Swimming with the Sharks: Daymond John and Barbara Corcoran

25:19But you know what, what our parents tell you, tell you, if you ain't got nothing nice to say, don't say it at all. And when you're putting up stuff like that, you don't know who's washing the entire world. She lost her influence after she had already had the negotiation with me. So build influence with people. Then when you go in the room, when you discuss with don't let shark tank for you, shark tank, the world is not like shark tank. Like you just said, the world is not eight minutes of high sharks. And then you either leave with a deal or not. You almost never leave with a deal. When you first meet somebody, It's a dating process.

25:48And when you are talking to them, what's in it for the person you're talking to? Not you. You got to realize that person has obligations, hopes, and dreams. Ask the right questions. You see, even when I was writing that book, Power Shift, I was Mark Cuban. He's in the book. He's highlighted a lot of people in the book, right? Billie Jean King, Pitbull, Kris Jenner, huge people. My guy who sits next to me every day on Shark Tank, I keep telling my team, contact him. I want to get this interview together. And the deadline is coming up. He would not get on the phone and he would not meet with people with the writer.

26:22And my team was looking at me like, hey, you know, Mark is not doing that. Now, I said to myself, obviously, it's because I'm much smarter and much better looking than Mark. And, you know, he's intimidated or I can internalize it as this guy's an asshole. He sits next to me. But is this some Hollywood stuff he's on? But you know what I said? You're probably not asking Mark the right question. Mark is somebody who publicly gives out his email. He only he loves texting and whatever the case is. He's not dyslexic. Did you ask him, can he do it over text? They said we never asked. That's stupid. I said, ask him if he could do it over text.

26:56Interview was done in 24 hours. Now, I could have internalized that, been offended. It's just like you walk in the room and, you know, and like I said to you earlier, you know where I came from. I could have walked in the room and said, oh, it's because I'm black, isn't I? No, it's not because you're black. You got a damn booger hanging out, you know, as well. I'm looking at you weird. Right. But, you know, so it's all about what's in for the other person. And then the final part of negotiation is how do you nurture the relationship after that and let it keep paying dividends? Whether you close the deal or not, how is that person going to call Ed and say, Damon's a decent dude or Damon's going to call about Ed and say, yeah, he's a good guy or do more deals after.

27:31And those are the processes of negotiating. And we can get way into it much further. But a lot of people mess up in those processes. That was a great conversation. And if you want to hear the full interview, be sure to follow the Ed Milet Show on Apple and Spotify. Links are in the show notes. Here's an excerpt I did with our next guest. I'm so thrilled to have this woman here today. I don't think I've ever enjoyed preparing for an interview more than I did this one because we had not met before yet. We have all these very mutual friends who just they just love her so much. I was telling that before we went on.

28:04And then as I'm reading about her and learning, I'm falling more in love with her. So you would know her best probably from Shark Tank, which airs on Friday nights. She's got an awesome podcast called Business Unusual. And I think she's one of the most fascinating guests we've ever had on the show. So, Barbara Corcoran, welcome to the show. Thank you for being here. Thank you so much. All your compliments are a little bit premature, Ed. Why don't you wait a little bit on it? Well, at the end of the interview, if it's not very good, I'll amend my remarks. But I'm pretty sure we're going to crush it.

28:32I'm reading about it. I've got to confess. I've watched you on TV all these years. And I'm thinking, she's got so much confidence and presence. This is like an Upper West Side, New York, raised with a silver spoon. That's what I'm thinking, right? I just, and then I start to read and I'm like, oh my gosh, she's one of us. And she's had to overcome this tremendous adversity. She's one of 10 kids. She's New Jersey. She's, it's, you know, your dad wasn't the richest guy in the world by a mile. I was just fascinated by your upbringing and what you've turned your life into. Then I read, you couldn't read or write.

