Kevin O'Leary x Nelk Boys | Ep. 135

Summary

Full Send Podcast - Episode 135: Kevin O'Leary x Nelk Boys

Release Date: September 20, 2024

Hosted by the Shots Podcast Network and sponsored by Happy Dad Hard Seltzer, Episode 135 of the Full Send Podcast features an engaging conversation between renowned entrepreneur and "Shark Tank" star Kevin O'Leary and the Nelk Boys. This episode delves into a variety of topics, including watch collecting, investment strategies, experiences on "Shark Tank," and Kevin's candid political opinions. Below is a structured summary capturing the key discussions, insights, and notable moments from the episode.

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1. Watch Collecting and Horology

Kevin O'Leary opens the conversation by sharing his passion for watch collecting, highlighting the artistic and investment value of horology.

• Dual Time Watches:

  • Kevin emphasizes the practicality of owning multiple time zone watches.

    "You gotta have two watches, otherwise you don't know what time it is. In New York, you got East Coast LA time, New York time on each wrist. That's how you do it." [03:05]

• FP Journe Appreciation:

  • He lauds FP Journe as the "Picasso of watchmaking," noting the brand's exclusivity and value retention.

    "FP Journe is holding its value. Watches are down about 28% worldwide. Except Jorn. Jorn only goes one way up." [04:55]

• Unique Collections:

  • Kevin discusses owning rare and unique timepieces, including custom Rolex watches made for his "Shark Tank" team members.

    "This watch is probably available right now for about 6k... it's a Founder series. This watch is priceless." [07:21]

2. Investment Philosophy and Entrepreneurship

Kevin offers profound insights into building and sustaining wealth, emphasizing disciplined saving and strategic investing.

• Saving and Investing:

  • He advocates for consistently saving a portion of income and investing it wisely to accumulate wealth over time.

    "If you just save 10, 15% of it by not buying shit you don't need and just stick it in an app... you'll end up being a millionaire." [19:00]

• First Million Milestone:

  • Highlighting the significance of making the first million, Kevin explains that it's often the most challenging financial milestone.

    "Making the first million is the key to success... Once you have 5 million liquid in the bank, you're set for life." [25:05]

3. Experiences on Shark Tank

Reflecting on his tenure as a "Shark" on the popular TV show, Kevin shares anecdotes and strategies that underpin successful investments.

• Criteria for Successful Pitches:

  • Kevin outlines the three essential attributes he looks for in a pitch: clear articulation of the opportunity, execution capability, and detailed knowledge of business metrics.

    "They can articulate the opportunity in 90 seconds or less, explain why you can execute, and know your numbers." [32:58]

• Handling Emotional Reactions:

  • He discusses the emotional toll on entrepreneurs who receive no deals, asserting that crying does not aid in securing investments.

    "Crying does not help. It just doesn't work." [46:13]

• Diversity in Investments:

  • Kevin notes that 70% of his returns come from companies led by women, praising their understanding of risk mitigation.

    "In venture investing, women are killers because they really understand risk mitigation." [40:12]

4. Political Views and Opinions

Kevin openly shares his perspectives on current political figures and the impact of policies on the American economy.

• Critique of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau:

  • He expresses strong criticism of Trudeau's management and policies, citing economic mismanagement and leadership flaws.

    "He's the worst prime minister the country's ever had... capital's leaving Canada like crazy." [57:56]

• 2024 Election Insights:

  • Discussing the upcoming election, Kevin emphasizes the importance of policy over personality, expressing concerns about candidates lacking clear policy positions.

    "She has a 50, 50 chance of winning with absolutely no one knowing what she's going to do... policies that could affect the American dream." [62:37]

5. Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Drawing from his extensive experience, Kevin offers actionable advice for individuals looking to build successful businesses.

• Passion Over Money:

  • He encourages entrepreneurs to pursue their passions rather than solely chasing financial gains, emphasizing the importance of dedication and hard work.

    "You're willing to work 25 hours a day, eight days a week... you don't want to get rich pursuing the greed of money." [18:48]

• Quality Over Quantity:

  • Advocating for investing in high-quality assets, Kevin advises against accumulating unnecessary possessions in favor of items that appreciate over time.

    "Buy good shit. Buy less good shit and instead of more crap. Buy one good pair of sneakers... it doesn't sound stupid, does it?" [22:05]

6. Future Projects and Personal Goals

Kevin discusses his ambitions beyond "Shark Tank," revealing plans to venture into acting and other business endeavors.

• Acting Aspirations:
  • He shares excitement about his upcoming role in a scripted project, describing it as a departure from his usual ventures.

    "I'm really thrilled because it's just a project that's extremely different than what you do." [28:43]

7. Promotional Segments

Throughout the episode, there are promotions for various products and services. As per the podcast’s guidelines, these sections are omitted from the summary to focus on the core content discussions.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

1. On Watch Collecting:

   "FP Journe is holding its value. Watches are down about 28% worldwide. Except Jorn. Jorn only goes one way up." [04:55]

2. On Investment Philosophy:

   "If you just save 10, 15% of it by not buying shit you don't need and just stick it in an app... you'll end up being a millionaire." [19:00]

3. On Shark Tank Success:

   "They can articulate the opportunity in 90 seconds or less, explain why you can execute, and know your numbers." [32:58]

4. On Political Views:

   "She's doing this without giving any detail to her policy. That's unprecedented." [62:37]

5. On Entrepreneurial Advice:

   "Buy good shit...it doesn't sound stupid, does it?" [22:05]

---

Conclusion

Episode 135 of the Full Send Podcast offers a comprehensive and candid conversation with Kevin O'Leary, providing listeners with valuable insights into his passions, investment strategies, experiences on "Shark Tank," and unfiltered political opinions. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, an avid watch collector, or simply interested in Kevin's perspectives, this episode delivers engaging and thought-provoking content that resonates with a wide audience.

Transcript

[Unknown Host 1]

All right, boys, I know as you're.

[Unknown Host 2]

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[Unknown Host 1]

All right, we got another great episode. We got Kevin O'Leary in the house, shows up in style, what, an hour and a half early, and crushes three happy dads right upon entrance.

[Unknown Host 3]

Two watches, dude, I love it.

[Unknown Host 1]

Two watches.

[Kevin O'Leary]

You gotta have two watches, otherwise you don't know what time it is. In New York, you got, you got, you got East Coast LA time, New York time on each wrist. That's how you do it. Unless you want to show your pieces. Right.

[Unknown Host 1]

How many watches do you have?

[Kevin O'Leary]

I got a lot of watches. I got a lot of watches. And so because I've been ripped off twice, two different heists, I don't talk about how many I have or where they are, but it did get me to start a watch insurance company that motivated me to do that. I'm a big watch collector. I believe in horology. I think it's an art no different than modern art. It's very collectible and it's been a great appreciating asset.

[Unknown Host 4]

What's your favorite piece that you have?

[Kevin O'Leary]

You know, this is a big debate. Everybody around in LA loves ap. A lot of Rolex bling here, Patek, of course. But right now, the number one brand on earth, the most collected watch, the most coveted piece because he's still alive, is FP Journe. He is the Picasso of watchmaking. So if you could have bought a Picasso in the early 50s from Picasso and just held onto it, think about that investment. So that's how watchmakers think about Journe getting a piece from him. He's a very eclectic guy. Every piece he makes, he wants to know who's getting it, why they should get it, why they deserve it. It's a very interesting community and people from around the world. You know, in a way, it's a curse for me because I get calls from all around the world and people just grind on me. I need Azure. You gotta talk to fp. It doesn't work that way. Just doesn't work that way. You have to earn your status as a collector because the last thing he wants is to sell you a piece for $18,000, which is his entry level, and then you flip it for 420,000 the next day. That really pisses him off.

[Unknown Host 4]

Yeah, I've seen they're reselling like crazy right now.

[Kevin O'Leary]

They're hard to get, but that's one of the only brands that's holding its value. Watches are down about 28% worldwide. Except Jorn. Jorn only goes one way up.

[Unknown Host 1]

How do you get on the list?

[Kevin O'Leary]

You gotta interview. You gotta go meet them and tell them why you deserve it. If you're not willing to spend three interviews, don't bother. What's like they don't care who you are, how much money you have, or your royalty, whatever it is, doesn't matter. Why do you deserve the next Journe that's being made by one guy in Switzerland right now. Why you?

