Robert Herjavec

Robert Herjavec, star of the hit television series The Dragon's Den, will be the afternoon keynote speaker at the Ottawa Business Summit, as well as host an exclusive Summit Dragons' Den. See application www.ottawabusinesssummit.com

Robert Herjavec is one of five dragons on CBC's hit television series Dragon's Den. The reality show challenges aspiring entrepreneurs to pitch their business concepts and products to a panel of Canadian business moguls who have the cash and the know-how make it happen. The Dragons are ruthless and rightly so - it's their own personal money on the line!

Robert has lived the classic "rags to riches" story. The son of Croatian immigrants, he earned his incredible wealth by overcoming the odds with pure hard work and intuition. He remembers how his mother, who could barely speak English, lost the family savings to a smooth talking vacuum salesman. Since then, Robert vowed he would never let his family be taken advantage of again.

In the early '90s, Robert eked out a living waiting tables at a posh Yorkville restaurant. During the initial stages of the dot-com boom, he realized that technology was the ticket to serious money. By night, he launched BRAK systems, his first technology company. BRAK soon became Canada's top provider of Internet security software worth a reported $100-hundred million dollars. Robert sold his company to AT&T in 2000. But that was only the start. He then helped negotiate the sale of another technology company to Nokia for $225 million dollars.

Instead of retiring with his cash, Robert now heads The Herjavec Group, listed as one of Canada's leading and fastest growing IT security and infrastructure integration firms.

A true pioneer in the Canadian network security industry, Robert co-founded The Herjavec Group in 2003 and his industry expertise propelled the company to a top-10 ranking in PROFIT Magazine's 2005 Hot 50 fastest growing companies in Canada. Under Robert's strategic direction, and following the acquisition of a major competitor, Metacomm Inc., in early 2007, the company is now the largest privately held IT solutions provider and integrator in Canada.

In his leisure time, Robert enjoys his 50,000-square-foot, $15-million Toronto mansion and hosts luminaries such as Michael Bublé and Mick Jagger. For thrills, Robert jets to a private island near Miami or cruises Yorkville in one of his many luxury cars.