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Comment by wgj | Hacker News Reader

There are a lot of things I like about Vaynerchuk, but I never expected the book to have much merit. All the points you make were pretty easy to predict.

Meanwhile, I think the real story would be how he grew his brick-and-mortar wine business, and what impact his online activity had (or didn't have) on that business. It's funny that the growth of his actual store is the accomplishment that gives him the right to be a business expert, but very little ever gets said about it other than the often repeated "$4M to $50M in 3 years" or something close to that.

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   I came onboard full-time after graduating in 1998 and grew
   the business from about 4 million to 10 million in a year
   with 0 percent of that in online sales.

Here is the passage from the book. My guess is massive advertising spending. No way to grow it that much in a single year otherwise

That's a good guess but I'd love to hear him directly address it.

Also, I want to emphasize, I do like Gary and what he represents. I think there's a lot to learn from him, and he's a good model for a lot of people. (and I did meet Gary and his wife in person once. They seem to be wonderful people. His real life personality is not like his stage persona. He's intelligent, soft-spoken, and a good listener.)

yeah I have nothing against Gary or most of his message, like I said I watched all of his videos, it's just that the book is not his best work.

I actually do shop in Wine Library(it's like 7 minutes away), not often, like once a year(not a big drinker).

I would definitely visit Wine Library if I had the opportunity. And I discovered Gary two years ago through his WLTV videos, which remain my favorite thing he has done online.

It seems as though he's trying to see himself rather than wine. I like GV, but I care more about the results and how to's than personality and motivational speaking.

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