Today you might recognize Robert Herjavec as "the nice shark" on ABC's Shark Tank. With a pleasant smile and a reassuring tone of voice, he may seem like an odd fit in the highly competitive world of business and investing.

But don't let that fool you, because behind those kind eyes lies a strength of character and iron will that every great entrepreneur needs to achieve success.

When Herjavec was a young man, he actually wanted to be a filmmaker. In fact, he was a producer for the Winter Olympics in Canada in 1984 while only 22 years old. It was a promising start to his dream of moving to Hollywood and becoming a big-time director. The trouble was, no one was hiring.

With a degree in English literature, a passion for filmmaking, and zero experience or knowledge in computer science, it might seem odd that he would eventually go on to found the Herjavec Group in 2003, one of the top cybersecurity firms in the world. The company grew from $400K to a whopping $140 million in sales annually in just over 12 years.

So how did he do it?

He literally called up the head of the company and, despite having no background in the field whatsoever, offered to work for them for free. With nothing but grit he managed to work his way up the ladder and, despite some setbacks here and there, become the success story he is today.

When not focusing on his own business, Herjavec is all about buying, selling, investing and building great startups, subjects we were very lucky to talk to him about.

In this interview you will learn: