I have been an entrepreneur for as long as anyone close to me canremember. While most eight year olds were learning how to properly squeeze a lemon, I was managing seven lemonade stands across my neighborhood in Edison NJ. When I turned twelve, I set my sights on my local mall, where I became something of a legend selling baseball cards on weekends. In high school I joined the family business, a liquor store calledShoppers Discount Liquors that my dad started. It wasn’t long before I became obsessed with collecting wine.
In 1997, I began to recognize the importance of e-commerce; shortly thereafter, WineLibrary.com was born. I used the site to grow the store from a $3 million business to a $45 million business, and it was just the beginning. Armed with a Flipcam and a NY Jets bucket, I started Wine Library TV in 2006 to share my knowledge and passion for wine with a community that desperately needed a fresh voice. It wasn’t long before 100,000 people were watching my videos every day (shout-out to my Vayniacs – love you guys).
In the spring of 2009, my brother AJ and I launched VaynerMedia, a new breed of agency that would help Fortune 500 companies like GE, PepsiCo,Green Mountain Coffee, the NY Jets, and the Brooklyn Nets find their social voices and build their digital brands through micro content and other story telling actions. The idea took hold – what started as a 6-person project 4 years ago has swelled to a 250-strong team spread across the country.
When I’m not spending time with my family, who mean everything in the world to me, I speak and share my experiences in business with people around the world, angel invest in start ups like Tumblr , Path, Grand St andUber, and randomly pop up on TV . I have also found a passion forstorytelling, and I can’t wait to begin promoting my next book, Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook. I’m so excited you have taken a few minutes out of your day to drop by. Don’t forget to say hey.
PS: I love to hustle!
