- Gary Vaynerchuk shared what he'd do as a young entrepreneur starting out today.
- The first investment should be time spent making content and learning AI, he said.
- He said AI could be a once-in-a-generation opportunity for young founders — one as transformative as the internet.
Gary Vaynerchuk, 50, says aspiring entrepreneurs should spend every spare minute mastering AI and content creation.
During a Thursday appearance on the "Nude Project" podcast, Vaynerchuk shared how he would approach starting a business today as a 16-year-old with 1,000 euros in capital. The podcast is hosted by Bruno Casanovas and Alex Benlloch, founders of the Spanish streetwear brand Nude Project.
"I would make content," Vaynerchuk said. "The dollars don't scare me at all because it takes no dollars. I would spend every ounce of time learning AI. Like, from what OpenClaw is to Claude Code, to using it to think and ponder my ideas."
Vaynerchuk said he understood why people were still weighing AI's enormous potential against its possible drawbacks, but believes it will be a missed opportunity "to not take advantage of how profound this technology is."
"Much like the internet, much like computers, much like electricity, there will be pros and cons to big technologies. That is the story of man. That is life," Vaynerchuk said.
"This is the most opportunistic technology that has ever been invented," he continued.
Vaynerchuk then pointed to the founders' own success as proof of the internet's power, and said that younger generations often underestimate its impact because they have never known a world without it.
"For 7-year-olds right now, they will never understand how profound AI is," he said.
Vaynerchuk added that young people should use their free time to learn content creation, strategy, app-building, and how to use AI throughout their lives.
He said AI tools and agents could automate chores, save money, and find sold-out items at the best price.
If he were 16 today, he would fully immerse himself in learning tools such as Grok, Gemini, Nano Banana, and Higgsfield. "Everything, everything, everything. All of it," Vaynerchuk said.
The entrepreneur has long been optimistic about AI's potential. In 2023, he said the technology was "coming fast" and that he believed workers could adapt to the disruption it'd bring.
AI tools are lowering the barriers for startup founders and small-business owners to create marketing content, build early product prototypes, and automate routine tasks that once required a bigger budget, specialized expertise, or additional staff.
At the same time, as those tools become more accessible, creativity may be the defining factor in standing out.