snowflake. We all like different things. Why should we all have the same taste in wines?”
“The first thing I ever invested in was Twitter. Blaine Cook, former CTO, was leaving the company and asked me if I wanted to buy his stock.”
“Brands mature over time, like a marriage. The bond you feel with your spouse is different than when you first met each other. Excitement and discovery are replaced by comfort and depth.”
“Do you know how many companies have wanted me to do an energy drink for them because I named my book 'Crush It!'? It might be fun one day, but right now I think it would undermine the personal brand I've built.”