Who doesn’t
want to get advice from Mark Cuban? This blog is designed to answer
common questions with the spirit of Mark Cuban, using answers given to
Chase Jarvis during his 30 Days Of Genius series. I went through the
interview, pulled out the nuggets, and am serving them on a silver
platter for you. Cutting out the stuff you don’t need (because it takes
up time, and you will read the time is THE most valuable commodity), and
I am handing you the gems.
Look for a blog for all 30 Days of Genius episodes as they are being released on iTunes.
Enjoy!
What should I do for a living?
Make
sure it is something you love to do, and something you are actually
good at. You can love basketball, but if you are short or can’t shoot,
it’s time to find a new sport.
The
best place to start looking is where you are already spending your
time. What do you spend most of your time on? What “itch” do you need to
scratch? What do you enjoy learning about? A very important thing to
understand is that you need to LOVE learning.
The worst situation to be in is when you are in a meeting and someone
knows more about your industry and your company than you do. If that
happens, you lose, or you will soon. Business is cutthroat. Everyone is
out to kick your ass. If you don’t love learning about a particular
industry, that is a sure fire way to know it is not the industry for
you. Business is the ultimate sport. It is 24–7, 365, and extremely
competitive. There is no off-season. You have to be driven in whatever
you choose to do, or you will lose. A lack of drive in your particular
industry is a red flag. Be self-aware
enough to recognize that. Don’t fall in love with someone else’s story,
write you own. You may not be Michael Jordan, but you could be Magic
Johnson.
Please
don’t try to be the next Mark Cuban, or the next Zucks, you need to be
the next you. YOU are already spending time on things YOU enjoy. YOU
know what you are good at. YOU know what you suck at. YOU know how you
think, and YOU know how you work. Focus on what you are good at and then
team up with people who compliment your strengths with their strengths.
Again, be self-aware enough to recognize that.
Everyone
talks about passion. Don’t follow your passion, follow your effort. Get
out there and do things, work hard. There are things you may be great
at that you don’t even know about because you haven’t tried yet. Get
your hardhat on and start grinding. I didn’t love computers until I
started coding, and that is the foundation of everything I have done.
What if I hadn’t sat down to figure that out? What are you missing out
on?
As you
learn, and continue to learn, you will start to see combinations of
things, new ways of doing things, and that’s when you know you have
something good. You will combine everything you are learning and crunch
it together with everything you already know to make something new or
better. I am always looking for what I already do, and how I can combine
that with businesses I bring in to create something bigger or better.
All
of this learning and hard work is molding you and helping you discover
what you are wired to do, and that’s the goal isn’t it? Putting yourself
in the best position to win? That’s what I thought. After you figure
out what you are wired to do, you can stop lying to yourself about
whatever story you have been tell yourself, and that’s when you can
really sell yourself. You will know what you are good at, and you will
know what you can sell. You were wired to do A, B or C, and you can get
paid to do it.
Being
in this position will help you be successful because: you are already
drawn to it, you are busting your ass, and those things are vital to
success because you have to be able to work tired. You have to be able
to go the extra mile in meetings, in learning, in preparing, and in
delivering. Being wired for it means all of those things are just a
little bit easier for you than the person who isn’t.
Necessary Traits
Remember this formula: Learning + Hustle/Grinding/Hardwork = Success.
Because you work hard, you will out work the competition. Because you are learning, you will out create the competition. That’s what it is all about. Either you want to win, or you don’t.
If you’re napping, I am going to kick your ass. And everyone else out
there is looking for a way to kick your ass. Always remember that.
Always be working. Always be grinding. Because when you aren’t, someone
else is.
With
all the learning, and all the grinding, you will be more prepared, and
preparation is what allows you to mitigate your risk. Being an
entrepreneur (a successful one) is not about taking risks. It’s about
going all in and working your ass off. It is about having goals, then
putting things that help you reach those goals on the top of your list,
and discarding the rest. Self-awareness,
once again, is key. Time is the one thing you can never own. Make sure
you are spending your time on things that matter: your family, your
business, your knowledge, your health. All the other stuff is taking
away time from your goals. You can never get back yesterday. You can’t
re-do right now. Make the difference while you can right now.
Money and Small Businesses
Avoid
raising money at all costs. I know it sounds crazy, but if you are
taking money you are already failing because you aren’t able to do it on
your own. Live like a student. Work lean. Stay Hungry, Stay Smart. You
don’t need to be a $100 millionaire, you need to reach your goals.
You
focus should be, in this order: sweat equity, customer equity,
Kickstarter (some other fundraiser) equity, then venture capital money.
People walk away from great businesses all the time with very little
because of the fundraising. It is better to work lean, live lean, and
build slow, then take on money, take on people you need to listen to,
and lose your company.
Remember, venture capital money = failure.
I
know what you are going to ask, how do I know when I am on the
something? When I first started streaming, I got a call from the
Aleutian Islands. When people are calling from a place you can’t even
find on a map, that’s when you know you have something.
Fun Facts About Mark Cuban
Mark owns a lifetime pass on American Airlines at the cost of $250,000. You can’t buy them anymore.
He is a dad first.
His best friends are the same ones he had in college.
He is a bad piano player,
a bad singer,
and he is horrified of heights.
Quote
“Out work. Out last. Out hustle.”
Mark Cuban Links
Chase Jarvis Links
Joey Links
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