How Mark Cuban Turned Broadcast.com Into $5.7B Sale: 'We Were The YouTube Of Our Day'

Mark Cuban's journey from software entrepreneur to billionaire began with a tech company called MicroSolutions in the 1980s.

While many remember Cuban for his later ventures, it was MicroSolutions that first established him in the business world.

"What we were really good at was connecting them into networks and writing software for them. Sold that. Made a lot of money there," Cuban recently shared on the "Life in Seven Songs" podcast, reflecting on his early success in the tech industry.

This experience laid the foundation for his next big leap: the creation of AudioNet, later known as Broadcast.com.

In 1994, a conversation with an old friend sparked a game-changing idea.

"One of my good buddies from Indiana, Todd Wagner, and I were having lunch at California Pizza Kitchen, and he was like, you know, there’s this new thing called the Internet," Cuban recalls.

Inspired by the potential of streaming, they set out to bring audio content online.

"And we started a company called Audio Net, a website. It was called AudioNet.com, went to local radio stations, literally connected an eight-hour VCR," he shares.

Cuban recalled streaming Indiana University basketball games and later posting on message boards asking if others were interested in any other streams they could offer.

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Cuban's knack for innovation and willingness to experiment with new technology allowed him to push the boundaries of what the internet could do in its early days.

"We were the YouTube of our day," Cuban added. "We dominated. We did audio, we did video. I mean, you name it, we did it."

The billionaire entrepreneur also recalled streaming a Victoria's Secret Runway show that "kind of like broke the Internet," according to podcast host Sophie Bearman.

"It didn't work out as well as we wanted to. But you live and you learn," Cuban added.

Their gamble paid off. In 1999, Yahoo! acquired Broadcast.com for $5.7 billion in stock. Reflecting on the deal, Cuban said, "And then we sold to Yahoo, who kinda screwed it up. But they paid me a lot of money for the right to screw it up."

While Yahoo! struggled to integrate Broadcast.com, the sale made Cuban one of the wealthiest tech entrepreneurs of the dot-com era. His journey from MicroSolutions to Broadcast.com not only solidified his status as a visionary but also set the stage for his future ventures.

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Photo: Courtesy of Gage Skidmore on flickr