
Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary talks investing, AI and the history of Shark Tank
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Neal Freyman
Good morning, Brew Daily Show. I'm Neal Freyman.
Toby Howell
And I'm Toby Howell.
Neal Freyman
Today, a special Black Friday interview episode company.
Toby Howell
While you shop, it's a chat with shark tank royalty, Mr. Wonderful. It's Friday, November 29th. Let's ride.
Neal Freyman
Good morning and happy Black Friday. Hope you all had a relaxing Thanksgiving. If you're still in a food coma, we've got a special edition episode that will snap you out of your slumber.
Toby Howell
It is an interview with the entrepreneur and investor Kevin O'Leary, better known as Mr. Wonderful on Shark Tank. Mr. Wonderful is known as the blunt speaker of hard truths on the show. And it turns out he's not just playing up the bit for tv. We spoke with him about the state of the US Economy, his time working with Steve Jobs, and how to break into watch collecting. This guy was meant to talk for a living, and we hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did. But first, a word from our sponsor, Yahoo. Finance. You know, I've never pitched a product before a panel of sharks, but if I had to sell them on Yahoo. Finance, it would be a breeze.
Neal Freyman
Okay, so how would you kick it off?
Toby Howell
Hello, sharks. Have you ever tried to stay up to date on the market but found all the existing options underwhelming?
Neal Freyman
Okay, this is great tv. Keep going.
Toby Howell
Well, do I have the site for you? Yahoo Finance has everything you need to stay informed about the finance world. With constantly updating news, top and bottom stock gainers each day, and insights from experts. So, Neil, can I count you in?
Neal Freyman
Well, Toby, I've spent some time on Yahoo. Finance myself, and it really is an incredible resource for anyone curious about the market. So you don't even have to sell me. For that reason, I'm in. You have got yourself a deal.
Toby Howell
Well, that was easy to see. Why Yahoo Finance can tame even the fiercest of sharks. Head to YahooFinance.com today. Kevin, thanks so much for jumping on the show today.
Kevin O'Leary
Great to be here. Thank you very much.
Toby Howell
So I do appreciate you speaking with us, but I also want to thank you for all the likes that you have gotten us on social media. Because posting a Mr. Wonderful quote to our Instagram goes viral every single time. You are just a quote machine. Where does it come from?
Kevin O'Leary
I'm just a social media and I'm, I'm very proud of it, actually.
Toby Howell
You're very good at it. As an investor, what sectors are you most excited about? Are you riding maybe the AI hype train at all?
Kevin O'Leary
I am. You know, I go back to these trends as far back as gold. I mean, I look at. I'm an infrastructure investor. So I think AI is going to be huge. We use it in all of our businesses, particularly around translation. When we. I do commercials now in Chinese and French and Arabic, we use AI. We do it out of Abu Dhabi. They have a very, very advanced lab there and we have an office there. So if I send a message out for my watch insurance business, I'll do it in Chinese. A lot of wealthy Asian watch collectors. My lips are moving perfectly. And we have Chinese nationals telling me that the accent's perfect. So it's advancing. But the real opportunity in AI is not just in the software. Here in the US we have a huge problem. In order to just meet the demands of the seven largest hyperscalers, the Teslas and the Googles and the Microsoft and the Amazons, they have demand for 30 gigawatts of data centers. 30. And we used to build them at 50 megawatts, so that's a fraction of the size. There's only five under construction in North America right now. 45% of the data centers in America are in Virginia. But Virginia's just passed a law that does not let you put a backup generator on a data center. A data center today needs to be 5:9, which means it has to be up 99.999% of the time. I'm giving you a lot of data you'll find interesting. That means it's only down 14 seconds a month. What does it cost to build one of these? $2 billion just for the platform and another 2 billion for the stacks of chips. $4 billion in the ground for a 1 gigawatt data center. I built those. And we can't get the power. I don't care what state you go to. You go to the power authority there and say, I need. I just want 100 megawatts. Can't do it. We have no power in America right now.
