Live social selling, AI, and self-awareness as the path to $1M

Executive overview

Most people already know how to make money — they lack the self-awareness and accountability to act. The opportunity in live social shopping on TikTok and Whatnot is real, proven in China, and accessible to anyone willing to work. AI is the largest technology wave since the internet, and raising your hand acknowledges you have no excuse to ignore it.

Happiness is the goal; money is a side effect of loving the game.

The live social shopping opportunity

• Buy any product at wholesale where you can sell it for at least a 2x margin.
• Use ChatGPT to find wholesale suppliers for free.
• Sell live on TikTok Shop or Whatnot — this is QVC for social media.
• Live shopping is already a half-trillion-dollar industry in China; it's arriving in the US now.
• Whatnot will do $7–10B in US GMV this year — an app most people have never heard of.
• Anyone willing to work long hours can hit $1M in profit within 24 months.

AI: the tidal wave with no excuse clause

• AI is the biggest technology shift since the internet — bigger than computers, the web, smartphones.
• Raising your hand that AI is coming means your excuses when it disrupts you are void.
• Spend 100 of your next 1,000 waking hours inside every major AI tool: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok, Meta AI.
• Ask the AI directly: "I'm a [profession] — what are the four best apps released this month for me?"
• Download, play, repeat. The browser made the internet accessible; AI tooling is doing the same for every industry.
• The people who ignore it are choosing the head-in-sand strategy — hoping for regulation or retirement before impact.

Accountability and mindset

• At some age — 18, 22, 30 — everything becomes your fault. Pick a date and own it.
• Blame (government, parents, Big Tech, economic conditions) is a weapon of losing players.
• Culture is selling fear and scarcity; it's propaganda. Stop consuming it.
• Gen Z has more opportunity than any prior generation — a phone is a supercomputer with unlimited reach.
• Recalibrate what a necessity is: leased cars, multiple streaming services, and $37 martinis are not necessities.
• Mindset: 1939. Activities: 2039.

Self-esteem and the money trap

• Detachment from financial outcome is a prerequisite for achieving large financial outcomes.
• Tightness, fear, and tension around money stops you making the moves required to grow.
• Build for joy — the castle-on-the-beach mentality: just see how big you can make it.
• A smaller business that makes you happy may be worth more than a stressful one that earns more.
• Some people should be excellent number twos or threes — more money, more happiness, less pressure.
• Playing for external validation (car, chain, follower count, others' opinions) is why you're not as big as you could be.

Self-awareness as the core operating system

• Self-awareness is the single most important word in business and life.
• Know what you genuinely like — opportunity in collectibles, live selling, or cooking is irrelevant if you hate it.
• An introvert forcing themselves into sales will lose every time; find the arena that fits your wiring.
• Jealousy of competitors is pure waste — no one else's success comes out of your pocket.
• Stop asking for business advice rooted in other people's yesterday; you're building your tomorrow.
• Be yourself fully: the world eventually comes to authenticity, not the other way round.

The collectibles and emerging tech angle

• NFT and blockchain collectibles are now accessible without crypto wallets — credit card in three clicks at GaryVee.com/vf.
• The browser made the internet usable for everyone; easy payment rails are doing the same for blockchain.
• Phones will be replaced by glasses within a decade — the "clunky phase" of new tech is always temporary.
• When something feels weird and early, that's the signal to lean in, not dismiss it.
• Collectibles (Labubu, Pokémon, sneakers, trading cards, watches) are entering another major wave.