Interview with Barbara Corcoran on Starting, Scaling and Investing in Businesses

Barbara Corcoran took a $1000 loan to start her real estate business and turned it into a 5 billion dollar business which she sold for 66 million. Today she is the real estate contributor to NBC’s Today Show and an investor on the hit show Shark Tank. On Shark Tank Barbara has invested in 11 business which she is now building and leading to success. Barbara is also the author of 3 books, her most recent being Shark Tales. We had the chance to talk with Barbara about how she got started, how she scaled her solo business to an industry leader and what she looks for today when investing in new businesses. Check out the full interview below…

Questions in the interview:

1. Could you talk to us about the early days when you first started and what challenges you faced before you had success? 2. Why did you choose real estate and how did you start? 3. How quickly did you see success and scale your business? 4. How do you take that business that is run from a kitchen table to an industry leader? What tips do you have for how to grow? 5. It’s fun to talk about scaling but what are some of the pitfalls companies run into as they grow? 6. Could you name 1 or 2 things you look for in every new company that pitches you for investment money? 7. What is one piece of advice you would give a young entrepreneur starting out today?