[Unknown Host 1]

Steiner, you should go interview for that.

[Unknown Host 3]

Yeah, that's good.

[Unknown Host 4]

Can you give me an interview?

[Unknown Host 1]

Get him in the door where he can sell himself.

[Kevin O'Leary]

But are you a collector?

[Unknown Host 4]

Yeah.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Okay. I can get you the interview. And you have to explain to them why you deserve one and why you'd.

[Unknown Host 1]

Be a great ambassador for you Steiny.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Like that's the whole idea. And of course, what are you wearing there? Rolex?

[Unknown Host 4]

Yeah.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah. These are very nice. I noticed a bunch of good watches around here. Daytona over there. Thank you. Whoop. Whoop. Sucks.

[Unknown Host 2]

Whoops.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Dope. What do you mean? Listen, how does whoops. Not only is it ugly, it's an aura. Does a much better job. No, it blows.

[Unknown Host 1]

That doesn't show you workouts, though.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Are you kidding? Look, first of all, you're wasting space. You could have a real piece there. Instead you have a whoop.

[Unknown Host 1]

I don't think aura rings are sauce. I don't. What?

[Kevin O'Leary]

What? I mean, the guy walks in the room and he's 20 off retail. Right away, he's got a whoop on.

[Unknown Host 1]

Who Reps the aura ring, though.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Come on, an aura.

[Unknown Host 1]

Everyone reps whoop like athletes. Ronaldo. No one's rocking an aura ring.

[Kevin O'Leary]

I bet you they're paying him to wear that because Ronaldo would rather sugar reps it.

[Unknown Host 3]

Sugar reps it.

[Unknown Host 2]

What aura?

[Unknown Host 3]

Yeah, that's a different.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Listen, I. I know the whoop guy. He plays squash in Boston. Great guy. But when you're giving up wrist space where you could put a piece, where you could really put a piece of art like a watch, and you put a whoop there. I mean, I think you walk in the room and people are just doing this like they can't believe it. I love whoop. Two wrists, two watches. While we're talking about watches, William woods, you've never heard of this guy? He's a watchmaker that wants to honor first responders from all around the world that risk their lives. Firefighters buy these watches everywhere. This is actually a fire hose. It smells of smoke.

[Unknown Host 3]

Can I see it?

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah, absolutely. Read the back. You'll get a kick out of this. It's a beautiful piece. Very rare.

[Unknown Host 4]

What did that run you?

[Kevin O'Leary]

That watch is probably available right now for about 6k. Not that it's not crazy expensive, but if you talk to a firefighter in England or in Ireland or 911 responders, these guys wear this watch and I thought 911 today we'd honor them. That's why I wore the piece, and I just want to shout them out. William woods, incredible watchmaker. Really motivated around supporting first responders. Met him this year at Watches and Wonders in Geneva. Check the, check out the back. It's a kind of a.

[Unknown Host 3]

So what makes watches so special? Is this the fact that, like, there's.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Only so many dials, though? I mean, I'm a dial guy. You know, the dial. Yeah.

[Unknown Host 3]

Or just is it the fact that there's so few of certain ones?

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah. Yeah. I have a lot of piece uniques. You know, real watch collecting is when you can convince the maker or the brand to make you a one of a kind watch because they respect you as a collector. I'll give you an example. On the other wrist. And I don't think I've talked about this to anybody, but this is a watch made by Rolex, actually their division, Tudor in Silver. For the first 23 people that worked on the pilot here in LA 16 years ago in the studio that day on Shark Tank, if you were in the studio and you were a tech or you're on the. In front of the camera, behind the camera, or A lawyer or whatever, a hair, makeup artist. And you were there that day and you're still working on the show. Rolex made this piece for you. Tudor made this in silver for you with your name on the back, unique serial number and the Shark Tank logo on it.

[Unknown Host 4]

And they did that for you.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Well, they made it for 23 people, including me. I sponsored the project. Okay, so getting the logo out of Sony took two years. Now when I said to them, listen, I'd like you to make a couple of extras, they said, no, we need to know every single name of every single person and we need proof that they were there. It's a Founder series. This watch is priceless. You'll never get another one with your name on it. So we're having a special ceremony this year, awarding them on the 16th here in LA to every individual fly in. The guy from Rolex is coming in. Present each one at a time. Can you imagine getting your own piece with your own name on it? Sauce silver changes its patina over time on your body chemistry. So everyone will look different a decade from now. This is hot, my friends.

[Unknown Host 4]

I mean, you come in here trying to flex on heavy flags.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Dual watches.

[Unknown Host 4]

Didn't know we were going to start.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Out that hot, but I love this kind of crap. I really do.

[Unknown Host 3]

Do you collect anything else?

[Kevin O'Leary]

I do, actually.

[Unknown Host 4]

I gotta hear it laugh. You got some crazy baseball card or something? For sure.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Baseball's interesting these days. Collectibles, right? Yeah.

[Unknown Host 4]

Did you get into that or.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah, no, I've done some stuff in that space. You know the show that happened in Cleveland a few weeks ago? You know what I think about that space right now? It's. It's early times because you've got pricing on Jordans past 3 million, but you got a lot of fraud, you know, a lot of wax. You open up is, it's fake. Guys put these things together and they're bullshit cards in there. What I don't like about that is you got fathers and sons all around America buying these things and getting ripped off. And that pisses me off. So authentication is going to matter. Vaulting is going to matter. It's a space I'm looking at. But I hate it when there's bullshit artists ripping people off. And that's kind of what's going on in that space right now. And I think it happened a couple of times at Cleveland last week, two weeks ago. So there's a big collector in there named Shine. He's pretty famous. He's been ripped off himself a few times. And he's sort of an advocate for cleaning it all up. But I mean, it's, it's a very interesting space because it transcends, you know, obviously what's going on with fanatics, bringing together celebrity, sports, collectibility, investing. Very interesting. And Michael Rubin's kind of the guy right now.

[Unknown Host 1]

He is the guy.

[Kevin O'Leary]

He is the guy. He was a guest shark, by the way. I met him.

[Unknown Host 1]

Oh yeah, I saw that. How was that?

[Kevin O'Leary]

I loved him. No bullshit guy. I mean, you get the feeling he'd rip your heart out if you lie to him. Like, I just loved him. He was just great. He was great on Shark Tank. He should come back. He invited me to his white party and that was a watch event like I'd never seen.

[Unknown Host 1]

Did you go?

[Kevin O'Leary]

Oh, yeah.

[Unknown Host 1]

How was it?

[Kevin O'Leary]

I wanted to bring my, you know, this was a watch contest every, like, you know, Jay Z Brady. And I thought, what could I wear that could totally kick ass? And at that party, because that's really what that thing was about. You walk in with your watch. So I brought the Cartier Crash. Nobody had one. And so when I saw Brady, because I know him and I said, you know Brady, I think I kicked your ass today. He said, no, no, no, no. I have a one of a kind AP with a Super bowl wins at the 11, 11 o'clock mark. And I went, oh fuck. That's when I lost that game. That's. I came in number two. So Brady screwed me. That was it. But up till then I was winning. But that's the kind of stuff I love.

[Unknown Host 4]

Do you, do you judge people off what they're wearing?

[Kevin O'Leary]

I don't. I judge them on whether they're collectors or not, you know boys.

[Unknown Host 1]

This episode is sponsored by Shopify. Shopify is an all in one e commerce platform revolutionizing millions of businesses worldwide. Shopify is the only tool you need to start run and grow your in person or e commerce business without the struggle. Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business. From the launch your online shop stage to the first real life store stage, all the way to the did we just hit a million order stage. Shopify is there to help you grow. So whether you're offering custom printed coffee mugs from Shopify's in person POS system, you are in good hands. By now it's clear you boys know that I love Shopify. We've literally used Shopify's ecommerce platform from the very beginning to offer full send gear and now happy die gear and Board jerky gear on our websites. My favorite thing about Shopify is no matter how big you want to grow, it gives you everything you need to take control and take your business to the next level. Shopify powers 10% of all E commerce in the US and Shopify is truly a global force, powering millions of entrepreneurs of every size across over 170 countries. Plus, Shopify's award winning help is there to support your success every step of the way. This is a possibility powered by Shopify. So boys, you could sign up for a $1 per month trial period at shopify.com fullsend so go to shopify.com fullsend $1 per month trial and take your business to the next level Today.

