Why Mark Cuban ditched his watch after selling his company
Mark reveals how he made his first million (and then billion), and what he values more than money
When I launched Venture Voice way back in 2005, it was the first podcast dedicated to interviewing entrepreneurs. I took a bit of hiatus over the past decade to focus on growing my own companies, Muck Rack and The Shorty Awards, but the time was right to bring Venture Voice back. We kick things off again with Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, an investor on ABC’s “Shark Tank,” an early tech pioneer and a natural-born businessman who’s come a long way since selling stamps and garbage bags door to door as a kid. Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Overcast and Spotify. For a quick take, watch a clip on YouTube.
Special thanks to our sponsor, SteadyMD.
“The day I sold MicroSolutions I took off my watch and said I’d never wear a watch again, because that signified I have to be somewhere and pay attention to time that other people set for me.” – Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban has built and sold more than one company and invested in plenty of others, but you might be surprised to learn that what he values most is something a lot of entrepreneurs find much more elusive: time.
It’s a lesson he learned from his father and took to heart at an early age. After founding his first company at age 24 and then selling it eight years later for $6 million, getting control over his schedule and his time was the driving goal. So much so that he immediately took off his watch and never wore one again — that is, until many years later when he got an Apple Watch, something he wears for all of the features it offers except timekeeping.
When I decided to relaunch my Venture Voice podcast after an extended hiatus spent deep in the trenches of my own businesses, Muck Rack and The Shorty Awards, I sent Mark on email to see if he’d be up for a conversation about his entrepreneurial journey. I’ve known Mark for several years now, and one thing I’ve learned about him that’s a little unique among people who’ve reached his level of success: He responds to emails. Almost immediately. In this episode, he talks about some of his productivity habits and why 40 unread emails is his limit.
“I literally have email on in front of me all the time...and it becomes my tickler file. So if you email me, if I don’t respond right away, it's just going to be sitting there staring me in the face of my inbox...I might as well get rid of it.”
We spend a fair amount of time digging into Mark’s early years. He may have been a self-described “lousy employee” when he worked for other people, but he picked up valuable knowledge along the way. As a college student selling inexpensive but not-so-great-tasting powdered milk, he learned that price isn’t everything. Working at a computer store in the early days of the PC and PC software business, he learned what it means to be a great salesperson. And he learned that he had a knack for technology that would drive his entrepreneurial spirit (and build up his bank account), as he kept his main pursuit in focus: the freedom of time.
“There was a person who created [the software] and there was everybody else, and my attitude was, if I outwork the everybody elses, I can lead in terms of technology. And it turns out that I really had a way away with technology.”
In our wide-ranging conversation, Mark shares what it was like to build, grow and sell his companies and how each new venture has impacted his life. As someone who’s not shy about talking to the press, he also offers some great advice for CEOs about what he’s learned about journalists: “They need content,” he says. “If you give them an angle or an article that makes them look smart, they’re going to keep going back to you as often as they possibly can.”
“Reporters, opinion writers...they all want content, and they all need content. That’s the lifeblood. I was content and I knew how to be content. And I recommend that to any CEO.”
That’s why, he says, “Some of the best time that you can spend is getting to know people that cover and write about your industry.” As the founder and CEO of Muck Rack, I was also curious about why he uses our Muck Rack Alerts feature to keep track of how he’s being mentioned in the press. “You just never know,” he says. “The anecdotal items you don’t know about or don’t expect — if it’s wrong and impactful, and they’re in a position of influence, the alerts give me the opportunity to know it’s being said...it’s timely and a lot more efficient.”
There’s the common thread again: the value of time.
Back when J. Paul Getty was the richest man in the world, he wrote, “Rich as I may be from a material standpoint, I've long felt that I'm very poor, indeed, in time.” Getty’s cousin, who had little money but much more free time, teased the busy billionaire by signing letters “To the richest man in the world from the wealthiest.”
Mark’s a rare example of someone who’s accumulated significant wealth in both time and money.
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