Toby Howell
So is that kind of how you evaluate an opportunity right there? I mean, we started at AI, but then you took us down through the entire basically supply chain. And what needs to go into supporting this AI revolution is that generally how you Think about these macro opportunities that a lot of people are seeing.
Kevin O'Leary
Yep. I simply say, where's the problem? How do I fix it? And who will pay me to do that? That's what I do in every sector of the economy. This is a huge, huge, huge problem. And fixing this is worth billions. And so I like to do big things. This is a big thing. So when you hear me announce data center projects, it's because I solved the power problem first. And I think the way we're going to solve it is we're going to find stranded gas in places like West Virginia, North Dakota, Texas, bring our own generators in the middle of deserts or in the middle of the Arctic or wherever it's got to be, and generate electricity from clean natural gas and build data centers there. That's the only way this is going to work. Because if you call up, here's the other problem. You know, hi, Mr. Schlabinski, I want to build a data center next to your house and your electrical bill is going up 40%. No, thank you. That's the problem. Because when you ask for that much power, the rate payers in that whole county, their bill goes up and they get pissed and they call their local governor and say, no, no, Nanette. So it's a big problem.
Neal Freyman
Speaking about the larger business landscape since Elon Musk took over, is Twitter better off, worse off for the same Better, better.
Kevin O'Leary
There's no question.
Neal Freyman
It's not particularly endorsement of his business acumen though, because, I mean, he bought at $44 billion. It's now worth less than $10 billion according to Fidelity.
Kevin O'Leary
He didn't buy it. The investors bought it.
Neal Freyman
He got the investors to buy it.
Kevin O'Leary
Right. So there's debt and there's equity in that deal. I thought he overpaid like crazy, but the reason he didn't change the price at the last minute was he already had the bondholders teed up. So when you change the terms of a purchase and you've already got the debt, the debtor that the issuance, those are going to take the debt on, get to renegotiate too, and you lose them. So he decided to overpay for the equity, thinking long term he can make it back up. I don't know if he can or can't. You've got true social out there. Now. There's a lot of different platforms, but Twitter, that's his own network. He's the number one followed guy on his own network. That's pretty interesting. And everybody and his dog is suing him. And he. I'll say one thing about that guy, one way to measure him, whether you like him or you don't. I used to work for Steve Jobs way back. I made all his educational software for him in the Learning Company for the apples in schools. So. Oregon Trail. Rita Rabbit, Carmen Sandiego. Mavis BE Teaches typing. We used to go there every quarter to the old offices in Cupertino and bring my team. And he would come out in his jeans and his black turtleneck and just abuse us. He was not a very nice guy, not at all. And he was just vicious. And one day, one of my marketing people said, you know, we're going to do a big upgrade on the Apple platform, Oregon Trail, which is a very big software product. It's been around forever in schools, 110,000 schools. We're going to spend a million bucks on research in 100, you know, maybe in. It was New York, Florida, Texas, California. And Jobs looked at her and said, no, you're not. Any of my money's going to market research. Nobody knows what they want until I tell them what they want. And I said, steve, you sound like such a dick. He said, yeah, how's your sales on my products? I said, yeah, we're up 30% this quarter. You making any money? I said, yeah, we're making tons of money. He said, well, shut up and get back to work. The guy was 85% signal, 15% noise. And what I mean by that is he would work 18 hours a day because I'd get early. Back in those days, it was like rudimentary emails, like really early stuff. And at 2 in the morning, East coast time, 3 in the morning, and he didn't expect an answer like two minutes later. He'd care about the fonts in the software, all this crazy stuff. But what I realized is he focuses on whatever he has to achieve that day for 85% of his waking hours. And he does 15% noise, which would be social stuff, maybe talking to his wife or something else. Look at what he achieved. There's only one guy that's done better than him in history, Elon Musk. And I've. I've met Elon a few times. He's 100% signal.
