{"id":507,"date":"2015-06-07T18:48:19","date_gmt":"2015-06-07T23:48:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.business-ownermagazine.com\/?p=507"},"modified":"2024-08-01T10:17:11","modified_gmt":"2024-08-01T15:17:11","slug":"mark-cuban-unabashed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/2015\/06\/mark-cuban-unabashed\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Cuban Unabashed"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align: center; padding-right: 12px; padding-bottom: 8px;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/video\/embed?video_id=305480549463872\" width=\"400\" height=\"224\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/div>\nApproximately six months ago, GPS compiled a list of extraordinary people with extraordinary stories. From that list, we selected the individuals we thought were most inspirational. The Mark Cuban story is as inspirational as it is fascinating. We wanted to offer our entrepreneurial readership the opportunity to peer into the mind of an exceptionally successful, achievement-driven individual.<\/p>\nMark, you\u2019re in a very exclusive club. There aren\u2019t a lot of billionaires walking around. Many have found their way into the millionaire\u2019s club, but very few will gain membership into the world of billionaires. My first question is what advice would you give millionaires trying to become billionaires?<\/strong><\/p>\nGeoff, if you set off to be a billionaire, I don\u2019t believe it ever quite works the way you intended. I\u2019m sure there are many who set out to be millionaires and some who want to become billionaires; becoming a billionaire is a lofty goal. Look, I am the first to acknowledge that luck plays a role. In my case, I had a great partner in Broadcast.com that went public at the right time; it was about the same time Internet stocks were going nuts. Luck certainly played a role, but we played a role in making luck work for us. We knew we had something special\u2014we were ahead of the market curves and understood undiscovered technology demands that we could lead the way in. I remember talking to our employees back when there were only 10 of us. I think our company was about six months old. I told everyone five years from now, we will either be worth billions or worth bumpkins. I remember saying if we all work hard, we will be able to look back and say we gave ourselves a real shot. We knew that taking the Internet and using it as a broadcast medium could have a ubiquitous appeal to corporations and consumers. I believed in that. I had to transcend that belief into others. Success would require more than seeing an opportunity\u2014it would require hard work.<\/p>\nMy advice for those aspiring to take things to the next level is try to choose or evolve products that are ubiquitous to as many consumers as possible. Remove market limits and barriers. Consider products\/services that you can visualize every business using or every consumer using. This is the scale you have to perceive in order to surpass your wildest dreams, to get into the billionaire\u2019s club. Luck will always play a role, but you have some control over that luck.<\/p>\nAt what point did you realize that you were going to be exceptional? Look back on your childhood in Pennsylvania or when you were enrolled at Indiana University or when you moved to Dallas. When did you have a feeling that things were going to happen?<\/strong><\/p>\nI remember asking my dad for some basketball shoes when I was about 12 years old. I wanted new basketball shoes because I was a basketball junkie back then. My dad said, \u201cIf you want a new pair of tennis shoes, you have to go out there and get a job.\u201d I remember saying, \u201cDad, I\u2019m 12 years old.\u201d This discussion was going on between us while he was playing poker with his buddies. One of his buddies said to me, \u201cI\u2019ve got a job for you. I\u2019ve got these garbage bags that we distribute, you can sell them door-to- door.\u201d I said, \u201cOkay.\u201d It was while I was selling them I realized that I liked to sell and that I could sell. I recognized that selling was about providing a service and creating value for people that I knew. Back then, I knew that I could always succeed!<\/p>\nI was about 16 when I started a stamp company. I started going to stamp shows and trade shows and just working a little bit harder than other people at these shows. I would trade up from one stamp to the next. I went to a show starting with only a quarter and started with buying a single stamp. I left that show with $50 thinking hey, if I could do this, I could do anything! It\u2019s not that everything worked. I failed a lot, but I never felt like I wouldn\u2019t be able to work hard enough to succeed.<\/p>\nYou have extreme passion for the Dallas Mavericks. Your passion on the court is iconic to Mark Cuban. Do you think this passion transcends into your approach to business?