Mark Cuban: Here’s Why Hard Work Isn’t Enough If You Want To Become a Billionaire
Written by
Karen Doyle
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Zuri Anderson
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Mark Cuban knows a thing or two about how to become a billionaire. Cuban, who has started and sold multiple companies, previously owned a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, and is a star of ABC’s “Shark Tank,” has a net worth of $6 billion, according to Forbes.
Cuban is well known for working hard, but on a recent episode of the “High Performance” podcast, Cuban said that hard work simply isn’t enough. The other thing you need if you want to be really successful? Luck.
Good Timing Is Good Luck
Cuban concedes that much of luck is about timing. He related a story about playing rugby in college to demonstrate this.
“When I started (playing rugby) in college, in the lineouts, there were no lifts,” he said. “You had to jump. I could jump. And so, I could be the second guy in the lineout, or I could be the fourth guy in the lineout and I played a lot more and started A squad because I could jump and get the ball. And I was strong enough and I could break through the line.
“Then, and I don’t even know the date when they changed it to the lifts in the lineout, I probably wouldn’t have played. So that was luck. That was total luck that I was born at the right time.”
The Timing of the Internet Bubble
Cuban had some good luck due to timing in his business ventures, as well.
“When I started Audionet and it turned into Broadcast.com, we went public right at the very exact time that the internet stock market was going nuts and the bubble was in place,” Cuban said. “I probably wouldn’t be a billionaire if the timing for our company wasn’t the exact right time.
“It doesn’t mean we wouldn’t have been successful; we would have been. It doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have been wealthy; I already was. But to be a billionaire, for sure, you’ve got to be lucky.
“I don’t care what anybody says. Timing matters. For smaller businesses, it’s more effort. And maybe some luck, in terms of, hey, you know somebody, or you learned how to use AI better, or somebody down the street made the exact product that you were looking to sell, that’s luck.
“But, like they say, luck is when preparation meets opportunity. That still applies. If you don’t put in the work, if you don’t put in the effort to learn and to always iterate and make yourself smarter and make your business better, then it doesn’t matter how lucky you’ll be.”
Mindset is Also Key
Cuban said that having the right mindset is also critical to success. And that mindset needs to allow for failure.
“If (stuff) doesn’t pan out, you’ve just got to make a decision,” Cuban said. “Sometimes it won’t. I’ve had things fail, and it was just not going to work. You just keep on banging and banging and banging.
“I’ve run out of money, I’ve gotten fired from jobs, I thought I had something special with a company and it just blew up. If you’re learning and iterating and getting smarter, it should be self-evident when something won’t work.”
Failure is all part of the process, according to Cuban.
“There’s no shame in failing,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve failed. I just have to be lucky one time.”
Hard Work Plus Luck Can Equal Success
Mark Cuban is not the only entrepreneur to understand the value of luck, especially when it’s combined with hard work.
Samuel Godwyn, producer of Hollywood’s first major motion picture, said, “The harder I work, the luckier I get.” Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald’s, said, “Luck is a dividend of sweat.”
While hard work alone may not guarantee success, luck by itself likely won’t either. It’s the combination of hard work and luck that will give you the best chance to get ahead.
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