How to Win in the Age of Interest Media: Live Shopping and AI

In this episode of the GaryVee Audio Experience, I talk about the massive shift we’re seeing in technology and consumer behavior. I encourage you to spend 30 to 50 hours of homework on agentic AI and "OpenClaw" to understand how to build a team of AI agents for your business. I also discuss the $1 trillion live shopping market and how being a TikTok affiliate can be a more profitable path than traditional content creation. You’ll learn about:The Future of Live Social Shopping and TikTok AffiliatesBuilding Your World with Agentic AIWhy You Need to Post 8-19 Times a DayThe Difference Between "Pointing Thumbs" and "Pointing Fingers"How to Live in Reality and Tune Out External Noise

• 0:00Speaker 00

  This episode is brought to you by Indeed. You're ready to level up your business, but the pressure to find the right person to make that happen is intense. Indeed sponsored jobs can help carry the load. It boosts your job post to help it reach quality talent fast. Cut through the chaos with Indeed sponsored jobs. Get a $75 sponsored job credit at indeed.com/podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring now? Then this is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs.

• 0:31Speaker 01

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• 0:59Speaker 02

  This AI thing is not fucking around. And I promise you it's not going away because you wish it would. And so you have one choice, which has always been the choice of the human. You either get on or you get off. If you think I'm pumped about it, you do not know me well. I'm always adaptable and I'm always going to be who I am because I have no choice. Like I'm in a place where everything that I've built for the last 30 years is potentially vulnerable. If I don't ride this tidal wave and instead put my head in the sand and let this tidal wave kill me. And so like, if you signed up for entrepreneurship, you can't cry about this because this is the game. And so... This is the Gary Vee Audio Experience.

• 1:44Speaker 03

  Let's start talking about, you've been on a rant lately about, on social media, about all the like whatnot, selling live, online, it's the newest thing that wave. Is it, is that, am I saying that the right way? It's a wave that's coming out? Or is it here to stay? I mean, you know...

• 2:05Speaker 02

  Like anything in business, I'm sure all of you are navigating this. I don't really know the life cycle of what the end consumer is going to do. What I try to spend time on is understanding what the end consumer is doing. And is there any other data points that support the longevity of that? Right? And so with live social shopping in China, they're going to sell over a trillion, let me say this nice and slow. One trillion dollars worth of GMV gross merchandise value will be sold in China. One trillion dollars worth of stuff will be sold in China this year

• 2:49Speaker 02

  through live shopping behavior. I don't think that's a China-only behavior because last year, tens of billions of dollars of product were sold on TikTok Shop and whatnot. I think we're in the beginning stages of this. And for many people in this audience, I'm sure all of you are thinking about different ways to grow your current business. I'm sure plenty of people are looking for other opportunities. To me, this has a lot of similarities to what I saw in social media in 2007, 8, 9. The world had not caught up to it, but there were still millions of people already doing it. And I anticipated that number to go up

• 3:34Speaker 02

  because to me, the mobile device was not going anywhere. And what was dominating the mobile device, these social networks, seemed to make sense because I think people want to interact with each other. This was already 10 years after the internet was doing its thing. Similar here, a lot of people here have bought something off of TikTok Shop when they had no intention to. You're just living inside a TikTok and then it showed up. So I'm very bullish live shopping. And I think a lot of people here who are trying to become personal brands and content creators actually have the natural talent to be live shopping hosts and would be better off, happy.

• 4:15Speaker 02

  Be or and more financially successful being an affiliate and live shopping person versus a lifestyle content creator or you know a vlogger or a streamer and so I think for all of us in this room it's about reverse engineering what you're good at and what you like enough that you'll put in the time and effort because it requires so much hard work to actually make something meaningful so yeah I'm very, very excited about live shopping.

• 4:44Speaker 03

  Does it have to be, the comment you just said a while ago, does it have to be something that's like their brand, their thing? Or could they just go, like I buy a lot of stuff online and if someone's selling, you know, on the farm, so I'm always buying random shit on TikTok and stuff. It's like, oh, there's a hammer, I'll buy that. Does it have to be like their?

• 5:02Speaker 02

  You bought a hammer on TikTok?

• 5:04Speaker 03

  Oh, they sell them in sets of like six, but it's a great deal.

• 5:07Speaker 02

  Yeah, so, so for anybody who's curious by what I'm saying, you can write down two different things. One is being a live shopping host, that's QVC. You're on, you're selling, that is your stuff. Then there's something if you Google it or ChatGPT it or Claude it, that is a TikTok affiliate. That is when you make content of someone else's product. You apply for it, if they select you, they will literally ship you the product for free. You will make a piece of content and God willing, you make a good piece of content and gets a lot of views. You will get an affiliate, a percentage of every one of those products sold.

