THE ED MYLETT SHOW - Robert Herjavec on The Truth About Success, Shark Tank, & Entrepreneurship

Episode Date: June 30, 2026

He came to North America at age 8 from communist Yugoslavia with one suitcase, no connections, and parents who had nothing to give him but opportunity. Robert Herjavec turned that into a $500 million cybersecurity empire. One inch at a time. Robert brings something rare to this conversation: 22 years on Shark Tank, multiple exits, and a front-row seat to what separates businesses that actually scale from ones that just make noise. He's watched thousands of entrepreneurs pitch, fail, succeed, and lie to themselves about which one they're doing. His perspective on where the economy is heading, what AI is actually going to destroy, why most people raise money way too early, and what it genuinely costs to build something lasting is as grounded and unfiltered as anything I've heard from anyone at his level. In this conversation, I push Robert on whether Shark Tank has actually done damage to a generation of entrepreneurs, a question I've asked Damon and Barbara that nobody has answered the way Robert does here. I challenge him on the influencer economy and what it's doing to people's perception of what building a business really looks like. And I get personal with him about faith, fathers, and whether the grind of it all is worth it at this pace.     Here's what you'll gain from this episode: One Inch at a Time: The philosophy Robert has carried since he was 22 years old, and how it connects directly to my "Power of One More" framework - the core of how both Robert and I approach the hardest days in business and in life. What Shark Tank Actually Did to Entrepreneurship: Robert gives the most honest answer I've ever heard from a Shark on whether the show did damage to a generation of entrepreneurs. Hold Your Equity: Why Robert has self-funded every business he's ever built, the advice that shaped that conviction, and a warning about raising money early. Where AI and the Trades Are Heading: Robert's specific read on which industries are about to be wiped out and which are going to double in income. Good Doesn't Mean Weak: The tough lesson both Robert and I learned the hard way and what you should do instead.  This conversation went places neither of us planned, and I think that's what makes it one of my favorites. Learn more about your sleep today. Visit https://sleepdoctor.com. 👉 SUBSCRIBE TO ED'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL NOW 👈⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   → → → CONNECT WITH ED MYLETT ON SOCIAL MEDIA: ← ← ←  ➡️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   ➡️⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠FACEBOOK⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   ➡️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LINKEDIN⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   ➡️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  ➡️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠WEBSITE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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This is the Edmireland Show. Welcome back to the show, everybody. It's odd to introduce this person because all of you know who he is, but some of you are listening on audio and can't see him. You're too nice. Oh, it's just a fact. I think of a serial entrepreneur. I think of somebody who,

tell you what I see in you from a distance having we just met. I like the fact that you treat people so kindly when you give real feedback. I think you're like the kind shark, the one with real wisdom and poise. There's like an elegance about the way that you communicate. And by the way, that's why he's such a great speaker on stage. So if you've seen him on Shark Tank, you've seen him there. He's a tremendous stage speaker, bestselling author, serial entrepreneur. But overall, he is somebody that I've admired from a distance for a very long time. And I want to have a different type of conversation today. So I'm looking to get into the brain of Robert Hershevec.

Welcome to the show. Thank you very much. Incredible intro. You're way too kind. It's true. And, you know, people always say to me when they meet me, you're the nice one. You're the tall one. You're the tall one?

Well, relative to Kevin and Damon and all this other stuff, not relative to Mark. And I always say it's a very low bar on the show. You know, it's funny. I did the Australian version. of Shark Tank. Yeah. And in Australia, I'm the mean one.

You are. You're the Simon Cowell of the Australian one. Because they're so nice there. Well, you know, the other thing, too, I want to tell you, and I was saying this off camera to you, you look great,

which we should talk about towards the end today. Like, I've watched you over the years. You look better than when the show started. So I want to kind of pick your brain about a little of that, too. But when I got you here, I want to talk mainly about business. Love business.

I want your mind a little bit around this. You got the cybersecurity background. You've had exits. You've invested in all kinds of different businesses. it's no secret we're in this era of real innovation. And it's accelerating now, right? And so you have guys that are in the trades now aren't earning doctors in some cases.