29:05Could you tell us? Eventually I did. Eventually. But as a child, you had dyslexia. I didn't know any of this about you. So let's just start out there just for a second, because I want everyone who sees this finished product, this, you know, one of the top entrepreneurs, well-known ones on the planet, take us all the way back to little girl, Barbara. Well, after that introduction, I'm going to get myself a bottle of whiskey and start drinking at this time of the day so I could talk about it. You're too behind. I've already started. So go ahead. Okay. But you know what? All of that kind of background stuff puts a lot of emphasis on money and what money brings.

29:37And I've learned as an adult, I was very lucky having that background, being one of 10 kids, you know, having worries all the time about how we would make do in our little house. You know, we had 10 kids in two bedrooms, boys' room, girls' room. My mother and father made those kids on the couch and we had one bathroom. But you know, when you're that young and that's what you know, I never felt like I was short on anything because I had a mother and father who really loved us and cared for us. And I've met so many people with my hats way off to them because they didn't even have that. And if you don't have that love when you're younger, it's a hard one to get over.

30:15So I was doused with love. And so I think of myself as a privileged child in a real way. If you can get rid of the usual stereotype that money makes difference. And, you know, I found that in my life, not having money made the difference. It made me desire to have a better life. Not that that was such a bad life. It made me dream about maybe one day having a beach house or having a nice car that didn't have, you know, Denson or whatever, like my dad's blue beauty that went on for 20 years. As I recall, it made me get lots of jobs. What an asset that was. I worked since the time I was 11, as did all my brothers and sisters.

30:54We all worked to contribute to the house. And I learned what I was good at, what I wasn't good that. And by the time I was 23 and started my business, you would swear I was 53 and experienced in the real world of living. I could go on and on, but those are meaningful ways that I got very, very lucky early. I feel like I had that too. Our backgrounds aren't that different. Tons of love, but there's also things that happen when you're a child, I think. That's why I respect you. Not because you came from low income means to obviously you've done incredibly well, but But I think sometimes when we're a kid, there's experiences where either our parents or people that we admire around us kind of project their limitations onto us or say things that they don't know might be limiting us long term and our identity or our self-confidence that end up affecting us later.

31:42And for you, for me, I had an alcoholic dad who's ended up being sober and became my best friend, loving father. But there was always be careful. He would always, before we'd hang up the phone, be careful, be careful. You know, there's always this very cautious sort of thought process in our family. And for you in school, you were sort of labeled not so smart because of this reading and writing issue that you had with the dyslexia. Right. Do you think that ever impacted you? Did you have to consciously overcome that or did you just work your way through with all these jobs and just the hustle?

32:13You know, that that in my life, even to this day, is the largest challenge. because you said you had an alcoholic dad when you were younger. I mean, if you had an alcoholic dad when you were 25, it's very different than when you're eight and feel so vulnerable or 14 and wonder if you're going to grow and be like that guy. It can be the most painful and cutting experience into the depth of your heart and your confidence and your shake of faith in life itself. They're big injuries, okay? So my big injury wasn't the same as your own. My big injury was I was a dumb kid made fun of. And I can feel that pain till today.

32:56God forbid somebody acts like a bully to me in business. I turn into that kid getting even. I hate to say it, but it's like, I'll kill you. I'll kill you. It's not just a theory or a dream I have, but it's like comes from all those old cuts around there. So I think a choice of two ways you could go. Okay. You could like feel sorry for yourself, which is totally normal when you're a child. Who teaches you not to feel sorry for yourself? Most of us are raised by parents who are pretty good at feeling sorry for this situation, right? So we learn that. But who teaches you not to feel sorry for yourself and instead get even in your life?

33:34And what I've chosen to do, and it didn't come early, it didn't come so fast. It came out of duress, being on my feet in circumstances that I didn't envision. But as a young 20 something year old, I got over it and not totally over it because I'm still an over preparer. I'll prepare 50 hours for someone what someone else will prepare 15 minutes for because I don't want to ever be thought of as stupid again. I don't want to embarrass myself. I don't want anyone to think my IQ is not up there or whatever. I go through all this insecurity. So my great asset I got from that is I'm an over preparer.

