Future Jets Owner Gary Vaynerchuk Brings Thunder to Austin

I’ve been tracking Gary Vaynerchuk of WineLibrary TV ever since the day that Dan Benjamin told me about the sale of Corkd to this sorta zany character with a wine show on the web.

First and foremost, Gary is a wine fanatic (and expert). If you have any doubt, just watch all 500 of his shows. But seriously, Gary has written a book, 101 Wines: Guaranteed to Inspire, Delight, and Bring Thunder to Your World, and the book is fantastic. He goes into some depth about each of his top 101 most interesting wines for 2008 and even provides helpful tips for picking out a wine for Father’s Day or how to impress a first date. For the more adventurous among you, you may want to check out wines to drink with “Something You Shot” or figure out “How to Blow Your Stimulus Check”.

Gary’s message is one of reciprocity (with a tendency to overdeliver), finding your own voice, and always working to build your own personal brand. He stresses being “RAT”: Real, Authentic, and Transparent in business and in life.

Many thanks to Gary for making his way from to Austin when he had such a monster schedule this week. I appreciate Jeff Jones who dug in and made sure the event happened. I’d also like to thank Chuck Huffaker and his staff at Grapevine Market for inviting Gary into the store and setting up such an awesome event.

Our very own Cesar Torres now (thanks to Gary) has an entry pass (a $500 value) to the amazing SEED Conference being held in Chicago this weekend. The event is being put on by 37Signals, Coudal Partners, and Segura Inc. and is focused on sharing unconventional ideas about collaboration and business. It was just an awesome moment when Cesar asked and Gary answered. Boom. Done. I’m totally jealous.

Fortunately, I brought my Flip Ultra and I captured 60 minutes of pure Gary for your viewing pleasure. Keeping with the tradition of WineLibrary TV, these videos are unedited. Here’s the raw footage of a good portion of the event.

Video 1: Gary’s Opening Remarks

Video 2: Q&A 1/3

Video 3: Q&A 2/3

Video 4: Q&A 3/3

Additional Coverage Around the Intarwebs of Gary’s visit to Austin:

• Tim Walker wrote up a detailed recap on the Hoover Business blog.
• Cesar Torres captured Gary’s message on his blog.
• Addie Broyles of Relish Austin posted her writeup Gary Vaynerchuk brings the thunder to Austin on Austin360.
• Dane Hurtubise captured the “Austin Lightning Round“, a blind tasting including some Texas wines.
• Kristine Gloria wrote up her take on Gary’s message and a video snippet on her blog.