89: "Will Your Passion Endure?" - Featured Interview with Barbara Corcoran • My Quest for the Best with Bill Ringle

Real Estate Mogul, Bestselling Author, and Founder of The Corcoran Group

On this episode of My Quest for the Best, Barbara Corcoran talks to Bill Ringle about the hallmarks of a successful entrepreneur, what she does to stay productive and successful, and about her book Shark Tales.

Listen to this interview to learn:

What skills and personality traits angel investors want entrepreneurs to have
How investing in an entrepreneur is like hiring a great sales person
What luck does and what the person must do to capitalize on any lucky break
The one characteristic that has no substitute in business (or in life)
What women entrepreneuers in particular need more of to stand out and be successful

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1:03 [On getting into real estate] – “I was naive and too stupid to know any better, kinda like the kid that jumps off the cliff who doesn’t know what to be afraid of.”

1:13 “There’s great virtue in starting a business young, before you have any body of knowledge.”

1:36 How a loan of just $1000 enabled her to start her business and head down her chosen career path. – “It was the first time in my life I had ever planned anything.”

2:13 “[The thousand dollars] bought me 1 ad in the New York Times business section for 8 weeks running.”

2:30 [On the importance of her rented pink princess phone] – “Visualization is so key in building a success…It made me feel like I was fancy.”

3:25 Corcoran recounts how a “tasteless”, but expensive, coat made her feel like she looked the part. “Like I could afford an expensive coat.”

3:47 [On the importance dressing the part] – “They just have to look credible for who they claim they are.”

4:27 Corcoran recounts some of the clothing fails that have occurred on Shark Tank – “You just don’t show up that way!”

4:45 “I’m out very often just because of the appearances of people who walk on that set.”

5:16 “If you’re building a business, the god’s in the detail. It’s all taking care of every little inch.”

5:38 Corcoran recounts some of the characteristics of people who have appeared on Shark Tank that have served them well.

5:41 [On positive characteristics] – “If people aren’t passionate about their product, they’re not going to give anyone that contagious feeling of being passionate too.”

6:15 [The most important question concerning passion] – “How long can they maintain that passion?”

7:03 Corcoran explains the biggest mistake an entrepreneur can make on Shark Tank.

7:08 “What we’re trying to do really is assess the individual and the markings of a good business there.”

7:56 The sneaky trick that producers play on entrepreneurs – “Nothing happens for three minutes.”

7:58 “If you want to see someone under pressure, you have to watch that entrepreneur for three minutes and watch what happens.”

8:36 “I’ve found that judging the entrepreneurs is no different than what I did in my career, which is judging who might make a good salesperson.”

9:35 How delivering strategic insults can help you quickly size up a potential salesperson’s mettle.

10:00 “If the people are coming back at you with all of these sharks eating them alive, that’s a pretty good entrepreneur.”

10:45 “Every type of product has a huge pond to sell to.”

10:57 [On what turns investors on] – “What kind of sales do you have?”

11:37 “Most entrepreneurs in naivety think they’re going to turn on the investors with the potential of their business vs. the actual sales numbers.”

12:15 [On writing Shark Tales] – “It had to do with my mom who raised 10 kids, never worked a day in her life, but she was probably the best businesswoman I’ve ever met. She built her household, ran it like a business.”

12:59 [On inspiration for Shark Tales] – Corcoran wanted to share the lessons she’s learned from working with different entrepreneurs, their successes and failures, and businesses she’s bought – “The common traits that make entrepreneurs do well in business.”

13:45 [On writing the book] – “It was an act of endurance.”

14:04 “There’s no substitute for hard work. If anyone thinks that you can be exceptional in anything without putting in superhuman hours and hard work – life’s just not that way.”

15:01 “If you’re not in that work mode, being hungry and eager and pushing like crazy, you don’t see those [easy] balls coming.”

15:45 The insurance policy for success

16:01 “I am a firm believer in an attitude of arrogance…a small arrogance that allows you to get from A to B.”

16:34 “A woman will self-assess and self-efface herself, so as a female, I love to tell men and women that you have a right to be there.”

17:15 “When you jump, you always find the answers on the way down.”

17:43 “A lot of people don’t think they have it in them, and I think that they just don’t have the leap of faith to take the chance.”

18:10 Two tips that Corcoran has to be successful.

19:13 “When I start my day, I rate what i have to do, not based on what I want to do, but based on what is in front of me that will make the biggest difference in what I’m trying to accomplish.”

20:00 The significance of having the ability to single out the important things.

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Expert Bio

Barbara Corcoran’s credentials include straight D’s in high school and college and twenty jobs by the time she turned twenty-three. Then she took out a $1000 loan to start The Corcoran Group and parlayed it into a five-billion-dollar real estate business, which she sold in 2001 for $66 million.

Barbara is currently the real estate contributor for NBC’s TODAY Show, where she comments weekly on trends in the real estate market. She’s also a Star on ABC’s reality hit Shark Tank, on which she buys young businesses and shepherds them to success.

Barbara is a motivational speaker, as well as the author of several books, including If You Don’t Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails, an entertaining business book that has become a national bestseller, and Nextville, Amazing Places to Live Your Life. Her latest book, Shark Tales, hit the #1 business book ranking on Amazon.

For more information, visit Barbara’s website.