And I'm wondering from a business perspective, if you were to advise somebody where they're deploying time and capital, what are the places you would say, you're spinning your wheels there, if this is not going to go, and what are the industries or places overall that you go? I think there's a bright future there.

Yeah, so I'm, obviously my background is cybersecurity. I've been doing it since I was 21, just kind of fell into it. But in the last few years, I've really gotten very deep into AI. So I think we're going through a technological revolution. They'll be the greatest technology revolution in our lifetime. And I was there at the beginning of the Internet, and I thought, in my lifetime, the Internet, AI will transform everything. So, and just like anything, just like business, there'll be. huge winners and big losers.

And I think it's going to be very uncomfortable for the next three to five years. The places that I would stay away from are anything that's repetitive, anything that's mundane. What do you mean? Give me an example, if you don't mind. Law clerks. You know, the basis of law at a lawyer. So if you think of a typical law firm, you've got clerks, you've got research analysts,

and then you've got the lawyers up top. everything up to the actual litigator, the relationship component, is going to get outsourced by AI. Case studies, what does it mean, all of that kind of stuff. So any kind of those administrative type tasks, hugely valuable, but the key used to be who can find the best research. That's no longer a competitive advantage. On the flip side, anything that is mechanical, plumbers, I'm with you. You said earlier, plumbers are earning doctors. I think you're going to see trades double in income over the next five to ten years. Because number one, so few people want to do him. That's right. And it can't be replicated with AI.

Is that a yet? Is that a yet? It can't be replicated with AI. Could you see a day where I have a guy right now that's exiting that I coach and he'll actually be on the show. So I'll wait to have him on. But he's having a billion dollar exit from the trades. garage door plumbing, things like that. And I asked him, I said, you know, right now those are safe. Do you see a day where there's some sort of robotics doing even that type of work? I'm just curious what you would think about that. No, no, it'll never happen. And I'm hesitating with the never because I think certain tasks up to the actual work can be replicated. The scheduling, the timing, the customer service.

But that's not plumbing. The art of plumbing is understanding the infrastructure of a house. house, what's going on, that kind of stuff. Good point. And I also think human relationships become more valuable. I agree. The guy or girl who can sit down, talk to people,

build a bond, AI's never going to replace that. Boy, I thoroughly agree with that. I just did a whole coaching call on it. I've had most of the sharks on. Really? Yeah. I've had Barbara on. I love Barbara. I love Barbara. Yeah. She kind of flurred with me. She was just on my plane across the man. Yeah. She just flew on my plane this morning from Miami. Oh, she did? And I'm like, how dare you? I think she's wonderful. I think she,

no pun intended. I enjoyed our conversation and I did her show too. But I've asked them all this, and I've reached this conclusion, and this is a hard question. I love Shark Tank. It's been so good to bring entrepreneurship front and center in the world, right? And it's made it a cool thing to do. It's made it something that more and more people are intrigued by. I think it's less mysterious than it used to be. But I wonder your thought, and I asked Damon this, I don't feel like he answered it completely. Sometimes I think it's done a little damage in this sense, so just stay with me, and I want your feedback on it. Everyone thinks they're an angel investor now. And there's so many people I know that have, frankly, lost a lot of money. It's also made entrepreneurs that are

startups in a big hurry to raise money all the time. Prematurely, it seems like to me. And I'm wondering if most people wouldn't be more successful redeploying their capital in their own business or in something they understand and control and not so much angel stuff or VC type investing all the time because so much risk is associated with it and I wonder if everyone understands that from watching the show. So best comment about Shark Tank anybody's ever said to me. I mean, really, really astute of you. First of all, undeniable of what Shark Tank has done for America. Right. And globally. And the show runs in 54 countries. You know, I'm, I'm the George Clooney of Portugal.

It's great. It's demystified being an entrepreneur. It's taught America the language of business. I mean, think about it. I had never met anybody who'd started a business until I was 26 years old, likewise. And then I was like, you own the business? Like the government thing?

Like, wow. All of those things are positives. There's two negatives of the show. and by the way, the positives far outweigh the negatives. I agree. But there are two negatives. And the first one is a general negative with social media. We have made it, we have made the pursuit of wealth seem like that's the goal of business.

