Kevin O'Leary - Music, Style, Money - Harry Rosen

Hi, I'm Kevin O'Leary from Dragon's Den and Shark Tank, and I'm wearing a crisp Tom Ford from Harry Rosen. Oh yeah, baby! Business is so disciplined and scientific; it's black and white. Either you make money or you lose it. Music is chaos. You need both in your life; there's no question about it. Rock and roll versus business? Come on, it's perfect! It's the ying and the yang; it's the left side, the right side working together.

I'd love to stay here all day. It's funny; I think a lot of people would be wondering, "What are you doing in a guitar shop with Kevin O'Leary?" And it might be a little known fact that you are actually quite the aficionado.

I love guitars, and I love great clothes. Why not put them together? There we go! Here we are. I think in deal-making, you need a combination of many things. You know, I've had some catastrophic failures in my life in business and some great successes. Luckily, the successes are more than the failures, and that's what anybody can say about a scorecard in business. You try and get more wins than losses.

But I think you need to be creative. You have to be personable. You have to be a bit of an artist and a scientist at the same time. You want everybody to win, and yet you know it's a competition, and the scorecard is money. And I like that game.

Here's my philosophy: I don't need more money; I wish I had more time. So my number one commodity for today, an asset, is the use of time. I want to make sure that every minute of every day is well used and doing something I enjoy. That's it! That's my role today, and I want to give back. I think that's a good place to be. I'm enjoying myself.

Kevin O'Leary, the persona—I mean, you're a tough talk from Kevin O'Leary, and even in your memoir, there's some tough talk. Is there a softer side? There's a reason they call me Mr. Wonderful, and I'll tell you what it is. It's because I always tell the truth, and I think sometimes people mistake the truth for being harsh. If you always tell the truth, you never have to remember what you said. So that's what I do. Some people don't like it; I couldn't care less.

Tell me a little bit about the new book. I'm really excited about this book! What I've tried to do is take all of the lessons that I've learned. And you know, I think about all the people I've worked with, all the mistakes I've made, all the successes I've had, and put it into one book. If there's a book you want to read about life and money, this is it.

What do you think is the biggest issue facing Canadian business these days? Government! The biggest problem we've got is over-regulation, and our taxes are too high.

What's the biggest business in Canada? Canada! So, the Prime Minister and his team—whoever that person or woman is—has the biggest and most important job in this country to make sure that we stay on track. And sometimes they get lost. And of course, we're all tied together in a global economy, so that could be bad.

That's why every day, you've got to pick up the guitar and play it for an hour. It's absolutely crucial that you understand what your suit is when you're in business. It's your calling card. I want a crisp suit; I want business attire. I want people to walk into our office and say, "Wow, these guys know what they're doing!" How you dress communicates that without words. It's the key; it's absolutely important.

And Harry's always been about, you know, educating men on trying to manage their brand because every man is a brand, and clearly, you've got the brand figured out. The guitar is a new accessory, but it works. No, Harry is right; it's more than that, though. If you're well-dressed, you float into a room, you're noticed. Everybody understands the harmony of the way you look.

If you're mismatched, if your shoes don't work, if your tie's off, if the knot isn't just right, it's so glaring that you become the focus of attention for the wrong reasons. You know what's expensive? Looking bad in business.

Kevin, thank you so much. Thank you! Thank you! I'll play this wonderful guitar.