Gary V. Again.

[Rich_Salsano]

He was just on CNBC.

I saw that piece. Mostly the Constellation CEO did the talking but it was good to see GV and happy for all of them.

[Rich_K0rz_nk0]

He was just on CNBC.

I saw that piece. Mostly the Constellation CEO did the talking but it was good to see GV and happy for all of them.

Yeah, I’m happy for him as well. He’s a likable guy, sticky personality; and super generous, especially at the off-lines we used to attend.

[Chris_Crutchfield]

I guess Constellation hope is that the marriage will produce a $20 equivalent of a Two-Buck Chuck, sold online direct to younger-ish consumers and propelled by Gary’s verbal fusillades that are already asymptotically approaching Rimmerman.

Doubtful that Gary will be involved much in the future. From the press release:

As part of the transaction, the Empathy Wines brand will be integrated into Constellation’s wine and spirits brand portfolio. Empathy Wines employees, including co-founders Jon and Nate, will join the Constellation Brands family and work together with its wine and spirits organization. Vaynerchuk will continue to assist Constellation Brands and Empathy Wines in a consulting capacity.

[Adam_Frisch]

Good for Gary, he’s after all genuine. But a very quick sale, tho. Feels like it got started yesterday.

[Jon_Troutman]

A little more on why Constellation acquired Empathy: https://twitter.com/cheddar/status/1278385856462626822

Empathy sold 15k cases in its first year of operations. More impressive from a logistics standpoint than sales/marketing - one would expect Gary V to know how to market and sell wine by now. At $20 a bottle, that’s 3.6M in revenue. With an industry average of 60% gross margin in the premium segment, the bacon is fatty but there ain’t much of it. What did Constellation pay? Terms haven’t been disclosed. Unilever paid 1B for Dollar Shave at 5x revenues and that was a fairly rich multiple versus valuation from its most recent funding round. Dollar Shave was a much larger business vs Empathy and wine isn’t razor blades but it’s still a consumer and packaged goods (CPG) product. Empathy was around for 18 months so 3.6M in revenue isn’t an exact annual revenue figure…I am going to say 15M was the acquisition price.

Empathy sells a $20 wine, color-coded right down to the labels. (Selling a random rose for $20 is not quite as innovative as SpaceX but it is certainly bold). For people on this board, $20 is barely an entry-level wine but for overwhelming number of consumers, $20 is a premium product. I guess Constellation hope is that the marriage will produce a $20 equivalent of a Two-Buck Chuck, sold online direct to younger-ish consumers and propelled by Gary’s verbal fusillades that are already asymptotically approaching Rimmerman. Constellation should buy Garagiste too while they’re at it, kill two wild turkeys with one pebble. I am not an Empathy or Constellation customer but as someone said upstream, I respect the hustle. Since Constellation sold 30 lower-priced brands to Gallo and started focusing on a premium segment, is it time to go long on $STZ? Maybe…but they’ll need a lot more than Empathy to move the needle.

My only question is why an early exit. Pressured by investors, promised a juicy earn-out or…just didn’t want to deal with the actual headache of running a larger business?

Jon Troutman - you’re welcome to comment

I won’t comment on purchase price or terms, but I think the video above, with Robert’s commentary towards the end, is at the crux of why this partnership makes sense. We are excited to continue building the Empathy brand - while also driving DTC omnichannel growth across their entire portfolio.

[Ken_B_r_o_w_n]

I guess Constellation hope is that the marriage will produce a $20 equivalent of a Two-Buck Chuck, sold online direct to younger-ish consumers and propelled by Gary’s verbal fusillades that are already asymptotically approaching Rimmerman.

Doubtful that Gary will be involved much in the future. From the press release:

As part of the transaction, the Empathy Wines brand will be integrated into Constellation’s wine and spirits brand portfolio. Empathy Wines employees, including co-founders Jon and Nate, will join the Constellation Brands family and work together with its wine and spirits organization. Vaynerchuk will continue to assist Constellation Brands and Empathy Wines in a consulting capacity.

Right. What stops all of these higher-end but not quite as massive as Constellation brands from identifying the next Gary V? A counter of “…but there’s only one Gary V” misses the point. Gary V is just the latest example of younger consumers wanting less sales and more passion when buying a product. There’s a boatload of earnest, passionate and authentic presence-first “kids” on social media. Heck, they can hire a consultant who can help them pick and train their chosen dude/dudette how to pronounce d’Yquem.

The operational piece of such a venture is no small feat but the marketing part? I am confused about why others aren’t imitating this.

