Gary Vaynerchuk

meet gary vaynerchuk

Already considered a quintessential maven of modern-day marketing, Gary Vaynerchuk is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-selling author as well as a self-trained wine and social media expert. In high school, while working at his family owned liquor store, Gary started reading The Wine Spectator among other wine books and realized collecting wine offered an allure similar to his previous hobby of collecting baseball cards. With a newfound wealth of knowledge, an entrepreneurial spirit, and a clear recognition of the emergence of e-commerce in 1997, Gary launched Winelibrary.com and helped grow his family business from $3 million to $45 million by 2005. Although Gary does not consider himself to be a ‘techie’, in 2005, he began video blogging and established himself as a true social media trailblazer. Gaining nearly 1 million Twitter followers, Gary was included in BusinessWeek’s list of the “top 20 people every entrepreneur should follow.”

In 2006, with a flipcam and a NY Jets bucket, Gary began Wine Library TV which further revolutionized the wine world. His wine reviews soon attracted over 100,000 viewers each day and his die-hard fans nicknamed themselves “Vayniacs.” Gary’s cult-like following was the result of his unconventional, often irreverent commentary on wine. Using comical expressions like “Sniffy Sniff” and “The Oakmonster,” he encourages straightforward wine tasting and debunks wine myths. A business visionary, Gary also started CinderellaWine.com, a flash sale website which features one wine per day for 24 hours sold at a severely discounted price. He also started a monthly newsletter that gives readers access to the hundreds of wines he tastes and reviews each month off camera.

Gary’s first business book Crush It! Why Now Is the Time to Cash in on Your Passion hit the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Associated Press Best-Sellers lists in its first weeks. It maps out Gary’s road rules for how to “Crush It” in today’s business market by following your passion and building your own personal brand. His second New York Times bestseller The Thank You Economy, details the effect of social media on business and has become required reading for business leaders around the world. Gary’s most recent book Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World shares how to knock out the competition through the most effective social media strategies.

In the spring of 2009, Gary and his brother AJ launched VaynerMedia, a new breed of agency that helps Fortune 500 companies like General Electric and PepsiCo find their social media voices and build their digital brands. Gary is also the General Partner of a newly formed venture fund, VaynerRSE.

Gary has appeared on countless programs from Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Conan O’Brien and Ellen to MSNBC, CNBC, CNN and NPR. He was also notably featured in Decanter magazine’s 2009 Power List which lists the 50 most influential people in wine. In 2009, Gary was named Innovator of the Year at Wine Enthusiast’s Wine Star Awards as well as one of Askmen.com’s 49 Most Influential Men of 2009.

Gary’s ultimate goal is to own the New York Jets. Although his various businesses obviously play an enormous role in his life, he always puts his family first.

Gary currently resides in New York City.
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Speaking Topics

Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy World
From figuring out how to effectively communicate on modern platforms - through a picture, through a SnapChat, or through an animated GIF on Tumblr, Gary’s latest insights and information promises to become tomorrow’s standards.

The Thank You Economy
In his session, Gary Vaynerchuk teaches entrepreneurs how to take advantage of the current business environment, while also preparing them to succeed as it changes and evolves into what he’s termed “The Thank You Economy.” With the rise of the Internet and the power of the common consumer, businesses must look backwards and scale the caring their grandparents’ businesses exhibited towards their customers, or watch the competition pass them by. Today, individuals and brands that out-care and out-love their competition - those emphasizing quality, value, responsiveness, and attention to detail, among other essentials - see the biggest returns.

CRUSH IT! Cash in on Your Passion
Everything has changed. The social media revolution has irreversibly changed the way we live our lives and conduct our business. There are billions of dollars in advertising moving online, waiting to be claimed by whoever can build the best content and communities. Despite this change, most people keep working at jobs that don’t make them happy and businesses continue to ignore the major marketing and public relations benefits that can be found online.

​Why Smart People Dismiss Social Media, and Why They Shouldn't

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VIDEOS

Article: What I've Learned

Article: Defending Your Personal Brand

"Gary was (as completely expected) amazing! What a treat. Thank you for all your help getting that setup. The feedback has been tremendous."- Director of Sales, Zumasys, Inc.