How to Find the Right Mentor | Ask Mr. Wonderful Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary

So my question is: how can a 22-year-old make himself useful or stand out to a business person that can perhaps take a risk to pull me along and teach me what are the skills and things you would need to see in a candidate to even consider teaching him? He's having a hard time finding a mentor.

What do you say? A 22-year-old that's got so much ambition?

Barbara: Mentors are overrated! Really! Sure, who showed you the way? Was it one mentor that pointed left or right and you found your way? I doubt it. No, the life of hard knocks pushed me all over the place, absolutely.

So what he's looking to is someone else for an answer. Bad idea! All your answers have to do with yourself—what you experience, what you expose yourself to, how much you play in the traffic, what you reject, what you accept. You have to find your own path in life.

This guy is looking for someone else with the answer, like, I'll follow you. No, we're called individuals for a reason! Everybody's an individual. He's got to find his own gig. You get help from friends and you need help from more senior people in your field, but in the end, you have to find your own way. I really believe that.

I think the kid's off to a good start, though. He sounds like he's got his stuff together. I like the international aspect.

Oh, he doesn't believe he's got his stuff together. Well, because he's looking for the answer somewhere else. If he tries any one of these businesses, he's got multiple opportunities. Go make something happen! He'll learn pretty quickly how damn hard that is.

Yeah, of course I'm okay with that answer. Maybe I won't throw you out the window on Shark Tank. All of our good entrepreneurs never really listen to us. They listen, but they don't follow our advice—they find their own advice, and that's the mark of saying, well, they listen when we won't give them a deal because their valuations are too high.