<\/strong><\/p>\nI think it\u2019s the other way around. It was the passion I\u2019ve always had for business and being an entrepreneur that transfers into the Mavs. I\u2019ve always been passionate. Some people thought it was more OCD than anything else, which I think is a great trait for an entrepreneur. Earlier, I mentioned the stamp business. When I was a kid, I would stay up until 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. reading Linn\u2019s Stamp News and Scott\u2019s Stamp Journals and have them all memorized to give myself an edge. I did this knowing that I had to be in school in a few hours.<\/p>\nEven when I was in college, I\u2019d be in the library reading business books, looking for business biographies and reading all I could about business. When I had MicroSolutions, I started with no money. I\u2019d pull all-nighters trying to borrow computers, teaching myself software and how to program. I\u2019ve always really enjoyed the competition of business. In the sports business, I\u2019ll talk to our players and say something like, \u201cYou guys compete with 48 minutes, you practice a couple of hours and work on your game as a team and independently for another couple hours.\u201d This is the necessary preparation to be competitive in sports. The ultimate sport is business because you have to compete with everyone. There\u2019s always someone out there trying to kick your butt. There\u2019s always someone who looks at your business and says, \u201cI can do that better\u201d or, \u201cI have a better idea.\u201d This is who business owners have to compete with and against all the while keeping their customers and employees happy.<\/p>\nThe competitive side of me came before sports\u2014this is the entrepreneur in me. I think that has to drive you in order to be successful. I think that carries over into my passion for the Mavericks. I want them to win and I want to compete.<\/p>\nWhen you started MicroSolutions, it was a small company. What advice would you give small business owners?<\/strong><\/p>\nLove what you do. I think too many people think they have to find that one idea. There\u2019s nothing wrong with failing. I\u2019ve told a lot of people, it doesn\u2019t matter how many times you fail, if you get it right, you\u2019re an overnight success. All you\u2019ve got to do is get it right one time. I sold powdered milk and that was a disaster. My senior-year project in Indiana was opening up a bar that got closed because of a wet t-shirt contest with a 16-year-old as a contestant. That was a disaster, but was ultimately a win because it kept me out of the bar business. I got fired from my first job in the software business because I wanted to close the deal and make the sale instead of sweeping the floor.<\/p>\nIt didn\u2019t matter how many times I failed, I just kept on going and going and going. Entrepreneurs need to realize that sometimes it\u2019s not the idea\u2014it\u2019s not who you know or how much money you have access to. It\u2019s more important finding something that you really love to do\u2014finding something you can be passionate about. I had no idea I loved computers and technology when I was first exposed. I took one computer class in Indiana and I cheated to get through it. It was Fortran. Later, I bought a little PC\u2014a 994A from Texas Instruments for $99 and taught myself how to program. I would look up at the clock and find four hours would pass by and then another five hours later, I would look again and realize I\u2019d been working that entire time and I loved it. This is the difference between performing a task and being motivated to perform. I failed many times. I didn\u2019t know where I would find my success. And then, all of a sudden, I started playing with PCs and technology and it just clicked for me, Geoff.<\/p>\nEarlier you mentioned a company that fired you. I\u2019m assuming you\u2019re referring to a company called Your Business Software. I often wondered what they must have thought when they watched your success skyrocket into the stratosphere shortly after they fired you and you went out on your own. Did you ever hear back from them?<\/strong><\/p>\nI could tell you stories! There was a guy there named Michael Humecki who was the president of Your Business Software. Long after the store closed, Michael Humecki sent me a letter asking me to invest in one of his companies. It was a stupid idea and I had to tell him no, but he followed my career and I was kind of grateful. That\u2019s the way it goes\u2014business is a sport.<\/p>\nFrom your accomplishments in business and in life, what do you take the most pride in?<\/strong><\/p>\nAfter my family, I would say I was never afraid to fail. I loved every minute of it. That\u2019s not to say there weren\u2019t times when there was a lot of stress. I can\u2019t say there weren\u2019t times when I thought we were going out of business or that there weren\u2019t times where I was scared out of my mind. There were. Stress is the juice of competing. It\u2019s you against the world. It\u2019s you saying to a customer, \u201cMy solution is better than the next guy\u2019s and I\u2019m going to prove it to you. You may not believe in me because I\u2019m 21 or you may not believe in me because I\u2019m older than everyone and don\u2019t think I get the technology. I\u2019m going to prove to you that I do understand it.