Crushing It! summary

by Gary Vaynerchuk · 2018 · 7 key ideas · 18-minute read

Social media lets anyone build a personal brand and a living from what they love — if they create authentic content relentlessly, go where attention is, and stay patient for years.

Why read it

For aspiring creators, freelancers and small-business owners wondering whether to build an audience online. It's a high-energy pep talk with platform-by-platform advice — best read with a critical eye.

Crushing It! in brief

Nearly a decade after Crush It!, Gary Vaynerchuk returns with a bigger claim: building a personal brand is no longer optional. Social platforms have removed many of the old gatekeepers, so anyone with a passion, a phone and enough persistence can build an audience and turn it into a business.

Much of the book is told through stories of people who did exactly that, alongside Vaynerchuk's own. The common threads are authenticity (be yourself, because audiences can tell), relentless content creation, patience measured in years, and an obsession with attention — going where people actually spend their time.

Vaynerchuk walks through the platforms of the moment, from YouTube, Instagram and Facebook to podcasts, Snapchat, Musical.ly and voice assistants, explaining how each one rewards different kinds of content. His advice is to pick a primary platform, master its culture, and make content native to it.

The message is optimistic and demanding at once. Opportunity is everywhere, he argues, but only for people willing to put in the work, give value before asking for anything, and keep going long after most would quit. For readers who want a quiet, guaranteed path, this is not that book.

The 7 key ideas

1. Everyone needs a personal brand

Your reputation is already online. Shape it.

2. Authenticity and the right intent

You can't out-copy anyone. You can only out-you them.

3. Content is the engine

Don't wait to be an expert. Document the journey.

4. Go native on each platform

Same idea, native format.

5. Chase underpriced attention

Go where the attention is cheap — before it isn't.

6. Patience over years, speed every day

Be impatient today, patient for years.

7. Give value first, monetise later

Give, give, give — then ask.

Key takeaways

• Decide what you want to be known for and start publishing about it.
• Build around genuine interests so you can sustain it for years.
• Document your journey instead of waiting to be an expert.
• Master one platform and adapt content natively for others.
• Experiment early on platforms where attention is still cheap.
• Give value consistently before asking for anything.

Our take

Crushing It! is energising and practical in spirit: it convinces many readers to start creating, and its core advice — be authentic, be consistent, go where attention is, give before you ask — is sound. Its weaknesses are significant. It relies on success stories, which hides how many people followed the same advice without results. Platform-specific tactics dated quickly. Its celebration of relentless hustle downplays burnout and the luck involved in algorithms. And it says little about the economics of the creator market, where income is highly concentrated. Take the mindset, check the tactics.

About Gary Vaynerchuk

Gary Vaynerchuk grew his family's wine shop partly through Wine Library TV, an early online video show, and went on to co-found the digital agency VaynerMedia. Crushing It! is the follow-up to his 2009 book Crush It!.

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