If you have dreams of one day sitting on the set of Shark Tank next to the biggest names in investing like Mark Cuban and Kevin O’Leary, well so did Rashaun Williams—and he made it happen.
The multimillionaire venture capitalist is set to return as a guest shark on the television series this fall. But landing the gig has taken an entire career of hard work, including a tactic he calls “sneaking into the party.”
Growing up on the southside of Chicago, opportunities often seemed slim for Williams. But instead of letting fear of rejection get in his way, Williams did more than just manifest his own success—he went after it headfirst, and it often started with three words: “hear me out.”
For Williams, the phrase wasn’t just a casual introduction; it was his way of opening doors that otherwise wouldn’t exist, using the phrase to start conversations, pitch himself for opportunities, and get his foot in the door when others might hesitate.
“Sneaking into the party—that’s what I’m known for,” he tells Fortune. “I don’t mind cold calling people. I don’t mind pulling up at conferences. I don’t mind acting as if.”
And while some Gen Zers have already started embodying this in their own form of career manifestation, as being “delulu,” Williams says it’s a lesson young people can all learn from: know what you want and go after it by being steps ahead of your career in your behavior.
“I had to become a private equity person before I got that job. I had to become an investment banker before they hired me. I had to become an entrepreneur before I started a business. I had to become a good husband and father before I get married and have kids,” he says
The power of networking as a key to success
Once you’re able to “sneak into the party” or even just simply connect with someone on LinkedIn, there can be a domino effect of networking—and you never know which person will have the perfect job opening now or later in your career.
But Gen Z also needs to not undervalue the power of warm leads and apprenticeships, Williams says.
“I don’t know why people don’t do it anymore, but when I would get warm leads, I would get introduced to someone and they get introduced to someone else, and then to someone else,” he says.
This strategy of building out a wide, genuine network is what in part helped Williams land his first investment banking gig in Goldman Sachs at 21 years old. It also ensured his broader career goals of getting into private equity.
“Guess what I was doing on the evenings and the weekends? I was an apprentice under guys 10 to 20 years older than me, who were working in private equity, who were buying businesses, and I’m doing little LBO (leveraged buyout) models and analysis for them,” he says.
“I was doing that in the evenings when other kids were playing video games and going to the clubs and partying.”
The Sharks agree: don’t let fear shut you down
Williams’ Shark Tank costars agree with him that fighting back against rejections and naysayers is part of the journey to success.
In fact, Kevin O’Leary, known as Mr. Wonderful, recently told Fortune that he actually enjoys the motivation fueled by his haters.
“I just love it when people tell me, ‘Oh, you can’t do this, you can’t do that,’” O’Leary said. “When someone tells me I can’t do it, I turn around, two years later, kick their ass. That’s a great motivation. It’s not about the money anymore—I just like kicking their ass.”
Daniel Lubetzky, the billionaire KIND bar founder who is the newest permanent investor on Shark Tank said that being a little naive can be a good thing in the long term.
“Most ventures that changed the world are started by young people, not guys like me,” Lubetzky told graduates of UC Berkeley earlier this year.
“When you don’t know any better, you dare to try the impossible. And in doing so, sometimes you prove that the impossible is actually possible,” he added.
