Mark Cuban - How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It

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Diversion Books

A Division of Diversion Publishing Corp.

80 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1101

New York, New York 10011

www.DiversionBooks.com

Copyright 2011 by Mark Cuban

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

For more information, email info@diversionbooks.com.

First Diversion Books edition November 2011.

ISBN: 978-0-9839885-3-3 (ebook)

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I cant tell you how many times I have been asked to write a book. More times than I can recall. The reality is that I dont want to write a book. Why not? Because Im not done yet! Im young. Im fun. Im marginally ugly and I have a great family. Im just beginning to get good. It is too early to write a book.

What I have written, however, are blog posts. Lots of them. Most of them are about starting businesses. Many are about the challenges entrepreneurs face. Some are about what is involved in running a business. Others are about life in general.

So rather than write a book, I decided to aggregate, curate (see how I used current buzzwords right there?) and update some of my more popular and personal blog posts from the past seven years.

As you go through this collection, dont feel you have to read it like a book. Use it as a way to get fired up. A way to get motivated. Something you can go back to when you need it. Scan it and find the posts that you can relate to. Or read every single word of every post. Either way, I hope you will find a nugget or three that will help you to reach your goals and have more fun in your life.

If there is an overriding theme, it is my wish for you to recognize that if I can become the luckiest person in the world, then with a little bit of work, and yes some luck, you can give me a run for my money for the title. I wont relinquish it easily, but you can be certain I will love the competition!

Love it or hate it, when you are done, email me to let me know what you think at Mark.Cuban@dallasmavs.com. I cant promise I will respond to you, but your chances of a response will certainly improve if you tell me how brilliant you found all of this and, more importantly, how you convinced all of your friends and coworkers to buy copies as well. Hey, I never said I was subtle!

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I did it too. I would drive by big houses and wonder who lived thereevery weekend I would do it. What did they do for a living? How did they make their money? Someday, I would tell myself, I would live inI d1K a house like that. I read books about successful people. In fact, I read every book or magazine I could get my hands on. I would tell myself that one good idea would pay for the book and could make the difference between me making it or not. (And hopefully this book will make the difference for you!)

I worked jobs I didnt like. I worked jobs I loved but that had no chance of becoming a career. I worked jobs that barely paid the rent. I had so many jobs my parents wondered if I would ever be stable. Most of them arent on my rsum anymore because I was there so short a time or they were so stupid I was embarrassed. You dont want to write about selling powdered milk or selling franchises for TV repair shops. In every job, I would justify it in my mind, whether I loved it or hated it, that I was getting paid to learn and every experience would be of value when I figured out what I wanted to do when I grew up.

If I ever grew up, I hoped to run my own business. Its exactly what I told myself every day. In reality, I had as much doubt as confidence. I was just hoping the confidence would win over the doubt and it would all work out for the best.

We all want our dream job or to run our own companies. The truth? Its a lot easier said than done. We need jobs that pay the bills, and we cant wait out the search for the perfect situation. Which leads to the question: What kind of job should you settle for when you cant or dont have the job you want?

Not everyones situation is going to be the same, but for the recent graduate, or if you find yourself in a job you dont like, or if you are unemployed, the answer is pretty straightforward (at least I thought it was when I graduated college). You continue your education.

Go back to school? No. Get your MBA? No.

For most recent college grads, you just spent the last four or so years paying tuition to get an education. Now that you have graduated, its your chance to get paid to learn. And what if you arent a recent college grad? The same logic applies. It is time to get paid to learn.

When I graduated from Indiana University, I certainly didnt dream of working for a bank. I wanted a job where I could learn more about computers. So I took a job working for Mellon Bank in Pittsburgh. I helped on systems conversions. Taking old manual systems at small banks and helping them convert to automated systems. I wasnt that good at it. The job was fun for the first couple months because I worked with a lot of fun people. A lot of fun people that liked to hang out and drink after work.

But as the months wore on, I liked it less and less, and I had to remind myself, more and more, exactly why I was there. I was getting paid to learn about how computers work, how big companies work and how middle managers workthat was a whole lot better than paying tuition to get a business education.

I lasted all of nine months at that job. I lasted about eight months at my next job, working for a company called Tronics 2000. At Tronics 2000, our mission was to try franchise the TV repair industry. The company was supposed to be entrepreneurial. It was supposed to be looking into franchising the computer repair business as well. (They had me write an analysis of the opportunity in my off-time). As it turns out, it basically was none of the above. But I got paid my $1500 per month and I learned a whole lot.

The company sold a total of one franchise. Which I sold. Again, I was far from a great employee. I spent too much time having fun at the expense of doing my job to the best of my ability. Going to work hung over once a week isnt a good career move. So, in some respects I cheated them. No excuses on my part.

The job was also frustrating. Calling and calling and calling on TV repair shops trying to explain the value of franchising wasnt easy. But I learned how to cold-call. I micold-ca learned not to be afraid of going through the phone book and making calls.

I also got to talk to an old industry veteran, Larry Menaugh. Larry wrote the very first service contracts in the television industry. He was a wise old vet. We didnt talk much about the company or the industry, but after meetings we would talk about how to get the job done. He would give me honest critiques of things I was doing, and coming from Larry, I knew they were right. I wish I could go back and thank him. I tried to look him up a few years ago, but couldnt find him. If you read this Larry, thank you.

As I said, I lasted in that job about nine months, and from there took off to Dallas, Texas, in search of fun, sun, money and women.

I was 23. I had no money. The 77 Fiat I was driving drank oil faster than I could drink beer and had a huge hole in the floorboard. I was going to stay on the floor of some friends who had moved from IU to a huge apartment complex called The Village in Dallas.