Entrepreneurship Responses

Please write a 200+ word response for each of the two writings below. You are not critiquing the writer, you are simply discussing why you agree with what they said and adding to the conversation.

Writing #1: Personally, I felt Gary’s approach to encouragement was not an approach that would reach a vast audience. His idea of the hustle and the nature he speaks about hustle reminded me of an episode of The Carrie Diaries. Carrie’s boyfriend is a more seasoned writer than her and there’s a scene that illustrates his non-stop mentality and Carrie just wants a break to clear her mind so she can focus. I’m not Carrie or her boyfriend. Maybe each of their work processes works best for them. Gary’s tenacity is somewhat offputting to the Carries’ out there. It’s almost like he’s trying to sell you something. When people feel like they’re trying to be sold something, they tend to tune out. I’m not saying that the things Gary said weren’t important. But the delivery wasn’t marketable in my opinion.

I’m an English major and I’ve spent years analyzing texts and this video was a funny one to analyze for me. The beginning of the video resembled an early iteration of a television that was very snowy in its picture. I think it’s almost reminiscent of the days where the media only allowed credible sources on television. Now you can go onto television and say whatever you want even if you don’t possess a credible bone in your body. It could also come off as the “end all be all” mentality. Back in the days where those televisions were common, there weren’t many stations available. This could translate to him feeling that his mentality about the hustle is one of the only ways to achieve success. I also wondered if his “television cast” that kept cutting in and out was his way of saying he feels silenced from talking about his mentality.

There are several parts to the video where Gary is in his office next to a phone and a basketball. The basketball could almost serve as a connection to the common viewer. We can connect the word to hustle in the context of sports but his spoken words in the video allow us to transition or expand our definition of hustle. With all of this said, there is a time around 2 minutes where he is in the same office, though he has a bottle of wine and a glass with not too much wine in it. I think this visual is kind of ironic because, in the end, he makes reference to people halting their work lives to have a happy hour. I’d love to know everyone’s thoughts about what this could mean.

Writing #2: After viewing this video it was clear that the central idea was to “Hustle.” Gary Vaynerchuk explained what it means to truly hustle, one must use every minute of the day to advance in what they choose to pursue. I can see why this method has worked for him and helped him acquire the success he has today. That being said I do not agree with his path to success. I do agree that to be successful it will take motivation and hard work, but I do not believe that the hustle should come above all else or consume every minute of our daily lives. I decided to pursue entrepreneurship for the freedom it provides, and believe that you get out what you put in. I will not sacrifice all else to work late on a holiday, but I will work hard seven days a week to achieve my goals. If all you do is work, what is the point?

His video would be effective for those who lack any source of motivation. It could give them the push they need to get off the couch and chase after what they want, but those of us who already have the drive to succeed will benefit much less from this video. It was chaotic to say the least, Gary is a perfect example of someone who let the hustle consume their life. This was what he choose though and he seems very content with his decisions. I personally like videos that are structured and have a clear time line. His video was able to compel the message one must hustle, but with a different format it could have been done better.

I do want to commend Gary on his success, it is clear that these strategies do work. I would be interested to know more about what his first steps to success were and what Dedham to the path of motivating and educating others. One of my favorite points he made was that we cannot be afraid of failure. If we are afraid to try new things we drastically limit our potential. One must fail to succeed.