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Self-made millionaire Gary Vaynerchuk tells millennials 'House of Cards' is why they're failing
If you want to be successful but aren't yet, VaynerMedia CEO Gary Vaynerchuk can tell you why: You're not putting in enough effort.
In a Facebook video published in May that has since garnered 1.3 million views and been circulated through various media outlets, including the Australian news site news.com.au, the self-made millionaire doesn't offer sympathy for young people who haven't yet made it.
As he puts it, "You can live on six hours sleep, so you have 18 hours. You have 18 g------ hours. I want to know what you're doing with your 18 hours."
Even if you're working a 9-to-5 job, commuting for an hour and spending some time each day with your family, that still leaves you at least five hours to hustle, Vaynerchuk says.
"What do you do with those other five hours?" he asks. "You're watching 'House of f------ Cards.' You're playing Madden. You're relaxing from the other intense 10."
Vaynerchuk goes on to say that if you want to waste valuable time watching TV, or even "by getting rest," you need to accept the fact that you'll never be rich or successful. You're "giving up opportunity to go into a new world," he says.
"Let's call it what it is," says Vaynerchuk. "You want to live as well as the 1 to 2 percent in the world. It's not very complicated. The math is very raw. If you want to have one of the best lives in the world, which is you live on your terms, you have to pay your dues to get there."
The advice has sparked intense debate online. Many viewers questioned if it was healthy to pare down your sleep to just six hours.
"YOU ABSOLUTELY CAN'T live on six hours a day; you'll be in a constant state of lacking sleep and end up being much less productive. It also increases your chances of accidents and sickness," one commenter writes.
"You can't live on six hours of sleep. Period," another commenter says. "Also, how are we giving up opportunity to be a part of 1 percent because we get rest? Money and love doesn't come with hard work; it comes with doing what you love, what you have passion for."
Other detractors have pointed out Vaynerchuk's first successful venture stemmed from expanding his family's already thriving wine shop. He built an online presence for the store with the launch of WineLibrary.com in 1997 and grew revenue from $3 million a year to $45 million in less than a decade, Fortune reports. But he didn't start from scratch.
"Love to get 'stop whining' advice from [does 5 seconds of research] the guy who was handed a $3 million business by his dad," Twitter user Burgerdrome said in a tweet that garnered 5,300 retweets and nearly 13,000 favorites.
The entrepreneur responded to the criticism by acknowledging in a follow-up comment that sleep needs vary. News.com.au reports that Vaynerchuk "apologized 'if the tone was lost.' 'I'm thrilled if people sleep nine hours a day,' he wrote. 'It's what you do when you're awake!'"
Other self-made millionaires have offered less colorful versions of the same advice . Grant Cardone, for example, says what distinguishes him is how much he works : "Most people work 9-to-5. I work 95 hours [per week]. If you ever want to be a millionaire, you need to stop doing the 9-to-5 and start doing 95." That comes out to about 14 working hours a day.
"If you can outwork the rest of the population, you're going to get lucky," Cardone tells CNBC .
Plenty of commenters applaud Vaynerchuk for his tough-love style, saying that his point is not really about the number of hours you sleep but what you do when you're awake. You should use every minute you have, they argue.
Overall, the detractors, though vocal, seem to be a minority. "Why are there so many negative people on this thread?" one commenter says. "His message is simple. If you want to have a certain lifestyle, then put in the time and effort to achieve it. Don't complain about not having enough if you don't utilize your time wisely."
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