[Keith_A_k_e_r_s]

My only question is why an early exit. Pressured by investors, promised a juicy earn-out or…just didn’t want to deal with the actual headache of running a larger business?

my guess is exactly that. Constellation comes in with a bag of money and he’s able to bring in a nice windfall for him and his partners after a short amount of time. That is the smart play imo

[Rich_K0rz_nk0]

My only question is why an early exit. Pressured by investors, promised a juicy earn-out or…just didn’t want to deal with the actual headache of running a larger business?

my guess is exactly that. Constellation comes in with a bag of money and he’s able to bring in a nice windfall for him and his partners after a short amount of time. That is the smart play imo

One thing with Gary is that he is always moving, and I think he gets a lot out of the “new car smell” of a venture. This frees him up for his next. Time is a finite thing, he can probably be involved as much or as little as he likes, and that creates time for the next thing. Plus Constellation brings a lot of synergies and advantages with economies of scale, Gary and his partners are making out well on this I’m sure, bottom-line and time-wise.

[HoosJustinG]

Empathy ads - at least the ones that target me - seem to prioritize the “glug glug” factor and “smoothness” of wines which lots of people (not WBers) judge as “quality.” I won’t make a quality judgement on a wine I haven’t tried, but from what little I know about winemaking, achieving those factors in wine is not the biggest challenge on the planet … and STZ has access to a lot of grapes. Constellation already has a lot of grocery store reach and wine shop reach … this helps them get more digital reach to compete with other brands heavily targeting millennials on social media like Bright Cellars, Winc, Naked Wines, etc.

I’m a real millennial (born 1986) - not a Gen Z’er that angry Gen X’ers call millennials for Tim Tok’ing - and this is at least my experience.

[Gabe_Berk]

Constellation paid some $$$ for the current online DTC sales model Gary V created with that brand. As hinted before, Gary V probably put a lot of sweet equity into the project and gladly took some Millions of $ shortly after to let someone buy out the project. On to the next venture for Gary V. Sniffy sniff!!!

[Peter_Shurman]

Hey everyone! Gary’s partner in Empathy Wines here. As a long-time Berserkers member (more lurking than engaging), I am beyond thankful to this community. I’ve learned a ton about the industry, and fine wine in general, by reading and participating on these forums. And I’ve made lots of online-to-offline friendships with lots of you. Appreciate the support and kind words (and I’m sending a wink-and-a-smile to the skeptics, haha)

TROUTY!

Hope all is well, tell The Elf I said hello …

[Mel_Hill]

Constellation paid some $$$ for the current online DTC sales model Gary V created with that brand. As hinted before, Gary V probably put a lot of sweet equity into the project and gladly took some Millions of $ shortly after to let someone buy out the project. On to the next venture for Gary V. Sniffy sniff!!!

All threads on Gary V need to reference “sniffy sniff”

so, thanks for the reference.

[Rich_K0rz_nk0]

Constellation paid some $$$ for the current online DTC sales model Gary V created with that brand. As hinted before, Gary V probably put a lot of sweet equity into the project and gladly took some Millions of $ shortly after to let someone buy out the project. On to the next venture for Gary V. Sniffy sniff!!!

All threads on Gary V need to reference "sniffy sniff"™

so, thanks for the reference.

FIFYA

[Mel_Hill]

If anyone could monetize that phrase it would be Gary!

[lleichtman]

I’m sure that as President, Gary V …

Dan Kravitz

That scared me - don’t give him any ideas

I wrote about him as President of Wine Library. Even ignoring legalities, of course he is totally unqualified to be President of the United States… nobody that unqualified could ever get to the Oval Office… oh, wait…

Dan Kravitz

I may be wrong here but I seemed to remember that GV was born in Belarus.

[Ken_B_r_o_w_n]

A somewhat mild takedown of Gary V and the “hustle culture”: Gary Vaynerchuk Is Hustling His Way Through a Pandemic | Marker

[TimF]

A somewhat mild takedown of Gary V and the “hustle culture”: Gary Vaynerchuk Is Hustling His Way Through a Pandemic | Marker

“He also sells $12,000 tickets to small day-long workshops at which he is guaranteed to appear for only one hour.”

I can’t imagine what my weekend trip with him to Napa was worth.

[Rich_K0rz_nk0]

My hourly rate is a smidge less lol

I’ll just look at our past drink ups with him as comp’d time well spent.

That was then, and given now I think he’s done things in social and marketing that few have done as well. I’ve seen lesser in credentials command more for time. God knows how many conferences I’ve sat through where I stare in wonder at the time I wasted and the cost. Net-worth being the weakest, relevance being the most prominent.

[Peter_Shurman]

My hourly rate is a smidge less lol

I’ll just look at our past drink ups with him as comp’d time well spent.

You need to resurrect your old avatar, the one taken at one of those past drink ups.

[HoosJustinG]

A somewhat mild takedown of Gary V and the “hustle culture”: Gary Vaynerchuk Is Hustling His Way Through a Pandemic | Marker

That article was pretty hard to follow — there really wasn’t much of a thread. I think what GV is saying - and I fully agree - is that in an environment where everyone else is trying to work smart and not hard, that lane is very crowded, and you’re most likely not really creating much of value. If you’re willing to work hard - spend time doing things other people think are beneath them (like selling Hot Wheels on eBay) - there’s going to be a lot of room for you to make money. I agree.