34:07And the other asset I got from that of growing up with that injury card, my biggest card, every kid's got something. Nobody grows happy as it could be. But my big injury card on that is I'm out to prove to the world for my entire life that I am not stupid because I was written off as stupid, reinforced that I was stupid. And I'm still, of course, I know I'm not stupid, but somewhere a piece of me still is scared about it. And that's what makes this bunny hop, you know? So you can get your strength from your greatest weaknesses if you have the strength to realize it, you know? and find it somewhere.

34:44It's absolutely perfect. I relate to it. And I, it's one of my favorite things someone's ever said on the show, because you watch you, you have this presence, you have it now yet. I don't know. I, I, I met what I said, I'm reading about you and I'm falling in love with this little girl and I'm watching. I could just picture this little girl, not being told she wasn't the smartest one. And she's just accomplished these amazing things in her life. And to know that, you know, that happened for you and not to you. One of the worst things that could happen is being labeled with a limitation like that.

35:11Your whole life, Barbara, to some extent, maybe not the last, I haven't been with you, the last 20 years, it's all the winning and all that. But prior to that, I'm like, this woman takes a thousand dollar loan from a boyfriend, turns into a five billion, five billion with a B real estate business. But then I'm picturing this scene. I just, I don't know. It made me emotional as I'm prepping. You're an old softy. Look at you, Ed. You're an old pushover softy type of guy. I'm disappointed in you. I thought there was this. well i think that i think that i am a little bit and the reason is is that i love it i'm kidding with you i know i root for people you know i root for i'm what i'm thinking i don't know maybe people knew this i'm watching you on the show thinking if everyone knew this woman's story i want to have her on so badly because it's remarkable and i'm picturing you you're like i don't know you you're in your early 20s you're with this boyfriend who gives you the thousand dollar loan i want everyone to hear this yeah you're with your boyfriend he gives you the thousand dollar you guys have built a really good business.

36:07You're doing most of it. You're doing the work, but you built a pretty good business. There's a funny name to you, like Simone Lamone or something like that, right? Oh, it wasn't that funny. It was Corcoran Simone. My name first. That was a battle. What was his name though? Wasn't it like Ramone? Oh, Ramone Simone. There we go. Ramone Simone. That was good. I remember that was what I remembered. And I, and he comes home and just tell him what happens. You're cooking dinner for his kids, right? And what happens? And then what do you turn it into? Tell us that. Well, of course, he came home to announce he was marrying my secretary.

36:37I just couldn't believe my eyes. I mean, my ears rather, I guess is what I couldn't believe. But she was almost eight years younger than I. She was prettier than I. She had long blonde hair. I'd already made mine short. I got it in hindsight, but he told me I could take my time moving out. I took about a minute, grabbed my toothbrush, was out of there. You know, that was my family. I was raising those kids. That was our family. We also built a 14-man shop renting apartments in the city. So we had the family at work together. We had the family at home. I thought we were buds, you know, for life, you know.

37:07But it took me a year of a little bit feeling sorry for myself on the front end, I guess, because I thought, how could he do that to me? How could he take me by surprise? How could he? That's the pity, pity party that's so dangerous in life. But then I tolerated that for a year. She moved into my office. They giggled together. That's what broke my heart. The giggling. He liked her so much more than me. I was like the girl. So I finally, one Friday, I just walked in and said, we're ending the business today, Ramon. We're going to chop the people in half. You pick the first person, I'll pick the second.

37:39I think that was the day I grew up. Wow. I remember having presents. Like I knew what we were doing that day. We divided that business, seven, seven people in probably eight minutes. We divided the bank accounts, the receivables, the whole thing, I think it was 76 ,000. We chopped up. And then I announced to my people, we were going to be in new office on Monday. I didn't give him much time. Where are we going? They said. And I said, it's a surprise. You didn't know where you were going. Did you know? No. But I went immediately up that afternoon on Friday to my landlord and asked if he had any other space because we always paid our rent on time.