• 5:47Speaker 02

  And there are tens of thousands of people making hundreds of thousands of dollars, millions of dollars a year just being an affiliate.

• 5:58Speaker 02

  So if you're great at, yeah, thanks, mom.

• 6:05Speaker 02

  You know, I think about this all the time and I appreciate that, my man, like clapping that up, like this is, again, you know how life works, like I just said that. You might have heard it or you never heard it, you're now gonna go home, you're gonna look it up and tomorrow you're gonna be like, how the hell are there tens of thousands of people making content around clothes or soap or vitamins? Like, it's enormously big ecosystem and I'm a huge fan of it because there's a lot of people in this room who aspire to be great entrepreneurs, but what they are is they're very creative, but they're not actually business operators. And then there's the reverse. There's people in here that are actually very strong operationally or financially.

• 6:45Speaker 02

  But they're not creative and them being on camera isn't it. And then there's some people that are just so charismatic and so good at business that they can do both. You know.

• 6:56Speaker 03

  Humbly, humbly do both.

• 6:58Speaker 02

  Humbly. All jokes aside, I do think life is a self-awareness game and I think a lot of people aspire to be famous and a content creator or aspire to be an entrepreneur. Look, I aspire to be the Jets' starting quarterback. It's not in the cards. And I think we've really lost our way in the last thirty, forty, fifty years around being a little bit more self-aware, a little more humble. Everybody's gonna be a trillionaire, like, everyone's gonna build the next... You know, and listen, I'm the last person that wants to suppress a goal or a dream, but I think practicality matters and, you know, I'm passionate about putting that conversation out there.

• 7:38Speaker 03

  Let me switch over to, we've had several conversations about AI. You completely revolutionized even what we're doing in our office right now and companies are doing right now off of your AI conversation. Go a step further. What do you think about like the agents that are being built? Super practical? Should people start building out their own agents and sub-teams or no?

• 7:59Speaker 02

  I mean, first and foremost, how many people here by show of hands are familiar with what OpenClaw is? So if you did not raise your hand disproportionately, the thing I ask you to spend five to ten hours of research on is OpenClaw. Understanding what an AI harness is, which is a living and breathing computer that you can build agents on top of to run your world, is an inevitable outcome for all of you. This is no different than when I was sitting on stage, a much smaller stage with about twenty people in 1996, saying, "You're all gonna have websites, the internet is coming." You know, this is no different than in 2006 when I was like, "All of you are gonna have social networks, you'll all have profiles." Everyone told me they wouldn't.

• 8:44Speaker 02

  Who cares if I'm walking the dog or eating a sandwich? I knew that everyone cares. You know, everyone here is going to live in an agentic AI agent world. And no matter what everyone thinks about it, if they're scared of it, because, hey, listen, life is so basic. Humans are scared of anything they don't understand or don't know. It's why we have issues with each other around our culture and our races and our religions. And it's why people suck at business. You know, like you say no. Many of you have opinions about AI right now that are only grounded in your fear that it might take money out of your pocket. It's not your actual opinion. You've actually done no homework. In fact, your entire opinion is based on fear.

• 9:29Speaker 02

  And that is just a really fucking bad business strategy. Putting your head in the sand because you don't understand it or you don't want to put in the work? Isn't it?

• 9:39Speaker 00

  This episode is brought to you by Indeed. You're ready to level up your business, but the pressure to find the right person to make that happen is intense. Indeed sponsored jobs can help carry the load. It boosts your job post to help it reach quality talent fast. Cut through the chaos with Indeed sponsored jobs. Get a $75 sponsored job credit at indeed.com/podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring now? Then this is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs.

• 10:09Speaker 04

  Low energy, unfocused, foggy? You might be dehydrated. Gatorade Zero powders have been scientifically designed to help improve hydration balance in the body. With a clinically proven electrolyte blend and no artificial colors or flavors. Great tasting hydration, no matter where you're going. Shop now online or at retailers nationwide. Gatorade: Hydrates Better Than Water. Is it in you? Symptoms noted are signs of mild to moderate dehydration. Consult a healthcare professional if symptoms persist.

• 10:40Speaker 02

  So, so what do I think? I think we're in an unprecedented time in technology. That this is as big as when electricity was invented. This AI thing is not fucking around. And I promise you it's not going away because you wish it would.

• 10:58Speaker 02

  And so you have one choice, which has always been the choice of the human man and woman, which is you either get on or you get off. And if you're coming to this event, like, we're not at a rodeo. This isn't, this isn't a movie premiere. Like, you're here because you are thinking about growing in business and marketing and life, and so if you came to this fucking thing and you're saying no to AI, it's almost like you're act, it doesn't make sense to me. And so, like, I get it. Listen, if you think I'm pumped about it, you do not know me well. I'm always adaptable and I'm always gonna be who I am because I have no choice.

