Sports Agent AJ Vaynerchuk Explains What He Tells Young Athletes About Investing

He used baseball as a comparison and drew from his own experience.

During an appearance on The Bag with Rashad Jennings and Lindsay McCormick podcast, AJ Vaynerchuck broke down what advice he gives young athletes on investing. Vaynerchuck is the co-founder of VaynerSports, a full-service athlete representation firm.

He specifically touched on angel investing, which is investing capital into a start-up organization. Vaynerchuck compared his goal of hitting on investments one out of 10 times to a batting average. After all, if you batted .300 for your career, you’d be a Hall of Famer. 

“With angel investing, especially the earlier stage, I shoot to be right one out of 10 times,” he said. “So, that means I’m wrong nine out of 10. But if you’re right, and you’re right enough and you’re early enough, the ROI (return on investment) of that investment can outpace all your wrongs.” 

Sports agent and angel investor AJ Vaynerchuk (@ajv) discussed why often the biggest names, like Tom Brady and LeBron James, are successful as investors as opposed to rookies.

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Vaynerchuck used his investment in Uber as an example, saying it “covered every single wrong I ever made when they went IPO.” He also mentioned that he is clear with athletes that they understand the downfalls of angel investing. He added, “you can easily go 0-for-10.” 

But he finished his sentiment with a clear message: “You need to go get the bag first.”