Kevin O'Leary Says True Validation Comes From Paying Customers: 'You Do Not Start A Business Until…'

Benzinga_recent_news01-27

Investor and “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary urged aspiring entrepreneurs to stop launching businesses out of pressure or obligation, saying success only comes when “strangers” are willing to pay for ...

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Because you think you have to,\" he said. \"You don't have to.\"\nHe emphasized that founders should not launch until they've identified a real problem that people will pay to solve.\n\"You do not start a business until you’ve figured out how to solve a pain point that people are willing to pay for,\" he said.\nO'Leary was clear that feedback from family and friends is not a reliable validation. \n\"I’m not talking about your grandmother, your mother and your aunt. Those are not your customers. They’ll always try and help you,\" he said. \nHe added that a business is only real when a stranger makes a purchase: \"When an independent person that you don’t know says, you have a product or service that I want to buy, then you have a business.\"\nO'Leary shared a series of blunt life lessons. \nEarlier, O'Leary recalled his stepfather telling him he wasn't talented enough for creative careers after high school, pushing him toward business and marketing instead.\nHe later studied business, launched a film production company, and built a successful entrepreneurial career, saying the experience taught him to align passion with ability and avoid self-deception.\nO'Leary also warned job seekers that not having a LinkedIn profile was a major red flag for employers.\nHe emphasized that recruiters now scrutinize candidates' digital footprints and that social media visibility is essential for career growth.\nO'Leary advised couples to treat marriage as a financial partnership, arguing that money appears early and stays involved, and that ignoring financial compatibility can lead to divorce.\nImage via Shutterstock","kind":"highlight","is_publish_news":true,"is_publish_highlight":false,"is_publish_live":false,"is_publish_wemedia":null,"editions":null,"column":"","sentiment":"0","news_tag":"","news_rank":0,"symbols":[],"gpt_button":0,"need_auth":false,"code":"91000000","status":"200"},"commentList":[],"isCommentEnd":true,"newsSizeData":{"likeSize":0,"commentSize":0,"repostSize":0,"favoriteSize":0,"likeStatus":false,"favoriteStatus":false},"APP":{"userAgent":"Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)","isDev":false,"isTTM":true,"tenantId":"TBGLOBAL","deviceId":"web-server-community-laohu8-v3","version":"4.36.2","shortVersion":"4.36.2","platform":"web","vendor":"web","appName":"ttm","isIOS":false,"isAndroid":false,"isTiger":false,"isTHS":false,"isWeiXin":false,"isWeiXinMini":false,"isWeiBo":false,"isQQ":false,"isBaiduSwan":false,"isBaiduBox":false,"isDingTalk":false,"isToutiao":false,"isOnePlus":false,"isHuaWei":false,"isXiaomi":false,"isXiaomiWebView":false,"isOppo":false,"isVivo":false,"isSamsung":false,"isMobile":false},"href":"/m/news/2606786815","isCrawlerRequest":true}