Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban is an American businessman and investor. He is the owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, Landmark Theatres, and Magnolia Pictures, and is the chairman of the HDTV cable network AXS TV. He is also a "shark" investor on the television series, Shark Tank. In 2011, Cuban wrote an e-book, How to Win at the Sport of Business, in which he chronicles his life experiences in business and sports...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionEntrepreneur
Date of Birth31 July 1958
CityPittsburgh, PA
CountryUnited States of America
I had been in the technology business for so long, I had seen the PC-bubble come and burst, I had seen the local area and wide area networking-bubble come and burst, it was no shock that the internet-bubble was going to burst.
Those back-to-back experiences confirmed what I already knew: That I was a shitty-ass employee and I'd better start my own business.
I retired at twenty-nine, bought a life-time pass on American Airlines and my only goal in life was to party like a mad man and get drunk with as many people as possible. And I was happy right there. But when we started the streaming business, I knew it could be something big.
You learn in life that a lot of things are the result of effort, but some things, in terms of scale, are random.
We all know or have read about someone who has been burned on social media. We have taught our kids not to post pictures publicly that could impact their future, but we have not yet taught ourselves that texts, messages and social media posts could be used just as maliciously or with as much downside as pictures.
Everyday I look in the mirror and make sure I don't pinch myself so I don't wake up. I don't take it for granted. All the time I say: 'Why me?'
I'm scared shitless of heights.
Everyone is passionate about something. Usually more than one thing. We are born with it.
I just try to have a good time, enjoy my family, enjoy my life. I was having a blast when I was poor, and I'm having maybe a little bit more now that I've got something in the bank.
Social media is just a platform. Twitter is a very simple and immediate broadcast platform. Facebook is a very personal, when it comes to friends and when it comes to fan pages, a little bit less but still somewhat personal way to communicate.
There is very little knowledge that can't be obtained through effort. With knowledge you can determine the state of any business or opportunity and find a course to gain an advantage.
Every kid thinks they have something special about themselves. Every adult thinks they have a big idea at some point in their life. Rather than pursue every thing they possibly can to prepare themselves to enable their idea or special talent, they tend to wing it and make excuses.
Know your stuff. Have an angle. Know how to grow business, how to develop products, have patents and an undeveloped market that could be huge.
It's always the little decisions that have the biggest impact.