And we have made it seem like it's easy. And so you look at these social influencers. And they're flying around in a private jet. and they've got a Lamborghini. And, you know, there's all kinds of people that are, look at me, I'm successful, on my jet, and on my fancy car. Yes. That is not the purpose of business. It is very rare, in my opinion, that I've met people who have built great businesses for a bigger paycheck.

You're right. It's nothing wrong with money. And I love money and I love toys and I love to spend it. But I love creating value, not just for customers, but for the people I employ. So that's the downside. Because it seems so accessible, it's made it seem easy for the wrong reason. The second part of it, as you say, is like I just had lunch with somebody yesterday. They wanted me to go into their business with him.

And I was thinking maybe I'll go in as a partner and buy 50% of it. And the guy's telling me about it. And he's like, you know, we'll get it up to like 10 million ARR and then we'll raise equity. and I'm like, why do we need to raise money? Right. Right. And he looks at me and goes, well, you know, we could go out and raise 50, 100. Because that's what you do, right?

Yes, I think. Why wouldn't we just fund it? Like, why won't we just use the cash flow from the business to fund it? And that is the downside of our show is I think I used to work for Warren Davis. Okay. The guy who started Davis running a car. And he was this old, scragly guy. And I was just a young kid didn't know anything.

But he gave me an incredible piece of advice. He said, kid, if you ever start a business, your only payback is your equity. Yeah. Hang on to as much as you can as long as you can. And on Shark Tank, people are giving up 40%. Why would you start a business and give up that much equity? I know. So I'm with you.

Okay. But in the light of having ignorance and understanding business, there's far many. greater, good than bad. But, and Kevin and I argue about this all the time, every business I've sold, I owned 100%. There you go. I funded it with credit cards. There you go.

The other thing is, if you ever watch the show, people come on and they'll say, I use my house as collateral. And the shark's like, oh, my God. And I'm thinking every business I started using my house is collateral. I love that, exactly. I love that. Right, I do too.

Because if it didn't work, it was my ass on. the line. Yes. I have no problem with that. We had the guy on recently. I feel bad that I'm not remembering his name, but he was the president of Tesla for about a decade. And he shocked me on the show saying that they ran the company for a decade on three months operating cash. And I thought, and his theory with him in Alon was that that kept them lean and mean. It made them, they had to make strategic decisions all the time of where to deploy. I'm sure they could go into reserves when they needed to. But the point was it wasn't rich with cash all the time from raising money from people. And sort of, sometimes it can dilute the

value. I think a lot of people don't even know what the term dilution means. You hear someone exited their company for, that's the other thing on social media. So-and-so had an exit for $60 million or $100 million. You don't know how many other investors there were. You don't know what their debt was. You don't know a lot. Right. And that's one of the things that concerns me too. But I love the show. I asked Damon this and Barbara, so I'll ask you, would you be wealthier had you not ever invested in any of the shows on Shark Tank and taken that capital and just deployed it in businesses that you controlled completely yourself? At the risk of sounding incredibly arrogant, it's such a small amount of money relative to what I deploy that, you know, no, not really.

That don't think that sounds arrogant. But I think the primary goal of Shark Tank, if all the sharks are being honest, is, and there have been some huge winners, and I've had a couple of big winners. But really, it's to help entrepreneurs. Most businesses that come on the show don't need the money. They need help. You know, when you're starting out and you're zero, five million, ten million, is 500,000, 200,000, is it going to change the course? What you need is guidance. Which way do I go?

Money wouldn't have helped me grow my business faster. If I looked, I mean, my last company, I built it to, what we were, about 400 million from zero. With my own money. Awesome. Would I have grown a faster if I had an investor? Absolutely not. Would I have grown it faster if I knew what I know now? Absolutely.

I hear you. Like if I had you sitting there with me or Mark or somebody along the way, it would be a bigger business. See, what I thought you were going to say there. By the way, again, just acknowledge, I agree that. There's that Chinese proverb, if you want to know the road ahead, ask those coming back. Right? To find somebody. I've never heard that.

