North Dakota Is Not Just “Oil & Gas” l Winner State Tour

[Music] And we're coming off of an exciting announcement to you with that investment in the IV in gr fors. Can you tell me a little bit broadly speaking with the Wonder fund? What's the long-term goal for that within our state? Is it getting outside capital into the state? Is it raising awareness for entrepreneurs that this is a good place to invest in? If I could just pick your brain a little bit about it.

Sure. I mean, my original concern with the Wonder fund was, would I find enough opportunity? And wow, I don't have to worry about that. I mean, there's so much opportunity in this state, so that checks the box on that. Not that I'm not worried about that. Wonder fund is a very long-term mandate—10 years—so this is not short-term money. But really what my role is, is to do several things.

Number one, find the deals. I'm doing that. We've got a whole list of fantastic opportunities. Number two, bring outside capital beside me because you want to start telling people about the story of North Dakota. Frankly, the brand it has now, outside of the state, is oil and gas, and that's it. So it's time to tell the story about biotech, about technology, about drone technology, about a Microsoft center, about data centers—all the other things other than oil and gas.

Because you think about what's the new oil? Well, it's data, and there's so much technology here to invest in, and so that's very important. And then, of course, show other funds because I've got a huge network of private equity and venture funds I work with. I have a deal that fits into your portfolio; it happens to be in North Dakota. Why don't you put some in? And then we can sort of spread the word like a spider's web. This is a great place to invest.

The work ethic here is amazing. I mean, people here, you can do meetings at 7:00 in the morning; you can't do that in California. Nobody's awake at 7:00 in the morning. So it's just absolutely fantastic that we've got this energy here, and I want to tap into it. I mean, I can't—I’m really proud to be part of this initiative because my job is to be an ambassador for the state. I'm having a real easy time doing it, and I'm really pointing out the differences between the winner states like North Dakota and the loser states like New York or Massachusetts or California. Winner, loser—this is a winner.

[Music] State. The only way to be authentic is you just have to be yourself 24/7. And people think, "Well, you're the mean shark." I've been listening to that after 20 years. I'm not the mean shark; I'm the only one that tells the truth over and over again. When your business sucks, I tell you because it sucks, and it's going to go to zero. And it's important to know that because in entrepreneurship, you're going to have two or three failures before you get success. You only need one success to set yourself up to be free for the rest of your life.

Doesn't mean you stop working, but in your generation, in your careers, you have the mixed blessing of social [Music] media. The tactic there is to get more deal flow. I'm trying to get more deal flow. The more time I spend here talking to you, you're going to get the word out. I'm looking for deals. You got a deal? Let us know. That's what we're trying to do. We look at everything, so sometimes they're very, very, very early. We want to see those too. We're a go-anywhere fund; we'll invest in any sector at any valuation that we want. We'll negotiate, obviously, but it can be, you know, pre-sales, it can be a concept; it doesn't matter. Our idea is—remember this is long money—this is 10 years. So it's not like we're trying to flip these things; this is about a long view.

And right now, I love what's going on in drone, and so we want to figure out how we're going to position there. I see huge opportunity there. There's no standard for drone integration into the commercial aircraft space; that's a huge, you know, North Dakota, Oklahoma opportunity. Those are the two places on Earth that are most advanced in this, so we got to figure out how to do some dating and dancing together. That's how we got to do it. This is not a place to compete; this is a place to build a [Music] relationship.

Wait a minute, yeah, yeah. [Music] What? [Music] So please join me in welcoming the one, the only, Kevin!

[Applause] Oh, you— a little photo op here. [Music] Yeah, we are the economy, not part of it. We are the economy. There is no American economy without small business, period. And I'm a huge advocate and spokesperson for what we do in this room all across America.

And I want you to know, when I look—I don't want to get into politics tonight, but I do love it—when I look at the Chips Act, the Infrastructure Act, the inflation reduction act, and I've read these acts. I went to Congress last week to testify at the small business committee, and I said to our leadership, "I've read these acts. I don't see a single line in there for small business—not a single line."

You guys gave $2 trillion to the S&P 500 that creates 40% of the jobs in America, of which half of them are in foreign subs, and you forgot about us. You forgot about us completely—forgot about us—and we are 62% of the economy. Now, how are we going to fix that? How are we going to make sure that we get more people like me walking up and down those halls, banging the gong, saying this has got to stop? This is crazy.

Every time an act is written, every time, six out of ten cents has to go to you. Why? Because you create six out of ten jobs. It's that simple. So I want you to know I'm your advocate on that, okay? I'm very fortunate to have a huge megaphone, and I'm not scared to tell the truth, and that's what I'm doing right now. I'm pissed, and so I'm trying to fix that.

So I really celebrate what you do; I honor it. I support you. And I think we should start to be less bashful, less conservative here. Let's start telling the story of North Dakota. It's not just oil and gas; it's way more than that. It's bioscience, it's AI, it's defense, it's drone technology, it's the second largest Microsoft campus in the country. Nobody knows this story; why not? I'm just one voice, and I'm totally committed to pushing this out because it's the right thing to do. Let's go kick some ass! Thank you very [Applause] much!

[Music] Going downstairs to meet a very young entrepreneur. Here's the thing about entrepreneurship: let's say you're awkward, you're socially awkward because you're scared to come out of your shell. Entrepreneurship solves that huge problem. You can't be an entrepreneur without being outgoing and starting to sell, communicating with people, and figuring out where you sit in the whole idea of building a business.

So it's a fantastic solution to a lot of problems when you start selling. Everything changes. So let’s mute. Oh, hello there! Hello! Nice to meet you! Nice to meet you. Hi, Kevin! O’Leary. I'm Emily. Emily! I've heard a lot of good things about you!

[Applause] Okay, listen, this is a big deal. The opposing team is here, and I'm going to go visit them now. Normally, I'd want to shake it up a little bit, but I got to keep it neutral. I got to keep it neutral. After all, it’s friendly competition until I drop the puck. Then the poo hits the [Laughter] fan. This is going to be so much fun. How crazy is this? And the team's right here.

All right, whoa! Hi! [Applause] Guys, well that's absolutely fantastic! So I got to tell you guys something—I love hockey! So even though you're the enemy here, you understand that I want to see a great game, ’cause more than half of you dudes are going to The Bigs, you know that? You know that already!

So I'm going to be watching a pro game tomorrow. I'm going to be looking for stars that are going to emerge here, but I love this stuff, and I think this is a great honor for me because I've never seen this stadium. Everybody's talking about it; it's fantastic. You obviously have played here before, right? Okay, so let's have some fun. Let's have a great game!

But mostly what I want to say is think about the competition we're setting up here. I mean, this is absolutely wonderful. I think it’s four versus five right now. This is the kind of—I love this! This is absolutely fantastic!

So, you know, I'm dying to see it. This is the highlight of the tour for me. I've been here all week, but just so you know, in the 80s—before you guys were born—I grew up in hockey. I produced a lot of the hockey legend stuff with the original six teams. The level of play today versus what it was in 1980 through '85 when the Russians were coming into the league—is 4X that! If you're not tall, if you're not heavy, and you can't skate backwards, you're going to get killed.

So, anyways, I wish you guys the best of luck. I'm really looking forward to the game. I love this stuff! So when I drop that puck, I want you guys to know I'm a hockey guy, and I hope I don't end up on my ass! Thanks a lot, guys! Take [Applause] [Music] [Applause].

Care! The royal family of to the airport, ready? Let’s go!