Kevin O'Leary
Kevin O'Leary
Terence Thomas Kevin O'Learyis a Canadian businessman, investor, journalist, writer, financial commentator and television personality. He is co-founder and Chairman of O'Leary Funds and the co-founder of SoftKey. He previously served as a commentator on Canada's CBC Television and CBC News Network, on the programme The Lang and O'Leary Exchange and hosted Redemption Inc. He is an investor on the ABC reality television series Shark Tank and was a venture capitalist "Dragon" on CBC Television's Dragons' Den...
NationalityCanadian
ProfessionEntrepreneur
Date of Birth9 July 1954
CityMontreal, Canada
CountryCanada
I have met many entrepreneurs who have the passion and even the work ethic to succeed - but who are so obsessed with an idea that they don't see its obvious flaws. Think about that. If you can't even acknowledge your failures, how can you cut the rope and move on?
Filming 'The Road to Riches' was surprisingly difficult for me. I learned that going back to career successes and failures can be emotionally exhausting as you are forced to revisit the euphoric highs and painful lows in high speed.
For whatever reason somebody can be convinced to buy a PC, it opens up a whole new market for all of us in the software business.
There are a lot of idiot fund managers out there who add no value to the process at all.
A lot of people have said a lot of great things about Steve Jobs. And for good reason: he built the world's second-most valuable company, with billions in profits and products that have improved every aspect of our lives. But Steve didn't get there by being a soft, fluffy, Kumbaya-type leader.
If you put a woman in prison for four years when she's young and make her pay her time in a horrible place and she wants to come out and work, and become a mother and be a contributor to society and pay taxes and you never give her that chance. There is something un-Canadian about that.
Don't cry about money, it never cries for you.
I see negotiations as an honest attempt to reach a deal that's great for everyone at the table. But sometimes, for whatever reason, that's impossible. You need to accept that possibility-don't make a deal for the sake of making a deal. If you do, chances are it will fall apart later anyway, with costs and headaches for everyone involved. And once you walk away, don't come back.
Imagine how foolish you'd look if, like one clever salesman who once pitched to me, you tried to license your product to a big industry player without knowing they just launched a competing product. With the right background research, he could have avoided that and other landmines - and so can you.
What are the most important qualities that make a successful entrepreneur? The ability to communicate. The ability to express your idea with certainty. That's how you become a leader-even if you are unsure, your ability to explain your vision and your direction is the attribute you need the most. ... Articulate your idea in 90 seconds or less....
I could have easily gone down the wrong path and dropped out of school, but I was given a second chance.
There's only one side with me. You get the right side. You get the correct version of the facts.
All businesses require capital, management and labor, and business executives, wanting to grow and maintain profitable enterprises, have a strong incentive to keep costs, including labor, as low as possible.
You may lose your wife, you may lose your dog, your mother may hate you. None of those things matter. What matters is that you achieve success and become free. Then you can do whatever you like.