\u201d<\/p>\nI\u2019m proud of the fact that I always put myself in the customer\u2019s shoes and I\u2019ve always worked hard to excel in whatever our companies did. That\u2019s just rewarding. \n<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center; padding-right: 12px; padding-bottom: 8px;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/video\/embed?video_id=305483806130213\" width=\"400\" height=\"224\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/div>\nIs there anything that you wish you could do over? Any regrets or second bites at the apple?<\/strong><\/p>\nNot really. I tell my dad, when I die, I want to come back as me. The mistakes are just part of the game. I\u2019ve had money stolen from me; I\u2019ve had government agencies come after me; I\u2019ve been honest and above-board on everything; and I\u2019ve worked my ass off. The people who have supported me have been rewarded. I\u2019ve never taken anything from anyone that I didn\u2019t give back. I feel good. I\u2019m far from perfect. I\u2019m sure there are people who have worked for me that might say, \u201cAh, he was a lousy boss.\u201d But, I learn from my mistakes.<\/p>\nDo you still hold the world record for the largest single e-commerce transaction?<\/strong><\/p>\nI think so. It\u2019s funny because I didn\u2019t even look at it that way. I just thought it was practicing what I preached when I bought the Gulfstream online. One of my drinking buddies came to me with a copy of the Guinness World Records and said, \u201cLook, you\u2019re in it!\u201d I wondered, for what? It was for the largest online purchase. That\u2019s cool and it\u2019s something I\u2019m proud of.<\/p>\nFor many that was their first introduction to Mark Cuban.<\/strong><\/p>\nI guess. [smiles]<\/p>\nWhat\u2019s it like being famous or infamous? What\u2019s the upside and the downside?<\/strong><\/p>\nThe upside is you get good seats at restaurants and people tend to be overly nice to you. I suppose the downside is you have to\u2014particularly at the beginning\u2014 negotiate things with friends and family and establish some ground rules. My bank account doesn\u2019t define me. If you treat me the same way you did before I had money, we\u2019re going to continue to be friends. If you look at me as a meal ticket, we\u2019re not going to be friends. Our relationship has to be the same. Early on, that was difficult. I remember I had one friend who sent me a letter\u2014he didn\u2019t call me, but sent me a letter\u2014asking for $275,000. I haven\u2019t seen him or talked to him since. I have a lot of other friends that ran into rough times and they never asked me for a nickel, but I was happy to help them. I gladly volunteered to help.<\/p>\nIn the beginning, it was about saying to people that I\u2019m the same. The same things I was stupid and goofy and idiotic about before are still who I am. I\u2019m still a slob and that\u2019s not going to change. I want to relate to my family and friends the same. If you can deal with that, great! If not, you\u2019ll just have to get over it.<\/p>\nOur previous cover story interview was with Ben Stein. I\u2019ve had lunch with him a few times since our initial interview. During one of our discussions, your name came up as our next cover story. He told me he had fond memories of working with you on Star Search, where you were a producer. Intertwined amongst your many endeavors, you have an obvious passion for production such as HDNet, Magnolia Pictures and Landmark Theatres, to name a few. Where does that stem from? That seems different than IT.<\/strong><\/p>\nIt is and it isn\u2019t in that I\u2019ve never visualized myself as a creative guy. I always thought there were a lot of people more creative than me. I always felt that technology could radically change production and distribution. My partner, Todd Wagner, wanted to do the producing from the creative side and get involved with creative people. My thought was we could change the way movies are created and distributed\u2014television as well. So, that\u2019s what got us into HDNet and got us into 2929 and Magnolia Pictures. We\u2019ve always looked at problems, or looked at the way things were always done and asked, \u201cCan we do it better?\u201d We weren\u2019t going to hold on to the old ways or the way they\u2019ve always been done. It\u2019s paid off. All those companies are profitable.<\/p>\nIn what order of importance would you place technical understanding, instinct, creativity and the belief that you can do something? What is most important?<\/strong><\/p>\nPassion and self-honesty are most important. I think it\u2019s important to know your strengths and weaknesses and know what you enjoy doing. If you look at it as only a job, you\u2019ve already lost. It\u2019s not going to be your passion and you\u2019re going to count the hours. If you look at it as something you love to do and you know what your strengths are, then you can leverage those strengths in your business and in helping others. Once you recognize your weaknesses, then you can work with people that complement you. In each of my businesses, I\u2019ve had a partner who\u2019s very anal to strengthen where I am weakest. Martin Woodall and Todd Wagner are incredibly anal people, perfectionists, because I\u2019m a slob. I\u2019m a big-picture, think about what\u2019s around the corner, how\u2019s technology going to change, how can I change this industry kind of guy. I recognize the need for someone to be there to dot the I\u2019s, cross the T\u2019s and keep me at the baselines. Recognizing my weaknesses is just as important as recognizing my strengths and my core competencies.