OUTWORK EVERYONE | Brutally Honest Business Advice from Billionaire Mark Cuban

Whatever industry you choose, if you work harder than

everyone

, if you try to be a little smarter than

everyone

, if you try to be a better salesperson than everyone, if you try to be better prepared than everyone, you will have your best opportunities because if you don't and someone else does it. You know, I have this saying: work like someone is trying to take everything from you. You know, work like, actually work like someone is spending 24 hours, working 24 hours to take it all away from you. And that's how I see it. What would you say is the number one reason people fail? - Lack of brain, lack of effort - Lack of brain, lack of effort?

Yeah, they just don't do the work, they don't learn, you know. When you walk into a room, when you start a

business

and start talking about someone, you are never in a vacuum without competition. You know, unless you're really lucky and there's competition, that means someone else knows your

business

as well as you do when you're starting out. And if you enter a competitive environment and they still know more about the business than you do, you will lose more about your customers. But most people don't consider that they don't do the work, that they don't learn more about their industry, that they don't even know their business, I mean... and that's why you have to put in the effort to know more about your industry than nobody.

Umm... and that's the brain part and also the effort part because look, if you're competing with me, you better know what you're doing, otherwise I'll kick you, but you know, and you're not going to work anymore. that I. And you know, the combination is usually what kills companies in the first place more than anything else. Could you say in a 5 to 10 minute interview: this guy is not going to succeed as an entrepreneur? Yeah, I mean I can, I can usually say it. Good. I can tell it, umm... by their passion, I can tell it by their approach, I can tell it by their preparation.

You know, there's a whole scope of things in any business. Here, you know, here is the business that you are in and here are a thousand things that influence whether you are going to be successful or not. You know, through my business experience I can put myself in his position and say, okay, here are 900 of the 1000 things that he has to take into account and then review and ask and on how many of those... issues have they already been able to address it and that gives me an idea of ​​how hard they are willing to work.

You know, and I can see it by the questions they ask me, so all I have to do is say, "Okay, what do you want to know?" and you know when they start saying "What should I do?" - Do they ask you? - Yes, yes and it's fine, right? And I want them to ask questions but... you know, people like to say that you know, the only stupid questions are the ones you don't ask, the ones you don't ask and that's not cool, right? Because the questions you ask tell me, whoever, more about you than anything else you do.

Because in particular it tells me about your preparation. If you ask me questions about basic things that you should have known and should have done, you will arrive at a science that will disqualify you almost more than anything. If you're not always learning, if up to this point, if I'm not continually learning, if I'm not absorbing everything I can absorb, someone else is going to kick my ass, right? So you talked about paranoia. The biggest source of your paranoia should be knowledge. If someone knows more than you and if you are not learning, if you do not know how to learn, if you do not know how to learn, if you do not have a thirst to learn and acquire information, you are - you are SOL.

Do you think there needs to be a healthy level of paranoia? - Absolutely. - Does there have to be? Oh, yeah, I mean, I always say, you know, for every one of my businesses I say what would I do to kick my own ass? Well, whatever business you have, there is someone trying to put you out of business. There's someone trying to take a bite out of his business and it's better for you to figure out how you're going to do it than for him to do it. And yes, that is being paranoid and so you have to be paranoid, you have to anticipate other people's next moves.

And you can never, you know, downplay the competition. I was at a business plan competition this morning, at a university, and they were dismissing the competition, so you can never do that. You know, they're out there trying to bring you down and they won't sit still and if you're good, really good, you'll inspire them to work even harder, faster and better. So, you have to be very aware of what you are good at and what other people do well and you know, a healthy dose of paranoia makes a big difference, I mean, it goes a long way.

Let's move on to a different subject with college. Did you go to IU? - Yes. Well, now there are a lot of people who... they say, forget about school, you know, drop out of school. - They are idiots, they are idiots. - So you think they are idiots, - tell me why? - Umm... If you're going to own and manage a business, if you don't understand accounting you're already behind the 8 ball. Can't you hire someone who knows how to manage? But he still has to communicate with you. Your accountant might tell you that you're profitable, but your cash is dwindling.

You know, not understanding that breakdown and... and when you don't... do you think you need college to learn that? Yes, I think so, right? Because it may not be like that, for some people... see if you are so motivated that you can take an online accounting course and learn everything on your own, you are way ahead of the game anyway, but most people they are not. I don't care if you go to community college, study accounting, and spend $99 on the class. You know, spending money forces you to be more obligated to do it, but accounting, finance, to a lesser extent

mark

eting, sales if the school offers that's all... that's the language of business.

