Kevin O’Leary, one of the featured entrepreneurs on ABC-TV’s “Shark Tank”, has been chosen to present the keynote address at MODEX 2016, the material handling industry’s biggest trade show to be held in Atlanta next month.
Frank and opinionated, speaker O’Leary is one of North America’s leading business moguls. On Shark Tank, he invests in entrepreneurs who have potential, while dutifully deflating those who don’t. Now he brings that cutting insight to CTV and BNN.
With the same candor, his keynotes help you make sense of the day’s financial rumblings—connecting them, entertainingly of course, to specific industries.
‘Shark’ Attack
As a Shark Tank judge, O’Leary ruthlessly grills entrepreneurs, which a) makes for great television, but b) serves to show them—and anyone watching at home—that starting a business and growing it is vastly complicated and requires much more than simply having an idea.
Formerly on CBC’s Dragons’ Den and The Lang & O’Leary Exchange, he offered the same hard-hitting analysis to millions of Canadians.
Founded ‘The Learning Company’
O’Leary’s track record in business gives him the force of authority. In 1993, with no money, he launched The Learning Company, which developed software that helped kids with reading and math.
Six years later, he sold it to Mattel for 3.7 billion dollars, one of the largest tech deals in Canadian history.
As an “Eco-preneur,” O’Leary specializes in investments that make money—and are environmentally friendly. In 2003, he co-founded Storage Now, Canada’s leading developer of climate controlled storage facilities; in 2007, it was acquired by In Storage REIT, for $110 million dollars.
TV Shows Host
He is also the co-host for Discovery Channel’s Discovery Project Earth, which explores ways we can reverse global warming. He is the author of bestselling books Cold Hard Truth: On Business, Money & Life, Cold Hard Truth About Men, Women & Money, and Cold Hard Truth on Family, Kids & Money.
A shrewd investor, O’Leary is on the investment committee of Hamilton Trust, and on the strategic advisory board of Genstar capital, a $1.5-billion private equity firm. He received his MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario and now serves on the Ivey executive board.
Enter the Dragon
O’Leary is scheduled to give his keynote address, “Lessons from a Dragon”, at 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 6, at the Georgia World Congress, in Atlanta, where MODEX 2016 is being held.
Other keynote speakers include Peter Diamandis, chairman and CEO of the XPRIZE Foundation, who will speak on “How to Create a Culture of Innovation within Your Company” on Monday April 4; and Jack Allen, senior director of global logistics/supply chain logistics at Cisco, who will speak on “The Connected Supply Chain” on Tuesday, April 5.
Prior to O’Leary’s address, George W. Prest, CEO of MHI, the trade show’s organizer, and Scott Sopher, of Deloitte Consulting will offer a preview of MHI’s 2016 annual industry report.