38:14And he said, yes, I have the 11th floor above the 8th floor. Same space. I knew the space. And I rented it that day. I had phones installed on Saturday. When you could do that, you could call and get business phones installed the next day. And I bought 14 desks down on 42nd Street and those guys ran them up to Midtown. And I had everything packed that weekend. And they came into a boat box with all their possessions on their desks. Welcome to the Corcoran Group. And that was the first day of Corcoran Group. And it happened two days after the last day of Corcoran Salone, you know. But, you know, the spirit of core in that business, the old business was a great spirit of core.

38:49They had a mom and a dad at home. Nobody knew we had marital problems. All of a sudden, dad was gone. Mom was running it. And we worked with passion because I had so little money and also my security. I didn't know it then. But I realized on that Monday how insecure I felt without my boyfriend and partner. He was eight years older than me, a man of the world. I just he found me in my little town of Edgewater, took me out of the diner, told me I'd be a good person in sales. everything that was like mature and positive about me first time hearing things positive about me in my life was from him so i thought without him i was really nothing but even that was quickly turned into an asset because i was running scared and you know how helpful it is when you run scared you run hard you know and so that couldn't have been a better start and also i forgot to mention which I always like to mention, is that Friday when I left, he called me back because he was really shocked that I moved so fast.

39:50And he called me back and he said, oh, Barbara. I said, yes, Ray. I said, he said, I could call him Ray after a few years. I said, he said, you'll never succeed without me. I couldn't believe he said that to me. I would rather kill than let him see me not succeed. And I can't tell you how many times that came into my head at the tough times when all of us build businesses. You know, you go forward, you go back, you go forward, you go back. You think you're going to go out of business and you stay in business, you save your neck. It goes on and on. But each of those worst moments, I would think about him laughing at me.

40:21It's terrible. He wasn't going to laugh at me. I doubt it. But I picture him and I shake me up. And I think of another new idea to try something else to do something, something. And I would always like, just get me around that next corner. So I really had the gift of insult walking out that door. And I think if he had been lovely and mature and said, you know what, you're phenomenal, you're going to do fine without me. And that was asking too much because I had just hit a broadside, as you know. Yeah, I think I maybe wouldn't have stayed in business. I think it would have made the exit in the beginning a little bit more graceful versus vengeful.

40:59And I realize I'm very good, insulted. I also discovered my strength. you know yeah well i think finding like the leverage that gets you going i think sometimes even when we start to have some success i mean why why do you keep climbing you know some of you that are achieving that are doing pretty well too it's can you still find the reasons i we were talking about the football helmet behind me from brady before he went on she's got an emmy behind her i have a football helmet from another guy but someone like him that he's keeps finding yes i would tomorrow if the football player comes with the football i'll do a swap i can't i can't throw that one in, unfortunately.

41:35I could throw in lunch with me. But I got to tell you, it's finding that leverage you get on yourself. It's hearing those things that you're not smart, you're going to fail. It's feeding it to you in a way that it energizes you and not taking those things to bury you in your life that I think a lot of entrepreneurs go the other direction. Like, ah, they were right. They were right. Every time there's evidence that something negative happens, rather than getting that bowing your spine, so to speak, and battling through. I also see this competition thing with you like shines through you the thing i wanted to ask you about kind of as a little side road because you're a woman and one of the things i looked down i was i'm stating the obvious for this reason that you were one of the first women really that women were already doing wallet sales and right now they dominate the sales space but you you were the woman owner also of a business i just like you to speak to maybe women right now that are out there that are on the fence a little bit about, should I start a business?

42:32Should I move into ownership in my life? Do you think there's anything unique that a woman brings to the table? And do you feel like there's still a shortage of female entrepreneurs out there? Listen, being a female, for me anyway, when I was building my business was an asset, or at least I saw it that way. So it was. I was in a male dominated business. Every shop was owned by men, the development field, the brokerage field owned by men, usually second, third generation wealthy guys. Okay. And there are big companies. So it seemed insurmountable. All right. But it was worked by women. And that wasn't lost on me.