Neal Freyman
Let's talk about Shark Tank. The show turned 15 this year, and the New York Times made this argument that you could track the changes to the US economy by the evolution of products. On the show. What have you seen change from when you started until now?
Kevin O'Leary
Well, turned 16. Did you say 16?
Neal Freyman
Sorry, 50.
Kevin O'Leary
I thought I Must be a vampire. But, you know, no. It turned 16. It's one of the longest running shows in history. You know, I remember because I started on this. I was working in England on TV when I got a call from Mark Burnett. I'd never met him before. And I flew out the next morning to Shutters, which is a hotel in Malibu where he wanted to meet. And we were supposed to have a 20 minute meeting. And his head of international sales was there. Guy's name was Chile. Really nice guy. I'll never forget this meeting. And we didn't talk about Shark Tank. We were both going through marital troubles at the time. We ended up talking about marriage for like four hours. And at the end of that, like way past lunch, he said to me, look, I got this new show I'm taping. I'm doing a pilot. It's called Shark Tank. It involves investors. We're looking for a real asshole and you're it. I said, okay, well, how does it work? He said, I don't know, just meet me there tomorrow morning. Let's see what happens. He didn't want to give me any information. He just wanted to go raw. And I met Barbara that day and Daymond, John, a couple other guys that aren't the Shoah anymore. And we just started taping and it just. It just took off. It just started to gel. And because he was a genius that way, he just let people be themselves. He said, don't go changing, just be yourself. That's the way it is. What it's become today is an international platform. For me, it's a passport. I can go to any country in the world and get a meeting with its leader. Because what I've learned is that entrepreneurship is bipartisan. Every single leader, even in communist countries like Cuba or Venezuela, even dictatorships want to create jobs. And so that it's transcendent. Tomorrow night I'm flying to Dubai, then I'm going to Riyadh. All Shark Tank related, just all this stuff. And I remember last year, maybe it was the year before, I was on a train from Geneva to Zurich to catch a plane. My stepdad lives in Geneva, so I often fly over to see him and I'll take the train. The Swiss trains are fantastic. They just get you right to the airport. Get on the plane, and this couple comes up to me and says, you're the most hated man in Austria. I said, what? Everybody hates you, you're so mean. And we just got married. Can we get a picture with you? I said, okay. They were going to Zermatt. And I realized, wow, this thing's gone nuts. You know, it's really nuts. And so I'm pretty proud of what we built. I think entrepreneurship is the American dream. We've made hundreds of millionaires and we've sold billions of dollars worth of consumer goods and services. You know, it's been great.
Neal Freyman
How does being the crotchety guy on the show, that role make you feel? Would you like to change the perception at some point or do you just.
Kevin O'Leary
Only shark that tells the truth. Barbara on my right, Laurie on my left. Okumbaya. Listen, I'm not going to give you any money, but you keep doing what you're doing with your crappy deal, you'll go bankrupt and you'll lose your home and all your parents money. But you go, you go. And I just say, you know, your deal's stupid. It's going to go to zero because it's a bad idea. And you should realize that now. It doesn't mean you're a bad person. Take it behind the barn and shoot it and try something else. I'm the only one that tells the truth. I don't think I'm being mean, I'm being nice. But everybody else, particularly Laurie, with that kumbaya, you know, stuff. Kumbaya, Kumbaya. You keep going and lose all your money like it's so dumb. And Barbara, you know, oh, oh, oh, oh. I don't want to hurt your feelings. I'll hurt your feelings.
Neal Freyman
I'm happy to be successful investors.
Kevin O'Leary
Yeah, look, that's great. The only reason Barbara gets there every year is I buy her a new broom.
Toby Howell
I think I've heard some of those lines, by the way, on the show.
Kevin O'Leary
It's never going to change.