It's good, right? and so have some sense of direction. But what I thought you were going to say, because I do think there's a lesson in this day and age, you and I are both feeling the same way about the influence or entrepreneur space. It concerns me about people not understanding how hard it is and how long the hours can be.

And here's what I think. I thought you were going to say, one of the keys for the show is that they're getting exposure through the show and relationship or connections that you all have. And the lesson in that to me, and I want to ask you about this, is business when I was growing up was more about who you know. And I feel like now in this age, it's almost sometimes, sometimes, who knows you?

Right? And so, do you, would you give someone advice that's listening today to be growing their brand online? Or do you think that's industry specific where someone should be working on growing their brand and notoriety? Gosh, that's such a great question, Ed. So first of all, undeniably that the platform of Shark Tank amplifies your business. business, undeniable. Maybe in the first couple of seasons, but now just getting on Shark Tank is a big deal. So that's undeniable. It's funny, when I started out in business, there's two sage piece of advice every smart person told me. It's not what you know, it's who you know. In order to make money, you need money.

I had no money. My mom was a receptionist. My dad was a blue-collar worker sweeping factory floors. I was screwed before I started. And I believe that. And that was my mindset. And I thought, as long as I'm great at what I do, people will find out. And I carried that for a while. And then one day I realized, no, that's not true. There is no thing as genius in the darkness of a basement.

The world is not going to beat a path to your door. you have to tell the world who you are. Now, there's a line. I think a lot of social media people go too far. There's a line between branding, marketing, amplification, and arrogance. So I don't think you have to be arrogant about it, but, man, you've got to market yourself. So, yes, the world needs to know who you aren't where to find you. Now, the flip side of that is there's some.

such a micro economy and all these things. If you sell a product, you're to a very niche industry, it's easier to market to those people, and they can find you. So for what you want to do, the world needs to know that's you. That's a great nuance right there. That's really good. I'm really glad we're doing this today, actually. This is such a good conversation.

Do you feel that everyone could learn to be an entrepreneur, or do you think some people, there's just, I feel like if you cut you open or you cut me open or you cut most entrepreneurs that have some success. There's such a great question. You know, there's something in there. I don't know what it is. If it's a relentlessness, a hunger. I don't know what that thing is, but I don't know that, I don't know that everyone has

that. What do you think? Everyone has that. Okay. A good friend of mine was a priest. And he gave me a great, one of my best friends. And he said when I was going through a really, really rough time, I actually ended up living at the homeless shelter in Seattle for a while. That's a long story.

Wow. And he was there and he said to me, you will never see anything in life as amazing as another human being. And I really believe that. And I believe if you cut me open, if you cut you open, if you cut everybody here open, everybody, has that in them. What everybody doesn't have is the willingness to endure the pain that's required to get to those goals. Everybody wants to be successful.

Very few people are willing to pay the price. So good. And it's so true. If you're someone who pays attention to performance like I do, long-term outcomes and making smart investments, and maybe we've taken a closer look at. at your sleep quality too. Sleep sets the stage for the rest of your day. It's the time when your body quietly goes to work to heal your mind and your body, steady your mood. Let me tell you something. From all the stuff we've talked about for longevity and performance, sleep is now

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If you want a $3,000 a month payday for life, what would you feel for? to do. Maybe take a long weekend, every weekend, or try a bunch of new hobbies. What do you feel free to upgrade and listen? Add free? Don't worry. We get it. Every $20 ticket could win you $3,000 a month for life and supports life-saving cancer research at the Princess Margaret. Feel free to buy your payday for life ticket today. Raffle number 155-2194. Please play responsibly. When I was younger, I wanted to be rich. I mean, who doesn't want to be successful? Nobody wakes up purposely and says, I want my life to suck. That's a defense mechanism.

Anybody who says to me, oh, you know, I wouldn't want that. That's a defense mechanism. But I think eventually you get to a point in your life where the pain of how you're living, you're either willing to accept and bion and complain or endure or you've got to change it. I wasn't born an entrepreneur. I just didn't want to live like I was living. The pain of it was too great. And so you learn and you screw up and you're bad at it, but you keep going.