43:0790 % of the sales force were female. We didn't even have the gay population yet as part of the New York real estate scene, which today in brokerage is they're very tremendous force in brokerage. Okay. So we had it worked by women owned by men. OK, I could see the asset of that. I could see that if I was a girl telling the girls what to do, why would they object to that? Would I have more empathy for them wanting to spend, go home with their kids, being spread thin, having four jobs when the husband had one? I understood that because I was of them. OK, so I was able to build a spirit of core that I'm not saying couldn't be done by a man, but no one really did it because they weren't cut out of the same cloth.

43:53So they were, they were part of me. I was their mom. They were my kids. And that was my attitude and feeling from day one at that business. They were my kids that I would kill for them in the same way I would kill for my own kids today, my real kids. And that gives you a big calling card. Now to your other aspect of your question, lest I forget it. You said, what do you say to a woman who's working in life, particularly in a man's field, pulling ahead? you have no idea what you're missing until you start your own firm. If you were to be an entrepreneur, no idea what you're missing when you're not free to make the walls, your color to choose the people, to make the policy yours, to decide what stick is in the sand, which mountain you're going to climb.

44:38When you're in charge, anyone, any individual in the world, put them in charge and you will see what they're made of. I remember my business. I was it running the company, but I knew where I wanted to go. I knew I would need top management eventually, even though I couldn't afford it and didn't have enough size to have other people running offices. But I remember from almost the get go, I would go away for two days, say, don't call me. There are no cell phones. Don't call me. You're in charge. I would choose a salesperson. You're in charge. What do you mean I'm in charge? Whatever you decide is OK with me, don't call me.

45:17Make any decisions. Mary's in charge. Everybody, Mary's in charge. What I discovered in the first 25, 35 people I had, I had potentially five or six phenomenal leaders, good managers. They didn't know they were managers, but I test drove them all the time, throwing people in charge, throwing people in charge. So if you can take charge, not only of your office as a manager, you usually find find your gifts that way very often. But if you can go the extra step and be in charge of your destiny, what you do with your life, nine to five, every day you decide what power and what a delicious, delicious luxury it is in life to be able to make your world what you want it to be.

45:59It's magic making, you know, so you can't get me to too badly because I wish everybody could be entrepreneurs. I think there are certain traits that are dominant in entrepreneurs. If you don't have them, you're not going to make it. But I do believe if you are so inclined to have those traits, that ability, you're like missing so much by working for the next guy. I would rather kill myself than work for somebody. That's how I feel. That's how dedicated I am. You can see it on your face when you talk about you said wired earlier and then you said these traits. And I think that's an important, I get asked this too, and I don't know that I answer it very well.

46:31So I'm curious what your answer is. What are some of those traits? I'm sitting here, I'm driving in my car, I'm on a treadmill, I'm watching this on YouTube, wherever I am listening to this. I'm like, you know, I want to be an entrepreneur, or I am one, but I'm still not totally sure I should be. What are a couple of those traits in your mind that are just you must have these or you shouldn't be one? I believe front and foremost is competitiveness. Wow. I've invested in a lot of businesses. I have to tell you, there's not one really successful one where the principal isn't fiercely competitive.

47:00You know, and I don't mean competitive like I want like Saban and Jim of Cousin Maine Lobster, the equally competitive. It's not like I want to be the biggest lobster brand in America. Not that kind of competitive. But Luke's did what? Luke's Lobster? Oh, the shop, the horns come out, whether they wanted the shop there, whether they wanted the city there, whether they even had an interest. but they're competitors. It's like a fast fuse. My most successful entrepreneurs are sickly competitive. I know for myself, I used to compete for things in my field that I had no interest in just to show them that I could get it.

47:36That's sick. I needed a shrink, not a job, right? But it's a wiring that you hear that growling, you know, that you want to be competitive. And I think that's the number one trait. I think the number two trait, and if I only had an hour to two. And there's so many things you tap into when you're an entrepreneur, you got all guns ablaze. But the second one I would say is that you have to be able to get back up fast. Everybody, you know, it gets a hit and feels badly and you have a lot of excuses to rest a bit and stay low or make yourself right. He told me he was right, whatever. But I think it's the ability to just like get in the habit of getting up, getting up.

