AJ Vaynerchuk is an American entrepreneur who co-founded the athlete representation firm VaynerSports in 2016. He is also the former COO of VaynerMedia, a social-media-first digital agency, and a founding partner of the venture capital fund VaynerRSE. Along with his elder brother, Gary Vaynerchuk, AJ was raiding garage sales and selling toys for a profit even before he hit his teens!
The brothers started dealing in domains as high school students and began designing and selling websites while at college. In 2009, AJ and Gary teamed up to form VaynerMedia, a social media-focused digital agency. By doing so, they were entering an emerging field as social media was still in a nascent stage back then. Despite the risks involved, the brothers were able to build an innovative and successful venture. AJ Vaynerchuk is also a pioneer in the NFT and web3 world, spearheading VSP, VaynerSportsPass.
Joining Adam on this show as co-host is Kevin Logan, Jr., the Co-Founder of Probably Nothing Talent and Director of Recruitment at NHP Talent Group- a true thought leader in this space.
This Episode’s Heavy-hitter’s:
AJ recently took the NBA Agent exam and passed, so they’re expanding their ability to represent more athletic talent across the board at VaynerSports.
When launching the VaynerSports Pass, AJ and team decided to wait longer than they needed to so they could watch how other movers were executing and learn from their reception.
For their VaynerSports Pass, one of the major values that their members have enjoyed is the access to Vayner’s talent. They host exclusive interviews that are more closed circuit, and create a more intimate experience for fans.
While they weren’t the first sports agency to launch an NFT, VaynerSports was the first to actually move units and execute on the opportunity as early movers in the space.
AJ sees the current crypto bear market as being a healthy readjustment and also as displaying some “signs of hope” as things have been stabilizing rather than dipping further each week.
For more, check out: https://pass.vaynersports.com/
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3:05 - The world of Web3
3:32 - Future of Sports
4:54 - Basketball for VaynerSports
6:15 - 15,555 Unique NFTs
7:26 - VaynerSports / Powerful and #1
9:33 - Sports and NFTs
10:41 - Key Lessons Learned
12:30 - Doing the right thing
12:45 - Early Investment
13:10 - Make space grow
15:19 - The biggest threat to NFT Ecosystem
16:00 - Single Greatest piece of advice
18:34 - Crypto Winter
19:01 - The Litmus test
20:56 - Full Transparency
22:23 - Final Thoughts