• 11:42Speaker 02

  Like, if, you know, like, I'd be super fine if I was 82 and did my thing and be like, "Oh, I'm glad I don't have to deal with that shit." But that's not where I am. Like, I'm in a place where everything that I've built for the last 30 years is potentially vulnerable if I don't ride this tidal wave and instead put my head in the sand and let this tidal wave kill me. And so, like, if you signed up for entrepreneurship, if you signed up for business, you can't cry about this because this is the game. And so, I could not be more bullish on its impact on society. I could not be more excited for a lot of people here because they don't realize this little four-minute rant that I just gave was the push that's gonna start you on the

• 12:26Speaker 02

  30 to 50 hours of homework you're gonna do, which is gonna lead to you having a breakthrough that's gonna work for you because for all the people that are gonna lose their job because of AI, which is absolutely true, there will be equally people who have a much better financial and happier career because of it as well. And that is something that is not being talked about. And, and I, and again, I wanna, I don't wanna be delusional optimistic, like, this is a big deal. Like, the biggest companies have big advantages, the super scalers. There's a lot no one knows about where this is going. I'm not, like, but every big invention has pros and cons.

• 13:07Speaker 02

  You know, and so you might shit on AI because it fucked you up on your money, but when AI medicine saves your child's life, you might have a different point of view on it. So like this is a big technology, it's a big deal. I can't promise you as much as I try to figure this shit out, what exactly is gonna happen. The only promise I can make you is if you're like, "No, this is bad, this is fucked up", that's a bad strategy. You will get caught. So I'm very bullish on these harness technologies, OpenClaw being one of them, many of them. And people here are gonna learn how to build apps. And like the same way you learned how to make content for your social media account is the same way you're gonna learn how to do this.

• 13:51Speaker 02

  The problem is, most people don't want to admit, they hate doing the hard work. We'd rather take steroids, we'd rather get plastic surgery, we'd rather take the pills than put the fucking hard work in.

• 14:15Speaker 03

  At your companies, you gotta obviously, I think you got a couple thousand employees throughout all your companies. And a lot of times people don't know, sometimes I think people think you're just a social media guy that makes content because you make so much fucking much of it. But you have a massive, multiple, multiple companies. But here's my question. What we've noticed in our companies right now is you have people that are terrified, like I'm talking about our staff employees. You have people that are terrified of AI.

• 14:42Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 14:42Speaker 03

  Then you have this other group of people that are like hyper leaning into it.

• 14:46Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 14:46Speaker 03

  And I think it goes back to a statement you just said a while ago. It's like those that are running away from it, you can see the end coming in sight for them. Those leaning into it are getting pay raises, extra money. You don't, I have to keep them, cut them in on deals because they're doing the work of five, six people almost.

• 15:02Speaker 02

  This is what happened with the typewriter? This is what happened with the computer? This is what happened with the internet? My friends, history repeats itself forever. Like, yes, what would you like me to say about that?

• 15:16Speaker 03

  Are you saying the same thing in yours?

• 15:17Speaker 02

  Of course!

• 15:18Speaker 03

  Do you see the people that are not leaning into it on their way out? In a general sense? Like, is it a dead-end road?

• 15:25Speaker 02

  Yeah, I mean, I prefer that we grow so much that even my B and C players have a job, but I'm not God. Like, if we get beat up and lose revenue, like, I either fire people that are not living in real life, or everyone's gonna get fired when we go out of business. What the fuck do you want from me?

• 15:46Speaker 02

  I mean, that's the part that people don't get about what's tough about running a business. You know, people love to talk about, like, companies are bad. Like, companies are like sports. Like, if I was a teacher in a public school, I could suck shit and I'm good, I'm part of the union, fuck you!

• 16:09Speaker 02

  Right? Like, if I, like, you know, like, if I was a professor at academia, like, if I have a good day or a bad day, like, this is the closest thing to sports. I do, on the record, the number-one thing that I hate about running a business, and it's not even close, is firing a human being. You know, you don't know me like that, but I'm telling you, the people that know me is like, I like people over everything, the money, the, like, and so it sucks, especially if you know them and you know what's going on. The problem is, if you create entitlement and nepotism at scale within a company, the company goes out of business. This is not a government fucking official. This is not a teacher.

• 16:54Speaker 02

  This is not even parenting, where you can debate with your kids if you sucked at it or not. This is fucking merit. The money doesn't come in. You can't pay it. That's why companies close all the time. And even if you're the best and you're trying to keep afloat, you realize at some point, for me it was my early 40s. And I've been running companies since my teenage years. Then I'm like, fuck. When I'm keeping people around that suck, I'm taking that out of the people that are working hard and are good. And then that's one thing that you have to deal with as a boss when you go to sleep of like, are you actually like hurting your best people to carry your worst people? But luckily, I've never been to the step after that, which is like,

• 17:38Speaker 02

  you go out of business. And then everyone loses their job. So, people can talk about business all they want. It's the closest thing to sports. It's real life. Not like 99% of the bullshit that's going on in the world.