[Kevin O'Leary]

This episode is brought to you by Google Gemini. With the Gemini app, you can talk live and have a real time conversation with an AI assistant. It's great for all kinds of things, like if you want to practice for an upcoming interview, ask for advice on things to do in a new city, or brainstorm creative ideas. And by the way, this script was actually read by Gemini. Download the Gemini app for iOS and Android today. Must be 18 + to use Gemini Live. If you're just wearing a watch because you want bling, you're not a collector. But if you really appreciate the art and you're buying to collect, I appreciate you. You're an art collector. What's the difference? Modern art watches, same thing. So I don't judge them on what they're wearing.

[Unknown Host 1]

Who's the biggest watch collector?

[Kevin O'Leary]

You know, Royal family, United arid Emirates.

[Unknown Host 1]

Oh shit.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah. I thought I was the biggest watch collector in the world. I'm dog compared to those guys. They have pieces, they have a room this size with drawers in it. It's just one room. They have watches from, you know, vintage, etc. I have a lot of respect for them because they collect it for art and they, they don't boast about it. I wouldn't know that unless one of them just contacted me, said, come over here, we'll show you some watches. We respect you as a collector. I couldn't believe what I saw. And I really realized where I am in the pecking order. You're always serving somebody else. No matter how rich you think you are, there's somebody else richer, there's somebody else bigger. And that's really something I've learned that you gotta be humble because no matter how good you think you are, there's somebody better. And it lets you think about getting better yourself. You're never the King, never.

[Unknown Host 1]

Well, it's hard to compete with those guys. I mean, they own like the whole oil of a country. Right.

[Kevin O'Leary]

They don't think that way anymore. I have a lot of respect for them. They've diversified their economy so much. They have really done something that, that's a 52 year old country. 52 years old.

[Unknown Host 1]

Well, they're doing it right over there.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah. That they, they basically have taken the best of every country in the world and put it in one place. There's no place like Abu Dhabi. There's no place like Dubai. No place. I mean, I, when I first went there, I couldn't believe it. I just thought it was. How can they have done this in 52 years?

[Unknown Host 1]

We go every year for the UFC fights there, so we've been three times too. It's, it's incredible.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Pepsi center, right, or the Coke Center.

[Unknown Host 1]

It's in Abu Dhabi.

[Kevin O'Leary]

It's in Abu Dhabi.

[Unknown Host 1]

It's like an outdoor arena.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Eddie. Dad. Yeah, it's amazing. I mean, it's amazing. I love that place and I go there quite a bit. I'm doing business with those guys. I love them and I just have a lot of respect for what they've done.

[Unknown Host 1]

You think the Middle east is like those guys?

[Kevin O'Leary]

Saudi. Same thing on the Qatar, obviously. It's a sad thing that it's in such chaos right now in Gaza and Israel. That's really sad. But the potential of that region is very good.

[Unknown Host 4]

So when you say that, that couldn't have been your first humbling moment though, seeing their watch collection. Right.

[Kevin O'Leary]

I got a phone call from one of the collectors five, six years ago who I didn't know, and he texted me and said, I hear you're in New York. And I said, yeah. He said, look, I, I, and I, I didn't know who FB Jordan was. He said, I'm a, you know, he was one of the royal family members of the uae. And he said, why don't you mosey on over to their boutique? I said, I don't even know who Jorn is. And he said, I'll get you an introduction. They have their big global dinner tonight. I'm going to get you an invite to dinner. So I went there and I met him through this connection and that's our beginning of our friendship. And then I went over to see him in Abu Dhabi and we became close friends. But he's also a minister in the government and that, that's how we kind of, he, you know, we started our relationship through watches. Watches are a way to build your community around the world because other collectors respect you. He see. He saw some Instagram video I did or something, and we've. We've been close ever since. And that drew me into business there. That's what happened.

[Unknown Host 3]

It's crazy. That's how I feel about the gym.

[Unknown Host 4]

What. Just a good place to.

[Unknown Host 1]

Yeah.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Networking, you know. One of the things I've learned we should. Let's parlay this conversation into something I'd like to tell people, because I teach a lot now, young entrepreneurs, and I'm beginning to realize that a lot of people are confused about what it takes to be successful. And I don't mean just money. You know, it's not. I don't get up in the morning and say, I want to be richer. I don't give a. I don't need any more money. But you don't get rich pursuing the greed of money. You get rich because you're passionate about something. It's a business you start. You're willing to work 25 hours a day, eight days a week, and then one day we wake up and you're filthy rich. And the benefit of that is freedom to do whatever you want. You want to buy a watch, you can do it. To buy a car, you can do it. You want to take your family somewhere, you can do it. But mostly what happens, and this is kind of interesting, I don't care who you talk to. You just work harder. You just do more. You just. You just. I. I never worked harder in my life than I am now. I'm just all over the world, all the time doing stuff I love, and I have the freedom to pursue it, but the mistake people make. So I want to give a little advice here. I think the average salary in America is about $58,000. That's it. If you just save 10, 15% of it by not buying shit you don't need and just stick it in an app, anything that just accrues to the market, you don't need to open a big brokerage account. There's lots of apps out there. I backed one called Beanstalks that just lets you put 15 bucks in a week or whatever, 100 bucks a week, whatever you want to put in and just let it sit there during your lifetime, you'll end up being a millionaire. You'll have a million and a half in the bank by the time you're 68 when you're retiring. And that, to me, is what everybody should be doing. Because you buy a coffee for 5,50, you buy a sandwich for 13 bucks? That's stupid.

[Unknown Host 1]

You don't buy coffee at all ever?

[Kevin O'Leary]

No, I don't. Like, I do buy coffee, but I know it costs 15 cents to make. Why am I paying 550 for it?

[Unknown Host 1]

So you're at a big at home coffee guy.

[Kevin O'Leary]

No, I'm a big. At office. I provide coffee for everybody. Like, you know, I'd rather you stayed and worked and go and spend $5.50 or go buy a sandwich for 13 bucks. When we were running the Learning Company, I served lunch to everybody in the boardroom every day. Why? Because they stayed and worked and we gave great food and great chefs and everybody kept look forward to lunch. And we ended up working all lunch and we work all afternoon, we work all night. But it was. I hate pissing away money. I just really do. So I bet all of you in here, go look at what's in your. What's in your closet. You got two pair of jeans you do wear, and seven you haven't worn in two years. You got 15 sneakers, one pair you wear every day and the rest you've forgotten about. 40 T shirts, three are your favorites. Why'd you buy all that shit? It could be making you 8% a year in the market for the rest of your life. That doesn't sound stupid, does it? You don't need a lot of shit.

[Unknown Host 4]

You've definitely had experiences and it sounds like it can be personal, but when you've, when have you like been burned or overpaid or. When have you overpaid for something that's pissed you off?

[Kevin O'Leary]

I don't overpay for anything.

[Unknown Host 4]

That's never one.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah, no, no, no, no. I've been, Listen, I've made mistakes, but let me tell you a lesson my mother taught me and I saw it happen because she's passed away a long time ago. She, you know, we were not wealthy family, but she loved Chanel. She was crazy about Chanel women's clothing jackets and, and, you know, skirts. Chanel, Chanel, Chanel, Chanel. That's really expensive. And. But she, rather than buy five dresses a year, she bought two Chanel jackets a year. That's it. When she passed away, there was a cat fight in my family amongst the women for those vintage Chanel jackets which had appreciated in value over decades. Classic vintage Chanel is a big deal for women because they still look spectacular. It's classic fashion. And that kind of taught me something. Buy good shit. Buy less good shit and you know, instead of more crap. So buy a Good pair of sneakers. Buy the best. Buy the best suit you can buy and keep it because it's, you know, rather than 40 pieces of shit, buy two good things. Same philosophy with watches, same thing with cars, same thing with guitars. I like good shit and it goes up in value.

