Mark Cuban Could Succeed In Business With $500 And A Phone

Billionaire businessman Mark Cuban has a plan. If he had to start his career over with just a phone and $500 in cash, he knows what he would do. In a recent video Q&A with Wired magazine, Cuban revealed his strategy to rebuild his fortune within six months if he had only a phone and $500.

Cuban is a serial entrepreneur and savvy investor who founded his first company MicroSolutions after graduating from Indiana University. He sold that company to CompuServe for $6 million. In 1995 he cofounded Audionet, which became Broadcast.com, an early internet radio broadcasting company. He sold that company to Yahoo! Inc. in 1999 for $5.7 billion. He bought the Dallas Mavericks NBA team in 2000 and saw the team reach its first NBA championship in 2011. He is a successful investor, especially through his appearances on "Shark Tank," since 2011. 

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Cuban's first step in this hypothetical $ 500-and-a-phone scenario is securing a sales job, and he indicated in the interview it would not really matter what he was selling. As he put it, “I am really, really, really good at sales. I’m going to find a sales job. Because I already know that if I’m down to my last $500 and all I have is a phone, I am going to get that job and I am going to learn more about that industry than anyone on the planet.”

During the initial three months, Cuban said he would generate quick income by negotiating for a substantial commission on his sales. He would also aim to establish an impressive track record, demonstrating his skills and building leverage with his superiors.

After the initial three-month period during which Cuban established himself as a top-tier salesperson, he would engage in an aggressive move. He said he would talk to his boss and tell them, “You’re either going to pay me this amount of money to keep me, or I’m going to start my own business selling this stuff.” 

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This comment demonstrates Cuban's entrepreneurial spirit and a common pathway to success for many people who gained industry experience within a certain field and then found a way to launch their own profitable business in that industry. It is likely Cuban could find himself on "Shark Tank" as an entrepreneur if he had to start over from scratch. 

Cuban’s approach aligns with career experts who recommend making a strong case for a raise when an employee can demonstrate the value they provide to their employer.  His strategy suggests people spot their most valuable skill and find a way to monetize it.

Cuban’s emphasis on salesmanship as a valuable skill is a recurring theme in his career. He believes that sales skills are universal and can improve various aspects of business and life, whether it’s selling a product, making a favorable impression in a job interview or persuading a boss to embrace a new idea. The billionaire entrepreneur attributes his success to a fundamental principle of sales. “Selling isn’t about convincing, it’s about helping," he said in a 2022 TikTok interview.

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