From The Mind Of Mark Cuban

Mark Cuban always seems to come out on top. He sold his first company for $6 million. He did even better with his next company, Broadcast.com, which he sold to Yahoo for almost $6 billion. Almost immediately after, Cuban sold all of his Yahoo stock, netting $2 billion in cash for himself. Weeks later, the market crashed. Since then, Cuban has continued to work and invest. He owns the Dallas Mavericks and a cable channel.

Cuban is known for saying what other people only think. Here are some great thoughts from Mark regardless of the organization you are leading.

• There is no template. Regardless of sport, commitment, focus, effort and luck are just some of the elements that go into a team having success. In every business, the owner has to determine what his or her strengths are and leverage them and find great people to compensate for their weaknesses.
• Firing someone is always the worst. I hate it. Recognizing and admitting you were wrong can be very tough when you are as competitive as I am.
• Sweat equity is the most valuable equity there is. Know your business and industry better than anyone else in the world. Love what you do or don't do it.
• What I've learned is you just got to stay focused and believe in yourself and trust your own ability and judgment.
• If you're prepared, and you know what it takes, it's not a risk. You just have to figure out how to get there. There is always a way to get there.
• My dad says it over and over, 'Today's the youngest you're ever going to be. You've got to live like it. You've got to live young every day.' And that's what I try to do.
• I've learned that it doesn't matter how many times you failed. You only have to be right once. I tried to sell powdered milk. I was an idiot lots of times, and I learned from them all.
• I'm the one guy who says don't force the stupid people to be quiet — I want to know who the morons are.
• No balls, no babies. Once you are prepared and you think you have every angle of preparation covered, you have to go for it.

 

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