Harrington learned many invaluable lessons running this business, including the importance of investing in hiring the right people before your business becomes too big. He urges entrepreneurs to always “hire the best of the best.” “In the old days, I didn’t want to hire people smarter than me at the table,” Harrington says. “I was intimidated. No, you need people smarter than you. You own the business. You’re smart by hiring smart people. So don’t be afraid to pay people good money.”
Kevin Harrington knows a little about entrepreneurship. Throughout his career, he’s started 20 businesses that have generated more than $100 million in sales. He admits he has had his share of failures, which is a key part of his success. He offers this advice, “Get rid of the losers. Fail Fast. Fail cheap and focus on the winners. And understand that you’re going to have plenty of failures but don’t let them cause you to lose your enthusiasm.”
Harrington is best known as one of the inaugural investors on the popular TV show, “Shark Tank.” He learned about entrepreneurship at the age of 11 when he started working by his father’s side in the bar he owned. His dad took the time to explain how the business worked, who to trust, and how to become as knowledgeable about your business as possible. On Sundays, his father would read newspapers and magazines to stay current with the latest trends. Harrington’s father encouraged his son to become an entrepreneur.
At 15, Harrington ran a driveway sealing business, doing as many as 15 driveways a week. At 18, after his father told him that he had to pay his way through college, he opened an air conditioning and heating company. Within a few years, he generated $1 million in revenue. He sold the business to one of his employees, then dove into a transformative part of his life.
As a business broker in the 1980s, Harrington had a “light bulb” moment one day watching cable TV, a new medium with 30 stations. Station NO. 29 had no programming. He called the cable company who said that the Discovery Channel only had 18 hours of programming. The remaining six were up for grabs. Harrington’s entrepreneurial wheels started churning. He approached Barry Becher, who at the time traveled to trade shows 40 weeks out of the year selling Ginsu knives. Harrington convinced Becher to produce a video of his sales pitch that later ran on the cable network during those dormant times. The idea took off, leading to Becher’s business exploding and fueling Harrington’s next business As Seen On TV. The infomercial business expanded around the world.
Perhaps Harrington solidified his role as a leading investor and advisor during his two seasons on the hit TV show, “Shark Tank.” Many of his episodes have run over 50 times, including the CitiKitty, a toilet training product for cats that has generated more than $10 million in sales.
Just like on Shark Tank, Harrington doesn’t mince words in offering advice to entrepreneurs. For future entrepreneurs, he urges you to get off the fence, embrace your vision, believe in it, and “enthusiastically act on it.”
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