He’s known today for being a multimillionaire Shark Tank star, but when he graduated college in 1984 with an English degree, he was lost on how to jumpstart his career. He bounced between odd jobs—waiting tables, field producing at the Olympics, even helping direct a movie—before realizing juggling gigs wouldn’t set him apart.
Instead, he leaned into the one skill he knew he could master: communication.
“Be great at one thing. The world does not reward general talent. The only place that works is on Jeopardy,” he tells Fortune.
That focus, he says, was key to unlocking his cybersecurity career and helping him become a millionaire by age 26. And while one might expect his English degree to have been a disadvantage in tech, it actually was a benefit. Among the crowded cyber field, Herjavec was the one who was different.
“I had to develop the ability to communicate, and I had to develop the ability to spot talent,” he adds. “I didn’t understand the technology initially, but I was good at understanding people who understood the technology.”
Wringing out every opportunity in life
Herjavec’s drive was shaped from a young age, after immigrating to Canada with his parents from then-Yugoslavia with just one suitcase and $50—a sacrifice that left a lasting impact.
“We lived in someone’s basement for 18 months,” he says. “So I think that drove me for a really long time. I felt if I didn’t make it, if I didn’t make something of myself, it didn’t justify their sacrifice.”
Even after accomplishing his first major milestone—paying off both his and his parents’ homes and feeling like “the richest person in the world”—Herjavec’s ambition only deepened. Instead of resting on his success, he started to question the true meaning of achievement and what it takes to make a life worthwhile.
“For the last so many years, for me, it’s about reaching a potential that I’ll probably never get to,” he says. “It’s that constant pursuit of perfection.”
“How good can I be? How much can I push myself to really wring out every opportunity in this life? So, now my whole goal is on my deathbed, the last words under my mouth I want them to be ‘I’m tired,’” he adds.
The power of team building
Now 17 years into Shark Tank, Herjavec has sat through thousands of investor pitches —but he notes it’s often not the idea that is the most important, but rather the people behind it.
When a holiday-themed appeal company, Tipsy Elves, came seeking investment during season 5 of Shark Tank, even Herjavec admitted the idea was a bit silly. However, after its founders Evan Mendelsohn and Nick Morton began explaining their passion and business sense, Herjavec was sold: He invested $100,000 in exchange for a 10% stake in the company that had about $650,000 in annual sales.
This ultimately became Herjavec’s biggest investment win from the show. More than a decade later, the company has scaled to making over $300 million in lifetime revenue—proving just how success can come from unlikely ventures.
“The great thing about being an entrepreneur is you can write your own story of greatness,” he told Fortune. “It’s all up to you.”
The newest season of Shark Tank premieres on Wednesday, Sept. 24.
Do you have a rags-to-riches story to share? Email Fortune at preston.fore@fortune.com
