A few months back I was attending beta day hosted by my friends at Betaworks. The event was kicked off by the infectiously enthusiastic Gary Vaynerchuk. Even though I’m not a huge WineLibraryTV fan, GaryV holds a special place in my heart, and the above picture is why. In 2007 I was planning to throw a party at OATV HQ and was stressing over the budget (I know y’all think we VCs are swimming in fees, but we’re a small fund yo). Our party planner said she had someone lined up who was willing to front all the drinks for the party and we jumped at the offer. I’d never heard of the guy, but she said he was someone who was internet famous and that he’d be the one pouring drinks all night. Great- free drinks and a bar tender, done! The night of the event I met Gary who stands about armpit high to me, but towers me in enthusiasm. Though he was just “the help” that night (his words, not mine), he worked the room like he owned the place making the most out of the opportunity he’d created for himself (that’s him chatting up Jay Adelson, founder and CEO of Digg) and making sure no one at the party left without his signature WineLibraryTV wrist band. Fast forward to Betaday and there’s “the help” on stage blowing minds with his ideas for how companies and individuals can leverage the web and its social systems to build direct relationships with customers and increase their visibility on a global scale. I was stuck more by the messenger than the message. Here was a guy who’se built his own brand and identity by leveraging all the web has to offer from a home base of Springfield, New Jersey, not exactly a tech hub. It was a reminder that the web is leveling the playing field for all of us. There really are no excuses for not going after what you want anymore. Blogs are spawning mainstream book deals, YouTube clips are leading to well funded movies and music videos, and individual Twitter streams are breaking stories faster than news rooms stuff with professionals. And its doing that for everyone- whether you’re in Springfield, New Jersey or New Guinea. If you have a voice, a message, a mission and drive the web can open many of the doors you’re hoping to step through. Gary is a great example of that.

A few months back I was attending beta day hosted by my friends at Betaworks. The event was kicked off by the infectiously enthusiastic Gary Vaynerchuk. Even though I’m not a huge WineLibraryTV fan, GaryV holds a special place in my heart, and the above picture is why.

In 2007 I was planning to throw a party at OATV HQ and was stressing over the budget (I know y’all think we VCs are swimming in fees, but we’re a small fund yo). Our party planner said she had someone lined up who was willing to front all the drinks for the party and we jumped at the offer. I’d never heard of the guy, but she said he was someone who was internet famous and that he’d be the one pouring drinks all night. Great- free drinks and a bar tender, done!

The night of the event I met Gary who stands about armpit high to me, but towers me in enthusiasm. Though he was just “the help” that night (his words, not mine), he worked the room like he owned the place making the most out of the opportunity he’d created for himself (that’s him chatting up Jay Adelson, founder and CEO of Digg) and making sure no one at the party left without his signature WineLibraryTV wrist band.

Fast forward to Betaday and there’s “the help” on stage blowing minds with his ideas for how companies and individuals can leverage the web and its social systems to build direct relationships with customers and increase their visibility on a global scale. I was stuck more by the messenger than the message. Here was a guy who’se built his own brand and identity by leveraging all the web has to offer from a home base of Springfield, New Jersey, not exactly a tech hub.

It was a reminder that the web is leveling the playing field for all of us. There really are no excuses for not going after what you want anymore. Blogs are spawning mainstream book deals, YouTube clips are leading to well funded movies and music videos, and individual Twitter streams are breaking stories faster than news rooms stuff with professionals. And its doing that for everyone- whether you’re in Springfield, New Jersey or New Guinea. If you have a voice, a message, a mission and drive the web can open many of the doors you’re hoping to step through.

Gary is a great example of that.