Gary Vaynerchuk: Turning VeeFriends Into The Next Disney

Gary Vaynerchuk has gone from an early video creator talking about wines to a live speaker, social media business mogul, investor, and founder of VeeFriends. He has big dreams for his projects and sees long-term growth in the value of his NFTs.

Who Is Gary Vaynerchuk?

Gary’s entry into NFTs: Software developer Aaron Batalion told Gary about Ethereum in 2016. Gary has sold more than $30 Million worth of VeeFriends NFTs since it launched.
His investment plan: If he can, Gary would like to hold onto his previous crypto investments. There are tax requirements he needs to meet, and he also wants to organize three conferences. He plans to expand his company and build intellectual property. Gary also recently bought more Ethereum after the market dipped.
Gary’s ambitions: He says his ambitions for VeeFriends are substantial. Gary is excellent at branding and has built his own global company Vayner Media. He now employs between 1400 to 1500 people and has a quarter of a million in revenue. He believes people are attracted to his energy as a person. Clearly, he has shown his ability to build a company and his brand. His vision is to turn VeeFriends into a Hello Kitty or Pokémon type of brand.

Quotes

Timestamp: 5:09 - “Do I think that I can make Vee-Friends into a Hello Kitty or Pokémon or Harry Potter? I do.”

Timestamp: 12:41 – “I’m a big believer that 98% of the NFTs that are available on Opensea right now will not be more in five years than they are today.”

Timestamp: 20:30 - “I can spend the next 40 years of my life evolving those doodles with the single ambition to build something as big as Disney. And, if I end up building the Smurfs instead of Disney, well then it’s going to be a good decision.”

Building An Empire

Advocating for NFTs: The investor is passionate about education. There are certain people you just know will be successful. They have tenacity, curiosity, and effort. He really enjoys teaching. With his crypto project, he saw several ways to make it easier for people to buy NFTs. He wanted to teach his community and help them get comfortable with these products. The legacy of teaching his community would put them in a good position over the next few years.
First Cryptopunk: Getting into NFTs can be scary at first. For Gary, the first Cryptopunk he bought left him wondering where the item was stored. There was confusion about whether he’d done it right. He realized we are still at the early tech stage. His goal is to teach his community and allow them to feel comfortable making mistakes. For example, many people on his Discord have given away their sensitive information or sold their VeeFriends on Opensea for USD instead of crypto.
Bumps and bruises: Gary says that he’s also made mistakes with his own auction. There was a glitch, and the amount of gas was showing which stopped many people from buying. This triggered slow movement on his auction which made him lose money. Mistakes he says are okay. You will get some bumps and bruises when you’re navigating innovation.

Putting Vee Brand Out There

Taking risks: If he was 25, Gary says he would not have put himself out there as much. He feels strongly about this project and sees how big it is. He feels confident about NFTs and digital assets. There is an entire generation of kids who invested their income into virtual assets like skins for Roblox.
Macro Investment: Gary talks about digital currency because he’s seen people invest Millions on cheap assets. To him, investing at a macro level success is conclusive. At the micro-level, there are so many things to choose from. In the next 24 months, he believes every brand will be issuing NFTs.
Supply and demand: The supply will eventually outpace the demand. It’s different to know which long-term investments are the right ones. That said, Gary believes most of the NFTs available today will not be more in five years. He also believes the 2% that are can be likened to eBay and Amazon stock in the year 2000.

Finding Hidden NFT Gems

Gary’s betting on these: The NFTs worth investing in are grossly underpriced according to Gary. He owns 52 Cryptopunks and really believes in them. He owns a couple of pieces from ntf42 and is excited about the project.
Supporting independent artists: The investor has promised himself that if his VeeFriends project goes well, he will invest in independent artists. He wants to make between one to three purchases per artist that he “subjectively” believes in. The plan is to quietly pay attention to how these artists are building their community. Are they in it for the long term?
MoonCat Cryptos: He intends to his homework on Crypto MoonCat. Gary is fascinated with 2017 and 2018 projects and is hopeful he will have some time to himself in late August. Much of his success has relied on his ability to do his homework. His career is his hobby.

Value of Gary’s NFT Art

Investing in growth: Gary gets motivation from being under-estimated in the NFT world. There are two ways of thinking. First, he’s not in the business of convincing or persuading anyone to buy. If you put the work in, things will fall into place. Second, if you consider the growth of something like Pokémon, today your investment would be worth billions.
Cultural relevancy: When Pokémon became culturally relevant, its value increased. NFT art will evolve over time and those first pieces will increase in value. The NFT is just a starting point for Gary. He plans to buy an animation studio, creating merchandising, and make available great speakers’ lists for his conferences.
VeeCon and VeeFriends: The Vee Conferences will continue to evolve. Gary wanted to create an advantage for the people who believe in him. He wanted his Discord to win first, then sell the rest of his VeeFriends outside of his community. The majority of buyers are not traders and collectors. They are people from his community.

Building Community

Developing his community: Gary’s Discord has over 140,000 people in it. For him, meeting members of the community is enjoyable. He loves people. He plans to give away 30 to 40 tokens on his Discord community.
VeeFriends wristbands: Early on, Gary created wristbands like the OG 70s basketball as part of the swag he offered when people purchased his products.
Fan question: A member of Gary’s Discord wants to know where the next conference will be. Gary says it will be in the US.
You can contact Gary Vee on his Instagram at @garyvee

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