'You suck' if your business isn't successful in this strong economy, says tech investor Gary Vaynerchuk

“You suck” at running a company if you’re not successful in the current strong economy, said tech investor Gary Vaynerchuk in a new interview.

“If you're not a successful entrepreneur right now in the easiest time to be a successful entrepreneur, because there's so much money in the system, and the internet is at scale, you suck,” he says.

The U.S. economy has expanded over every quarter since the 4th quarter of 2009. Last month, the economy beat expectations when it added 196,000 jobs, while unemployment remained at 3.8%, the lowest rate since 2000. Moreover, the Federal Reserve has indicated it does not intend to raise its benchmark interest rate for the remainder of 2019.

The rate of approval for small business loan applicants last month hit a record high of 27.3% at large banks, according to the Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index.

Vaynerchuk, who gives business advice to millions of social media followers in a daily video series and a regular podcast, said he doesn’t want to put forth the false impression that entrepreneurship is easy.

“Ninety-five percent of people are going to fail, especially when the economy fails,” he says.

Vaynerchuk made the comments to Editor-in-Chief Andy Serwer in a conversation that aired on Yahoo Finance in an episode of “Influencers with Andy Serwer,” a weekly interview series with leaders in business, politics, and entertainment.

Beginning his career in e-commerce, Vaynerchuk grew his family’s New Jersey wine business from a brick-and-mortar store that made $3 million annuals sales into a $60 million-a-year online operation. In 2009 he co-founded VaynerMedia, a digital ad agency that has grown to more than 800 employees and works with companies like Pepsi and JPMorgan Chase.

‘Everybody thinks they’re going to be Mark Zuckerberg’

“We've become audacious and ludicrous and delusional in our entrepreneurial ambitions,” Vaynerchuck says. “Right now everybody thinks they're going to be Mark Zuckerberg.”

“We need a level of self-awareness,” he adds. “We've lost sight of being an entrepreneur who makes $137,000 a year doing what she or he loves.”

When asked about the barriers to success that face entrepreneurs, Vaynerchuk gave a one-word answer.

“Talent,” he says.

Andy Serwer is editor-in-chief of Yahoo Finance.

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