Like many co-workers, the stars of ABC's "Shark Tank" mingle with each other when the cameras stop rolling during their lunch break. But the conversation is much deeper than workplace gossip.
Shark Robert Herjavec tells CNBC Make It that he and his fellow investors — Kevin O'Leary, Mark Cuban, Daymond John, Barbara Corcoran and Lori Greiner — discuss what it really takes to be a successful entrepreneur.
"What's the most important skill for success? We Sharks in our free time at lunch talk about this all the time," Herjavec tells CNBC Make It.
So what's the verdict?
"Here's what I think — and Daymond and I agree on this — adaptability," says Herjavec.
"The Sharks and most successful entrepreneurs I've met aren't always the smartest, the brightest, the tallest. But you know what they are? They're adaptable," Herjavec says.
"You put me in the middle of a jungle and I'll figure out two things," he says. "One, what the rules are and two, how to survive."
Indeed, Herjavec's own entrepreneurial journey required him to be adaptable. His family fled Yugoslavia in 1970, and he arrived in Canada by boat with his parents, a single suitcase and $20. In his 20s, he was hired by a start-up to sell IBM products, despite a lack of experience working with computers.
Herjavec would later go on to build and sell a number of IT companies, making him a multimillionaire.
Even now, as founder and CEO of cybersecurity firm Herjavec Group, he says he still has to be adaptable. The products they are selling today won't even exist three years from now, Herjavec says; it's the nature of technology. So adaptability is key.
"If you can adapt, you can figure out the game and you can succeed," Herjavec says. "The world will not be won by the strong or the educated; it will be won by those who can adapt and evolve."
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Disclosure: CNBC owns the exclusive off-network cable rights to ABC's "Shark Tank."
