“VeeCon 2022 Is Inspired By Favorite Events I’ve Seen Throughout My Life, Including Business Conferences, Music Festivals, Closed-Door Offsite Events, And Not Least Of All, Summer Camp Activities. This Is The Career-Defining Conference Of My Life, And I Will Deliver. I Hope To See You There.”
– Gary Vaynerchuk
Sometimes you’re lucky enough to experience something and realize in that moment that you’re apart of something transformational and things will never be the same. VeeCon in its entirety was one of those moments, but during the event I was lucky enough to sit down with Gary and ask his questions about the event, veefriends, and NFTs in general.
VeeCon has been a long time coming. You can see the full timeline to VeeCon here.
Not just for VeeFriends, the event for all intents and purposes was the penultimate experience for anyone interested in NFTs or web3. No other event has brought together so many individuals from so many backgrounds in an environment of positivity, trust, and innovation.
“Technology is complicated,
humans are simple.”
Before the event formally began, Gary invited press to a kick off luncheon. At the luncheon he was peppered with questions by crypto skeptics and natives alike. The most common question around NFTs was asked about describing this new asset class to skeptics that don’t get it yet. He replied discussing history and the popular FUD that circulated the internet in its infancy. He went on to discuss that NFT adoption is going to take time and during this period friction (even with technology comfortable people) is going to increase before it goes mainstream.
He also discussed how the blockchain coming after the internet and social media was a force multiplier for the creation of NFTs. Social media created the thirst for digital ownership, the blue check and the verified accounts. He discussed how many people on social media would have never been famous in Hollywood without the blue checks and the social proof. Gary is famous for inserting catchy, easy to understand one-liners, he ended the press release with a few important topics to consider.
- This is going to be a profound century for creative people.
- The world is not “or” its “and”
- EQ has flipped IQ in terms of importance
Here are the highlights, but I encourage you to listen to the podcast here.
Gary Vaynerchuk x NFT Culture Interview
What excites you the most about Veecon?
I just want to execute, I’m a loud guy, but an operator. what excites me the most about this is executing on hyperbole…
As I’ve been walking around hearing all the conversations and ideas that are turning into a reality as the builders in the space make new friends, I am inspired. Have you thought about the first order / second / third order impact of what is going to come from VeeCon?
Absolutely. Look im going to win. I want everyone to win with me. I can operate really well, which ill allow people to do well on their investments. The other part is giving them perspective that they can do it themselves. This is a big part of my chess game…
Before I care about other projects I care about the 7k people here. I want someone to genuinely start a side project that becomes their career.
Veefriends is doing a lot to onboard collectors. Technology is hard, humans are easy. how do we get there?
All we need is time. Every time I get loud, the cat is already out of the bag. I dont get loud because I might be wrong. Look at what has happened in the last 15 months. It just takes time.
Everyone says we’re in a bear Market but when you look at the year over year perspective we’re in a dramatically different position.
I dont convince. I just have conviction. If someone doesnt look at the math, there’s nothing we can do. I’m in the business of executing with conviction and letting the chips fall where they may.
This week you’ve talked a lot about Accountability and that is one of if not the most important word.
All of us that believe in accountability need to do a better job about talking about it. I am going to make everyone fall in love with accountable ant which will put the word in their head and they’ll think about it. which will make them more accountable.
Gary spent a lot of time talking about accountability. In addition to the worlds hes building (think theme parks, movies, tv shows, merch, and more) he discussed an idea around a series of children’s books based on the VeeFriends he’s created. He said the first of these books will likely feature Accountable Ant. He wants to inspire parents and children to put accountability on a pedestal. He said, “Accountability has decayed and the second you give up accountability, you lose control. If I can make accountable ant popular, the top around accountability will become more popular.”
For me, VeeCon was an event that I got to see old friends like Pio, hug the people we are building with like TO, Tommy (KoM), and the Fan3 team, and meet so many people I’ve admired from afar like Micah Johnson, Trevor Jones, Beeple, Richerd, and more.
It’s been a long road for Gary and team to get to VeeCon. The irony is that he’s just taken the first step. I want to personally thank Maha, Lara, Avery, Gary, and the rest of the Vayner team for putting together such an amazing event.
VeeCon 2022 Highlights
Singer Songwriter Liam Payne is an early adopter of NFTs and has become a futurist in the space, exploring how NFTs and entertainment will inevitably intersect.
MIGUEL takes the stage after being tapped as global creative director for T3MP0.
Gary Vaynerchuk kicks off VeeCon 2022.