• 17:54Speaker 03

  Yes, it's a... Give a hand.

• 17:58Speaker 02

  And so, that was, that was a... I wanted to give that context as, because I know there's a lot of leaders in here fighting this and trying to figure it out. To answer your question directly, I'd prefer not to fire any of those people. I hope I grow enough. But if I don't, and I have financial needs and I have to make margin and things of that nature, the first people that will go are the people that are not good. We fire people all the time. Hey everybody, I hope you're enjoying the podcast right now. Make sure you follow the podcast, that's why I'm interrupting. Let's keep going on this show, but follow the podcast. It'll make my mom super happy. We don't, like you, like, here's something I learned that I didn't realize. I used to never fire anyone. Because I thought it was coming out of my pocket. But the problem with not firing people that suck

• 18:43Speaker 02

  is that the good players on your team know it. And it eventually becomes a real problem. And they get mad at you. So imagine the people that are most doing it are upset with you because you're coming from a charitable place. It's challenging. I have an incredible amount of empathy for the people here that run their own businesses. It's fucking hard, which is why 90 fucking plus percent of them go out of business. I think people forget about that too. We're in this golden era of entrepreneurship and business and it's cool. Almost everyone goes out of business. How many people here have had a business? They are, it's their business. They've been running for over 10 years. Raise your hands. We need to clap it up for these fuckers.

• 19:29Speaker 02

  It's hard.

• 19:32Speaker 02

  And you know why it's hard? And everyone got confused, cuz everyone's acting like one on fucking Instagram.

• 19:40Speaker 02

  It's hard.

• 19:42Speaker 03

  What do you, uh, off of the AI piece for a second here? Uh, you know, right now for you, Gary, like, obviously, you don't, you don't, you're at a point where you don't have to, uh, do all this shit.

• 19:52Speaker 02

  Of course I do.

• 19:53Speaker 03

  What's Gary's thing?

• 19:54Speaker 02

  I don't, you, you're saying that I have the financial means that, you know, you wouldn't have to, but I remind you like...

• 20:02Speaker 03

  What are you playing for?

• 20:04Speaker 02

  The same thing I've always played for, the game.

• 20:06Speaker 03

  Just the game?

• 20:06Speaker 02

  Of course, like, like, by the way, I didn't, I didn't need to work anymore after I was 25. Like, if you live within your means, you don't need to work for shit. I have unlimited friends who make 5 million dollars a year, who have to work forever cuz they spend 6 million a year.

• 20:23Speaker 02

  And then, cuz I grew up from the dirt and grew up in a certain way, I have tons of friends who make 53,000 a year and don't need to work cuz they live the 29,000 dollar a year lifestyle. And now they're getting, you know, money from the government, they're chilling, they fish in fucking Florida and fucking smoke a little weed in Jamaica and they're good.

• 20:42Speaker 02

  Like, need, need is not based on how much you make. Need is based on how much you waste.

• 20:53Speaker 03

  Clip it.

• 20:56Speaker 02

  Because people get themselves... Oh shit!

• 21:04Speaker 02

  On that bar that I dropped, here's the punchline of that.

• 21:09Speaker 02

  Too many people buy things to impress people they don't even like.

• 21:16Speaker 02

  It's so big, y'all, please, please pay attention to why you buy things. I ask everyone, do you buy things for yourself? Or do you buy things for the validation of others? And I think too many people have gotten caught up to Keeping Up with the Joneses, they blame social media, but the OGs in here know, people have had envy and jealousy and insecurity long before TikTok came along. And, you know, we gotta get back to simplicity. You know, be a good person, love your family, be kind to strangers, keep it simple out here.

• 21:54Speaker 02

  So for me, for me, back to the other thing I worry about. When I was growing up, y'all, like, being an entrepreneur or business person was looked down on. It was all good grades. Anybody over 45 in here knows, like, grades, grades, grades. What college did you go to? Right? Like, when I was like, "I'm gonna be a business person," I got ridiculed for that. Like, my teachers told me I was never gonna amount to anything, cuz I literally told them I was gonna be a businessman. It was that far. It's hard for the kids to understand, cuz it's been so popularized, everything's so different now. But just 30 short years ago, 35 short years ago, I was literally told that I would never amass to anything, because I described, cuz I didn't know the word entrepreneur, it wasn't in culture, I described that I wanted to do business.