48:16I am such in the habit of getting up. I'm almost, It's not really almost at the point now where somebody slaps me around. I don't feel it because I'm so much in the habit, the good habit of getting back up. And the interesting, if I could add, even though that wasn't your question, I'm going to throw it in here. It's interesting how often I'm asked by parents how to build a child's confidence. If only they find something they're really engaged in. If only they're really, if only, you know, I believe parents can very much help children find their thing by getting them in the habit, trying things, failing and getting back up.

48:49and you can control that, force your kids to go back out and try. Back up at that. Try at that sport if you're not going to try at that sport. Oh, you can't do your homework? Try harder. Go do it again. I think that kind of building a habit of trying is where all children get their confidence from. And as dumb as I was in school, man, I was not allowed to coast. I was shoved out back and back and back and back and back. So I didn't think that lying down was an option. I got in the habit. And what an asset that was as an adult to have all that practice as a kid. I had an advantage, you see? So that's, I think I answered your question.

49:24Maybe not. You ask it again. I think I dropped a piece of it on you or something. It's so good. And it's interesting. I have to tell you, because I've asked that. I don't, I would like to have a different answer. I got asked that a couple of months ago at a speaking engagement. I have, and I said the word competition. Oh, there you go. Because when I was done, though, I wasn't so sure that that was the one thing. but I actually, I just, we just did this new podcast deal on, you know, starting new businesses and somebody asked, I asked the other day to my friend, I said, why am I still, you know, I'm like, I'm doing all these things.

49:55I said, what is, do I need a shrink? Like what you said. You do need a shrink. Yes. Don't get one. You won't be as profitable. That's what he said. Almost verbatim. He said, he goes, Eddie, listen, dude, here's the deal. You're competitive. You want to, you just, you want to, and also you're competitive with yourself. You want to see how much you can expand, how much you can contribute. and he said you'd be dead just sitting around man like i told him i said i where i was i live here on the ocean i'm looking at the beach i said i have not put my feet on that sand in like four weeks he goes you get out there you find a way to do it but you're competitive and i actually enjoy doing this more than i do just sitting there it doesn't mean i don't like to rest it doesn't mean i don't like to you know you know recuperate but i like expanding i like contributing i like growing i want to compete and so i completely agree with your answer and this has been a trend with you so now i'm like okay how's she going shark tank you have the exit in 2001 bunch of money and then you're i think you think you're going to get the show yes i had the show they hired me yeah i signed the contract they hired you and then it was like maybe not you got it this is amazing i mean think about this what's happened to your brand to your reach to your influence i mean this one decision we're one decision away from altering our life right one little competitive psycho streak in you.

51:12So tell them what happens. You get the show and then what? Then I get the call from the Mark Burnett's assistant and same woman who called me in the first place saying, I'm sorry, the show's changed its mind. They've hired another woman for the lone female seat. I couldn't believe my ears. You know, you have to remember at this point, I had already bought Hollywood outfits, going to sign autographs. Oh, I had my movie going. I had new leather luggage. Wasn't going to be plastic in Hollywood. It's going to be leather matching luggage. And so I was already there. I told my friends, I'm going to Hollywood.

51:45I'm going to Hollywood. I'm going to Hollywood. So I was mortified more than anything. Honestly, the first thought I had was, what will my friends think? What will I explain? I hate to be that shallow, but I really thought of that. And then I hung up the phone. I couldn't believe it. I had to shake my head. But then I did the thing that's more important than anything else in life, which I had learned to do, get back up. So I got back up and I typed out a very brief email to Mark Burnett, whom I hadn't met, and called the assistant to promise she promised she would deliver it to him because I didn't think he'd read it.

52:20And she said she'd walk it over and promise that he'd read it. And I told him I consider him to be my lucky charm. All the best things in my life happened on the heels of rejection. When Sister Stella Marie told me I'd never learned to read or write, she was wrong. I learned when the big boys in New York said I couldn't compete. I became the number one rival. When Donald Trump said I'd never see a penny of the$4 million commission, I collected every penny in federal court. I just went right like that. And I said, I'd like you to invite both women out to compete, and I expect to be on that plane on Tuesday.

