Mark Cuban is the Model Entrepreneur
Last week I heard an interview with Mark Cuban on the Jim Rome show. Cuban has always been one of my favorite entrepreneurs. His focus, passion, drive, determination, and love for what he does translates into business success and success in life. He is not only one of the most successful businessmen in the world, he is also one of the most charitable.
Like most sports fans, my first exposure to Mark Cuban was in 2000 when he purchased the Dallas Mavericks. In nearly no time he turned one of the worst franchises in sports into a playoff contender that every free agent wanted to play for. He did it by focusing improving relationships with his customers and his employees. He sat in seats with fans and encouraged them to email him personally. He attracted free agents by building luxurious locker rooms and hiring more coaches.
But that is just a taste of what he's done. Before buying the Mavericks he started and sold MicroSolutions to CompuServe. His biggest success was Broadcast.com, which was sold to Yahoo! for $5.1 Billion in 1999. Today, in addition to owning the Mavericks, Cuban plans to revolutionize TV and Movies with HDNet.
In the interview with Rome, Cuban made several great statements about business and entrepreneurism. Rome asked him how an NBA Championship would stack up with his other business success. Cuban said there is no comparison. While an NBA Championship would be nice, it wouldn't even compare to the thrill of selling Broadcast.com for $5.1 Billion. He said that "the thrill of victory in business blows away the thrill of victory in sports. Business is a sport 24x7x365." That gives you an idea of the competitiveness of Cuban. He "plays" business like his players play a basketball game. The only difference is the reward for success is often greater in business and the cost of failure is often much worse.
He also spoke about how a lot of people ask him what he does for fun. His response is always that "this is what I do for fun." He builds businesses. He competes to win. He lives for being an entrepreneur. To truly be successful in business, I believe you need to love it that much. You are going to sacrifice time, money, security, and more. If your heart and soul is not into it I don't think you will succeed. If it is, you could be the next Mark Cuban.
Like most sports fans, my first exposure to Mark Cuban was in 2000 when he purchased the Dallas Mavericks. In nearly no time he turned one of the worst franchises in sports into a playoff contender that every free agent wanted to play for. He did it by focusing improving relationships with his customers and his employees. He sat in seats with fans and encouraged them to email him personally. He attracted free agents by building luxurious locker rooms and hiring more coaches.
But that is just a taste of what he's done. Before buying the Mavericks he started and sold MicroSolutions to CompuServe. His biggest success was Broadcast.com, which was sold to Yahoo! for $5.1 Billion in 1999. Today, in addition to owning the Mavericks, Cuban plans to revolutionize TV and Movies with HDNet.
In the interview with Rome, Cuban made several great statements about business and entrepreneurism. Rome asked him how an NBA Championship would stack up with his other business success. Cuban said there is no comparison. While an NBA Championship would be nice, it wouldn't even compare to the thrill of selling Broadcast.com for $5.1 Billion. He said that "the thrill of victory in business blows away the thrill of victory in sports. Business is a sport 24x7x365." That gives you an idea of the competitiveness of Cuban. He "plays" business like his players play a basketball game. The only difference is the reward for success is often greater in business and the cost of failure is often much worse.
He also spoke about how a lot of people ask him what he does for fun. His response is always that "this is what I do for fun." He builds businesses. He competes to win. He lives for being an entrepreneur. To truly be successful in business, I believe you need to love it that much. You are going to sacrifice time, money, security, and more. If your heart and soul is not into it I don't think you will succeed. If it is, you could be the next Mark Cuban.
posted by Adam McFarland at
12/17/2005 01:31:00 PM
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