• 22:40Speaker 02

  Like, it was that foreign. The only concept of business was go to business school to work in a corporation. So, you know, some of you, oh geez, I see the body language, you guys know, so, you know, I was doing it back then, because, you ever, the only analogy I have for this, Andrew, is, do you ever know in the summertime, when you're hanging out, hopefully in the back patio with someone you love, and you got those, like, lights that zap the bugs? I don't know why this has always fascinated me, cuz I just watched these fucking lightning bugs and bugs just go right to the light and get fucking killed, and I feel like they know, but they can't help themselves.

• 23:21Speaker 02

  That is literally how I described myself as an entrepreneur. That's a really good one. I just, literally, it was, even when you said it, you were like, "You don't have to." I'm like, "I have to." If I sold everything, all my companies right now, and got the craziest numbers, and everyone's like, "Oh, my God, Gary, you did it," literally the next day, I would be in, if I was forced to not build another business the next day, it's over. You know, you all know this. Some of you had grandparents like this. There's a reason some people retire and die within the first six months. Like, they thought they had to go to Florida, or Arizona, when they're eighty-nine, and wrap it up.

• 24:04Speaker 02

  But they're out, literally dead, within the first year, because they love doing the way other people like leisure. The only people that want to retire fast and swim and golf and have leisure are the ones who hate their fucking job.

• 24:26Speaker 02

  Now, now, I believe in balance. You can balance all that stuff. I'm talking about the ones who can't wait. Like, they cannot wait to be sixty-five, or seventy, or fifty-five, or whatever their circumstance is. Like, I desperately want to die at my desk.

• 24:44Speaker 02

  When I'm ninety-nine, not like tomorrow, you know? But like, I don't even, like, I like building a company, or running a meeting, or having an HR meeting about an issue, more than I like sailing, or golfing, or mountain climbing. Like, I don't know what to tell you. Like, I'm sorry, that's what I like more. So I have to.

• 25:09Speaker 03

  It's a really good analogy. All right, let me ask you a question. I want to get super practical, because you give really good, like, hands-on, practical advice. You got a bunch of entrepreneurs in the crowd. I want to break them down into three categories. And I'm asking you, what would you tell this person? Number one, for the person that's just started, or trying to start, what's the thing they should do? Second one would be...

• 25:29Speaker 02

  Let's do that one first.

• 25:32Speaker 02

  The most practical thing going on in business right now is social media content creation. I just, obviously I've been saying this for 20 years, I get it, I'm sorry it's not new and sexy. I do not understand how people don't understand what's going on. You know how people are like, "Oh, the platforms fuck me, I got shadow banned, all this." Friends, they're free.

• 25:56Speaker 00

  This episode is brought to you by Indeed. You're ready to level up your business, but the pressure to find the right person to make that happen is intense. Indeed sponsored jobs can help carry the load. It boosts your job post to help it reach quality talent fast. Cut through the chaos with Indeed sponsored jobs. Get a $75 sponsored job credit at indeed.com/podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring now? Then this is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs.

• 26:26Speaker 04

  Low energy, unfocused, foggy? You might be dehydrated. Gatorade Zero powders have been scientifically designed to help improve hydration balance in the body. With a clinically proven electrolyte blend and no artificial colors or flavors. Great tasting hydration, no matter where you're going. Shop now online or at retailers nationwide. Gatorade: Hydrates Better Than Water. Is it in you? Symptoms noted are signs of mild to moderate dehydration. Consult a healthcare professional if symptoms persist.

• 27:00Speaker 02

  Guys, posting on Instagram is free. Posting on TikTok is free. It might cost you some money to make the content, fine, but posting on it. I think we've so lost our way because these platforms have been around for so long, we take it for granted. There's some OGs in the crowd, like, remember advertising before social media? You had to pay to get in front of people. A commercial costs a lot of money. A full page ad in the newspaper costs a lot of money. A billboard costs a lot of money. It's free. It still does. In fact, they're wildly overpriced now because they charge you for a world that doesn't exist anymore. It's expensive.

• 27:44Speaker 02

  These platforms are free. And now, in the last three years, we're not even in social media anymore. We're in interest media, where you don't even need fucking followers. And if your video's good enough, you can get a million views. So if you're just starting out, even if you don't want to be in front of the camera, which is always a positive, but not for everyone, and not a requirement. Even if you don't want to be in front of the camera, your business needs to be posting on social, and I'm talking 8, 12, 19 pieces of content a day across 8, 9 different platforms. TikTok, and YouTube Shorts, and Threads,

• 28:28Speaker 02

  and Twitter, and YouTube Shorts, and Facebook, classic.

• 28:35Speaker 02

  Because it's free. And you'll say, "But Gary, what about... like, that sounds like a lot of time." And I would say, "You're right, but you're just starting out. Your time's not that fucking valuable."

