The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

20VC: Mark Cuban on His Relationship To Wealth and Risk, Why Coming Out of The Pandemic Will Be The Best Time In The History of Mankind To Start A Business & Why Silicon Valley Investors Are Like Old Hollywood

May 4, 2020

Mark Cuban, a serial entrepreneur and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, shares his insights on wealth, risk, and innovation. He discusses the evolving relationship between happiness and money, emphasizing experiences over financial milestones. Cuban critiques Silicon Valley investors, likening them to old Hollywood and suggesting that great tech companies could thrive if started elsewhere. He also highlights the importance of cash flow in investing and the necessity of genuine salesmanship in entrepreneurship, all while navigating a post-pandemic business landscape.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

ANECDOTE

Mark's Tech Start

Mark Cuban's tech journey started with a sales job at a PC software company, despite lacking prior knowledge.
He learned programming, started MicroSolutions, and then sold it to H&R Block.

INSIGHT

Wealth and Happiness

Mark Cuban's relationship with wealth has evolved from focusing on financial freedom to leveraging it for impact.
He emphasizes that wealth doesn't guarantee happiness.

ANECDOTE

Risk and Reward

After his first company, Cuban traveled extensively, then risked it all again with AudioNet, facing potential ruin.
He prioritizes time as his most valuable asset.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Mark Cuban is a serial entrepreneur, investor, and owner of the Dallas Mavericks. His career began with his founding of MicroSolutions, a company he went on to sell to CompuServe in 1990. Then in 1995 Mark co-founded Broadcast.com - streaming audio over the internet. In just four short years, Broadcast.com (then Audionet) was sold to Yahoo for $5.6 billion dollars. Following the acquisition in 2000, Mark acquired the Dallas Mavericks where since his taking over they have competed in the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history in 2006 - and becoming NBA World Champions in 2011. They are currently listed as one of Forbes' most valuable franchises in sports. If that was not enough, Mark is also one of ABC's "Sharks" on the hit show Shark Tank.

In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How Mark made his way into the world of technology and startups having been fired from his first job in sales?

2.) How does Mark evaluate his relationship to wealth and money? How has that changed over time? What advice does Mark have to those that tie happiness and money together?

3.) What does Mark think about Silicon Valley investors today? Why does he believe they and the valley are like Hollywood? Why does Mark believe that if the greatest tech companies of today had been started elsewhere, they would be more successful?

4.) How does Mark evaluate his own investing philosophy today? How does Mark think about price and price sensitivity? Why is Mark so keen to have his investment funded from the cashflow of the business? Does this not narrow opportunity and limit upside? How does Mark evaluate risk today?

5.) Why does Mark believe post-COVID is the single greatest time to be an entrepreneur? What advice would he give to an entrepreneur starting their new business in this time? How would Mark go about the re-opening of society post lockdown?

Items Mentioned In Today’s Show:

Mark’s Fave Book: Rebooting AI: Building Artificial Intelligence We Can Trust, Healthy Buildings: How Indoor Spaces Drive Performance and Productivity

As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Mark and on Twitter here!

Likewise, you can follow Harry on Instagram here for mojito madness and all things 20VC.