[Unknown Host 2]

Alright boys, you guys have seen me in the gym. I'm always looking for healthy snacks and I want to let you guys know about bored jerky. This is one of my favorite healthy snacks. Straight up. I eat this all the time. We got a bunch of different flavors. Teriyaki Spicy's fire. My favorite is peppered. This is my go to snack. I keep it in my backpack when I travel. Always on airplanes, I'm snacking on this. What I love about it is the macros are fucking pretty fire. It's only got 2 grams of carbs per serving, 3 grams of fat and then the whole bag has 30, 32 grams of protein. You guys have seen me recently. I'm trying to stay in the gym, trying to stay in shape. And when I'm always traveling in the airports and stuff like that, there's a bunch of garbage snacks with shitty macros. So this is reliable for me. I know that it doesn't up the barrel too much and it's high in protein. I've always loved beef jerky too. And this is literally the best beef jerky I've tried. If you don't believe me, try it for yourself. Thank me later. Everyone that tries it loves it. It is amazing, amazing quality beef jerky. It's available right now on Amazon.com the reviews are going crazy. Everybody loves it. It is fire beef jerky. If you don't believe me, try it for yourself. Go to Amazon.com try out some bo jerky. Like I said, my favorite flavor is peppered. Just cuz the macros are fire. Keep the barrel in check. Protein up. Let's get back on the pod.

[Unknown Host 3]

I have a question. You mentioned about saving money until and then be a millionaire when you're 60. Most people probably want to be a millionaire when they're younger. For you specifically, at what point did you start to see real financial success and what were you doing? Like what was the first thing that really changed?

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah, that's a good question. I was never chasing money, but I became a millionaire when I was pretty young because I took my company public. Probably made my first million when I was 26. Once you make your first million, the hardest thing to do in the world is make the first million. Then the hardest is to make the next four. So you have 5 million. Once you have 5 million liquid in the bank, you're set for life. You can survive anything at 5, but once you get to 5, it's really easy to get to 50. That's what happens. I know it sounds trite, but it's true, because you start investing and you start multiplying that capital. Once you're at 50, there's no holding you back. And so really what I'm saying is getting the first million is the key to success. And the way to get the first million is don't be stupid. Like, figure out what is it, what do I got to do to get the first. And I'm talking a million liquid dollars in the bank, not a million in AP watches or a million in a house. I'm talking about cash areno in the bank. Liquid cash that if the shit hits the fan in your life, you have it there. That's not enough. But five is, no matter what happens in your family. And you've got 5 million liquid making right now 5% in the bank. That's not bad. Then you have all the rest of your stuff for taking risk. But I always have that cash areno in there, and I never let that nest egg go anywhere. And I've met lots of people that feel the same way about it. But when you're young, if you can get the first million by the time you're 30, you're going to do okay. Now people say, oh, I'm going to get it when I'm 23. Not so easy. You're just getting out of college. You haven't really figured yourself out yet. Should be an apprentice somewhere. It feels really good to look at that account the day it's got all those zeros on it. Like, I remember looking at it saying, wow, how do I do this? And then after that, I never look back. I never look back. And. And now it's not. I don't know, it's just not that big a deal. I mean, it's just. That's not what I care about. I don't care about that. I mean, I don't want to waste money, but that's not what motivates me. I'm looking for interesting stuff to do, work with entrepreneurs. Just do interesting stuff.

[Unknown Host 4]

Yeah.

[Kevin O'Leary]

You know, just find things that I'm. Find things that are not in my comfort zone that I've, you know, like, yeah, I know how to tape Shark Tank. I've been doing that for 16 years. I really enjoy it. I like investing in entrepreneurs. But I've never done a movie. I've never been a scripted character. Well, that's about to change. And I'm gonna try that.

[Unknown Host 4]

What is. What's your role?

[Kevin O'Leary]

I can't tell you. I'd have to kill you. But you're gonna see it soon.

[Unknown Host 4]

Okay. What would be your dream role?

[Kevin O'Leary]

My dream role is to be a billionaire. In the 50s, in the emerging of America at a time of extreme volatility, anxiety. The World War II was just over. Opportunity, no phones, all that. Imagine. Imagine New York City, 1948. What that must have been like to be in that world when the world was your oyster and America was just gelling. I would like to go back in time.

[Unknown Host 4]

I don't think that's that challenging of a role for you, though.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Well, we'll see. I've never. I've never.

[Unknown Host 1]

Gatsby was 1920.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah.

[Unknown Host 3]

What was great? Gatsby.

[Kevin O'Leary]

What is that? No, no, listen, listen. I. You'll. I'd love to tell you because I've been working on this project now for a few months. I was at Avro last night reading my script.

[Unknown Host 4]

Oh, I love Avro.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah, I love it. I'm sitting at the bar eating oysters, drinking Chablis, reading the script for the 50th time. So you got to know your lines. But we start shooting this thing at the end of this month in New York and in other cities. I'm very excited. I have never done this before, but I am motivated, and I'm just. I can't wait to do it. I can see that.

[Unknown Host 1]

I can see that.

[Kevin O'Leary]

I'm really thrilled because it's just a. You know, that's what I mean. You want to find projects like that that are extremely different than what you do. You want to keep interested. You want to stay young, you want to stay motivated. You want to get up in the morning, find stuff that is not in your comfort zone, that you've never done before. Otherwise, it's the same stuff you're always doing. And I think that that. That gets me very jazzed to go and, you know, work on it and spend the time on it, and I'm just thrilled to do it.

[Unknown Host 3]

Did you feel this way about the first company that you took public? Did you feel that way then mean.

[Kevin O'Leary]

That I'm talking about it? No.

[Unknown Host 3]

The first company that you had major success with.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Oh, that was years ago.

[Unknown Host 3]

Did you. Did you feel that way about that project?

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I. I remember. I mean, we. That thing was. That was in the 80s. I mean, it was a long time ago, but I've done so many. You know, you do transitions, you're an operator. Like when you found a company, you're entrepreneur and you operate it and you build it and you hire people and you go through all that trials and tribulations and then once you sell, you become an investor, you're not the same. You're not running the business, you're finding people to do that with you and for you. And that's a different role. And you make a lot of mistakes. I mean, I've had some great investments and I made some really bad ones too. But, you know, that's venture investing. You think it's going to be great. That's, you know, think about Shark tank. I'll do 1012 deals this year. I'm shooting it right now. We're all sitting in la. I'm shooting it, you know, and the ones that I think are the very best turn out to be dog shit. And the ones that I think, ah, this is just a funny TV deal I make millions off. You just don't know. It's, it's so serendipitous, so unusual, so unique. And I, I use, I have a great example of one. A few years ago, this woman comes on the set of Shark Tank. Anna Sky. Anna sky was her name, entrepreneur. And she comes out with a cat and a Q tip. And she says, listen, I have made a cat DNA testing kit for cats that can extend their lives for $29.95. And everybody looked at her and I said to her, why would I ever buy that? When I got buy a new cat for five bucks, why would I do that?

[Unknown Host 4]

I've seen that episode.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. She said, you don't get it. This is data. This is a data company. You swab the cat, you send in the swab, we gather the data. There's 110 million cats in America. And we start to learn what diseases they're suffering from around what cluster of DNA. And I thought the whole thing was total bullshit, but she was so compelling. Oh, she was a beast. She wouldn't leave there with the 200 without the 250 grand. So I finally said, I can't take it anymore. I'll give you the 250 just to get you out of here. That was my best investment ever. The thing sold for a fortune for the data because I didn't see it at the time, but she saw it. So now these pet companies, Big pharma wants to help you extend your cat life. To 30 in the 30th year. You can do that with a cat if you give them the right food because they die of abscessed teeth and brain hemorrhaging. All this crap from feeding them shitty food based on their DNA. There's only three big pools of Siamese cat is a big, big DNA pool around the world, for example. But anyways, it was so interesting for me to realize you don't know everything. Shut up and listen and take a few flyers because you don't know. And you're going to be richly rewarded for it.

[Unknown Host 1]

How do those terms work on the show? Like in terms of like the fine print of the deals, like besides just the investment, you know what I mean?

[Kevin O'Leary]

Well, we got the guy right here, Matt somebody, the analyst is here. He was here.