• 28:53Speaker 02

  Like, people are always like, "But Gary, time." I'm like, "What the fuck else are you doing?"

• 28:59Speaker 02

  Like, you ever see these... people take lunch?

• 29:03Speaker 03

  Yeah, it's a weird concept.

• 29:08Speaker 02

  And I mean it when I say that. Like, you're trying... Like, people are like, "Gary, I'm gonna build an empire. I'm building a huge business." And what the fuck are you doing a 2-hour lunch for?

• 29:17Speaker 02

  And you're posting once a week? Well, what do I post? I don't know, dick, it's your company.

• 29:29Speaker 03

  Let's go to entrepreneur, been in business for a couple of years, trying to scale.

• 29:33Speaker 02

  Content.

• 29:34Speaker 03

  Okay, so rinse and repeat.

• 29:37Speaker 02

  Listen, it's very basic. Whether you're fucking Coca-Cola, or you're Rick trying to sell a fucking house down the street, and everything in between. It's very simple. Social media content is the biggest gold rush of opportunity for people and businesses. It's been. You now, unlike 15 years ago when I was yelling and you saw him and you're like, "Whatever." Now we have unlimited examples of people that have been huge companies. I'm writing a new book called "Your Individual Empire." My thesis is the next billion-dollar organizations are based on a human. Mr. Beast, Alex Earl, Alex Cooper, me, Bartlet, Alex Hormozi. Like, humans are building fucking corporations. Like, this is humongous. That's one.

• 30:22Speaker 02

  Two, full AI infrastructure. Full. Like, you cannot look the other way on AI. You must learn all of it. Claude, Claude Code, you know, Open Claw, Gemini, all of it. Perplexity, like, OpenAI, like, on and on and on. Like, these are the currencies and the infrastructures, and they're inexpensive. Social's fucking free, except your bullshit time. AI has some costs, but for a mid-tier company, you know, you've got to... Like, the biggest issue for a lot of people is they don't reinvest in their business. They have a business, so the business gives them money to buy dumb shit. Instead of putting the money back in the business and actually building a...

• 31:07Speaker 02

  So many people cap out, Andrew, because they don't fund the business. They fund their side needs. They need a fucking sailboat.

• 31:19Speaker 03

  Fuck your sailboat. Last one. Talk about someone getting ready to exit. What should that person get ready to do?

• 31:31Speaker 02

  I mean, if they're like me, get ready to be depressed. Now, I think someone who's looking to exit should have clear understanding of what sheer he wants to do next. For a lot of people to start a whole new business that's been sitting in their head for a while, some people need rest. You know, some people do take the energy that I'm bringing to this stage and go super hard. You know, if you're lucky enough to have an exit, you know, children's age is a really interesting variable. If you're lucky enough to exit in a significant way and you've got teenage kids, you know, you worked so hard during their youth, you might look at them and they're 15 and 12, and you're like, "Fuck." In six years, they're both out of the house, maybe you take a full year or two off. Listen, the things that I just pontificated about, they're not right.

• 32:16Speaker 02

  They're just contextual to things I see. None of the things I talk about, I don't consider anything I put out advice. Because advice requires too much context.

• 32:28Speaker 02

  Everyone here has different situations. I talk about observations of things that I see at scale or opportunities, but how someone lives or works is incredibly based on them. It's like parenting. Some of you know, I love talking about parenting, because I think it's so important and it's such a variable of where we are in the world right now. But I would never tell you how to parent. Right? Because there's too many individual circumstances. So I think when someone's exiting, I can't tell you exactly what to do. I can talk about the things that are common. Some people need to get right back into a business, because they're a little bit more like me, it's their oxygen. Other people have a certain circumstance. They may have a... How could I possibly pontificate of what to do with an exit up here? When somebody might be exiting at a time that,

• 33:12Speaker 02

  God forbid, their mother just got ill. Like, what they should do is spend every minute with their mother. Right? Other people, this, that. So, life is a self-awareness game. There is no true path, there are themes. But I think the great requirement I would ask of all of you is life gets a lot better when you stop lying to yourself.

• 33:34Speaker 02

  There are so many things I wish I was. I'm a human being, I'm not a robot, you know? I wish I was a little bit taller. You know, like, there's things that... There's things that I wish I was. There's things that I wish I did different. But I will tell you the thing that my mother parented me so well in, and the thing that has been very clear that has worked for me and I see in others, because it's not a focus group of one, is when you live in reality, instead of your own delusion, which is often grounded in your own insecurity of what you're trying to paint to others.

• 34:08Speaker 02

  When you live in reality, life gets a lot better. And so, a lot more self-awareness, the biggest one. A lot more accountability. If you came to this conference, again, if you came here for this talk, if you're here, you've got to really mitigate blame.

