How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 1

In every job, I would justify it in my mind, whether I loved it or hated it, that I was getting paid to learn and every experience would be of value when I figured out what I wanted to do when I grew up.

Answer 1

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 2

Fired. Not the first time it’s happened, but it reinforced what I already knew: I’m a terrible employee.

Answer 2

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 3

You never quite know in business if what you are doing is the right or wrong thing. Unfortunately, by the time you know the answer, someone has beaten you to it and you are out of business.

Answer 3

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 4

I used to tell myself that it was okay to make little mistakes as long as I didn’t make the big ones.

Answer 4

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 5

Most people won’t put in the time to get a knowledge advantage.

Answer 5

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 6

my wife hates that I read more than three hours almost every day, but it gives me a level of comfort and confidence in my businesses.

Answer 6

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 7

Lesson #1: Always ask yourself how someone could preempt your products or service. How can they put you out of business? Is it price? Is it service? Is it ease of use? No product is perfect and if there are good competitors in your market, they will figure out how to abuse you. It’s always better if you are honest with yourself and anticipate where the problems will co​me from.

Answer 7

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 8

Lesson #2: Always run your business like you are going to be competing with biggest technology companies in your industry—Google, Facebook, Oracle, Microsoft, whomever.

Answer 8

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 9

I ask myself every week what I would do if they entered any of my businesses. If you are ready to compete with the big guys, you are ready to compete with anyone else.

Answer 9

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 10

These days, my mind knows what to do, but my body just laughs at me.

Answer 10

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 11

The sport of business isn’t divided into games. It’s not defined by practices. It doesn’t have set rules that everyone plays by.

Answer 11

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 12

That’s what makes business such an amazing sport. Everyone plays it. Everyone talks about how good he or she is or will be at it. Just a small percentage are.

Answer 12

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 13

I’m fortunate. I have done well enough financially that I don’t have to play 24 × 7 × 365. I can and have cut back to 18 × 7 × 365. Family first, now. But in those eighteen hours, you can bet I’m competing and loving it.

Answer 13

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 14

The One Thing in Life You Can Control: Effort

Answer 14

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 15

In sports, the only thing a player can truly control is effort. The same applies to business. The only thing any entrepreneur, salesperson or anyone in any position can control is their effort.

Answer 15

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 16

It meant making sure that every hour of the day that I could contact a customer was selling time, and when customers were sleeping, I was doing things that prepared me to make more sales and to make my company better.

Answer 16

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 17

I had to make sure I wasn’t lying to myself about how hard I was working.

Answer 17

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 18

It would have been easy to judge effort by how many hours a day passed while I was at work. That’s the worst way to measure effort. Effort is measured by setting goals and getting results.

Answer 18

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 19

The one requirement for success in our business lives is effort. Either you make the commitment to get results or you don’t.

Answer 19

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 20

You are still in school. You don’t need to have all the answers or focus on one thing. You should be trying a lot of things until you find the one thing you really love to do and are good at. When that happens, you will be able to focus.

Answer 20

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 21

Being focused at 21 is way overrated. Now is the time to screw up, to try as many different things as you can and just maybe figure things out. The thing you do need to do is learn. Learn accounting. Learn finance. Learn statistics. Learn as much as you can about business. Read biographies about businesspeople. You don’t have to focus on one thing, but you have to create a base of knowledge so you are ready when it’s time. You never know when that time will come. But you can be ready when it does.

Answer 21

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 22

Do we know what we are destined to be or do we find out through experience?

Answer 22

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 23

I don’t think people “know” what they are destined to be until they try it for the first couple of times.

Answer 23

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 24

Going to college should be about experiencing as much academically as you possibly can, but more importantly, it should be about learning how to learn and recognizing that learning is a lifelong endeavor. School isn’t the end of the learning process, it’s purely a training ground and beginning.

Answer 24

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 25

The greatest obstacle to destiny is debt, both personal and financial. The more people you are obligated to, the harder it is to focus on yourself and figure things out.