[Unknown Host 1]

So does it go into like a long form negotiation after.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You get to do due diligence. People say things in front of the cameras and the lights in the moment. And I don't blame them for trying to pitch themselves in the best light they can. They've been practicing for months in front of a mirror. But nothing is the same as when you walk out there and the 26 cameras are rolling and the sharks are up there and there's a billion dollars in front of you and this is your moment. This is it. I've seen crazy shit happen. Like people pass out. They go nuts when they don't get a deal. I mean, all kinds of stuff, but it's very unusual. I've seen it all. I mean, I've seen thousands of pitches over 16 years. But I will tell you the three. I should disclose this to you. There are three things present in every successful pitch. They don't know each other. It's different deals. They've never met each other. They don't know this. But if you look at 16 years of pitches on the ones that actually got funded, they all have three attributes, the same three attributes. Number one, they're able to articulate the opportunity in 90 seconds or less. They're able to explain the idea in sometimes 20 seconds. They understood that it was important to just light the room up with an idea. If you can't explain it in 90 seconds or less, you're lost, you're lost. But most of them did it in 30 seconds. That's number one. Everybody wakes up, says, ooh, interesting idea, interesting idea. I've never heard of that before. But that's not enough. The next piece, which takes longer is. You have to explain why you can execute on this idea, what is it about you that knows how to take this and turn it into a business? Did you work for competitor? Did you work to try it before and failed before? I'd rather invest in an entrepreneur that failed than one that's just made it, you know, thinks they can get it right the first time. But something about you that ties you to the idea. Because after all, great ideas are a dime a dozen. Executional skills are really rare. But there's one third one and this is a real bitch. This one is tough because imagine you get the first two right. Everybody wants to invest in you. They're all pitching, they're all want to be part of the deal. They love it. You got to know your numbers. How big is the market, how fast is growing, what's the break even analysis? What is it about this, you know, market that you understand right down to every cent? You know, the business model, how many competitors are there, how fast is it growing? But you get those three, right, you'll find that three attribute in every successful pitch. And it goes beyond Shark Tank. That's the essence of leadership right there. Right there. Those three things are present whether you're a general, a parent, a preacher, an entrepreneur, a manager in some business. That's leadership right there. That's it. And I teach that now because I've seen it so many times. That's it. That's, that's the essence of success distilled into three things that you should never forget.

[Unknown Host 4]

It seems like too you're pretty needed on the show because you're the only like savage or a person who will hit them straight with it.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah.

[Unknown Host 4]

And do you ever feel like that that's a problem for the other hosts like Robert, who's maybe softer on the.

[Kevin O'Leary]

People, you know, you've brought up a good point here. It's a delicate one because, you know, I just, I was living this 12 hours ago, right on the Shark Tank. Literally. We were shooting late. So think about, ask yourself this, is it better to tell them the truth or is it better to take care of their feelings when they, when you know with certainty their idea is complete dog shit and it's going to zero. Imagine they're mortgaging their home, they're borrowing money from friends and family. It's a complete turd. It's going to zero now. Laurie's on my left, Barbara's on my right. And they're so kumbaya. And they say, well, you know, I just think you're wonderful and I admire you coming here. And you know, pitching this idea, I can't invest because it's just not for me. When I know with certainty they wouldn't touch this radioactive turd at any price. It just. It's a dog. And I listen to all this and I just finally say to them, listen, your idea is a piece of shit. It's going to zero. You're wasting your time. The only person up here telling you the truth is me. They're Kumbaya ing you because they don't want to hurt your feelings. I don't give a shit about your feelings. I care about your money. And I think you're wasting your parents money, your money. And you're wasting the most precious assets you have in your life. Time. Take this idea behind the barn and shoot it and come back with something better. And then they start crying and then everybody's saying what I mean. Guy bullshit. I'm the only guy that's kind to them. That's my answer to that question. And by the way, the only reason Barbara gets here every year on time is I buy her a new broom.

[Unknown Host 3]

A new what?

[Kevin O'Leary]

Broom.

[Unknown Host 4]

Broom.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah, she flies here.

[Unknown Host 3]

Oh, my God.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Dude, listen, I'm a nice guy. I bought her the new.

[Unknown Host 1]

Well, this is true.

[Unknown Host 4]

This is true.

[Unknown Host 3]

But except for the cat lady who proved you wrong, right? She got you.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Hey, I invested in her.

[Unknown Host 3]

Yeah, because you want to get her the fuck out of there. Because the idea was so bad, right? Until it made you the most money.

[Kevin O'Leary]

You know, I began to realize, anybody with that much tenacity. Anybody with that much. She was. She had balls. She just wouldn't stop. And I thought, if she's doing this to me, what's she going to do when she gets out there in the real world? She's a killer. Yeah, she was a beast. You're betting on the horse there and the jockey. In a deal like that, you got a great idea, it turns out. But she was just unbelievable. Anaskaya. And by the way, over 16 years, 70% of my returns have come from companies run by women in the venture space. I do a lot of that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The shark tank deals 70% women. That's where I made my money. Now, look, I invest in real estate and a lot of other stuff, but in venture investing, women are killers because they really understand risk mitigation. You know, this idea, if you want something done, give it to a busy mother. That's true. They balance a lot of stuff in their lives. So if they say, I got three kids, I don't care. I know that they can be really good entrepreneurs and they can run a business, because I've seen it happen multiple times for me. Multiple times. Multiple times.

[Unknown Host 4]

What about on the flip side where you were super confident in a business that you invested in, it completely flopped.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah, that happens. You know, it's just any.

[Unknown Host 4]

That, Any particular that really bothered you or you were surprised?

[Kevin O'Leary]

Well, let me tell you this story. I think you'll find it interesting. When I was, you know, my. My dad died when he was very young. And my stepfather really encouraged me, said, listen, you're listless, you want to be a guitarist, and then you want to be a photographer, and you, you're gonna starve to death. Like you just don't know what you wanna do. Why don't you go to school and take some business degrees? And I ended up doing an mba. I didn't know what I wanted to do. And in the last week of the, you know, they bring in these guest lecturer guys into the class. And this particular guy came in, you know, in the classic. You got 160 guys in this amphitheater deal, and the professor's down at the bottom. You got your nameplate, the there. And you've been with these people two years, going through your. Your masters of Business. And this guy comes in a week before we're graduating, and he. He doesn't say anything. He walks in, he's just walking up and down the aisles and looking up at everybody for like, it felt like forever. It was probably only 90 seconds. And then he said, you guys think you're such hot shit. You have your mba, you're about to graduate, and you're just going to tear the world apart. You're so full of. You don't know anything. A third of you are going to fail within two years. Another third are going to become consultants, and the rest of you are going to work like hell to try and get a business off the ground. And half of you will fail. You don't know anything. You have no experience. And I, you know, I. Barry Nicole is the guy beside me. He's dead now. Great classmate, but God rest his soul. But I really, I leaned over to Barry and said, this guy is such an asshole. You know who that guy is today? Me. That's how I feel. Because I teach now in those classes, they say the same thing. So my point about this is, as you age and you experience stuff that you can never do, there's no way to get experience free. You can't do it. You have to go experience it, lose money, invest in bad stuff. Learn what works, learn about people. A lot of people are bullshitters, by the way, particularly in this town. This is the king of bullshit, Los Angeles. Just so you guys know, in case you didn't know that there's nothing more bullshitty than the the media industry and the movie industry. I've never seen such bullshit in my life, but I love it. Just to let you know. But you have to understand who you're dealing with and you only get you start to get that in your DNA. And so the mistake I've made in investments, I don't do this anymore. But long answer to that question is I don't listen to my gut. I'm writing a check to a guy for half a million bucks. This episode is brought to you by Dutch Bros. Get stoked for all the holly jolly vibes this season at Dutch Bros. Stay cozy with returning winter faves. Hazelnut truffle mocha and candy cane Mocha plus plus the new winter Shimmer Rebel energy drink blends up sweet cream and blue razz flavor with soft top and shimmer springs to keep those spirits energized all winter long. Download the Dutch Bros app to find your nearest shop. Order ahead and start earning rewards.

[Unknown Host 1]

Future you faces some big expectations.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Work out more, go to bed earlier and most importantly, make smart money decisions.

[Unknown Host 1]

Thankfully today you has bank of America.

[Kevin O'Leary]

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[Unknown Host 1]

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[Kevin O'Leary]

What would you like the power to do?

[Unknown Host 1]

Explore our tips and [e-mail] future you.

