The 5 Quotes Gary Vaynerchuk Lives By

Gary Vaynerchuk is a quotable man (“I’ve been really lucky because I bleed out of my eyes every day and work my fucking face off” is a big favourite here in Web Summit HQ). You’d be hard pushed to find someone in tech who hasn’t been hit with a Gary Vee quote at some stage.

Gary is joining us in Web Summit in Lisbon in November, where he’ll be hitting Centre Stage. Ahead of his talk, we figured we’d ask him what are the top five quotes that have made the biggest impact on him.

1. “Word is bond”

When I was 14 I was full of crap. I would sell you anything. Once my dad picked up on that he taught me this important lesson and it’s changed the outcome of my life.

2. “You are what your record says you are”

This plays off the notion of making excuses and having unlucky bounces in a football game. But the same idea applies to business and being an entrepreneur. No matter how you plan, or how good your intentions may be, at the end of the day, the numbers don’t lie.

3. “Man plans, God laughs” (Yiddish proverb)

Don’t get caught trying to predict. Just do. The market is always changing and in order to be successful you must be able to adapt.

4. “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth”

Similar to the Yiddish Proverb above, as a businessperson, you must be able to take the losses and move on. The market is the market is the market. You must move and adjust and adapt. You might get knocked down and that’s okay. You just need to get back up.

5. “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm”

I liken business and entrepreneurship to UFC. There’s no such thing as being undefeated. Everybody loses but as long as your macro-wins outshine the micro-losses, you’ll be in a good place. You just need to keep fighting.