So to your point, yeah, it's in every. You don't have to be a great athlete. You know, we talked about Tom Brady before. I'm pretty sure Tom Brady was born with a certain physical skill set. I'm sure he worked really hard and was really determined. But to be an entrepreneur, you don't have to have any skill set. You don't have to be able to sing. You don't have to be able to dance.

You don't have to have any physical ability. There's fat ones, skinny ones, good-looking ones. I mean, it ranges the entire spectrum. The commonality is the willingness to endure pain for a greater purpose. And so if I cut you open, do you have a greater purpose? Are you doing it to make a paycheck? Because those things are very superficial.

You're right. So if you want to make 100 grand, you're making 50, and then you get to 100 grand, what do you do then? You change your goals to make 200? It's empty. It's funny. I wonder if this is you now, too. I did it in the beginning.

I wanted to be rich, just like you said. But then I found out you better have a greater purpose through the dark times. Because the absence of that thing you want is going to endure for a really long time. So there have to be other reasons, right? As I've gotten a little bit older, because you just said, I don't sing or dance or anything, to some extent, and I really like it this way, my entrepreneurial journey now is almost

like my art form, my form of expression almost. In other words, I can't sing or dance, but the things that come with being an entrepreneur is sort of become like a form of expression for me, teaching it, living it, coaching people, mentoring people. I think I see that in you, though. too. Same. Like I find my ability to see the world and the disassociated pieces and have it come together. I think of that as an art form now. Now, do I think that or because I'm not good at anything else? I think that. Maybe. But listen, I always say to my wife, who's an incredible artist, I mean, thank God I had no talent for singing.

Because if I had even a little bit of talent, I'd be super broke but happy singing Eagle songs in a bar. By the way, my son's here today, and I've told him all this time, I'm really, I don't have any great talent to fall back on. So I had to learn to really work hard. I mean, I think I have certain superpowers in terms of my strength or resiliency or those things. I think that's pretty good. What is your greatest superpower? I was going to ask you yours, which is far more interesting than mine. I'm curious to see what you're going to say.

Well, I got to tell you, maybe this sounds, I hope this sounds with the humility that I mean it to sound. I think it's my ability to connect with people and I love people, meaning whether that's one-on-one in this sort of environment here or being on a stage in speaking or being in a boardroom or back in the day being able to sell. I think it's my ability to connect with people and sincerely believe in them. Like I, sometimes my family will tell me one of my great strength is how much I believe. believe in people, see them as they're going to be. And oftentimes I tell me, yeah, but dad, that's not who he is right now. You know, so I think it's, I think that's probably my, I don't think I have super high IQ. I think I have pretty good EQ, though.

I would say that it's probably, very, very good with people, obviously. I mean, you're, you're very engaging. What do you think yours is? Adaptability. On 100%. I mean, I'm, I'm very good, but that. You are. You're tremendous with people.

That was a skill set I had to learn because I was really bad at it. But the one thing I did have naturally, just through being beaten down all the time, was the ability to get up. And Damon and I talked about this. I think if you threw me in the middle of a jungle or an environment I didn't know, I'm highly confident I would survive and figure out the game. So it's not about how you do. It's about, you know, what's the Muhammad Ali saying? It's not how many times you get knocked down. It's how quickly you get up.

And the amount of pain and negativity that was thrown at me when I was starting out never, I mean, affected me. Yeah. But I never shook me to my core. It never stopped me from getting up the next day. You never quit? You never had this impulse at some point to go hands up, done. No, never. I've had really sh** crappy days.

I've cried. I've been in physical pain because I was so scared. But it never stopped me. And I developed this mindset because it was so hard that success wasn't about big steps. Success was one inch at a time. Yes. So on the days where it seemed like the world was against me, where the pain was so great that it was physical, as long as I moved an inch. Like even a half inch, constant,

forward momentum. I've been saying that in my mind since I was 22 years old. I love you, brother. We're kindred spirits. My book, the last book I wrote, is called The Power of One More. And it's about being one more decision away, one step at a time, one day at a time. I got it from my dad. My dad got sober when I was 15. And remember when my dad got sober, I said, dad you never going to drink again and he said Eddie I can't promise you that but I can tell you I'm not going to drink for one more day at a time I'm like I love that and when I was going to quit once I was going to quit once like all the evidence said I probably should and my old man wise in his sobriety and my dad never made a ton of money in his life but he was a confidant and a wise man and and he said you know just don't