• 34:29Speaker 02

  Like, if you're trying to win, the first tell on someone who's able to actually win in the game of business and life is what's their balance of pointing fingers versus thumbs? I spend my life pointing thumbs. I genuinely believe, not on some bullshit, that everything in my life that's not going well is 100% my fault, and that makes me happy. What I've noticed is that everyone is now pointing fingers at a level that you've not seen in a very long time. We've become unbelievably entitled. We've become addicted with blaming government, government officials, our parents, our bosses, corporations.

• 35:14Speaker 02

  We've been really sucked into, "What an amazing job these piece of shit politicians have done." "What an amazing job on the left and the right in this country." "These politicians have done a masterful job of scaring you so much and getting you to blame everyone but yourself." Yeah, wow, I was right. I really genuinely commend them on their marketing because they fucking tricked the fuck out of you guys.

• 35:47Speaker 02

  Less claps for that one.

• 35:51Speaker 02

  My friends, the second, the second you realize you're in control, life gets really good. And it goes very deep, Andrew. I know I'm over, but I'm gonna keep going. It goes very deep because I'm in one right now. Let me tell you how deep it goes. Like, you know, I'm at a point in my career that's very special. Like, I get tens of thousands of DMs a day. A day. And it comes from all sorts of angles. First of all, I want to clap it up to the ladies because in a DM, they will shit on their husbands like a fucking gangster.

• 36:32Speaker 02

  And I tell them once in a while, when I'm in a mood to catch up and DM people, I'm like, "Drop his ass."

• 36:41Speaker 02

  We've gotten to the place where we blame everybody but ourselves. You are in control. Your husband's a fucking loser for 20 years? Get the fuck out. Your boss is a dickface for 13 years? Quit.

• 36:56Speaker 02

  You don't like your fucking town? Move.

• 37:07Speaker 02

  It's really funny when you play this game in real life. Like, everybody will come up with shit. "Gary, I don't want to." "Like, I can't divorce." "Like, I'll lose half my money." "I've been the one working." "My husband's sitting at home doing shit." "He's gonna have the money." Is money important? Or is your fucking sanity and happiness for the rest of your life important?

• 37:28Speaker 02

  Right?

• 37:31Speaker 02

  Gary, you don't get it. AI's taking all these jobs. Like, what if I don't get a job? What if you don't get a job? What I know right now is you're fucking miserable and you hate your fucking job. And every Sunday night, you have fucking anxiety in your chest because you don't want to fucking go there on Monday. That I know. What I don't know is if you're gonna find something better, worse, or in-between. What I do know is you fucking hate it.

• 37:55Speaker 02

  Like, don't like the taxes in your state? Good news. This is America. Move to a state where you do like the taxes. I just don't understand all this wah-wah-wah fucking cries. You're fucking grown.

• 38:11Speaker 02

  You are fucking grown.

• 38:21Speaker 02

  And what's happening in this room right now is, I'm telling you, you need to get out of this politics shit. They've got you so fucking wound up, you're blaming everybody but yourself. And then they tell you that they're gonna fucking take care of you.

• 38:40Speaker 02

  These people who've never fucking had a job or built anything in their life are gonna help you?

• 38:46Speaker 02

  I'm telling you, we have it twisted, y'all. And good news! It's gonna work itself out. Like, if you didn't hear a word I said, if I nev- like, if you never hear it from anyone else, this is the history of time. This is exactly what America felt like in the 60s. And then we get tired and realize it's all bullshit. My friends, you can stand on your own two feet. You are capable.

• 39:10Speaker 02

  Like, you- no one's taking your job.

• 39:15Speaker 02

  If you don't have a job, it's because you suck.

• 39:31Speaker 02

  Or, like, I had this argument with a friend, like, a friend!

• 39:36Speaker 02

  And he was like, "No, no, no, da-da-da." And I was like, "Oh, you mean you don't have humility and you're not willing to take a job that you've deemed below you even though you don't have a job?"

• 39:51Speaker 02

  We are in so many years of prosperity in America.

• 39:58Speaker 02

  That was a good one.

• 40:01Speaker 02

  My friends, listen to me. We've had so many years of macro. Individually, there's been so many adversities and issues and sexism and racism and bad luck and some- someone's lost their dad at five years old. Like, plenty of people have things. In the macro, we have had a half a century of so much prosperity that we have become soft. And we need to acknowledge that. And now, my question is, do you know if you are soft?

• 40:29Speaker 02

  And if you are, good news. You can fix that tomorrow. The coolest part about life is yesterday doesn't matter.