[Kevin O'Leary]

And my, my gut is saying don't do this. This is a loser. And I've done it a few times and I've ignored my inner instinct, which is actually another word for experience. So you should get to respect that in you over time. And the older you get, the better you're getting this. But if you don't listen to your experience, you're going to lose a lot of money and a lot of time. And now I don't do that. I don't give a shit if my gut says no, I don't do it. I don't care what the, you know, what anybody tells me or what they say or I just say, you know what, I'm not doing it because it just doesn't feel right. And I don't give a shit what you say. And I get, you know, I look at deals every day, I see deals every single day and I just, I wait for the feeling to hit me. And it's. It's not right some of the time. It's right 100% of the time. Because I go back two years later and say, what happened to that deal? It's a zero. But my instinct told me, don't do it.

[Unknown Host 1]

What's been the most emotional someone's got when you've said something like savage to them on the show?

[Kevin O'Leary]

It's been pretty bad. It's been pretty bad.

[Unknown Host 4]

You've been attacked before. Charged. They've charged your chair.

[Kevin O'Leary]

We have a psychiatrist there.

[Unknown Host 4]

Really?

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah, we need one. We need one. We've had some very, very difficult moments, and I think that's what makes the show work. It's real. It's brutal. It's hard, it's tough. Most people don't get deals. They don't like that answer, but they get that. And, you know, it's a very, very hard moment. And I gotta respect. Gotta give him a moment. Gotta give him time. But I must say, when it comes to business, crying does not help. It just doesn't work. I feel bad for you. I feel sorry for you on the.

[Unknown Host 4]

Show a few times, though.

[Kevin O'Leary]

I mean, let me. Let's just stay on the topic for a second. You think you can cry your way into an investment? You think you can sit there weeping saying, please give me money? You think that works?

[Unknown Host 4]

I've seen some stuff like that on the show, though, where it seems like maybe they chop it up that way, but it has worked. Not with.

[Kevin O'Leary]

There's emotional moments, but if it's not a good business, it doesn't matter how much you cry. There are emotional moments, Particularly when people have lost parents and they're. You know, shit happens. You know, when you're in that moment and you get in the zone and you're pitching and you're just there. You can. When nobody sees the cameras anymore, it's just what it is. And shit happens. It just happens. And I appreciate the human experience, but if everybody said no to you and you start crying, I hate to tell you this. I don't give a shit. I just don't care. Because that you have to be able to suck it up, pick yourself up, and go do something else better, then I'll respect you for it. But don't sit there crying. I mean, I don't care. And I. Believe me, I'm gonna sleep at night. No problem. I've seen it all.

[Unknown Host 2]

All right, boys. We're pod. Really, really quick. I wanna let you guys know about my favorite shit manscape. All right? I don't advertise anything that, that I don't actually use on the pod. I've been fucking with manscaped the last few months. I got this one, it's the golden lawn mower. Now like I've said before, this literally looks like Elon Musk made this razor. I bring it everywhere with me when I travel. It's got all the different attachments to different lengths. This one's for your pubes too because boys, you cannot be rocking a full jungle down there. Jimmy Gambles, this guy rocks a bush. I'm actually going to give you this one. Take it home, like give it back to me now. But I'm gonna give this to you.

[Unknown Host 1]

After you take it home because you need it.

[Unknown Host 2]

Boys, you can't be rocking a full blown jungle down there. It's not cool. You can rock a little bit, but you can't be going full blown forest. The girls don't fuck with the Amazon, to be honest. But yeah, manscaped. What I love about it is it's a one stop shop. So you don't gotta bounce around to a couple different websites or go to a bunch of different stores. It's got everything you need to just stay fresh from head to toe. They got all the deodorants, they got fucking sack lotion. Like they literally have everything you need, need just to stay groomed up, stay fresh. A lot of you guys are going back to school, you're out, you're partying, you're trying to get chicks. Make sure you're ready. You'd be way more confident if you're fresh. We also got you boys on a sweet ass discount.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Code.

[Unknown Host 2]

Use code NELK. That's gonna get you 20% off the entire website, plus free shipping. It's a fire deal. 20% off plus free shipping with code NELK. Go to manscaped.com. get whatever you need. Boys, we gotta be staying fresh, we gotta be looking good. We're in the gym now. It's important. Look good, feel good, you're gonna be more confident. So yeah, go to manscape.com, code no. 20 off the entire website plus free shipping. That's for you boys to take advantage of if you want to. I love manscape though. This is my shit. Gambles, take this home. Your dirt will thank me.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Let's go.

[Unknown Host 2]

Let's get back in the pot.

[Unknown Host 4]

You said Barbara was a witch. Who do you think is most impressive out of your other hosts?

[Kevin O'Leary]

You know, I, I there. Here's the thing, it's very Difficult because everybody there is self made. They're not posers. They made their own money and so they've done it themselves. And so you got to respect that you may not agree with them on one particular deal or another. I have a lot of respect for Barbara, actually, because she's a great chef and so am I. And we cook for each other in New York when I'm there. And I've known her forever. Cuban, incredible guy. We don't agree on anything, but I mean, I've known the guy forever and we do a lot of stuff. We do deals together and he's helped me in a lot of other stuff. And Damon's like a brother. In Miami, we hang out. You know, it's, it's, it's. I do business with any of them, but, you know, it's like, it's a little bit like friends. We've been together so long that we don't need to spend more time. When we, when we started, we'd hit LA every night. We'd go out all night, we'd party all night. We'd hit another club all night, and we'd get back in the studio at seven in the morning and do it again the next night. But we've been together 16 years.

[Unknown Host 1]

That's crazy.

[Kevin O'Leary]

And we don't need to do that anymore. I already know what Barbara's gonna say before she even fucking says it. Like, I know already, so it's incredible. And we love the platform we built, but we don't hang that much anymore because we don't need to. I can call any of them up right now anytime. And, you know, it's like a, it's like a family, but it's not just them. Think about the 150 people that work on that show that have been around that thing for 16 years. It's a family. And then we just won the Emmy last night or two nights ago. That was cool. You know, you're sitting in the audience. I, you know, I've always thought, what's it like when they call your name? That's pretty damn cool.

[Unknown Host 1]

That's dope.

[Kevin O'Leary]

That was very cool. We walked out of there with those Emmys. I loved it. I loved it.

[Unknown Host 1]

What's been the secret to like, keeping all you guys together? Because you guys are all strong personalities and obviously financially successful. What's been the secret to like, for, for that long? There must have been some arguments and personality clashes.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah, there have been. There have been. But we leave it, and we leave it in the studio when we break at night. We've had horrific arguments. I remember once when Robert walked off the set, he was so pissed. And he was pissed, pissed, like real pissed. And we didn't even stop tape. We just kept rolling. And when we broke that night, we all went for dinner. We didn't even talk about it. It just was the way it was. And I think we were able to distance ourselves from the emotion of that. But, you know, you think about the alchemy of putting those people together, the genius of that. How did that happen? How did they pick the right personalities back then? 16 years ago. I remember meeting here at Shutters with Mark Burnett 16 years ago, and he said, look, I got this new show called Shark Tank based off a Japanese format called Dragon's Dental, and I want to bring it to America. I'm going to change the name. It's going to be called Shark Tank. And I'm looking for a real. And you're it. I said, wow, no kidding, that sounds good. And that was the beginning of how.

[Unknown Host 3]

Do you think you had that sort of look for you? Like, how did he know you were.

[Kevin O'Leary]

An Prior I was working in London on a show called Project Earth, Discovery Channel. I'd worked on the Dragon's Den format as well, which was the original format. He saw those tapes, got it, and he said, don't go changing. Just, Just be who you are and let's just see how that works. And I said, you got it. I, I can't wait to work with you. But it was also Sony, abc, mgm, all the work they did in finding these personalities and putting us together, we didn't even know each other. And that, that, that, that did day that we taped the first day, you could feel the sparks. It was just, I mean, that, that's the genius of Mark Burnett and that whole crew, they just, that's what they do. That's the creation of reality tv. And that's why we're celebrating. It goes right back to this watch. We were talking about this watch. There's 23 of them in the world. And that was for the Magic of those 23 people that day, almost to the day today, 16 years ago, and we had no idea what would happen. I mean, now Shark Tank, it's insane. It's like a passport. I go to any country in the world, it's on in 54 countries. I show up in Norway or Switzerland or Abu Dhabi or France. There are Shark Tank fans everywhere. France, the Olympics, Crazy. Like just. I was on a train between Zurich, Geneva and Zurich, and this couple came to up to me said, can we take a picture with you? We're from Austria. We just got married. You're the most hated man in Austria. I said, wow, you got to be kidding. He said, yeah, everybody hates you. You're so mean. I said, what do you want your picture with me for? Well, we love Shark Tank. I said, okay, let's take the shot. It was amazing. And that. That's the extension of that brand. It's just incredible.

