Page 147 - Midas Touch

make themselves apparent, and if they are working both ways. If a
potential partner has to talk himself or herself up too much, that’s
sometimes a tip-off that something isn’t quite right. Their level of
confidence should be there to begin with. You want a partner, not an

apprentice.

Partnerships also require negotiation. It should be a win–win setup.
Otherwise, it’s not a partnership. My criteria is that they have to be good
people. I don’t need to deal with any other kind of person.

Robert has had some tremendous learning experiences along the way, and
his lessons are worth paying attention to. Even as entrepreneurs, we rely
on people to get things done. We may have the original idea, but moving it
forward can involve hundreds of people. Every person becomes integral to

the overall success.

Partnerships Can Happen Quickly
I mentioned that I knew I liked Mark Burnett from the moment I met him,
and that partnership has been thriving since 2003. The Apprentice

premiered on television in January of 2004, and we’ve been going strong
ever since. Mark knew I was new to the industry, and yet he showed great
respect. We worked as collaborators from the start. He would listen to my
suggestions and my questions (and I had a lot of them). He proved my first
instinct was correct. He’s a great person as well as a visionary.

Mark has had a great impact on the entertainment industry. One thing
about him is that he never stops moving forward. He doesn’t understand

burnout and has very high quality controls for everything he does. We are
not only co-producers, but we are friends and spend free time together.
What most impressed me when I first met Mark was how direct he was.
He had an idea, asked for a meeting, we made a deal and then we got to
work. He knew exactly how The Apprentice should be presented on
television and every detail was in place. He’d obviously given the idea a
lot of thought, which made it much easier for me to make a decision.

Convincing me wasn’t that difficult when he was so thoroughly prepared.
Obviously, he also had a successful background in television so I knew he
was experienced and that he knew what he was talking about. He didn’t
have to hard-sell me, and the risk factor was definitely lessened.