quit for one more day just wait till tomorrow see how you know it's funny my dad was an alcoholic for many many years and I always remembered and I'm the only kid and you know we came here on a boat when I was eight years old the whole nine yards and I always remember my dad could never quit and the consistency in his inability to quit was grand statements I'm going to stop forever I'm never going to do this like every time it was a big gesture. And I think that got ingrained with me. When I started out in business, it'd be like,

oh, we're going to do blah. And you learn, life is not about grand gestures. Life is about consistency. It's about all the stuff that people don't see. You know, it's like one day you wake up and you sell a business for 500 million or 10 million or whatever it is. And people think, wow. What they don't see is the 18 years, the 10 years of every little half inch of steps that took you to get there. It's hard.

This is such a good conversation. By the way, just as a friend, I tell you, your face really changed when you said that about your dad. Oh, it was hard, man. Like, it was really, like, I think, you know, we talked about purpose. And my dad was a complex, tough guy. So was mine. But what I realized, somewhere in my 20s, because I started a business and it wasn't super successful, and I started getting envious. None of others. I started getting envious of why not me? Why is that guy driving a Ferrari and not me?

Why is it easier for them to get to 10 million? I'm stuck at 2 million. The why, the envy. And then I just kind of sat back and I realized that my parents had given everything to me to have this opportunity. So when I couldn't do it for me because I wasn't focused enough, I said, I got to become successful, whatever that meant then, for them. My dad escaped the communist country at 37 years old with one suitcase, crossed the border to Italy, we came on a boat. He left the country with no money, didn't know anybody, and left his entire world to give me an opportunity. And there I am bitching about how hard I'm working. It just changed my entire filter. I mean, eventually you have to have deeper goals.

but yeah. What an unbelievable answer. You have something that I love in people, and I wonder if you're aware that you have it and then maybe describe it your way. You are a very confident man. However, you carry a tremendous amount of humility with you. And I think it's one of the secret formulas,

for first off, good people and good friends, but also longevity and business. Let me tell you and I both know very confident people who don't have humility. They usually, they usually, They usually make a mistake at some point to blow themselves up financially or otherwise. Or they just don't have the sort of peace and happiness that I'd see in someone like you. I wouldn't agree with the first.

I would definitely agree with the second. And there's a differentiation between success in business and success in life. That's what I'm referring to. I know. And I think this is hard for most people because business is not always fair. I know not very nice people who are successful. Financially, yes. Right.

I know not very nice people who've built big businesses. So do I. And I wouldn't want to have dinner with them. Right. I wouldn't want to hang out with them. I don't want to associate with them. I respect that one narrow part of what they've done, but it's not a successful life.

That's what I mean. And what I'm, I'm, I, I, I, always wanting to have a successful life, which means a certain amount of money. I mean, that's just a reality. In America, one of the boxes. Yeah, you've got to have a certain amount of money. It doesn't have to be a billion, but it can be whatever you need. But if my kids hated me or my wife didn't love me or if I was never home, like, why would any of that money matter?

That leads me to believe we do agree. We're just, I think you thought I meant just financial success. I did. Yeah. And I don't, I don't, you're, you had that mentoring when you were. young about how much people, my mentor when I was young kept repeating to me because I need simple concepts. He'd say, Eddie, people matter, things don't. People matter, things don't. And it's not that having things isn't great. You and I both have a lot of things. And it is cool to have things.

It is very cool. Yeah. But I have found that though that's not sustaining joy for me. Sustaining joy for me is the people in that home. Same. It's so funny you say that because people that don't know me always think I'm about, you know, the cars, because he used to race cars and I love airplane like I I love to play yeah but what I love more than the things is the joy of life like you know another thing my priest said you can wake up every day and believe everything is a miracle or you can wake up every day and believe nothing's a miracle I am full of joy you are I love to play I love my family like I like I just go all the time yeah but But I think I wasn't this in my 20s or Thursday.