<\/p>\nYou obviously think outside the box. Your entrepreneurial approach is far from the status quo. You push the outer limits. Anyone who\u2019s followed your career recognizes this. It is interesting you own a team named the Mavericks. Do you attribute your success, in part, to blazing trails instead of following them?<\/strong><\/p>\nAbsolutely. When I look at it, one of my biggest strengths has been being able to see around the corner and see what\u2019s next. It\u2019s attributable to taking the time to learn the technology and putting myself in the shoes of various businesses and asking, \u201cHow would I run their businesses differently?\u201d Whether it was in the early 80s, being one of the first system integrators for Local Area Networking, to people who were saying, \u201cDo I even need a PC?\u201d We were learning how to connect them, how to write software for them and taking the next step\u2014that being going nationwide and doing it on a bigger scale than most. A prime example would be Broadcast.com starting off as Audionet when everyone else just wanted to get on the Internet with text. I asked myself, \u201cHow can we take audio and then video to and across the Internet\u2014what can we do differently?\u201d<\/p>\nThere was some skepticism about how to stream radio and television on the Internet, just look at YouTube today. We had nice proof of concept, but where we really made our money was in the value of real-time communications\u2014 things that most take for granted, such as quarterly earnings conference calls and group meetings that are done online. No one had done those things and we saw there was a real business value there. We can help make businesses more productive and more competitive and give them a profit advantage by leveraging this technology\u2014getting a leg up on things that people hadn\u2019t considered. When we started HDNet, many looked at the $10,000 cost of a high-definition screen as an impractical hurdle to penetrate markets. Many believed there was no way HD would ever become ubiquitous or become cheap enough for the general consumer. I looked at HD\u2019s future to follow what happened to the PC. I said it\u2019s going to follow the same price performance curve; it\u2019s going to get bigger, cheaper, faster. At the time, no one believed me and, low and behold, it happened faster than I imagined. It helped us create HDNet. Now, with Magnolia Pictures, we\u2019re distributing movies where we\u2019re putting movies on digital VOD<\/p>\n\n, on cable, satellite and Telco platforms, for traditional TVs three to four weeks before they\u2019re in theaters.<\/p>\nIt looks as though bandwidth has changed the shape of everything. Hasn\u2019t it cracked the VOD market wide open?<\/strong><\/p>\nBack then, I looked at future capability differently than the rest of the world. Even now, everyone thinks the Internet is the solution to everything. My attitude has always been, if everyone\u2019s looking somewhere, that\u2019s not the place where the real solutions are. Right now, I think the best bandwidth and the most available bandwidth for content is on digital cable, satellite and Telco platforms. So, we\u2019re taking our movies and making them available for VOD a month before they\u2019re in theaters. We don\u2019t have to spend the big P&amp;A [print and advertising]; we don\u2019t need the big marketing budgets. The cable and satellite providers do that for us. We\u2019re generating revenue before it hits theaters; and then, all that word-of-mouth and discussion helps us in the theaters. So now\u2014Magnolia, in particular\u2014almost all of our movies make money, which is unheard of. My real strength has been being able to say, \u201cIf everyone else is looking here, let\u2019s look somewhere else. Let\u2019s see if we can apply technology to do it a little differently and look at it a bit differently and a bit cynically to change the motto.\u201d That\u2019s what\u2019s worked for me.<\/p>\nTelephony is probably going to go that way, would you agree?<\/strong><\/p>\nExactly.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center; padding-right: 12px; padding-bottom: 8px;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/video\/embed?video_id=305487106129883\" width=\"400\" height=\"224\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/div>\nMark, you\u2019re known for your tenacity on and off the court. Looking back, while growing up in Pennsylvania and while you were in school in Bloomington, Indiana, when did the people around you first start recognizing that characteristic?<\/strong><\/p>\nI don\u2019t know. It\u2019s probably attributable to my parents who have always told me, \u201cIf you want it, you\u2019ve got to do it.