Kevin O'Leary's Cold Hard Truth on Men, Women & Money

[Dee]

I just read this book and was surprised at how Mustachian O'Leary's advice comes out in many places.

I had seen O'Leary on Dragon's Den and Lang & O'Leary Exchange (Canadian shows; he also appears on the American version of Dragon's Den, Shark Tank) so I knew he was a rich entrepreneur. But I had omitted to read the blurb about him on the book jacket until nearly the end of reading it and had no idea just how over-the-top rich he is: in 1999, he sold his company to Mattel for $4.2 BILLION.

O'Leary wrote a previous book I haven't read (I am now planning to though) so I am missing a big part of the picture about his past. In this book, which is basically a guide to personal finance, he does include quite a few anecdotes about his past.

And there are some resoundingly mustachian themes going on there, for example, where he questions young people buying lunch and coffee (spending what he calls Ghost Money) and driving to work and advises adults generally to walk to work rather than spend a on a gym membership.

I think O'Leary in some ways plays a caricature of himself when he makes certain comments on his shows. I actually find him quite likeable for the most part on Dragon's Den and even more so having read his book.

I'm not sure I found anything in there I hadn't already found in other personal finance books but my big surprise was in finding how much he sounded like MMM in many ways. I had not been expecting that.

Has anyone else read this book or have any thoughts or impression about O'Leary?

[fiveoh]

I watch Shark Tank all the time.  Even though he comes off as an ass hes one of my favs on there.  I didn't know he had a book but I'm going to try and read it now. 

[bkru21]

He's a snake, and find him distasteful. He sold crummy software that was always buggy (I know because I owned some) and sold it to Mattel which they lost billions on, though not his fault, that was stupid was on Mattel's part.

[fiveoh]

He's a snake, and find him distasteful. He sold crummy software that was always buggy (I know because I owned some) and sold it to Mattel which they lost billions on, though not his fault, that was stupid was on Mattel's part.

Which software?  I really don't know much about the guy except what I've seen on the show.

I looked for the book at my library but its not there... turns out its really only sold in Canada.  Oh well. 

[bkru21]

He's a snake, and find him distasteful. He sold crummy software that was always buggy (I know because I owned some) and sold it to Mattel which they lost billions on, though not his fault, that was stupid was on Mattel's part.

Which software?  I really don't know much about the guy except what I've seen on the show.

I looked for the book at my library but its not there... turns out its really only sold in Canada.  Oh well.

He started SoftKey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SoftKey)

[Mr.Macinstache]

The guy is a total ass. He called some 14yr old girl a shill because she was anti-GMO food. Yeah, a shill for who??? He's an ignorant ass and I would give him one penny for his dumb book.

[pachnik]

I've seen him a handful of times on both Dragon's Den and Shark Tank.  To say the least, he's very direct. 

I am putting a hold on his new book at my library.  I'm really curious about it. 

[Dee]

I'd like to add that I had borrowed the book from the library.

[aclarridge]

If you think he's an ass on Dragon's Den or Shark Tank, you're right, but you should see the UK version of Dragons Den. Those people are ruthless.

I've watched this guy a fair bit on those shows (and I usually watch the daily CBC's Lang and O'Leary exchange) and seen several interviews with him. I think on the whole, he gives great financial advice, and is great about calling out bullshit when he sees it - I love how he doesn't care much about "political correctness".

His problem is that he feels like he needs to have a strong opinion about everything, and when it's a topic he doesn't know much about, he ends up sounding like an idiot. This happens a lot on Lang & O'Leary.

I might place a hold on his first book...probably less in-demand.

[wepner]

His problem is that he feels like he needs to have a strong opinion about everything, and when it's a topic he doesn't know much about, he ends up sounding like an idiot. This happens a lot on Lang & O'Leary.

I might place a hold on his first book...probably less in-demand.

I only have a very vague sense of who this guy is, but does he feel this way or do network executives feel that way? I mean even sports analysts aren't even really allowed to have 100% their own opinions these days...

[aclarridge]

His problem is that he feels like he needs to have a strong opinion about everything, and when it's a topic he doesn't know much about, he ends up sounding like an idiot. This happens a lot on Lang & O'Leary.

I might place a hold on his first book...probably less in-demand.

I only have a very vague sense of who this guy is, but does he feel this way or do network executives feel that way? I mean even sports analysts aren't even really allowed to have 100% their own opinions these days...