[Unknown Host 3]

You don't care about being the hated guy at all, huh? That guy, when you were young, gave.

[Kevin O'Leary]

You the okay, you know, listen, that. That is the real me. And I can't change and I can't fake it. And, you know. You know, I. You know, I don't. You know, I don't. I actually don't care. Yeah, I don't care. I. I care what my family and friends think about me, but I don't. How can I take care of, you know, 100 million people that, that's what. 100 million people watch Shark Tank and syndication in America every year. A lot of them don't like me. What am I supposed to do about that? I'm supposed to stay up at night worrying about it. I. I can't make everybody happy. I don't even try. It's pointless. I like. I don't care if you like me. I just want you to respect me. And I don't lie to anybody. You know, I just tell the truth. And if you can't deal with it, I don't care. You know, it's just, what am I. How can I possibly help you? I mean, you know, just. If you don't listen to the truth, I can't help you. I'm giving you good advice. You don't want it, don't use it. I don't care.

[Unknown Host 1]

What made you decide to run for prime Minister?

[Kevin O'Leary]

I don't know what the fuck I was thinking. You know, I just. That was unbelievable experience. I just. I don't know what the hell I was thinking. I remember I went home and told my wife. She said, what, are you crazy? Are you out of your mind? Why would you want to do that to us? And I said, I'm going to do it. And wow, that was. That was so crazy. That was so crazy. And I'll tell you what it distills down to in celebrity. We're just talking about this in celebrity. Some people don't like you. I get it. They don't like you. They don't like you. Who you are. They don't like they don't like you in politics. 50% of the population hates you and some of them want to kill you. That's the difference. And you don't know it till you're in it. And then you realize, whoa, whoa, this is crazy. This is crazy, crazy, crazy stuff. You got people that are threatening your life that are serious and wanting to kill you. Like, that's nuts. So when, you know, people talk to me about AOC or Elizabeth Warren or any politician or Trump or Harris, I have a lot of respect for them because I know what that's like. It's brutal. It's brutal. It's unbelievably brutal. I mean, that somebody just took a potshot at Trump. That was just weeks ago. Imagine how that sobers you up. Take a bullet in your head. Like that is just life changing for sure. And I think, anyways, I did it and I experienced something I'd never done before. That was the comfort zone thing. I was talking about not doing that again. That was just unbelievable. But it did open my eyes up. Politics. And anybody that's thinking about doing that should really do some soul searching about, is this what I want to do? Is this how I want to spend my hours of the day? Because 50% of the people, no matter who you are, hate you. They just hate you. And that's the nature of our democracy. Good, bad and ugly. That's just the way it is.

[Unknown Host 1]

You never spoken to Trudeau, have you?

[Kevin O'Leary]

No, I don't like that guy. Not because he's a bad person. He's just a horrible manager. He's the worst prime minister the country's ever had. And I spend a lot of my time explaining why he's so bad. Because there's an election coming up. It could happen any week. Actually, he's, he's down to almost a non. He's one non confidence vote away. Parliamentary system from Britain. You need to have a coalition that keeps you in power. Your cabinet keeps you in power. When people start to lose confidence in you, you start making alliances with your competitors. In his case the ndp, which is a socialist party. But now they don't like him either. And so he's very, very in very precarious position. But he's had a great run over nine years. Brought the country to its knees. Unbelievably bad management. The way you should do it in the parliamentary system is you're the Prime Minister. You don't have to run anything. What you have to do is hire good managers for the seats of finance Military, procurement, environment, these different cabinet positions. You hire them and you put these people in place, and they work for you. Now, if you don't have any skill at that, you're screwed. For example, he put a journalist in for finance. Minister with no skills whatsoever in finance, never ran a bank. I mean, why would you do that? And of course, she's a total failure. It's unfair to put her in that position. She decimated the company. Capital's leaving Canada like crazy. When she started, it was coming into the country. Now it's leaving. I mean, look, it's sad. It's just sad. It's so unfair to her to do that to her. I mean, imagine when she goes to a G7 meeting or G20 meeting. They must. I mean, everybody in there is from the banking sector, global banking, and she's a journalist. I mean, they must look at her and say, why are you here? Do you want an interview with me? I mean, I just can't imagine what that's like. Anyways, we got to get rid of him. I want to. I can't say enough bad stuff. I spent a lot of time saying it. I go up there and I point it out to people. But remember, you got to respect the success he's had. He's one of the most successful prime ministers in history. Staying in power that long with absolutely no executional skills is remarkable. It's just remarkable what he's going to do afterwards. Well, he won't be running any of my businesses, I'll tell you that. I mean, my goodness, you wouldn't put that guy in a candy store. It. They'll go bankrupt in the first 48 hours.

[Unknown Host 1]

He's the most hated prime minister. I'm from Mississauga, so, yeah, few of us are Canadian.

[Kevin O'Leary]

You know what I'm talking about?

[Unknown Host 1]

You go to Alberta and he's just.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Like, no, I do go to Alberta. I do go to Alberta.

[Unknown Host 1]

It's crazy.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah, it's. It's. They want. They want to leave Alberta, wants to leave Canada. They. They can't take it anymore. They have all the wealth there, and they're paying for all of his mistakes. I didn't. You know, I went to. I was. I was going to go to a wedding in Egypt recently. Very famous entrepreneur, anchor Jan had a wedding. It's famous like this. He took over the Sphinx and the pyramids, and I was get. I was gonna go fly there, and I showed my Canadian passport, said, oh, no, no, no, no Canadians. You need a visa. I said, what? I'm a Canadian. We. Everybody loves us. He said, no, no, they don't. We don't love you. Your guy came down here and pissed off every Egyptian. I didn't even know he did that.

[Unknown Host 1]

What did he do?

[Kevin O'Leary]

I have no idea. But they wouldn't let me in the country. Same with India. He pissed off the Indians. This guy took a golden passport and turned it into shit. How could you possibly do that? He shouldn't ever go anywhere. Don't say anything. Don't go anywhere. Stay in a closet and be quiet for now. Because you're killing the country. I had no idea that had happened. I had to use my Irish passport to get into. I'm very fortunate. I have an Irish, I have a Canadian, and I have an Emirati residency card. I want to become an Emirati citizen. I love that country. And I tell you, that guy is bad news. And I'm just telling the truth here. It's very important that he move on. Very, very important. Richest country on earth per capita in terms of resources run by idiots. That's the sad. That's what Canada is. And it's got to change.

[Unknown Host 1]

What do you think about Cuban supporting Kamala?

[Kevin O'Leary]

Let me. Let me talk about what's going on here that I've never seen before, because I'm a policy junkie. I don't care who's in the White House. I care what the policy is. I have never seen a race for the White House where a candidate has never talked to the press. That's unprecedented. She's actually doing this without giving any detail to her policy. And she has a 50, 50 chance of winning with absolutely no one knowing what she's going to do. I've never seen it. I've watched every presidential election in history because I have to know what the policy is as an investor. I don't know what if she's really going to do capital gains on, you know, tax on unrealized capital gains? That would decimate America. That would be. It would crush it. There'd be no capital formation here anymore. That can't be real. She could never do that, would she? I mean. But nobody can ask her because she won't take an interview. I mean, what she did in the debate was say, look, I'm not Trump. We should all hate Trump. Let's hate him and Kumbaya. And that worked for her. It was. I think she did a pretty good job with the hate Trump thing last night or whenever the debate was. I don't know what's going to happen, but I also. Look at the polls. And this thing is a jump ball. This election will be decided by less than 200,000 votes, and I have no idea who's going to win. But I really, really wish she would come out and talk to the press, pick any press, take an interview, but she doesn't.

[Unknown Host 3]

What's your gut telling you?