\u201d My dad did upholstery in cars, so if you had a rip in a car seat, you took it to my dad. He and my uncle did that together for 40 some years. My dad did not raise me to believe whatever I wanted he would run out and get for me. My dad raised me to understand if I wanted something, I had to work for it. I suppose in college my tenacity became more apparent. I was always trying to find an idea that would get me going, even though a lot of them failed. In Bloomington, people truly recognized that I might be an entrepreneur to be reckoned with.<\/p>\nOne of the things I discovered while setting up this interview with your support staff is that you\u2019re a private guy, which is almost a little ironic considering your persona. If I were going to ask your father, your wife or people who are very close to you, what side of Mark we don\u2019t get to see, what would I hear?<\/strong><\/p>\nMy family and close friends would tell you I\u2019m quiet and pretty reserved. There\u2019s probably two Marks. The one most see is during the 48 minutes of a Mavericks game, or how I am when I play basketball or rugby. I am outgoing when I am out drinking with my friends. They\u2019ll tell you that I have not changed a whole lot.<\/p>\nWhen I have time, I spend it with my family and I\u2019m pretty relaxed. I\u2019m not manic and crazy all the time like people think. Recently, I was at a wedding in the Cayman Islands and, as part of the activities, our family and some other families all went on a boat. The guy who ran the boat was there and I was playing with my kids. He didn\u2019t know anything about basketball, didn\u2019t know who I was or anything. He said, \u201cWhat\u2019s your name? Mark?\u201d I said, \u201cYes.\u201d He said, \u201cYou\u2019re pretty quiet. You don\u2019t say a whole lot.\u201d Everyone started laughing. They\u2019re not going to take a snippet like this and put it on SportsCenter.<\/p>\nI think people see me in the media and think that\u2019s just me. There\u2019s always cameras on me and I just learn to disregard them and be myself. The time I scream and the time I yell at a referee or during a game, that\u2019s what you\u2019re going to see. But, what they don\u2019t know is, before I bought the team and before anyone knew who I was, I was even crazier. I know there are those who think I bought the team and I\u2019m putting on this big show. Everyone has a place to release the tension and energy. I try to do it playing sports and at Mavs games. That\u2019s where I let go.<\/p>\nSpeaking of the Mavs, what do you think the difference is between a good coach and a great coach?<\/strong><\/p>\nThat\u2019s a very interesting question. Hiring a coach is among the hardest things I\u2019ve learned now that I\u2019m on my third coach in 10 years. The best qualities of a coach are, probably, the ability to relate to motivate and coach\u2014with the X\u2019s and O\u2019s\u2014the players you happen to have on your team at that point in time. We started off with Don Nelson when I got here and he had kind of molded the team to fit his personality, but, as time went on, some players didn\u2019t match as well and it didn\u2019t become as good a fit. That same thing happened with Avery Johnson. We\u2019ve tried to correct that and bring it in with Rick Carlisle. I think leadership skills, technical interface on those skills and communication skills, rolled into one. You have to be able to evolve, depending on who your audience is, meaning the players on the roster. That is very difficult to do.<\/p>\nI don\u2019t care which sport you choose to base this answer off of\u2014basketball, baseball, football, etc. When you look at coaches, players and owners, who do you think did the most with the least?<\/strong><\/p>\nYou have to look at unsung teams in baseball. I think that\u2019s where you get to see the most with the least. Like when the Marlins didn\u2019t have much of a payroll and made it to the World Series or when Tampa Bay made it to the World Series. We all love underdogs like that and I think you have to give credit to their management and general managers and ownership.<\/p>\nIn basketball, it\u2019s a bit more star-driven. Even on some teams like Oklahoma City, you see Kevin Durant emerging as a superstar. You can see that. But, what\u2019s interesting on teams that have success that I tend to note is\u2014and I saw it with the Mavs\u2014when you first get success, you\u2019re busting your ass wanting to get there. You want to taste what it feels like to be successful and you see teams go to the nth degree to get there. Then, once they taste it, they want to take credit for it. They want to enjoy it. They\u2019ve reached a level that people didn\u2019t expect of them\u2014they didn\u2019t know whether they could get there themselves. They like the adulation. They like the crowd screaming their names. Sometimes that takes the edge off and sometimes you need that edge. I think the best leaders are ones that can keep that edge, and once people have reached successful levels, that\u2019s not easy to do.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s not easy to manage superstars and you have quite a few. How do you do it?<\/strong><\/p>\nIt\u2019s no different than managing a sales force. People always ask me, \u201cWhat\u2019s the difference when managing a superstar in basketball?