And while it is possible to learn these things yourself and it is possible to hire them when you start your own company, you don't want to have to spend money hiring an accountant. Well, let me tell you, if you've gone through all these classes you probably don't have to hire a lawyer to join, right? You can probably figure it out yourself. And so the cost of opening a business decreases, but even more important than all that is blocking and fighting, that is the language of business. You know, what I learned in Indiana was more important than anything else: I learned how to learn.

And learning became much more important to me because the only certainty in business is that it will always be changing. How can an entrepreneur increase speed and the areas he can increase? - There are certain things you can't control- - Speed ​​in what way? - Speed ​​of growth of your business. - Alright. - So how fast can I grow? - Yeah, I mean, it depends, you have to know your own abilities, right? And you need to know how that fits into the lifecycle of your business. You know some businesses are slow, slow and you just have to understand it and bide your time until it starts clicking and then grow with it quickly.

You know, if you're trying to launch a product that needs to be ubiquitous, you have to go as fast as you can - and- and then, you know, - Launch a product, yeah, yeah, and- and you know. , there are many people who say that "perfection is the enemy of profitability", and that does not mean that you have to wait until it is a perfect product. It really depends on what the product is, you know a barber shop right? Is it an application, is it a service, is it a product? But you know, the key is to look for the low hanging fruit, which are... which are... which customers are willing to write you a check? or commit to it?

You know, so they're willing to integrate it into their daily life or integrate it into their daily business. So what I'm typically looking for is to get commitment, whether it's through time or income. So if I can get a commitment, then I'll be able to learn, I'll see how they use it to maintain it. And then once I get the next one, you know, I hope it comes a little faster than the first one, then I'll be able to ask for referrals and then the next one, then the next one. And I'm just trying to increase it.

You know, when I bought the Mavs we didn't have a season ticket holder base and it was literally a matter of just putting a list of former season ticket holders on some white pages back then, you know, on my desk next to me. phone and make the phone call you? - If I. Yes, because if I'm not going to do it, how can I expect anyone else to do it well? So he just gets on the phone and says, "Hey, I'm Mark Cuban. I'm the new owner of the Dallas Mavericks." - Incredible. You know, "I'd like to invite you back to-" -Unbelievable.

However, it is not, this is my business. But you, what? Can't you get regular salespeople or something to make those calls once they get to a room? You're a

billionaire

guy and you're making those calls. Well, but that's all, you know, it's pretty cool, right? Because everyone has their own goals, right? But I still don't want anyone on the Mavs to be able to say, well, he's not willing to do the job, right? You know, if I walk, I'm picking up all the papers that I'm not saying, go pick them up, and I'm like, Okay, that's trash, I'm going to pick it up.

So, but in terms of speed of growth, actually… you have to get that first customer first. And then when you get the first thing you learned, repeat it by getting the next client. And then, hopefully, as you learn more and more through the process, the next, the next, the next will come even faster. I mentioned before about birthing or building entrepreneurs, you know, and I think... I knew I was programmed to get excited about business, how or why I don't know, but... you know, and there are certain types. You have the genetics to jump out of the gym, right?

Certain guys, you know, who... you know, when they play golf they have muscle memory and discipline. You know Dirk Nowitzski may not be the most talented guy in the NBA, but the discipline of him and the focus of him to do what it takes to be successful. , he's willing to do it and combine it with his 7-foot height and the ability of him, you know, it makes him an incredible basketball player. So it's about understanding what his skill set is, finding the right place to use them, and then giving it a try. You know, that will get you 250 thousand dollars?

It depends on whether you choose the right industry, you know, I started my first business when I was 12 years old. He bought and sold baseball cards, he bought and sold stamps, anything he could do to make money. I was hustling and trying to do it. I was in the business, but not so much where I was... all my friends were involved with me, so they wouldn't know. - Baseball cards. - Yeah, baseball cards, whatever, I mean, I grew up in Pittsburgh and, probably even under 12, I would go buy a bunch of baseball cards that I collected and package, I'd say okay, you're guaranteed have a Pittsburgh Pirate in this package and I would charge three times as much and set up shop on this park bench in Scott Township where I grew up and have these little sales. and it was great, I made money and I mean it was... you know, I learned as much about business when I was 9, 10 and 12 as I did at any other time.