Assertion Supported
Herjavec: 4,400 people became millionaires on SpaceX's public listing day
“Like SpaceX went public, 4400 people became millionaires on that day. 400 people became deca-millionaires.”
Insight
Herjavec: Test products with paying customers at 20% completion
“Instead of waiting till the product is done a hundred percent, wait until it's done 20% and call a paying customer.”
Opinion
Herjavec: Society must respect Ken Griffin's hustle in building wealth
“You don't have to love Ken Griffin. You don't have to love the fact that he's worth billions, but I think you have to respect the hustle and the grind and what that man did to create that wealth.”
Insight
Herjavec: Urgency escapes poverty, but patience builds wealth
“Urgency gets you out of poverty. Patience gets you to wealth is what I had to learn.”
Insight
Herjavec: Great Salespeople Sell Value and Never Ask for Orders
“Biggest lesson I've learned is great salespeople solve problems and sell value.
Bad salespeople sell product or something tangible.
So I've also learned great salespeople never ask for an order.
They make the client believe it is the right solution for them.”
Insight
Herjavec: Great leaders must ultimately not care if people like them
“Inevitably to be a great leader, you have to be great with people up to a point, and then you have to have that level where you don't care. I don't care if you agree with me. I don't care if you like me. I don't care what you think about me, but I need you to …”
Insight
Herjavec: Calling a business a family is 'bullshit'
“When people say, our business is like a family. We're like a big family here. I'm like, that's such bullshit. Cause there are things I would do for my kids and things I would put up with from my wife and my kids that if you worked for me, I would fire you tomo…”
Disclosure
Herjavec: Prefers hiring people with military service background
“I like to hire people with military service. People with military going to this point, they understand a greater purpose.”
Insight
Herjavec: A players move forward while B players wallow in misery
“A players move the ball or the needle forward. B players get stuck in repetition or something. And I think B players wallow in misery. Adaptability is the ability to wallow quickly and move on.”
Opinion
Herjavec: AI Is a Bigger Opportunity for Young People Than Cybersecurity Was
“If you're in your twenties, just the fact that you're in your twenties, you're a perceived expert on AI because you're young. So I think it's a bigger opportunity today than when I started.”
Insight
Herjavec: Founders Value Companies on What They Want, Not Worth
“The number one mistake people make when they value their company is they value it based on what they would like, not what the business is worth.”
Insight
Herjavec: Sub-$10M Business Sales Typically Require Founder Lock-In
“What people don't understand is when you're selling a one million or ten million dollar business, you're typically selling some element of you. So if someone's buying that, they're going to lock you in. There's going to be a non-compete. You're coming with the…”
Disclosure
Herjavec lets founders leave immediately on acquisitions over $10 million
“When I bought a one to ten million dollar business, I had to have the founder stay. So I would lock him in with a big earn out. I would pay very little upfront. Give them big options, all that kind of stuff. Above ten million, I was okay if they left the next …”
Assertion Contradicted
Herjavec: Scaled company to nearly $400M without outside capital
“I built my company to almost four hundred million with my own money. We didn't have any outside capital.”
Assertion Contradicted
Herjavec: Acquired 13 to 14 tech businesses with zero outside funding
“I bought 13 or 14 businesses in my tech business with no outside funding.”
Assertion Not publicly verifiable
Herjavec: Completed $75M and $30M acquisitions using earnout deal structures
“I did with a seventy-five million dollar business. I did with a thirty million dollar business.”
What-if
Herjavec admits raising capital would have enabled building better products
“If I would have raised money and given up some equity, I could have built a great product.”
Insight
Herjavec: When a tech decision becomes self-evident, it's probably too late
“When a decision is self-evident in tech, it's probably too late. Meaning when I know something is going to happen, And you know it also, one of us is too late if we haven't done something about it.”
Assertion Contradicted
Herjavec: Barbara Corcoran sold her company for $52 million
“She sold her company for fifty two million dollars”
Robert Herjavec