Toby Howell
Yeah, you got those lines down. I do want to dig into your process of evaluating products and people, though. If you had to assign a percentage to when someone is pitching you, what percentage would you put towards, all right, this is a good product or this is a good idea. And what percentage do you go? I'm just betting on this person as a founder.
Kevin O'Leary
Well, that's a good question, because both can work. What I look for the most in almost all deals now is I say, do you know what it costs you to acquire a customer? Do you have any idea what that cost is? Most people don't. And if they don't, I never invest. Because you can't pour gasoline on the fire if you don't understand the business model. And so what happens is they kind of 80% of companies, even 85 go bankrupt within 36 months because they're never able to get their customer acquisition costs below the lifetime value of the customer. In other words, they advertise themselves to death. They go bankrupt. So that matters. But every once in a while you get an entrepreneur that's so compelling. And in my case, over 16 years, 70% of my successes have come from companies run by women. So I tend to invest with women because they're very good at mitigating risk. Aniskaya is my most recent success base. Paws, cat DNA testing kits. What a stupid idea. But she was so compelling with her story and just. I just couldn't. She wasn't going to leave till I gave her a quarter of a million dollars. Like that was the deal. And I just said, okay, I'll give you the 250 just to get you out of here. But she turned that company into a monster success because it turns out the data was worth more than the kits. And she had. There's 110 million cats in America and she learned how to extend their lives. And people that love cats want to have their cats longer. So they. Because it was dumb. The kit cost 29.95. A new cat's five bucks. I said, why don't just buy a new cat? The cat goes to snuff city in 12 years, get a new cat. That was not a popular thing to say.
Neal Freyman
How is the show different without Mark? He was kind of your foil, in a sense.
Kevin O'Leary
Yeah, you're right. Well, we don't know yet because Mark's on this season. He won't tape next season. We're casting now for season 17. I think at this point we have. Everybody wants to be on Shark Tank. And I think the producers and Mark Burnett and Sony and ABC and Disney and MGM are so good at making this show. And the people that have been working on it for 16 years, the Chase producers, the editors, I mean, I just let them do their thing. They're so good at it. They're going to solve, they're going to find me the right person and we're just going to go at it like we always do. And you want to have that different idea, you want different structures. Look at what we. Look what happened with Shark Tank. We're now doing convertible debentures, up 20%. We're doing safe notes. We're doing all these complicated structures that no one even knew what they were. And now a 9 year old knows what they are. So I think we've done a great job in advancing the cause of entrepreneurship. And being the ambassadors of the American dream. And I don't think that's going to stop.
Neal Freyman
We'll be back with more Mr. Wonderful after the break.
Toby Howell
If you had a pin one state as the backbone of the US which would it be?
Neal Freyman
Hmm, tough and good question. You know, I'd probably have to go to the center of it all, Ohio.
Toby Howell
Oh yeah, Goaded State. And a lot of people don't know that. It's pretty big league for business too. Google, ge, Health Care and Honda are all setting up shop in Ohio.
Neal Freyman
Yep, the secret sauce is Jobs Ohio, Ohio's private economic development corporation. They've got this crazy fast private operating model and they work with seven regional partners to hook businesses up with local experts who can get things done on their behalf.
Toby Howell
Sounds like a win win to me.
Neal Freyman
Big time. Plus they've also got construction ready sites, workforce development programs and a world class innovation ecosystem.
Toby Howell
Yeah, huge stuff. And with industries like health care, manufacturing and all booming there, I totally get it.
Neal Freyman
Like I said before, Ohio really is the center of the U.S. are you ready to boost your biz?
Toby Howell
It's time to grow with a partner you trust. Head over to jobs ohio.com Morning Brew to learn more about growing your business in the heart of it all. That's jobsohio.com Morning Brew.
Neal Freyman
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Toby Howell
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Neal Freyman
You're a big LinkedIn poster and you spend a lot of time on the platform. One of the most controversial features is that open to work banner. I don't know if you've seen it that people who are looking for work post can put on their profile. Do you think they should?
