I have had some great successes and great failures. I think every entrepreneur has. I try to learn from all of them.
There are a lot of idiot fund managers out there who add no value to the process at all.
Television is the most interesting hobby I’ve ever had.
Steve Jobs had his critics. Some saw him as an egomaniac, and others, as a control freak.
My worst fashion faux pas: probably orange shoes with white pants. I thought I looked spectacular.
Money has no grey areas. You either make it or you lose it.
Many blue-collar families struggling to pay rent would be happy to skip paying optional union dues.
If I were the president of the United States, I would make unions illegal. They no longer serve a functional purpose in democracy, in my view.
I have met many entrepreneurs who have the passion and even the work ethic to succeed – but who are so obsessed with an idea that they don’t see its obvious flaws. Think about that. If you can’t even acknowledge your failures, how can you cut the rope and move on?
I’m starting to think about things that I want to do, things that are fun. One of them is driving a car like a Porsche. I’ve driven a lot of cars – sedans, trucks and big family vehicles all year long. But there’s nothing like a four-wheel-drive Porsche.
In his first term, President Barack Obama played a cautious manager navigating the worst economic disaster since the Great Depression and cleaning up the messes left by President George W. Bush in Iraq and Afghanistan.
I think a book is your calling card, your business card.
Do you want to be rich or not? Let’s get focused on that, buddy.
Don’t let the dark clouds of greed confuse you.
When you’re travelling, your day is jam-packed. I just don’t have time to whip out a PC all the time. But I can whip out a BlackBerry and tweet. I keep a constant diary of where I’m at and why I’m there.
When you come to ‘Shark Tank,’ the only person you should listen to is me, because you know you’re getting the truth. I’ll decide if it’s worth it, and after I’m finished, the rest of the people can look into it.
Protecting Americans from harm goes beyond police and national defense. It’s imperative that we not destroy the commons, the physical environment on which we rely.
Once Michigan stood proud. In addition to GM, Ford and Chrysler, it was home base for the United Auto Workers, a powerful escalator transporting hundreds of thousands of blue-collar workers into America’s middle class.
Once in a while, I see my fellow TV investors praise a business just because they like the entrepreneur behind it. That kind of thinking might make you feel warm and fuzzy inside – but let’s get back to reality.
Know everything about the companies and people you are going to be negotiating with. Insist on getting the names of everyone participating in the negotiations. Leave no stone unturned; find out as much as you can.
I’d rather invest in an entrepreneur who has failed before than one who assumes success from day one.