Visiting Vaynermedia NYC and meeting Gary Vaynerchuk

I started to follow Gary Vaynerchuk on Facebook about 4 months ago when I saw this interview with Larry King video.  That let me to follow him on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Snapchat!  Soon I discovered that he was all over the place producing content almost 24/7.  Actual value content, no beaches, no yachts, no girls, no bling, no Lamborghinis... Just sound advice on marketing and business.

For those of you who don’t know Gary, he’s an outspoken entrepreneur, who currently owns and runs Vaynermedia, a 600+ employee digital media agency in NYC. He has an interesting backstory that includes early investing in Facebook and Twitter along with being a early Vlogger in Youtube (First video posted in May 2006).  Check this great keynote on Youtube were Gary speaks about his story.

Being an entrepreneur my whole life, I recognized in Gary a true sense of hard work ethic with a huge tone of practicality and no BS. At first he might strike a bit arrogant or bold, but his message is clear, on point and I related.  

One month ago I was watching an Instagram livestream when Gary announced an idea that he planned to execute soon.  A small group 1-day full immersion on Vaynermedia operations including a session with Gary himself! An email was requested to be sent for application purposes. Let me be clear and point out that this was not free, it required a $10k payment.  I thought to myself, this was worth it and quickly sent that email hopping to gain a spot on this new opportunity.  

So about 3 weeks passed and I got an Eventbrite invitation to apply to 3 available dates for the VaynerMedia 4Ds "Daily Digital Deep Dive". 

I signed up for the first available date, knowing that it would be the less polished one, but there’s something special about being first. NDA's got signed, Flights and hotel got booked and I was on my way to NYC for the first 4Ds on 4/13/17.

Vaynermedia recently moved to 10 Hudson Yards, a new development on the Chelsea / High Line area of NYC.  I love walking, so I walked 25 minutes from my hotel to the place.  The area is still under construction, but the building is beautiful.  I entered the main lobby and guess who entered after me? Gary himself, so I introduced myself and proceed to get my security badge.  Got in to the elevator and rided up to the 25th floor!

So the group was about 12 people, all from different places and industries, the program started at about 9:20 with an intro and history of Gary and Vaynermedia, its goals and mission.  Most of what was discussed on this session we mostly knew so we quickly went through it and moved to the next sessions:

Platforms: Great discussion with the top brass of Vaynermedia on the digital platforms, their strengths, how video is the present and near future of social advertising and future outlook.

Digital Strategy:  Details where provided on how you need to design for the current state of customer attention, and plan for the future state of it as well.  

Creative Approach: Wow this session really provided excellent insights in to the creative process of Vaynermedia and how we could duplicate it in our own specific cases.  Vayner's Chief Creative Steve Babcock was on point and provided great examples to relate to our own ideas! 

Personal Branding: Vayner has a division exclusively focused on developing personal brands, utilizing strategic insights from Vayner, this is a topic I will discuss go on more deeply in future posts

Influencer Media: You might think that influencers are a new thing, but if you take a closer look, it has been here since movies and TV were the standard media outlets. Vayner's take on influencers is novel, taking more into consideration micro influencers. More on this in upcoming blogs. 

Paid Media: This was out last topic of the day and the best one in my opinion.  Being an Entrepreneur involves lots of number crunching to maximize your opportunities in all the areas of your business.  The last topic was the one that got me into deeply analyze new opportunities in my business.  Frankly some terms mentioned were foreign to me, but that created the need to deeply study more on the tactics and strategies to blast media investments into stratosphere. 

At lunch break, we had our keynote by Gary, he simply walked in, greeted everyone and sat down and delivered!  Basically everyone had a chance at bat to ask him questions pertaining directly to their own business or personal brands.  It was a really casual experience true to Gary and his spiel. You can watch it here.

I must attest that Gary is a very down to earth individual, he cares and delivers based on his experiences, that is truly valuable and I appreciate him for it!

This whole experience was a big eye opener for me, as it allowed me to create new connections linking many business touch points and strategies to many areas of my current and future businesses.  

Now the next step it to implement all this and execute!  Sadly the Daily Digital Deep Dive left me wanting for more and more! 

Hey Gary! Can we do a Week Digital Deep Dive? 

Gigabit1, Our bet on Fiber and Wireless technology to bring Ultra Fast Internet to the masses!

Since the creation of Broadband Internet, speeds of access have been an ongoing pursuit. Meeting customers' expectations require constant upgrades of the ISP (Internet Service Provider) infrastructure, only to be encountered by newer expectations from end users. It has been a digital "catch me if you can" deal since dialup modems were ringing sounds of the Information Superhighway!

Microwave Technology in Old San Juan

AeroNet has been at the forefront of providing broadband access to the business market in Puerto Rico for the last 16 years using the latest in fixed wireless technology. Using Wireless Access technology has many advantages, including speed of deployment, cost effectiveness and reliability, but also has its shortcomings one of them being limitation on capacity or speeds that it can provide.  That’s when Fiber Optic technology comes in to play, as it advantages are more capacity and longer life expectancy of its infrastructure. Current technology tops at 10Gbps in microwave links, whereas fiber technology currently stands at over 400 Gbps. 

In the last 5 years we have been investing in the creation and operation of our own fiber infrastructure in the San Juan Metro area.  What started as a small project to upgrade our backbone in Hato Rey has expanded into a complete network of fiber touching San Juan, Guaynabo, Bayamon and Carolina. 

Fiber Testing in Santurce, 2011

Gigabit1 is a project born out of the need to provide Ultra Fast and cost effective Internet to the Residential and Business market of the San Juan Metro area.  Watching what was happening around the world with projects similar to Google Fiber, we decided it was time to do the same here in Puerto Rico. 

Fiber Termination Box at Ciudadela Complex

Providing Ultra Fast Internet (more than 250 Mbps) is not a small feat, as it requires heavy investment in technology and infrastructure that supports such and future customer needs.  AeroNet is no stranger to tackling huge tasks or projects and being successful at them. So we did what we thought was the right direction to gear our efforts into.

In order to be able to provide such services in a cost effective and profitable way, we started to deploy Gigabit1 services in buildings, as they provide a sizable market to approach and the infrastructure cost needed to get them "lit" or activated can be spread among all possible customers.  Since we are not Google (or have their deep pockets) nor we like to finance our investments (we do it organically), we have grown the Gigabit1 footprint steadily since October 2015 from 1 building to over 90 as of March 2017.

Gigabit1 Buildings Map as of March 2017

Gigabit1 is a hybrid network that uses the best in both Microwave and Fiber technology.  It was designed like this since its inception, long before it made sense to other providers like Google Fiber! We continue to expand our footprint, with many more buildings being activated in 2017. Services currently start at $39.95 for residential buildings with up to 500 Mbps!  On the Business side, we offer up to 1Gbps Internet access along with many other value added services as VOIP, DATA and Managed IT. 

Speed Test of an actual Gigabit1 Customer 

2017 is full of new advancements as we start to provide 1000 Mbps and higher speeds, we also have started our pre-5G technology tests which would allow us to expand our services out of the building segment. Excitement and new possibilities awaits us in the future! #GoFaster

Be sure to follow AeroNet and Gigabit1 in Social Media so you can keep with the latest news and offers! 

AeroNet: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin

Gigabit1: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

Also, you can contact me at any time with your questions!

Gino Villarini: Twitter, Instagram