Gary Vaynerchuk

Bio:

Two-time New York Times best-selling author. Director of Operations at Wine Library, host of Wine Library TV and DailyGrape.com. Co-founder of VaynerMedia. Gary wears many hats.

• Title: Co-Founder of VaynerMedia
• Age: 35
• Location: Gramercy
• Contact: @garyvee

What do you consider your best business decision ever?

To work with my dad.

Steve Jobs is the face of Apple and the stock market freaks out every time a health-related question arises.  You are the face for Wine Library and Vayner Media; do you see or have you experienced any difficulties in building up companies that are so closely tied to any one person?

No, I think you have to take the good with the bad. Steve Jobs or Oprah or anyone else that are tied so heavily to their brand -- it comes with the territory. The victories are bigger, the defeats are also more difficult. I even struggle with it, but it takes a certain DNA to be able to put yourself out there that way.

In The Thank You Economy you talk about how important it is to give personal, one-on-one attention to each of your customers. Many young, entrepreneurial people in the tech community have the opposite problem, where they understand the importance “of giving a fuck” and are active, positive participants in social media, but don’t know promote their business or make any money off it.  What is your advice for someone who cares deeply about everyone who engages them on the Internet, but doesn’t know how to monetize their business and turn it into a successful venture?

The advice is to find a partner that knows how to make money. I'm not kidding. If you don't have the DNA to turn 15 cents into a dollar, you need to go find somebody that does.