Kevin O'Leary
Yeah, I think these platforms, particularly LinkedIn should be as transparent and open and experimental as possible because the value of that platform I think I have 4 million plus, people on LinkedIn, and we use that all the time. It's huge for me in watch collecting. It's huge for me in asking questions of this base, what they think about products or services or prices or anything. They're very open, they're very transparent. And I've told the LinkedIn executives, you have a network here. You are just as powerful as any cable or linear television network today, and I respect you for that. And I want to be a contributor. I want to have. What are your rules for me to be. To have a narrative with you.
Toby Howell
You did tweet back in early October, and I'm paraphrasing here a little bit, that if you look at any great manager, investor or entrepreneur, a common trait you'll find is what they do in their spare time. Often it's something to do with art or sports and nothing to do with business. You go on to say that you need a balance in your brain between chaos and the arts. Can you elaborate on why you think hobbies are so important?
Kevin O'Leary
It's not so much hobbies. It's challenging yourself in something that you do not have a comfort zone for. What keeps the brain active is try to solve for a new task that it never did before. They even talk about this in avoiding dementia and Alzheimer's. When you put yourself out of your comfort zone, it triggers all kinds of new neurons in your brain, saying, okay, I've never been here before. What do I have to do? What do I have to be careful of? When you're trying to advance in, let's say, the arts or playing guitar, which never ends, you never get good enough as a guitar player. You never get to be where you want to get to. It forces you to practice. It forces you to test yourself in ways that you'd never done before and explore and find new outcomes. The same in photography, the same in painting, the same in dance. So I look for those executives that have that on their resume. And I tell people the resume should only be three paragraphs. The last one should be what you do outside of work. If it's something really interesting, I go there first. Because my greatest managers are skilled in many things, and particularly the CEOs. I love it when they have something outside of the binary task of losing or making money in business, because it's very binary. I think that's very important. And so I encourage that, even for myself. I'm always looking for a challenge outside of my comfort zone. It happened to me recently when I got a phone call from Josh Safdie who said, listen, Rodney Bronstein, who's writing this new movie for me, is a huge shark tank binge watcher, and he thinks there's a character in this movie that's you. And we want you to read for this part. A movie's called Marty Supreme. It's being shot in New York right now with Gwyneth Paltrow and Timothee Chalamet, Fran Drescher, some others too. And I said, I've never done scripted. Like, how am I going to do that? Like, tv, reality TV is not scripted. He said, well, I'm going to send you the script, and then I want you to come down to New York and sit down with the cast and read. I said, I'm not going anywhere. I had my hip replaced yesterday. I'm sitting on the dock, sucking back a little Montrachet, relaxing here, trying to recover. He said, screw it. I'll be up there tomorrow morning. So he brought Rodney up, the writer, with one of the producers, Eli and Josh. And we started reading this part, and I realized I am that guy. That's me. That's me in 1952. And I was reading what Ronnie wrote and said, a billionaire in 52 wouldn't say that. Ronnie, he'd say this. And I wouldn't say that. I'd say this. And he said, okay, let's rewrite it and let's read it again. By the time that day was over, I was in 100%, but I'd never shot a feature movie. So my first day on the set.
Neal Freyman
I went, whoa, how many lines do you have?
Kevin O'Leary
I'm gonna be working on this movie to the end of February. Okay, yeah, yeah. In Tokyo. That's where I end up. This is one. I don't know if you've seen Uncut Gems. Oh, yeah, this is Uncut Gems on Steroids.
Toby Howell
Oh, gosh. That's one of the most pressure.
Neal Freyman
I don't know if I can handle this.