On the contrary, I think some of the things he says make the network executives facepalm.

[pachnik]

I finished reading Kevin O'Leary's book.  The book is divided into "Money Mistakes" and "The Fix" for the money mistake.

One of the $ mistakes was about being in a "consumer trance".  It took MMM to shake me out of my trance (thanks again Mr. MM!). 

However Kevin O'Leary has a brutal chart about wasted money which he calls "Ghost Money".  This is the money people spend unconsciously on coffee, magazines, lunch and cigarettes.  The chart showed how much money someone would waste on this stuff over 20 years. This chart is painful for me to look at...

Thanks OP for letting me know about this book. 

[lifejoy]

I liked the book.

Keep in mind, he has two with similar titles.

[Gerard]

I think on the whole, he gives great financial advice, and is great about calling out bullshit when he sees it - I love how he doesn't care much about "political correctness".

His problem is that he feels like he needs to have a strong opinion about everything, and when it's a topic he doesn't know much about, he ends up sounding like an idiot. This happens a lot on Lang & O'Leary.

The problem I have is that he stridently calls bullshit on anyone who suggests that business has a social responsibility, but nobody else.

Your second paragraph describes the guy perfectly. I think it's useful to remember that he now runs an investment company, and his on-air persona is tuned to attract the kind of person guy who thinks, "An aggressive dickhead with no ethics will definitely make me rich faster!"

[pachnik]

I did read his book about personal finance and something Kevin O'Leary said has stayed in my mind.  Beware, this is my paraphrase of something I read a month or so ago.

He talked about money karma - if you treat money right (i.e. hanging onto it), it will reward you.  If you waste it, you will feel the loss.  I guess this statement struck me because I wasted money on lots of little things over the last 25 years.  I do feel the loss these days. 

Kevin also said something about if you spend too much $ at coffee shops, you will end up working in a coffee shop in your later years to make ends meet.  It is funny he said this because I plan to do something like deliver newspapers or hand out the free ones in front of the Skytrain when I am 60 to not have to draw on my CPP earlier than 65 (health depending of course).   Up until I found this community, I read the newspaper everyday - I just get it on Saturdays now. 

However, on a more positive note, since I got here 4 months ago, I have stopped wasting money on crap. 

[Mr.Macinstache]

I think on the whole, he gives great financial advice, and is great about calling out bullshit when he sees it - I love how he doesn't care much about "political correctness".

His problem is that he feels like he needs to have a strong opinion about everything, and when it's a topic he doesn't know much about, he ends up sounding like an idiot. This happens a lot on Lang & O'Leary.

The problem I have is that he stridently calls bullshit on anyone who suggests that business has a social responsibility, but nobody else.

Your second paragraph describes the guy perfectly. I think it's useful to remember that he now runs an investment company, and his on-air persona is tuned to attract the kind of person guy who thinks, "An aggressive dickhead with no ethics will definitely make me rich faster!"

I've found the opposite to be true actually.

[grantmeaname]

What do you mean? True about life, or true about O'Leary?

[aclarridge]

What do you mean? True about life, or true about O'Leary?

I think in general, aggressive dickheads would have bad long-term money management records.

[grantmeaname]

I do too. I was just asking what Mr. Macinstache was saying because I couldn't parse his sentence.

[Mr.Macinstache]

I do too. I was just asking what Mr. Macinstache was saying because I couldn't parse his sentence.

Sorry, missed your reply. I think that there are countless opportunities lost due solely to being turned off by acting like an aggressive dickhead.

[TorontoDeveloper]

This book is actually what started me on my path to FI.

I have always been decent with money, but this book opened my eyes to how much I was throwing away on small day-to-day purchases like lunches at work. When I realized that buying lunches was costing me over $400k over a 40-year career, I started bringing lunches. His book opened my eyes to a lot more things, and motivated me to do more research on personal finance, eventually leading me to MMM's blog, which I read through in a week or two. Now after a nearly a year of reading MMM, jlcollinsnh, /r/financialindepence and similar blogs I don't think Kevin has much to say to people who are already mustachian, but I think he's a great starting point for people who would be receptive but are turned off by the "extremes" they see on blogs such as this one. (I actually remember coming across MMM before I read Cold Hard Truth and thinking there was some good stuff here but MMM was just too extreme for me).