February 19, 2021

The Big Shark Formula | Mark Cuban on The Quest with Justin Kan

Check out The Quest with Justin Kan Episode Page & Show Notes

The pandemic changed countless industries, but one of the most exciting ones for Mark Cubans is blockchain
- “We’ll look back at the pandemic of 2020, particularly the summer, and say okay that was the inflection point of a lot of blockchain-based applications” – Mark Cuban
Mark is bullish on Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for art. NFTs prove authenticity and ownership of digital art.
- E.g: The NBA launched Top Shot which sells digital moments just like one would sell digital trading cards
The world is becoming more and more digital and Gen Z is more likely to buy a digital product than a physical one:
- “They’re going to respect something that’s digital before they buy something that’s physical” – Mark Cuban
Failure is a great teacher:
- “I learned more from the places I got fired from and the places I worked that I hated than I did from the places I liked. I learned what not to do.” – Mark Cuban
One of the most important business lessons Mark learned early in his career: Sales cures all
- If you don’t have sales, your business won’t last
Being young is a perfect time to start a business because you don’t have much to lose
- Mark was living with 6 roommates when he started his first company, it wasn’t like life could get much worse than that

Mark Cuban (@mcuban) is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks and investor on the TV show Shark Tank
Host: Justin Kan (@justinkan)

Mark grew up without a lot of money so as a kid, he was driven to make lots of money
- However, as he got older, it became more about using money to have freedom and more time
  - Mark’s goal was to make enough money so he could quit working and retire as soon as possible
    - He was inspired by the book Cashing in on the American Dream: How to Retire at 35 by Paul Terhorst
At 29, Mark sold his company and made about $2.5 million after taxes
- He used that money to invest in the market to grow his wealth while traveling the world and partying

Mark originally funded AudioNet to listen to sports games on the internet
- Once he realized it could be a huge company, he started to invest a lot more of his money and time into the company
  - The company was later sold to Yahoo and Mark ended up making a ton of money from the acquisition
    - Mark believes the company could have been the next Spotify or Pandora if Yahoo did a better job of managing it but unfortunately their board mismanaged it

The pandemic changed countless industries, but one of the most exciting ones for Mark is blockchain
- “We’ll look back at the pandemic of 2020, particularly the summer, and say okay that was the inflection point of a lot of blockchain-based applications” – Mark Cuban
Mark is bullish on Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for art. NFTs prove authenticity and ownership of digital art.
- E.g: The NBA launched Top Shot which sells digital moments just like one would sell digital trading cards
Mintable lets people turn any creation into a blockchain item so they get paid a fee anytime someone uses it
- This means artists, photographers, designers, and other creators can sell their work or license it and get paid each time someone uses it
The world is becoming more and more digital and Gen Z is more likely to buy a digital product than a physical one:
- “They’re going to respect something that’s digital before they buy something that’s physical” – Mark Cuban
How does Mark stay up to date with all the new technologies emerging today? He’ll read books, tutorials, network with experts, play around with the tech, etc.

Even if you’re extremely wealthy like Mark, you still worry about your kids’ health, safety, and wellbeing
- You also want to spend a lot of time with your kids and play an important role in their lives
Mark tries to live a modest lifestyle–he doesn’t have butlers or private chefs and makes his kids wash their own dishes

Failure is a great teacher:
- “I learned more from the places I got fired from and the places I worked that I hated than I did from the places I liked. I learned what not to do.” – Mark Cuban
One of the most important business lessons Mark learned early in his career: Sales cures all
- If you don’t have sales, your business won’t last
Being young is a perfect time to start a business because you don’t have much to lose
- Mark was living with 6 roommates when he started his first company, it wasn’t like life could get much worse than that
Always be learning. Change is constant and you need to keep learning to survive and thrive in the world.
Common traits of successful entrepreneurs:
- They’re nice people
- They’re constantly learning
- They love their products so much that they make it easy for them to sell it
- They’re agile and open to pivoting

Mark recently launched Cost Plus Drugs, which aims to sell 100 different generic drugs at transparent prices
- Mark’s company is starting construction of a pharmaceutical factory in Dallas, Texas that will be able to make produce generic drugs at a low-cost

How does Mark manage his time? He doesn’t do calls or meetings
- “For the last 20 years, if you need me, you email me” – Mark Cuban
  - By only talking via email, Mark saves time on commuting, small chat, pointless details, etc.
Two industries Mark is most excited about: Artificial intelligence and blockchain
A few of Mark’s favorite Shark Tank companies:
- Simple Sugar–the company went from doing $40,000 a year to doing million a year
- Hug Sleep– the company went on Shark Tank and sold $4 million worth of goods in a couple of weeks