I was always full of joy, but I worked really hard to get here. Like, there's no balance for it. Yeah, and that's the question. And so I think I know what you're going to say. But really, you know, pause for a second on this one. Is it worth it? And I know your initial reaction will be definitively, yes, and maybe after some thought it will be as well.

But what I mean by is it worth it is you and I are both, you know, we're not 23 anymore. It's a Saturday. We're in Boston today. We both travel a bunch. We're on the road a lot. There's a little scrutiny that comes with being a public person. Your phone blows up every single day just like mine does. And so there's a lot that comes with being an entrepreneur and continuing down that journey all the way, continuing to climb the metaphorical ladder of life.

Do you ever evaluate? Is this worth it at this pace? Because you do seem to be very joyful and very happy. But if someone asked you that, like truly, Robert, is this all worth it? Or was there a level where it was definitely worth it to there, but maybe there's diminishing returns beyond a potential point? Gosh, great questions. Thank you.

Yes, it's worth it. And I cannot not think it's worth it because I feel it would be disrespectful of me to feel that way. to God, to the universe, I am so fortunate to be sitting here with you that to say, oh, it was good until here and all the goodness that came with it, but now it's not good. Like I just, I am so grateful for all of it. Some of it becomes uncomfortable after a certain point. Like I've been on Shark Tank or a version of Shark Tank for 22 years. My goodness.

And so, sure, I go out to Fenway, 50 people want to take a picture. If I'm with my kids, is it uncomfortable? Would I want to do that? Not really. Do I do it with joy every single time? Yes, I do it with joy every single time. Because I don't know what my discomfort means to that person. Right?

Like, it's just like, I'll tell you, the other day I did a speech in Phoenix. And you know, like you, I'm done with the speech. I'm rushing out. And as I'm leaving, the sound guy is taking my mic off. And he whispers to me and goes, oh, I'm really sorry, man. Like, can I get a picture? And, you know, last thing you want to do is take a picture after you just spoken to five hours and people, right? Like my adrenaline. And I'm like, and I almost feel bad. I'm like, oh, man, sure. Right. And I take a picture. And the guy's got a tear in his eye. And he's like, oh, thank you so much. You don't know what this means to my son.

And as I'm like, I'm like, great, thank you. I'm literally trying to get out the door. And he says, yeah, he just had brain surgery. Oh, my gosh. And so I stop, and he shows me a picture, and it's this 10-year-old kid. He's got half his scalp gone. He's in the hospital. So I'm like, let's call him.

Oh, I love you. So we call him. and you should have seen the look on this kid's face. Like, so what did it take for me for that little level of discomfort? And what did it mean to him? Yeah. And so I always think of every situation like that. You know, and I have friends say, oh, gosh, I wish I didn't have this much money.

I wish I had less. And I'm like, it's just the way you've managed your life. God bless you. No. I'm so glad you're who you are. This is really good for me. No, I'm serious. I'm serious.

I don't know. I've done 900 or something conversations. You and I have met, you know, everybody. I know when I'm in the presence of a really good man. Thank you. You're a really good man. You're obviously very smart and have had so much success, but you're good. And your evidence, you know, everyone that's listening or watching, like, good things can happen to good people long term.

I do believe that. To a point. People misunderstand that statement. I've always tried to be good. I've always tried to lead my life from a place of goodness. What I didn't understand is just because you're good doesn't mean you lose the need to be strong. Just because I'm good doesn't mean that there aren't bad people out there. And I used to assume if I'm good, I don't need to protect myself against the bad.

What I've learned in business is, dude just because you're a good human being you've got to build up your strengths physically mentally business wise and you know when I started my business I was like oh you know he won't compete with me I've had people steal from my company I've had employees leave my company take my entire customer base I've had people sue me like just like you I'm sure there's a lot of bad out there yeah it never changed who I am but I've become stronger over the years. By the way, I just had that conversation with my daughter who's getting into business, and I said, I don't like telling you this because I used to not view the world this way,

but you do need to protect yourself. You need to be vigilant, and there are a lot of people that are going to try to do harm to you and hurt you, and you need to really work on your discernment. The mistake I made young, and I told my daughter, as I said, and I'm not saying I'm a perfect person because Lord knows I am definitively, definitely not, but I projected my own value system onto other people all the time. I can't believe you're saying. Yeah. I just assumed that the world would treat me like the world, the way I'm treating the world.

