First of all, can all books be written the same way his book has been written? It has only 102 pages, but the points he covers are direct to the point, and very actionable. I’d be surprised if someone read this book and not be inspired do anything good for himself/herself right after. I, of course, went to write this blogpost. So I want to share my top four takeaways from this book:
1. Most people won’t put in the time to get a knowledge advantage.
If there is one thing you’re picking up from this book, it is that Mark is a big advocate of lifelong learning. And he contineus to be surprised that not a lot of people put in the effort to get that knowledge advantage.
Everything I read was public. Anyone could buy the same books and magazines, The same information was available to anyone who wanted it. Turns out most people didn’t want it.
Mark Cuban
And for those evenings where you watch the telly? This is what he has to say:
Relaxing is for the other guy. I may be sitting in front of the TV, but I’m not watching it unless I think there is something I can learn from it.
Mark Cuban
He even responds to twenty-one year olds about what to pursue their age:
The thing you do need to do (at twenty-one) is learn. Learn accounting. Learn finance. Learn statistics. Learn as much as you can win about business. Read biographies about businesspeople.
Mark Cuban
For someone who recently got into taking short courses and reading books with a bit of annual competition with my husband, since COVID started, I cannot agree more. I feel like since reading a lot of books, my brain has developed and my ability to comprehend and retain knowledge has gotten a lot better. Also, I can participate in more intelligent conversations than ever, and even do more thought-leadership. So, AMEN TO THIS POINT.
2. It’s not in the dreaming, it’s in the doing.
We hear a lot about dreaming big, the will-to-win, dare to be brave, etc. Well… this is what Mark has to say about dreaming:
Every single day someone has an idea. Everyday someone talks about some business he wants to start. Everyday someone is out there starting a business whose entire goal is ot beat the hell out of yours. How cool is that?!
Mark Cuban
He gives tribute to his coach, Bobby Knight, whom he learned this lesson from, which he carries and shares in the book.
Everyone has got the will to win; it’s only those with the will to prepare that do win.
Bobby Knight (Mark Cuban’s Coach)
The amount of times I heard people say, “Wow I though about that business idea X years ago. I could have been that business owner”. Easily said, my friend. As Mark says, stop dreaming, start doing! One final quote I want to share from the book on this point:
The one thing you can control in life: Effort.
Mark Cuban
3. The best startup capital? It’s not cash, it’s sweat equity.
This point builds on the previous advice and he argues that too many startups are trying to raish cash too fast, when they should be focusing on the doing and sweating out what’s available. He says that far more often than not, raising cash is the biggest mistake a start up can make. How’s that for a Shark advice?
The minute you ask for investor 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.
Mark Cuban (aka a Shark)
I cracked up reading this line as he ends the chapter about this:
When you’re starting a business, you don’t need more cash, you need more brains.
Mark Cuban
4. Figure out how to be the best
Easily said than done, but Mark argues above, “the only thing you can control is your effort.” And so if you put in enough effort, there should be no reason why you can’t be the best at what you do.
When you are the best at something, the demand for your services will grow. People want to hire the best. They want to be associated with the best.
Mark Cuban
This is SO TRUE. Reflecting on the last FIVE jobs I’ve had, I didn’t apply to any of them. New opportunities just continuously came and all I had to was accept bigger and better opportunities. I’m far from being the best at what I do but as I built expertise, my leverage got bigger and bigger.
And I love this from him:
Rather than trying to convince people you are the best, let the quality of your work do the talking.
Mark Cuban
Conclusion
If I can only summarise these four points using just two words, I would say that Mark Cuban is all about “LEARNING”, and “DOING”. Learn as much as you can. Prepare, put in the effort, stand back up after failing, and learn from all of it. No excuses. Then start doing, and then learning, and doing, and learning. Totally recommend this book to everyone, even though you may not be in business yet. ENJOY!
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