Answer 25

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 26

If you aren’t happy with where you are, simplify your life and go out and try as many things as it takes to find what you may be destined to be.

Answer 26

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 27

No one is going to know or care about your failures, and neither should you.

Answer 27

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 28

“Everyone has got the will to win; it’s only those with the will to prepare that do win.”

Answer 28

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 29

Entrepreneurs have to be brutally honest with themselves and recognize where they have added value and where they have gone along for the ride.

Answer 29

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 30

Win the battles you are in before you take on new battles

Answer 30

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 31

I’ve learned to hire people in whom I can build trust, and let them take the ball and run with it.

Answer 31

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 32

If you are the main engine behind your company, taking on new challenges will only dilute your ability to win the wars you are in and increase the risk of injuring your primary business or core competencies.

Answer 32

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 33

If we were dominating in our core revenue lines, I could easily be the biggest proponent of an international NBA effort

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How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 34

needs to find someone who can lead and win each of the battles. Trying to use one person as the leader for both is a huge mistake that is not worth the risk it exposes us to.

Answer 34

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 35

Win the battles you are in first, then worry about expansion internationally or into new businesses. You do not have unlimited time and/or attention. You may work 24 hours a day, but those 24 hours spent winning your core business will pay off far more. It might cost you some longer-term upside, but it will allow you to be the best business you can be. To use a sports metaphor, get the fundamentals right and then add to your base skills before you try to take on the trick shots.

Answer 35

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 36

As an entrepreneur you have to know what the core competencies of your business are and make sure that your company focuses on being the absolute best it can be at executing them.

Answer 36

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 37

If you are adding new things when your core businesses are struggling rather than facing the challenge, you are either running away or giving up. Rarely is either good for a business. In fact, by chasing these opportunities, you may be assuring that you drown in them.

Answer 37

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 38

“The worst evaluator of talent is a player trying to evaluate himself.”

Answer 38

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 39

We tend to be less than honest with ourselves about our strengths and weaknesses.

Answer 39

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 40

Once I could put the idea on paper, I gave the company a name. From there, I took the most important step: I tried to find people to shoot holes in the name.

Answer 40

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 41

Far more often than not, raising cash is the biggest mistake you can make.

Answer 41

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 42

The minute you ask for money, you are playing in their game—they aren’t playing in yours. You are at a huge disadvantage, and it’s only going to get worse if you take their money. The minute you take money, the leverage completely flips to the investor. They control the destiny of your dreams, not you.

Answer 42

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 43

There are only two reasonable sources of capital for startup entrepreneurs: your own pocket and your customers’ pockets.

Answer 43

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 44

You shouldn’t have to take money from anyone. Businesses don’t have to start big.

Answer 44

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 45

“Treat your customers like they own you. Because they do.” “You have to re-earn your customers business every day.”

Answer 45

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 46

I personally think that the only way you can connect to your customers is to put yourself in their shoes.

Answer 46

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 47

The best focus groups are your customers telling you what they think. No company is perfect, but the CEO who doesn’t listen to direct feedback from customers will not take the company as far as it can go.

Answer 47

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 48

Whining is the first step toward change. It’s the moment when you realize something is very wrong and that you have to take the initiative to do something about it.

Answer 48

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 49

It was Aaron Spelling, I believe, who said, “TV is the path of least resistance from complete boredom.” Which is another way of saying that it’s easier to watch TV than to sit there and do nothing.

Answer 49

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 50

In business, one of the challenges is making sure that your product is the easiest to experience and to sell.

Answer 50

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 51

Make your product easier to buy than your competition, or you will find your customers buying from them, not you.

Answer 51

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 52

If you can sell, you can get a job—anywhere, anytime

Answer 52

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 53

The best salespeople are the ones who put themselves in their customer’s shoes and provide a solution that makes the customer happy.

Answer 53

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 54

The best salesperson is the one the customer trusts and never has to question.