Kevin O'Leary
This is so full of crazy that when I read my lines and they often change as we're shooting, I say, I'll say to Ronnie, ronnie, I can't say this. He said, yeah, you can. You gotta put yourself back in 1952. You could say that in 1952. And I'd say, okay. I mean, those guys are crazy. Like, they are absolutely crazy guys. I mean, you can see them how they think in some other universe, but it's watching them make the art and what happens on a set. Because we go, we'll start at 3 in the afternoon. We're still shooting at 5 in the morning. Because if you take over the Plaza Hotel, you're only going to get it for 12 hours or 15 hours or 17 hours. And you shut the whole hotel down to shoot it in 1952. And you as the actor, and I'm learning this pretty quickly, you want to get it right. It's just maybe. We did seven pages last week of script, which is a ton. It took us all night, but I didn't want to leave till we nailed it. So you get into that mode where you want to leave the very, very best take. It's always the last one. It could be 42 takes later, but that's how they work. I'm in the groove, and that was outside of my comfort zone, and I love it.
Toby Howell
Your Oscars, nominations, you already got the Emmy under your belt. Let's see if we can get.
Kevin O'Leary
Let's. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I can't wait to see this movie because these boys are sick puppies.
Toby Howell
That's coming from you. Yeah. So I know you are a big watch guy. You're wearing two watches right now. And I recently saw this clip of you talking to Slash lecturing Marques Brownlee, the tech YouTuber. He was wearing an Apple watch. Why were you kind of getting on his case about that? And I'm asking you, as someone who is currently wearing an Apple watch.
Kevin O'Leary
Well, the only problem with wearing an Apple watch is you lose your soul. And so you have to be careful about that. I wear one when I work out. It's a good electronic piece of consumer electronics. Watchmaking is like contemporary art. There are watchmakers around the world. There's many brands. You know, already, the Rolex is Patek, adamart, pk. But once you have all those, you start collecting. They appreciate better than a Warhol. You can wear them. They're extraordinary in terms of what they represent, the craftsmanship. You have to give up your life at 14 to become a master watchmaker. You know, I support horology, I support young watchmakers, and I. And I just love the community of crazy people around the world. Once you become known as a collector internationally, they reach out and you become part of the community. And the people I've met through watch collecting are unbelievable. They're from every country, every religion, every gender, everything. And we meet up every once in a while in Geneva or in Asia or wherever. We'll say, okay, let's meet in Tokyo tomorrow. Every.
Neal Freyman
Everyone doing that.
Kevin O'Leary
Yeah. I mean, but that doesn't mean, like, some are brain surgeons. Some are engineers, some are investors, some are retirees, some are teachers. Like it just. And then we spend maybe three, four days in Tokyo. We. You know, when I was over there with them recently, a lot of people don't know this. There's. The Japanese started watchmaking before the Swiss. There's a brand called Credor, which is made by Grand Seiko. Seiko. Grand Seiko. Credo. Credo. Maybe they make six, four, two. They don't say. They hand paint the actual dial in the mountains in a zen mode. These dials are so crazy beautiful, you can't believe it. It's like a Picasso.
Toby Howell
It's very interesting. Thank you for kind of opening my eyes to horology. Yeah.
Kevin O'Leary
Get a teddy. Get something so you don't look like such a. With an apple watch.
Toby Howell
Yeah.
Neal Freyman
I can't even look at you, Toby.
Kevin O'Leary
Yeah. You know, I have to turn away. Blinders on. Oh, my goodness.
Toby Howell
Need a crazy chicken. All right. Kevin, this has truly been a wonderful time speaking with you. If you want more content from Mr. Wonderful, you can find him pretty much anywhere you look on social media. I can't thank you enough for sitting down with us and enjoy the rest of your day today.
Kevin O'Leary
And I forgive you for your sins for wearing that apple watch.
Toby Howell
It's gone. Look at that. It's gone.
Neal Freyman
It's.
Toby Howell
There you go, Neil. Yeah. All right.
Neal Freyman
Thank you.
Kevin O'Leary
Thank you very much, guys.
