For Kevin O’Leary, the business world is black and white: you either succeed or fail. "Business is binary. There are winners and losers. You either make money or you don't," he says.

O’Leary, famously known as “Mr. Wonderful” on Shark Tank, loves sharing his formula for success, especially with young entrepreneurs. His advice is direct: if you’re in your 20s and trying to build a business, forget about having a work-life balance. The competition is just too intense.

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“You're competing with people in Mumbai or Shanghai who are willing to work 24 hours a day, eight days a week,” O’Leary once said. In his view, you’re at risk of being left behind unless you’re ready to put in those kinds of hours. He even goes so far as to say that to be successful, you need to work relentlessly or as he puts it, “25 hours a day.” 

Working around the clock sounds extreme to most people, but O’Leary knows the importance of laying a strong foundation in the early stages of your career. When you're young, you have the time and energy to make sacrifices because “In your 20s, you can afford the time, the focus and all the stress that comes with building something from the ground up. You should start thinking about taking some time off only after establishing that foundation.”

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O’Leary knows firsthand how frustrating it can be to slow down. After selling The Learning Company, he was tied up in a noncompete agreement that kept him out of the software industry for three years. What many might see as a well-earned break was stifling for O’Leary, who said he felt “stale” without the ability to work. He quickly understood that his feeling of purpose depended on his ability to continue building businesses.

This relentless pursuit of success is also reflected in his approach to investing. O’Leary has one rule regarding money: always invest in information. “If you make decisions without relevant information, I guarantee you, you will lose money 100% of the time,” he said. 

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Each day, O’Leary starts his mornings early, dedicating an hour to consuming news from various sources – early broadcasts from Europe and Asia or academic and financial research.

For O’Leary, the lesson is straightforward: Sacrifice is necessary for success. To succeed as an entrepreneur, you must be prepared to work harder and longer hours than your competitors, stay informed and persevere.

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