\u201d Let me tell you, a superstar in basketball\u2014because there\u2019s a box score and there\u2019s media watching you every day\u2014is going to show up every day. A superstar on your sales force is going to give you grief that lets you know he or she is a superstar. They\u2019re going to threaten not to show up.<\/p>\nThey\u2019re going to threaten to take their accounts with you, and that is a thousand times harder to deal with than anyone you can put on the basketball court. People always talk about athletes being prima donnas or athletes being immature. But, let me tell you, because of the media attention, dealing with even the worst of guys that we\u2019ve had\u2014we\u2019ve had a few knuckleheads come through there\u2014that\u2019s nothing like dealing with the 21-year-olds that were in MicroSolutions\u2019 service department, going out and getting trashed and getting in trouble. It\u2019s just that you don\u2019t read about it in the paper. Every company has had to deal with it. They don\u2019t pay their bills, get divorced and the wife is chasing after them. They bring that to work. You have to deal with so many little dramas as an entrepreneur in any business of any size\u2014this has prepared me for the Mavs when having to deal with personnel issues.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center; padding-right: 12px; padding-bottom: 8px;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/video\/embed?video_id=305490022796258\" width=\"400\" height=\"224\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/div>\nWhat advice would you give business owners regarding how to handle their star players and their executive management?<\/strong><\/p>\nThere\u2019s no set answer. You\u2019ve got to deal with them individually. You don\u2019t want to tell the people who aren\u2019t at the star level that they\u2019re treated differently or they\u2019re not treated the same as the star. You\u2019ve got to recognize the differences in people. I\u2019ve always tried to keep them motivated in one way or the other. I\u2019ve always had an approach, whether it\u2019s the Mavericks or any of my organizations, there\u2019s no limit on compensation. If you take the risk of commission, more power to you if you sell a lot. I\u2019m not going to string you out to squeeze you back so I can make a bit more money.<\/p>\nI think by trying to let everyone know that their compensation is only limited by their effort, you tend to be able to deal with stars. Whereas, if you put a limit on them, then it\u2019s like saying, \u201cI played my 40 minutes; I don\u2019t have to do anything else.\u201d They reach the limit then they go to bed. Or, even worse, they\u2019ll look around and say, \u201cI sold my quota and you didn\u2019t. What\u2019s the matter with you?\u201d You\u2019ve got to deal with all that nonsense. I tend to not place limits and I tend to encourage people. Sometimes I\u2019ll also put the reward ahead of the cart. Someone once gave me a great example where they gave new salespeople a Cadillac. They were told if they don\u2019t hit their numbers, it will be taken away. No one wants to be the guy who lost the Cadillac. Sometimes, by giving the reward up front and having it be something that is very visible, the fear of losing that visible reward tends to balance things out. I\u2019ve tried various tricks, but you have to understand the people you\u2019re working with.<\/p>\nThe other thing I\u2019d say is you have to define the culture of your organization because, if there isn\u2019t a culture, individuals tend to fight it out to try and have things their way. Players on a basketball team like to be general managers. This coach can\u2019t do this or this player can\u2019t do that. Players are terrible judges of talent and salespeople are terrible managers of talent, as well. You hire them for a specific job. Their talents may allow them to expand into other things and you reward them in helping you get there. Sometimes, entrepreneurs fall short in that they don\u2019t define and understand the culture of their companies. I\u2019ve always tried to make the culture of any of my companies about selling. It\u2019s always selling time. If I see two salespeople talking to each other and it\u2019s 3 p.m., I\u2019m going to walk up and say, \u201cWho\u2019s got the check?\u201d Because someone better damn well be buying something from someone else because, otherwise, it\u2019s selling time and they should be out there selling. If they\u2019re doing that and they\u2019re successful, I\u2019m rewarded; and if they\u2019re not, they\u2019re not doing their job. A little culture of fun and a culture of adventure have really helped all my companies.<\/p>\nFlying here, I sat next to a pilot who was deadheading. He was on his way here to get some simulator time at American Airlines Pilot Training Center. He lives in northwest Chicago. I told him who I was coming to interview. He quickly said, \u201cMan, I wish he would have bought the Cubs.\u201d During our conversation, both of us were wondering what it must be like to wake up in the morning and know you own a prominent NBA team.