52:52And what do you think happened? He invited us both out, and thank God that was 13 years ago, pointing again to the power of not being so smart and not working so hard or all the rest of the stuff you have to do in life but the power of getting back up you know just take another swing by the way and what was shocking to me well i was i was not so shocked i turned it around because i was used to turning things around what was shocking to me is my clay my producer two weeks after that we were on shark time he said to me you know we hired four times more business owners than we needed and we rejected three out of four He said, and not one wrote an email.

53:29I was like, what? No one objected? So I got the seat purely for writing that email, not because I earned it or I had good luck, but that email got me that seat. No doubt. That is just an amazing story. And by the way, not only did you respond, I was going to give you a little, everyone, just a paragraph of the email. Not only did you respond, but you did it in such a way that just had a level of certainty. I think certainty. I was faking it. I love that though. But see, but certainly his influence. She says, Mark, I understand you've asked another girl to dance instead of me. Yeah, great opening line.

54:05Even I laughed at that one. It's so good. It would get your attention. You would laugh at it. And he says, although I appreciate being reserved as a fallback, she says, I'm much more accustomed to coming in first. Yeah, that's another good line. I might say so again. It is. It's so, it's just, I got to say, guys, I mean, there's moments that define our lives. And do we get back up? You know, do we compete again? You know, do we dig deep? And these things may seem sort of hokey. They're real world things that end up deciding whether or not you've had a pretty successful life or you're one of the most influential entrepreneurs on the spinning earth, which is what Barbara's become.

54:42Isn't that amazing? And it's just remarkable. Now, someone pitches on the show. I'm curious. What are you looking for? In other words, is it the business model itself? Are you evaluating the jockey or the horse, or is it both? And how do you end up reaching a determination like, this is at least one I may be in on? Or can they say one thing and you're like, I'm out? Is there something in particular you'll notice where you're like, I'm out? A few hot buttons. First of all, I really form a first impression before they ever say a word based on how they look. They're standing in front of the sharks, lower than us.

55:20They're intimidating, come through the doors, they're standing there. they are told not to talk until they're asked to start. So there's this long silence while they set the camera shots up close in their face. Very intimidating. And I watch how they handle the pressure. Okay. So when somebody is falling apart, looking at the ground, shifting, can't handle that pressure. I just am out right away. I mean, I can't say I'm out, but I know I'm out. No matter what they say, it would be digging out of the hole. I just can't really believe that this would be a strong business partner. Okay. That's one.

55:51I do pay attention to the model to the degree that I say, hey, will enough people buy this service or product? Is there a need for it? And will enough people buy it? And if it seems, yeah, reasonable, I'm OK with the business model. All the details that we go into, the margins and blah, blah, blah. I'm honest to you, as a dyslexic, I'm going to sleep on the wheel. I'm often making a shopping list while it's going on because I can't hide in there to pay attention. OK, but I already have formed my opinion on the very important piece. hey, does it make sense when enough people buy it? Now I'm just watching at the person and just thinking to myself, could I picture them as my business partner?

56:27Do I like them? Do I trust them? And if I do, there's one last question. Do they have enough energy to make it to the finish line? Because I've never met a successful entrepreneur who didn't have a ton of energy. So if they don't have that energy, I think they're going to run out of gas. Now I could be wrong, who really knows, But I know in hiring people my whole life, thousands of people, when people don't have high energy, they're never great. So that's like a breathing test on us. So that's kind of the summation of it. And then you have to hang in there for another 45 minutes before you can say I'm out and make up another reason why they're out.

57:02Because you don't want to say to everybody, I don't like your energy. You're not competitive. I don't like the way you look. You have to come up with something more businessy. And I spend the rest of my time trying to come up with something more businessy that makes sense for the show. you know businessy i love that i do that all the time on this show let me sound more businessy so i can just fit in i know exactly what you're talking about this is the end my life show