Morning Brew Daily Podcast Summary
Episode: Kevin O’Leary on the Future of AI, Working With Steve Jobs, and Shark Tank
Release Date: November 29, 2024
Host: Neal Freyman and Toby Howell
Guest: Kevin O'Leary (Mr. Wonderful)
On this special Black Friday episode of Morning Brew Daily, hosts Neal Freyman and Toby Howell engage in an insightful conversation with renowned entrepreneur and investor Kevin O'Leary, famously known as Mr. Wonderful from Shark Tank. The discussion delves into O'Leary's perspectives on the evolving business landscape, his experiences working with Steve Jobs, his investment strategies, and his passion for watch collecting.
Timestamp: [04:35]
Kevin O'Leary opens the discussion by sharing his enthusiasm for artificial intelligence (AI) and its significant impact on various industries. He emphasizes the critical role of infrastructure in supporting the AI revolution, particularly focusing on the challenges associated with building and powering large-scale data centers in the United States.
Kevin O'Leary: "AI is going to be huge. We use it in all of our businesses, particularly around translation... the real opportunity in AI is not just in the software."
He highlights the demand for massive data centers required by tech giants like Tesla, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon, noting the scarcity of suitable locations due to stringent regulations, such as Virginia's recent law prohibiting backup generators in data centers. O'Leary underscores the financial and logistical hurdles in scaling data center infrastructure, estimating a $4 billion investment for a single gigawatt data center.
Kevin O'Leary: "What does it cost to build one of these? $2 billion just for the platform and another $2 billion for the stacks of chips. $4 billion in the ground for a 1 gigawatt data center. I built those. And we can't get the power. I don't care what state you go to. We have no power in America right now."
Timestamp: [06:12]
The conversation shifts to Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter, where O'Leary provides a critical analysis of the business move. He questions Musk's business acumen, citing the significant drop in Twitter's valuation post-acquisition.
Kevin O'Leary: "He didn't buy it. The investors bought it... I thought he overpaid like crazy, but the reason he didn't change the price at the last minute was he already had the bondholders teed up."
O'Leary expresses skepticism about Musk's ability to restore Twitter's value, noting the legal challenges Musk faces and the ongoing controversies surrounding his management style.
Timestamp: [06:30]
Kevin shares personal anecdotes from his time working with the legendary Steve Jobs. He recounts the demanding nature of Jobs, highlighting his relentless focus and high expectations.
Kevin O'Leary: "Jobs looked at her and said, no, you're not... Nobody knows what they want until I tell them what they want. I said, Steve, you sound like such a dick."
He illustrates Jobs' intense work ethic and meticulous attention to detail, which drove innovation but also created a challenging work environment.
Kevin O'Leary: "He would work 18 hours a day... 85% signal, 15% noise."
O'Leary praises Jobs' unwavering dedication, comparing his efficiency to that of Elon Musk, whom he describes as "100% signal."
Timestamp: [09:35]
Discussing the longevity and impact of Shark Tank, O'Leary reflects on how the show has grown into an international platform for entrepreneurship. He credits Mark Burnett for creating a space where entrepreneurs can showcase their ideas and secure investment, thereby fostering global business relationships.
Kevin O'Leary: "It's an international platform... entrepreneurship is bipartisan. Every single leader... wants to create jobs."
He shares his experiences traveling to various countries for Shark Tank events, emphasizing the universal appeal of entrepreneurship and the show's role in nurturing business talent worldwide.
Timestamp: [13:57]
O'Leary delves into his investment criteria, stressing the importance of understanding customer acquisition costs (CAC) and the sustainability of business models. He warns against investing in companies that lack clarity in their CAC, citing the high bankruptcy rates of businesses that fail to manage these costs effectively.
Kevin O'Leary: "Do you know what it costs you to acquire a customer? Do you have any idea what that cost is? Most people don't. And if they don't, I never invest."