[Kevin O'Leary]

My gut is telling me because I actually last night watched the whole thing and then because we're out in la, I was able to sit down and go through all the blogospheres, all the data being generated out of Europe, all of the snap polling, some of it was done by cnn. Nothing's changed. It's. It's in the seven states. You. We're not done yet there. You got to move the needle. You got to move the needle on the seven states of those. There's a very famous interview in Pennsylvania from last night that's all over the Internet today of a woman just saying, look, I didn't get any information last night. I didn't get any from him, I didn't get any from her. I don't know what I'm doing yet. That's kind of where we're at. So we need another debate where the journalists are asking policy questions on important issues like border, like tax, like energy policy, like health care. Specific answers so you can hear what their plans are and then make a decision based on policy, because that's actually how what wins elections. Everybody thinks it's Kumbaya. It's not. If you're sitting there and you can't afford to feed your family, you're pretty pissed off with inflation. You want to hear some answers? What's going to change? And price gouging? Policy doesn't work. They tried that in Venezuela. You can't do that. And I would want to ask her, is that the plan? Like, are you going to do Venezuela type price controls? That's not going to work in America. What about this giving people $25,000 to buy a house? That's crazy. You'll just inflate the house by $25,000. It's hard to get a house now. It'll just be $25,000 more expensive. That's nuts. So these are questions that I think we got to get answers to as opposed to just saying, yeah, don't worry about it, be happy. Because that's kind of what was like last night. So I don't know. My gut doesn't know anybody that says they know what's going to happen. This election's full of shit.

[Unknown Host 4]

After watching Last night, Is there anything you would say Trump needs to do differently?

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah, he didn't attach her until the end. She, she owns the border, she owns inflation. She owns so many issues because she's been the incumbent. And he didn't attach her to that. That's his fault. And she stepped all over him by baiting him with the. You know, Trump goes nuts when you tell him his audience isn't big at a rally. I don't know why he gives a shit. But he is who he is. Everybody knows who he is. They don't know who she is yet. They got a taste of it last night. Whether they liked it or didn't, I don't know. But he's got to do a little more back, saying, look, you are the reason we have inflation. He didn't do that because she signed that bill. The Inflation Reduction act was very inflationary.

[Unknown Host 4]

I was thinking, why doesn't he just say, like, what's going on right now is you're in the. This is your administration.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah.

[Unknown Host 4]

I think you're saying you're going to handle these problems, but we're living this issue with you in office.

[Unknown Host 1]

He said that a few times, though. He said, if you want to change something, why don't you just do it right now? Why didn't you do it?

[Kevin O'Leary]

Yeah, I'm glad. But he really brought that out at the end. His last statement should have been a constant theme. I mean, everybody's criticizing his debate, but they don't know the outcome of it yet. Everybody's giving him a hard time. I think he should do another one and be more disciplined. I would like to see it. And I have to prepare myself for her candidacy and her eventual presidency if she becomes a president, because I still. On the 6th of November, I'm still going to have to invest. It's not going to make a difference to me if she's in the White House or not. You know, it's. It's just I'd like to know the policy so I can prepare for what that's going to look like. I mean, if I really thought there was going to be tax on capital gains, I would change my investment strategy, definitely. But I don't know that yet because I don't have any answers from her.

[Unknown Host 1]

There's no way that that could be possible.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Right. Well, that's what scares me. I mean, you know, did she actually say that? She did. She did say that. She did say that. So she talked about a 28 tax rate. That would make us the most uncompetitive the G7. That would just be crazy. There'd be money leaving here like crazy. Because you add state on top of that, you're talking over 30% corporate tax. That's nuts. Because that. You can set a corporation up in Ireland, which is what they did last time the tax was that high. So that's a bad idea. There's a lot of bad ideas there. That's why I'm hoping if she becomes president, she just says just fooling on all this stuff and she gets some good advisors. I mean, basically she'll say they're both saying anything to get elected and then they'll have to deal with policy later. That's what it sounds like to me.

[Unknown Host 4]

It seems like that she was so trained last night. Right. I feel like Trump, do you think he could use a little coaching, like, onto like, hey, you need to keep your cool or you can't personally attack her or you got to answer things a different way?

[Kevin O'Leary]

No, because the media, I don't think they can. I don't think they can change them.

[Unknown Host 4]

Do you think that's going to hurt his cause?

[Kevin O'Leary]

It's really now about policy. It's, it's. If you could understand what the menu of policy is, which one would you vote for? Because they're not going to change Trump in 58 days. I don't know anything about her because she won't talk to anybody. She may be a very nice person. I've never met her. I don't know. I know. I know her. Her ideas are not good for capitalism. I know that. And that's pretty scary because this country is built on the backbone of capitalism. It's the number one economy in the world, by miles. It's where 50% of all capital is invested from around the world. Every investor from everywhere wants to invest here. And the number one export of America is not a product or service. The number one export is the American dream. And you never want to fuck with that. Like you. That would be. I don't care who you are as a politician, if you don't understand that that is what this country exports. There's a reason people try to cross barbed wire fences to get in here. It's the American dream. They're willing to risk their lives and drown in a river because it's the American dream. It's not any one policy. It's the American dream. And so that has to be the thing that everybody upholds and makes sure sustains itself as it has for over 200 years. So when I hear policies that are crazy, that in any way could affect the American dream. I think that that is the worst idea ever. And so that's what's at risk with bad policy. And I think that's what every politician should think about in this election, is who upholds the American dream. Because that's the thing that makes this country what it is. Not one sector, not mining, not technology. That's all bullshit. The American dream is the number one export, and it's the number one coveted thing that everybody on earth wants. I've never met anybody in my travels that said, I don't want to go to America. I've never heard that ever, ever, anywhere, ever. I've heard it from other in other countries. I want to get out of this country and go to America. And it's the American dream.

[Unknown Host 3]

How important do you think the freedom of speech is to the American dream? Because you saw the bit where Kamala was talking about, I guess, in a sense, to Elon Musk about the privilege of saying the things that he's able to say on such a big platform.

[Kevin O'Leary]

I know that narrative. You know, here's a way to look at it from a pragmatic point of view. The cost of the American dream is freedom of speech. That's the price. Which means they'll always be the lunatic fringe, which is two and a half percent of of the population will say things you will find very distasteful. If the price is only 2.5% and the rest works, you pay that price every day. You can't squash the two and a half percent and give up freedom of speech because you give up the American dream. And so everything has a price, and that's what it is. So if you're offended and, you know, everybody thinks, well, we've got to squash this voice or that voice or that voice. America has a way of fixing it all. It just. It takes this rhetoric and this craziness and these nut bars just somehow encapsulates them and passes them by. That's how it works. They don't last that long. It's horrific while it's happening. It's horrible. I hate anything that has to do with, you know, I mean, the way I answer it is you just look at the organization and the people that work with me. I don't care what gender you are, what sexual identity you have, what country you came from, who you worship. I couldn't care less as long as you can execute like you're working with me because you're a great leader and you're a great entrepreneur, and you're a great person that's building a business. So I don't need someone telling me I need diversification. I do it anyways because I hire great people. And I don't give a damn how you, what you are, who you are, how you dress, Any of that stuff. I couldn't give a shit. And that's actually what makes America work. More people like me acting that way, pursuing the American dream in the most efficient way we can and exporting that. That's it. So that's why it works. And so if that takes freedom of speech, fine. I don't like hate speech. I think those people are assholes. But it's the price of freedom. That's what it is. Now that I hope people understand when I say that, because that's what it is.

[Unknown Host 1]

How the happy dad's going down.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Good. Listen, I never had a happy dad. So that's the hard tea. So that shameless promotion. I'll tell you why I like this low sugar, but doesn't taste like it's got just enough to give you a good taste. I don't like carbonation. This doesn't have it. Iced tea is delicious. This is good.

[Unknown Host 1]

The twisted teas have, like, 26 grams of sugar a can, so those just have one look, less diabetes.

[Kevin O'Leary]

I've never tried one. It's my second. Okay. This is good. Thank you. Good stuff.

[Unknown Host 1]

Appreciate it.

[Kevin O'Leary]

I mean, is this one of your sponsors?

[Unknown Host 1]

No, we own it.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Okay. I want a royalty.

[Unknown Host 1]

We'll talk.

[Kevin O'Leary]

All right.

[Unknown Host 2]

Kevin O'Leary.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Thank you so much.

[Unknown Host 2]

Thank you.

[Kevin O'Leary]

Thank you, guys. Thank you. Yeah.