Entrepreneur Simplified kicked off its first EntreCon on Wednesday and Thursday at Utah Valley University, and Thursday’s keynote was a huge draw.

Gary Vaynerchuk, founder of VaynerMedia and serial entrepreneur, earned a standing ovation Thursday before even stepping on the stage in the Grande Ballroom of the Sorensen Student Center at UVU. Despite the adoration, he didn’t mince words throughout his presentation on building meaningful businesses.

He started off explaining that to build a truly successful business, entrepreneurs must be both the architect and the plumber in their business.

“There are way too many architects in here, and way too many plumbers in here, and there’s not enough people who are both,” Vaynerchuk said. “And all the action, all the upside, all the growth in building big businesses comes from being able to do both.”

He added that too many people sit back and listen to his #AskGaryVee show on YouTube, or read books, or hire business coaches, but don’t go out and do the hard work.

“Those are all just disguises for you to actually not do the work,” he said. “Doing is the only option. It’s the only way to win. Work ethic is the only thing everyone in this room controls.”

In the realm of marketing, Vaynerchuk explained that every business should be sharing valuable content, in the form of text, pictures, audio or video on social media channels everyday. If not doing that, he said, “you are silent to the world,” and “100 percent irrelevant in 2017.” On the heels of this, he also cautioned against ego and pride — believing that content is valuable, when the target market doesn’t agree.

“The market is the market is the market. It’s always right. You don’t like that people watch the Kardashians? Tough s—. The market spoke,” he said. “The second you start dwelling that the market is wrong, is the quickest tell that you’re a loser.”

Vaynerchuk spent most of his time taking questions from the audience. In his signature candor, he continued to reiterate the need for business owners to care about their customers, to offer actual value to partners and customers and to actually stop thinking about ideas and execute them.

Kim Flynn, Entrepreneur Simplified CEO, also called attendees to put in the work. She too didn’t want them to go home “happy” or “feeling motivated.” She wanted them to go home and take action in their businesses, to make themselves uncomfortable and lean into it.

Entrepreneur Simplified is a Provo company specializing in hands-on business education and training from those within the business world. According to Whitney Amott, Entrepreneur Simplified executive assistant, EntreCon was organized to share knowledge with more entrepreneurs and startups.

“When people share their strengths and talents, they help others see where they can grow and where they want to be,” Ammott said.

EntreCon’s two-day event included presentations from local business experts on funding and scaling, automating business processes, and leadership and management. Ammott said they hope this will be a recurring event.