Furthermore, O'Leary shares his success rate with women-led startups, attributing 70% of his successes to companies run by women. He praises their ability to mitigate risk and effectively manage business operations.
Kevin O'Leary: "Over 16 years, 70% of my successes have come from companies run by women. So I tend to invest with women because they're very good at mitigating risk."
Timestamp: [16:51]
Addressing the future of Shark Tank, O'Leary expresses confidence in the show's continued success and its role in advancing entrepreneurship. He highlights the show's adaptation to modern investment instruments like convertible debentures and safe notes, which have become widely recognized even by young audiences.
Kevin O'Leary: "We're now doing convertible debentures, up 20%. We're doing safe notes... I think we've done a great job in advancing the cause of entrepreneurship."
He underscores the show's enduring appeal and its capacity to evolve with changing economic landscapes, ensuring its relevance for years to come.
Timestamp: [19:57]
O'Leary discusses the significance of engaging in hobbies and activities outside one's professional sphere. He believes that challenging oneself with new tasks stimulates brain activity and fosters personal growth, which in turn enhances professional performance.
Kevin O'Leary: "It's challenging yourself in something that you do not have a comfort zone for. What keeps the brain active is trying to solve for a new task that it never did before."
He advocates for leaders and entrepreneurs to pursue interests in the arts or sports, as these pursuits encourage creativity, discipline, and resilience.
Timestamp: [23:23]
Venturing into new territories, O'Leary recounts his unexpected foray into acting for the movie Marty Supreme. Despite having no prior experience in scripted performances, he embraced the challenge, demonstrating his willingness to step out of his comfort zone.
Kevin O'Leary: "I realized I am that guy. That's me in 1952... I'm in the groove, and that was outside of my comfort zone, and I love it."
His dedication to mastering the role, despite physical limitations like a recent hip replacement, showcases his commitment to personal development and embracing new experiences.
Timestamp: [25:39]
A passionate watch enthusiast, O'Leary shares his love for horology—a term referring to the art and science of timekeeping. He contrasts traditional watchmaking with modern smartwatches, arguing that mechanical watches represent contemporary art and superior craftsmanship.
Kevin O'Leary: "Watchmaking is like contemporary art... They appreciate better than a Warhol. You can wear them. They're extraordinary in terms of what they represent, the craftsmanship."
He underscores the global community of watch collectors, highlighting the cultural and artistic value of mechanical timepieces compared to electronic devices like the Apple Watch.
Kevin O'Leary: "The people I've met through watch collecting are unbelievable. They're from every country, every religion, every gender, everything."
Throughout this engaging episode, Kevin O'Leary offers a multifaceted view of the current business environment, intertwining his investment strategies with personal anecdotes and passions. From the complexities of AI infrastructure to the nuances of horology, O'Leary's insights provide valuable lessons for entrepreneurs and investors alike. His candid reflections on Shark Tank, leadership, and personal growth emphasize the importance of adaptability, honesty, and continuous learning in achieving sustained success.
Notable Quotes:
On AI and Data Centers
Kevin O'Leary: "[04:35] AI is going to be huge... but we can't get the power. I don't care what state you go to. We have no power in America right now."
On Elon Musk's Twitter Acquisition
Kevin O'Leary: "[06:33] He overpaid like crazy... I don't know if he can [restore value]."
On Steve Jobs' Leadership
Kevin O'Leary: "[06:33] Steve, you sound like such a dick."
On Investment Criteria
Kevin O'Leary: "[13:57] Do you know what it costs you to acquire a customer?... if they don't, I never invest."
On Hobbies and Personal Growth
Kevin O'Leary: "[20:21] What keeps the brain active is trying to solve for a new task that it never did before."
This episode of Morning Brew Daily offers a deep dive into Kevin O'Leary's business philosophies, personal experiences, and diverse interests, making it a must-listen for anyone interested in entrepreneurship, investment, and personal development.