“It was $1200”: Shark Tank fame Robert recounts a humbling experience with a salesman during his early days

Shark Tank investor Robert Herjavec has honed the best craftsmanship when it comes to the cybersecurity industry and tech. However, the Croatian-Canadian businessman started from the basics and first learned the art of selling in his initial days.

In a recent interview with Lewis Howes on February 5, 2025, Robert Herjavec opened up about his humble beginning which was full of struggle, before he ventured on the path to make it big. His hunger for knowledge and grit to work hard to achieve greatness pushed him to acquire any insight he could get from anyone, even from a "con man," as remarked Herjavec jokingly.

He credited his success to his "knowledge of sales" and shared a heartwarming story with Lewis Howes of his first lesson in the field of sales that he learned from Henry Rosen, a legendary salesperson, and owner of the 1954-established retail chain Henry Rosen Inc. Robert Herjavec shared a personal anecdote where he went to buy a suit but got to learn about the sales.

Robert Herjavec, explaining the anecdote, told Howes:

"I went there to buy a suit and it was like this is a long time it was like $1,200 and I'm like, oh my Go.d I can't afford $1,200.This is more money than I'll make this month and the salesman said to me, if you work here you get to buy one suit every six months at 50% off so I was like great so I got a part-time job there."

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Shark Tank investor Robert Herjavc believes he was "fortunate to have great role models" in life

Shark Tank investor Robert Herjavec credits his role models, Harry Rosen and Warren Avis, for teaching him some very crucial life lessons that made him what he is today. Talking about his encounter with Harry Rosen, Robert mentioned how he learned the art of dressing and selling.

He also added, admiring Harry Rosen, that he "would have paid him to teach me." Enlisting the things he learned from Harry Rosen, he said that Rosen taught him to spot a person with money. He then talked about Warren Avis, an American entrepreneur, and said:

"I worked for Warren Avis who started the Avis Ren car wow and like I've just been really fortunate to have great role models who are good human beings."

Recounting his experience, he profoundly admitted to being honest about himself, which helped him miraculously land jobs at places like Rosen and Avis.

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Shark Tank Season 16 is available on ABC to watch.