vaynermedia — Build-A-Beard

MAN, this week is a tough week for beards... as horrified as we were by Jon Hamm's razor capabilities, or as scared as the woman beardo from Seattle really made us... what we realized today was a blow to our inner and outer community more than even if Jon Hamm shaved that lady himself... Looks like Gary Vee (@garyvee), our beloved Bearded/Passionate/Wino/Beardo, has shaved his playoff beard! We know, we know, you too are crushed... believe us, we felt the slice of the razor all the way over here as well.

So, yes, it's true, the playoff beard is gone, will it return? we are not sure... will we miss it? Absolutely... do you like it when we ask and answer our own questions? probably not... Either way, this also means #garysbeardwatch is over... but we can't help but wonder and almost believe it's somehow our fault... or was it?

Were we not encouraging enough for him?! Did we not highlight the VaynerMedia hirsute (we did: VaynerMedia - Now Is The Time To (Grow Beards))? Did we not talk up Gary's facial fuzzness enough (we did: BREAKING NEWS: Gary IS growing a beard)? I guess, what we DIDN'T do is grab the last known photo of said playoff beard before Gary went to Indy (below) and post a #garysbeardwatch update... perhaps breaking the chain of Karma we were holding onto together...

Regardless of the truth, or even the reality... we will forever remember this as one of the more noble attempts at growth (it left us nearly as fast as it came to be), and as such these things tend to end in tragedy... even still, when people mourn some grow beards...

Gary you lost a Superbowl chance... we lost a beardo friend... let's commiserate together and grow another beard! What do you say!? or we can sulk together until the FireFly Sweet Tea Vodka runs out at #beardball...

RIP GaryVee Playoff Beard Dec 28, 2009 -- Jan 28, 2010 (we rounded up)

"2010 will be a really big beard year..." -- Gary Vaynerchuk

The beard, or lack there of, on the face of VaynerMedia co-founder Gary Vaynerchuk (aka @garyvee, the host of Wine Library TV and author of “Crush It!”) has been a topic of discussion in the Build-A-Beard halls since we crossed paths with VaynerMedia staff, and documented our hairy meeting with the post: VaynerMedia - Now Is The Time To (Grow Beards).

Since that time, we've been checking in with their head honcho regularly to get him on the bearded ball, and follow the lead of his staff by listening to our hairy call... then, out of the blue, through all of the cussing we managed to gather that Gary is planning on growing a "Playoff Beard" in 2010 (so that to focus on growing his new biz assets @vaynermedia and @corkd). The bearded calling came out during Loic Le Meur’s Fireside Chat with Gary at Le Web 2009 in Paris earlier this month.

Given Gary's recognizable clean shaven face, we were understandably weary; that is we were, until today... when Gary went public with his hairy ambitions:

Then once our staff pinged Gary with the #proveit request, we received -- along with the rest of his Twitter and Dailybooth communities -- the below mildly hairy proof...

Granted, this isn't the flowing beard we all expected out of the hyper passionate and cause dedicated style that Gary is known for, we are certain that by the end of 2010 (aka the year of the beard), we will all be put to shame with Gary's facial mane.

We don't know about you, but we'll be on the look out... listening, engaging, crushing it, Build-A-Beard style.

Update on 2010-01-01 00:34 by Buildabeard

Update #1... way to go Belorussian DNA!!! #hesserious

Update on 2010-01-03 01:47 by El Beardo

B-a-B is impressed with the Veynerchuk hair genes... well done, now our #garysbeardwatch is in full effect!

RT @garyvee it is most certainly coming...

Update on 2010-01-05 19:54 by Buildabeard

And the beard is off... to the airport. You know how @garyvee rolls, he hustles, and is indeed taking his Playoff Beard on the road, through those revolving doors, into the terminal, through security and onto the plane...

Some (i.e. @GreenLanternJet) made it a point to tell Gary the he must now be more careful with security given his new grizzly self... Yes, this is reality, a sad reality but a reality nonetheless, for us beardos... but remember... it's a small price to pay, and no worse than a physical (when you're 40+)... the only place that wont detain our kind frivolously is probably Beard Airport (in Cumberland County, NC), and maybe one day it'll become an international hub for Beard travel everywhere... a boy can dream.

Update on 2010-01-11 00:38 by El Beardo

Glad your beard didn't get you into any trouble in the various airports you were in this week (and that you made it back in time, with AJ's help) Congrats on yet another win by the J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS Gary! The playoff beard is looking good, on local TV or otherwise... keep it up fellow beardo, keep it going strong.

Grow it out, grow it proud!

Update on 2010-01-16 20:33 by Buildabeard

He is still at it and going strong! We will always be here to support you Gary.. so to answer your question, "what do we think"? Well, we love it (of course), and are very proud of you! Speaking of, congrats on your 800th WLTV episode, it was a great one... your dad should grow a beard too. We'll start a #sashasbeardwatch ASAP if you green light this.

Update on 2010-01-29 02:31 by Buildabeard

it's all over now...it's ok to cry