<\/strong><\/p>\nIt\u2019s pretty cool. It\u2019s fun most of the time. It\u2019s fun when you\u2019re winning because you\u2019re proud as a peacock walking down the street. It\u2019s painful when you\u2019re losing because it\u2019s my responsibility. It\u2019s, kind of like being dad. When your kids are doing great in school, you\u2019re thrilled as you can be, proud as you can be. When your kids aren\u2019t doing well, then you\u2019ve got to hear the bad news from the teacher and figure out how you\u2019re going to deal with it because there\u2019s so much at stake. I\u2019m not saying what happens with a sports team is as important as what happens with your kids, but what I am saying is that I never realized the importance of the Mavericks to the community until I bought the team. I was a fan, but I could let it go when I left the arena after a game. I may talk to friends, I may get excited about it, but that was just entertainment to me. Once I bought the team, I started getting e-mails, calls, letters and visits from people talking about the importance of the team to their family. You start to recognize that, for some families, grandma watches every game and it\u2019s the only way she can relate to little Johnny or little Susie who are all tattooed or got everything pierced\u2014they talk about the Mavs at dinner.<\/p>\nOr families, friends or couples that go to games and how they feel that night depends on whether or not we win; kids who look up to certain players. It\u2019s heart wrenching and I can\u2019t tell you how many times this has happened where I\u2019ll get a call or an e-mail from a parent who is just distraught that their son or daughter has cancer or has died. I\u2019ve had it happen twice where someone has asked to be buried in a jersey or another player\u2019s jersey. You\u2019re on the positive side of winning things. We met at a Mavs game; our first game was a Mavs game; we\u2019re huge Mavs fans; the theme of our wedding is going to be the Mavs. I just had this question: \u201cCan we get the warm-ups in these sizes and will you help us because our groomsmen are going to be wearing Mavs warm-up jerseys?\u201d I\u2019m thinking, you\u2019re crazy, but it\u2019s cool.<\/p>\nKnowing that you\u2019re so entrenched in the community is wonderful, but it\u2019s also a weight and a responsibility. I think when owners in any sport that are really involved watch a game, they don\u2019t just see a win or loss, or loss for that game. They see the implication of all decisions they have to make when things are working, versus when they\u2019re not working. They brought this player in as a pitcher or as a center, as a point guard; and, if they don\u2019t do what is expected of them, how does that impact all their decision making and how does that impact the future? How are they going to sell it to fans and what are fans going to think? That\u2019s their customer and they\u2019ve got to keep their customers happy. It\u2019s exciting, but it\u2019s also, sometimes, overwhelming.<\/p>\nMark Cuben<\/strong> spent his early life in a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Rather than attending high school his senior year, he enrolled as a full-time student at the University of Pittsburgh. After one year there, he transferred to Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, where he later graduated with a bachelor\u2019s degree in business administration. In 1982, he moved to Dallas, Texas and got a job as a salesperson for Your Business Software, a PC software retailer. A short time later, he decided to start his own company, MicroSolutions. MicroSolutions operated as a software reseller and system integration company, selling products such as CompuServe, Carbon Copy and Lotus Notes. In 1990, Cuban sold MicroSolutions to CompuServe for approximately $6 million. Then, in 1995, Cuban and a friend formed Broadcast. com, a company that was later acquired by Yahoo! for more than $5 billion in Yahoo! stock. Cuban is currently the owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, purchasing the team on January 14, 2000. Several of his other notable ventures include HDNet, a high-definition TV network, and 2929 Entertainment, which produces and distributes films and video. Cuban currently resides in the Dallas area with his wife and children.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\">Approximately six months ago, GPS compiled a list of extraordinary people with extraordinary stories. From that list, we selected the individuals we thought were most inspirational. The Mark Cuban story is as inspirational as it <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/2015\/06\/mark-cuban-unabashed\/\" title=\"Mark Cuban Unabashed\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":516,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[91,164],"class_list":{"0":"post-507","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-featured","8":"tag-interview","9":"tag-mark-cuban"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=507"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5171,"href":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507\/revisions\/5171"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.americanbusinessmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}