Mark Cuban’s Wisdom on Business Mistakes: 7 Lessons Not Just for Entrepreneurs
Written by
Terence Loose
Edited by
Joe Evans
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When “Shark Tank” star and self-made billionaire Mark Cuban doles out business wisdom, it pays to listen. After all, the Pittsburgh native made his first billion at age 40. With a current net worth of $5.4 billion, according to Forbes, it’s safe to say he knows a thing or two about what to do — and what not to do — to succeed.
Here are seven mistakes he sees his less successful rivals make.
1. Being Fearful of AI Instead of Leveraging It
Cuban believes that the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution currently taking place will dwarf every life and business disruption that’s come before it. That includes the advents of the personal computer, smartphones — even the internet itself. Hence, if you don’t embrace it, ideally to leverage your own creativity to make your community and world a better place, you will be left behind. Cuban believes this so emphatically that in 2019 he launched the free AI Bootcamps Initiative for underserved high school students.
2. Relying on Others To Sell Your Product or Service
One of Cuban’s big rules of success is knowing how to sell. And when a guy who succeeded in selling trash bags door-to-door at age 12 tells you this, it’s probably wise to pay attention.
Why the emphasis on salesmanship skills? As he told GQ, “You don’t want to be in a position where you’re dependent on other people.” So even if you have the greatest product since ketchup squeeze bottles, if you can’t sell it, it doesn’t matter.
3. Relying on One Star Player
As the longtime owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, Cuban knows a little something about how teams work. And one of Cuban’s aversions is relying too heavily on one star player to bring your business success. He’s a strong proponent of forming a team in which everyone pulls their own weight and achieves a shared goal, per The Connecticut Post.
4. Not Aligning Your Employees’ Success With Your Own
Cuban has long been a proponent of making employees owners in the businesses they are helping to build. That way, their goals for success are aligned with your own. Proof it works? When he and his partner sold Broadcast.com to Yahoo for $5.7 billion in 1999, 300 of their 330 employees became millionaires — while he became a billionaire, he told Inc.com.
5. Be Willing To Do Whatever You Ask Your Employees To Do
When Cuban bought the Dallas Mavericks in 2000, he was determined to turn around the team’s lackluster ticket sales and fan enthusiasm. As he told GQ, instead of giving himself a big office, he plunked his desk down in the middle of his sales team’s bullpen and started making calls to former ticket buyers himself. The lesson: Set an example by never asking your team to do something you’re not willing to.
6. Not Valuing Time Above All Else
In 1999, Mark Cuban made the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest internet purchase of all time. The buy? A Gulfstream V for $40 million. Some thought it an odd move coming from a man who was reportedly very careful with his money. But the jet was a logical move for Cuban. He’s said many times that time is his most valuable asset, and the jet saved him a lot of it.
7. Not Being in a Constant State of Curiosity
Cuban believes that a foundational principle of success is intense curiosity and the desire to keep learning. “Because the one thing that’s certain about business is that it changes every single day,” he told GQ. So to adapt, grow and succeed, you have to seek out new ideas and new ways to overcome challenges. Because the other certainty is that if you don’t, your competitor will.
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