• 40:37Speaker 02

  It is the coolest. It really is. It really is. It really, really, it blows my mind. It really is. It does not matter. It does not matter. It's just sports. You could lose 39 games in a row and tomorrow you could win your game. And like, to me, that's intoxicating. To me, that's amazing. But it also should be humbling, because that breaks down in what I would like to finish with. If you're crushing it right now, and everything is awesome, unfortunately, life is so fragile and not guaranteed, everything can change tomorrow. It could. And so, please, real talk, don't bullshit me. How many people are feeling really good right now? Like, raise your hands, you're feeling good.

• 41:22Speaker 02

  For all of you, which makes me so happy, please lean into gratitude. Like, real talk, every fucking night and morning, I'm like, "Thank you." Because it could go, like, right? Now, on the flip. Who's kind of like bummed and like, it's kind of fucking sucks a little bit right now? Raise your hands, be humble and be honest.

• 41:47Speaker 02

  The best part is, like, one, one decision tomorrow can make it unsuck. It's really wild. It really is fucking wild. Go ahead.

• 42:00Speaker 00

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• 42:30Speaker 04

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• 43:07Speaker 02

  For me, I think about this every day. I hope this brings you value. I don't know if you know this, but you were not born for a very long time. The world's been around for a minute. Yeah. There was like dinosaurs and shit. And I don't know this, like, when you die, you're dead. That was profound, right? So let me get this straight. In this little fucking window you got right now, you're gonna cry about some dumb shit? I just don't see it. I don't want it for you. Life is so fucking good.

• 43:47Speaker 02

  99.999% of people are wonderful, or at least neutral. And we've become obsessed with paying attention to the .0001% that are garbage. We need a reset. People need a perspective shift. Because here's why I ended with all this. Knowing how to make social media content? You can go look at all my content. I'll tell you exactly what to do. It's free. Knowing how to use AI? You literally go to AI and say, "How do I use AI?", and it tells you. My friends, the information is worthless.

• 44:31Speaker 02

  The perspective and your inner dialogue, and are you able to give yourself grace? And are you patient? And do you live for you, not for some bullshit other people? That's the whole, entire fucking game. You are not building shit. No fucking company if your foundation is weak and you're insecure. And so you need to realize this. You need to get there mentally. You need to understand other people's opinions mean nothing. You're an athlete. You're an athlete. This has been my analogy. It's just weird. I don't usually use sports. I'm pretty excited right now. You're an athlete. Could you imagine if athletes played their game

• 45:12Speaker 02

  based on how the crowd was cheering and booing along the game? That's how all of you are living your lives now. I'm in the arena. I'm in the cage. Why would I possibly care about how you think I'm fighting? I'm fighting. And that is what you're all doing. Who gives a fuck what your mom thinks about what career you're doing?

• 45:41Speaker 02

  Tell her to shut the fuck up and live her own life.

• 45:49Speaker 02

  I mean it. Nicely, of course. Nicely.

• 45:58Speaker 02

  Other people have their lives to live. Their opinions on how you're living yours are worth zero. Take wisdom, take things, people come, you know, a lot of times, in fact, a lot of parents suppress people, their kids, from a good place. They're scared. They don't want them to get hurt. But they get hurt anyway if they don't live their lives. But you cannot control any of that. You can only control one thing. Your life. How you roll. How much work you put in. How patient you are. How graceful you are to yourself, which then allows you to be graceful to others. You're not doing shit unless you're good. Good is achievable. Therapy, exercise, who you hang out with, how you eat.

• 46:41Speaker 02

  There's a hundred different things that will work for all of you. Everyone's different. I work out every day. Everyone's like, "Gary, you get that fucking exercise high?" Absolutely not. I fucking hate it. I fucking hate it.

• 46:54Speaker 02

  Bro, I fucking hate it. No runner's high, no fucking, I do, I broke my fucking weights record. Like, I was like, "Yeah," I was like, "Fuck you, I'm going upstairs."

• 47:06Speaker 02

  But what does work for me is spending time with positive people. Not consuming dumb shit that I know is intended to scare me so they can control me. My friends, they've got you controlled right now, you know that, right? Both sides, they're the same fuckers. They're interchangeable. They're the same fuckers. They're interchangeable, they're the same fuckers. They're just scaring you with a different medicine.

• 47:36Speaker 02

  Tune those fuckers out, live your life, give love. I love you. See ya.

• 47:42Speaker 02

  Everybody, if you enjoyed this podcast, please go back and look at the prior episodes. They're loaded. I appreciate your attention and thanks for being part of the What if you could run your Oracle databases in the cloud you already use? Good news, you can. Oracle AI Database runs in every major cloud, including AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and OCI. Migrate your Oracle databases to the cloud of your choice today, simply, securely, and on your terms. Find out how at oracle.com/migrate. That's oracle.com/migrate. Oracle.com/migrate. Journey. See you later.