Answer 54

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 55

The best salesperson is the one who knows that with every cold call made, he is closer to helping someone.

Answer 55

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 56

The best salesperson is the one who takes immense satisfaction from the satisfaction her customer gets.

Answer 56

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 57

The best salesperson is the one who wakes up early every morning excited to come to the office, get on the phone and let people know exactly why he loves his product, job and clients.

Answer 57

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 58

The more you push someone who has said no, the more likely you are to appear desperate, and that desperation impacts your brand as a salesperson and the brand of the product.

Answer 58

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 59

It is very, very easy to send someone an email every day or even hour. That is what a lazy person is going to do: spend all of two seconds hitting the resend button. A smart, focused and successful salesperson will gear up and do the homework necessary to find their next customer. That is a sign of confidence.

Answer 59

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 60

Recognize that it’s okay to live like a student

Answer 60

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 61

Your biggest enemies are your bills. The more you owe, the more you stress. The more you stress over bills, the more difficult it is to focus on your goals. More importantly, if you set your monthly income requirements too high, you eliminate a significant number of opportunities. The cheaper you can live, the greater your options. Remember that.

Answer 61

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 62

Once you have found out what you love to do, there is only one goal: to be the best in the world at it.

Answer 62

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 63

So rather than trying to convince people you are the best, let the quality of your work do the talking.

Answer 63

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 64

asked its customers what they wanted in the product. Of course the customer responded with the features that they now loved from the other product.

Answer 64

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 65

part of every entrepreneur’s job is to invent the future.

Answer 65

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 66

Don’t start a company unless it’s an obsession and something you love.

Answer 66

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 67

If you have an exit strategy, it’s not an obsession.

Answer 67

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 68

Hire people who you think will love working there.

Answer 68

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 69

Sales Cure All. Know how your company will make money and how you will actually make sales.

Answer 69

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 70

Know your core competencies and focus on being great at them. Pay up for people in your core competencies. Get the best. Outside the core competencies, hire people that fit your culture but are cheap.

Answer 70

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 71

There are 24 hours in a day, and if people like their jobs, they will find ways to use as much of it as possible to do their jobs.

Answer 71

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 72

It’s a startup, there are just a few employees. Let people use what they know.

Answer 72

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 73

Keep the organization flat.

Answer 73

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 74

NEVER EVER EVER buy swag.

Answer 74

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 75

NEVER EVER EVER hire a PR firm.

Answer 75

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 76

Make the job fun for employees. Keep a pulse on the stress levels and accomplishments of your people and reward them.

Answer 76

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 77

Time is more valuable than money You have to learn how to use time wisely and be productive. How wisely you use your time will have far more impact on your life and success than any amount of money.

Answer 77

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 78

No one gets to the top on their own, and I believe we all should be able to make those around us smile.

Answer 78

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 79

Once you are prepared and you think you have every angle of preparation covered, you have to go for it. No balls, no babies.

Answer 79

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 80

I went seven years without a vacation, but I sure managed to have fun. You have to find ways to blow off steam so you don’t blow a gasket.

Answer 80

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 81

You can use fear as a roadblock or as motivation. There is always going to be someone who is competing with you, and sometimes they are going to win. Rather than not doing something for fear of losing, take on the challenge. If you fail, get back up and go for it again.

Answer 81

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 82

Everyone has inside of them what it takes to be successful. You just have to be ready to unleash it when the opportunity presents itself.

Answer 82

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 83

Everyone gets down; the key is how soon you get back up

Answer 83

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 84

It’s not whether the glass is half empty or half full, it’s who is pouring the water This is one of my favorites. The key in business and success at any endeavor is doing your best to control your destiny.

Answer 84

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 85

It’s not in the dreaming, it’s in the doing

Answer 85

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 86

Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered

Answer 86

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 87

the biggest mistake people make is getting too greedy.

Answer 87

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban

Question 88

Business happens over years and years. Value is measured in the total upside of a business relationship, not by how much you squeezed out in any one deal.

Answer 88

How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban