How much would you be willing to pay to learn from one of the greatest business minds in the world today? Would you pay more than $2.99? I sure hope you would! But that’s all you have to pay to learn some great insight from Mark Cuban on building success in business and in life. In Mark’s book “How to Win at the Sport of Business” which can be bought on Amazon for $2.99 (Kindle Edition), he gives you insight into his mindset and the actions he has taken to make himself one of the most successful entrepreneurs today.
You may know Mark as the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, or as one of the sharks on ABC’s show Shark Tank. What you may not know is that to get where he is at, Mark has built numerous highly successful businesses. He can be found at blogmaverick.com, which is his personal blog.
In this book, which he mentions is more of a compilation of blog posts than an actual book, Mark breaks down different eras of his life and teaches you about what he learned in each. He has some unique ways of looking at things, and has taken a different approach than many would, ultimately leading him to be wildly successful.
I have been a fan of Mark Cuban for years. Before entering college I read article about him and his journey to purchase the Dallas Mavericks. His mindset on entrepreneurship and his work ethic have always stood out to me as a uniqueness that has made him successful. I believe that there is a lot you can learn from him just by reading some of his thoughts, and examining the ways he approached situations that got him to where he is. I highly recommend you buy this book. It is broken down into sections that are easy to read and provide great insight. There are a number of great lessons you can learn in each section of the book.
10 important business lessons Mark teaches in this book:
- You can drown in opportunity
- The best equity is sweat equity
- Don’t start a company unless it’s an obsession and something you love
- Sales cure all. Know how your company will make money and how you will actually make sales
- Time is more valuable than money
- Don’t let fear be a roadblock
- Always ask yourself how someone could preempt your product or service
- Always run your business like you are going to be competing with the biggest companies in your industry
- It’s not in the dreaming, it’s in the doing
- You only have to be right once
No matter what industry you’re in, if you are an entrepreneur Mark is one of the best people you can learn from. Give this book a shot. It’s a quick read and will teach you many valuable lessons that you can apply directly to your business and your mindset. As Mark says, “it’s not in the dreaming, it’s in the doing.” Buy the book today. You won’t regret it.
Below are some quotes that I pulled from the book as I read:
- “I did it too. I would drive by big houses and wonder who lived there—every weekend I would do it. What did they do for a living? How did they make their money? Someday, I would tell myself, I would live in a house like that. I read books about successful people. In fact, I read every book or magazine I could get my hands on. I would tell myself that one good idea would pay for the book and could make the difference between me making it or not.”
- “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.”
- “For most recent college grads, you just spent the last four or so years paying tuition to get an education. Now that you have graduated, it’s your chance to get paid to learn. And what if you aren’t a recent college grad? The same logic applies. It is time to get paid to learn.”
- “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.”
- “Most people won’t put in the time to get a knowledge advantage.”
- “Real competition comes from the sport of business.”
- “Every single day someone has an idea. Every day someone talks about some business he wants to start. Every day someone is out there starting a business whose entire goal is to beat the hell out of yours.”
- “The only thing any entrepreneur, salesperson or anyone in any position can control is their effort.”
- “Effort is measured by setting goals and getting results.”
- “I don’t think people “know” what they are destined to be until they try it for the first couple of times.”
- “The greatest obstacle to destiny is debt, both personal and financial”
- “With every effort, I learned a lot. With every mistake and failure (not only mine, but also of those around me), I learned what not to do.”
- “The point of all this is that it doesn’t matter how many times you fail. It doesn’t matter how many times you almost get it right. No one is going to know or care about your failures, and neither should you. All you have to do is learn from them and from those around you because … All that matters in business is that you get it right once. Then everyone can tell you how lucky you are.”
- “Everyone has got the will to win; it’s only those with the will to prepare that do win.”
- “For those of us who dream of starting and running a business, we know that we have to have a level of confidence in our own abilities. We don’t want to believe that there are things we can’t do. We want to believe that if we try hard enough, work long enough and get a little lucky, that the sky is the limit. The problem is that we let our confidence cloud our judgment of what we truly know about ourselves.”
- “Each of us has to face the reality of who we are and what we are.”
- “Far more often than not, raising cash is the biggest mistake you can make.”
- “There are only two reasonable sources of capital for startup entrepreneurs: your own pocket and your customers’ pockets.”
- “When I (hopefully) turn 90 and look back at my life, would I regret having done it, or not having done it?”
- “Success is about making your life a special version of unique that fits who you are—not what other people want you to be.”
- “You have to re-earn your customers business every day.”
- “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.”
- “In every case, all things being equal, we choose the path of least resistance.
Understanding this concept is key to making good business decisions.” - “Moral of the story: Make your product easier to buy than your competition, or you will find your customers buying from them, not you”
- “If you can sell, you can get a job—anywhere, anytime”
- “The best salespeople are the ones who put themselves in their customer’s shoes and provide a solution that makes the customer happy.”
- “The best salesperson is the one the customer trusts and never has to question.”
- “The best salesperson is the one who knows that with every cold call made, he is closer to helping someone.”
- “The best salesperson is the one who takes immense satisfaction from the satisfaction her customer gets.”
- “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.”
- “Every no gets me closer to a yes.”
- “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.”
- “If you love what you do so much that you are willing to continue to live like a student in order to be able to stay in the job, you have found your calling.”
- “Once you have found out what you love to do, there is only one goal: to be the best in the world at it”
- “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.”
- “Instead, part of every entrepreneur’s job is to invent the future. I also call it “kicking your own ass.” Someone is out there looking to put you out of business. Someone is out there who thinks they have a better idea than you have. A better solution than you have. A better or more efficient product than you have. If there is someone out there who can “kick your ass” by doing it better, it’s part of your job as the owner of the company to stay ahead of them and “kick your own ass” before someone else does.”
- “Time is more valuable than money”
- “Commit random acts of kindness”
- “No balls, no babies”
- “Work hard, play hard”
- “Don’t let fear be a roadblock”
- “Expect the unexpected and always be ready”
- “It’s okay to yell and be yelled at”
- “Everyone gets down; the key is how soon you get back up”
- “It’s not whether the glass is half empty or half full, it’s who is pouring the water”
- “It’s not in the dreaming, it’s in the doing”
- “Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered”
- “You only have to be right once”