Me too. And for a while I went through a phase where like, maybe I'm not mean enough. Maybe I need to change, right? And how often do people, I mean, probably not to you, but because of Kevin, people always say to me, oh, I couldn't be good in business because I'm not mean enough. Like, you don't have to be mean. You don't have to be mean. Yeah.

You have to be firm. You have to be strong. Yep. I totally agree with that. I've enjoyed today. I'm going to ask you one more question. This flew by, by the way. It flew by.

We ought to do this like once a year together. It would be great. We're at a faith conference you and I are speaking at now. I'm just curious, everything in your life, if you don't mind me asking, what role or reliance have you had in your life on your faith? Is it helped you as an entrepreneur, as a father, as a husband, as a son, or any of it? Yeah, I mean, it's been a journey. same year so I was an altar boy for many years you were too and I think I got to a point because

I was forced to do it that I didn't want to do it and then I went through a phase where I became a convenient Christian meaning when I needed God I was a Christian but when I felt I didn't need him I wasn't a Christian. I mean, I was never bad. I just, my faith wavered. Yeah. I think over, I think I went through a really difficult time. And I got back to Christ during that.

And I think it felt to me like I had nothing to give and I had no future and no hope. and he helped me. And then was I going to abandon him when things got better? Wow. And I think it really realigned me and brought me back to that foundation that I've always had. So I have a lot of faith. I mean, I never try to force my faith on others, but I also don't let others undermine my faith.

So many similarities. I can't believe you're an altar boy, really? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm just pondering in this town, by the way I was, pondering a lot of the things you said today. There's so much depth with you. I really do hope we do this more than just today because I really enjoyed it.

It was good for me. Oh, I appreciate you saying that. Yeah, it really was good for me. You have such a great platform for hope. Thank you. What I love about your platform is that you give people real guidance and hope. Thank you. Because I think a lot of people try to talk down on business with a not reality.

It's easy and look at this and all the stuff you could get. I think your platform is all about guidance and hope. And I think anybody can do it. Thank you. I named our place here, Hope Island. You did. For that reason. I want to bring hope to the world.

I mean, this is like a really synergistic conversation here today, right? Would your kids say that you're a motivating person? That's a great question. One of them's here. What would you say? Be honest. Definitely, yes. Definitely.

What he said yes, but why? Why are you motivating person? I see how you transform others and how you always carry yourself. Thank you. Oh, my gosh. How you motivate is what I want to be like and how you carry yourself and serve others. Thank you. Okay.

that's success. Agreed. Would your kids say that? My kids are seven. I know they're little. So the greatest moment I've had in the last few years. So my son's seven. He's got ADHD.

He has a very difficult time with anxiety. So I was doing a speech in Vegas. And out of the blue, I said, you're coming with me. Good. So he put on a jacket. Yeah. Hopped on the plane. We went to Vegas.

You know what? It's like everybody wants to meet you. And big crowds were hard for him. He had to sit in the crowd with thousands of people, sat there for an hour, and then afterwards, there was like a photo line. It was chaotic, like it always is, which is really hard for him to stay focused. Through it all, he comes up to me and he puts his hands on me and he says, Daddy, I'm so proud of you. Oh, gosh. I mean, I was like, hi-bye.

I'm a hero. It's no better than that. Because I think if you, it's the consistency of character. Agreed. Agreed. Your son thinks you're motivating. I think you're motivating. It's not because you're putting an act.

It's the consistency of your character. Thank you. And I think you're motivating. So good today. Anything you want to promote? Anyone you were to send them? No. Visit Australia.

It's a great kind of. I don't know. Well, at least go follow him on Instagram if you're not. I feel like there's probably a pretty big overlap between our world. So I'm sure most of them do. But please go follow, Robert. Thank you for today. Thank you. It's tremendous. All right, everybody. I don't think I have to ask you to share this one. I'm pretty sure this one's getting shared everywhere. So God bless you. Max out your life. This is the Edmireland show.

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