Transcript Entrepreneurial Interview

Entrepreneurial Interview
Brandon Mathie
ENT 200
Who?
Someone who has had many experiences as an
entrepreneur (different industries)
Serial Entrepreneur – Multiple businesses
Not just a millionaire entrepreneur, but what about a
billionaire entrepreneur?
Someone like the entrepreneurs on Shark Tank (my
favorite show)
Mark Cuban
Why Mark Cuban?
Just got done reading his book “How to win at the Sport
of Business” (highly recommend)
He is worth billions from multiple business start ups
He has a very interesting story
He is now a “Shark”
And it’s Mark Cuban? Who wouldn’t
want to interview him?!
How?
I emailed him at [email protected]
He responded in less than an hour
He asked not to make them obvious questions
I sent him a list of unique questions
This is a mix between what he responded with and his
book “How to Win at the Sport of Business”
The Dream
Had a dream to run his own business if he ever grew up
He believes: After graduation “Get Paid to Learn”
After graduation from Indiana University he took a job
in Pittsburgh working on computers, he hated it
Moved on to Dallas, Texas in search of “Fun, sun,
money and women.”
Rough Living
No Job
No place to live, lived on his friends floor
Got hired selling PC software at $18,000 a year
Had to sweep the floors, open and close the store
Started job not knowing anything about the IBM PC
So, he read all the manuals for all the software
programs front to back
Continued….
Within 6 months became an expert at the stuff
Began to get clients wanting him to install it at their
office
Fired for not opening the shop
Decided that he was going to start his own business
It is here he noticed that “It’s the little decisions that
have the biggest impact”
Starting his first business
MicroSolutions, Inc. – helped sell personal computers
and software and help install them at homes and
offices
Made $15,000 first year
Secretary stole $83k of $85k of MicroSolutions bank
account
He said oh well and went right back to work
Later sold MicroSolutions for $6 million
Audionet…...Broadcast.com
Started as a webcast for Indiana
Hoosier college basketball
Turned into Broadcast.com in
1998
Which grew to 330 employees
Sold to Yahoo! in the dot com
boom for $5.9 billion
Other start ups and
investments…
Bought a $40 million Gulfstream V jet
Landmark Theatres
AXS TV – First High-definition satellite TV network
Magnolia Pictures
Dallas Maverick - $285 million
Shark Tank
Read, Read, Read
What do you do daily to continue your growth as an
entrepreneur and businessman?
“I read like a mother****** . Everything I can get my
hands on I try to read. Because we live in an information
and knowledge based business world, the more
information and knowledge I have the more successful I
can continue to be.”
The sport of Business…
Heard a quote that he would never forget:
“In sports, the only thing a player can truly control is effort.”
The same applies to business. The only thing any
entrepreneur, salesperson or anyone in any position
can control is their effort.
You Only Have to be Right
Once!
One of my favorite quotes I have heard Mark say over
and over is:
“In business, to be a success, you only have to be right once. It
doesn’t matter how many times you fail. It doesn’t matter how
many times you almost get it right. No one is going to know or
care about your failures, and neither should you. All you have to
do is learn from them and from those around you because…..All
that matters in business is that you get it right once.”
Sell! Sell! Sell!
Learn to sell
In business you’re always selling – to your prospects,
investors and employees
Don’t sell your product. Solve their problems.
If you can sell, you can get a job or create one
Prepare!
What is the most important quality of a great
entrepreneur and what is the best way to cultivate that
quality?
“Willingness to prepare: To put in the hours and to be
honest with themselves about their performance. The best
way is to go out there and do it.”
Prepare! #2
What is one sentence of advice that you would give to a
young aspiring entrepreneur?
“Whatever business you want to get into make sure you
know more about your business than anyone else.
Otherwise you are at the risk of the person who knows
more kicking your a**.”
Start without Investors
Great companies start without investors
Apple, Dell and Microsoft as a few examples
“Business happens over years and years. Value is
measured in the total upside of a business relationship,
not by how much you squeezed out in any one deal.”
A great idea and a great vision does not need an
investor
The Best Equity is Sweat Equity
Sweat equity is the best startup capital
Two reasonable sources of capital for startup
entrepreneurs:
Your own pocket
Your customers pockets
Work your butt off and its ok to start slow
No business plan??
Mark started all businesses by:
Spreadsheet of expenses to find needed revenues
Wrote overviews of what he was selling
Why I thought it made sense
Overview of competition
Why the product or service is important to customer
and why they should buy or use it
Equity
How would you resolve the challenge of bringing more
people with ideas and funding on who want a
significant percentage of the ownership and decision
making versus having more control and less support
both financially and conceptually?
“People who start and run their own business while also
providing the vision for the business is always going to be
in control, even if they don’t own more than 50%. They
have the option of walking away and taking the heart
and soul of the biz with them.”
12 Cuban Rules for Startups
1.
Don’t start a company unless it’s an obsession and
something you love
2.
If you have an exit strategy, it’s not an obsession
3.
Hire people who you think will love working there
4.
Sales cure all. Know how your company will make money
and how you will actually make sales
5.
Know your core competencies and focus on being great at
them
6.
There is 24 hours in a day, use every hour wisely
Continued…
7.
Use open offices, they keep everyone in tune to what is
going on
8.
Use the technology that you know, if you know Apple use it.
If you know Windows, first ask yourself why, then use it
9.
Keep organization flat. No managers reporting to managers
10. Never buy swag, focus on making money than impressing
the public eye with a logo polo shirt
11. Never hire a PR firm. You can do it yourself
12. Make the job fun for employees.
Conclusion of Mark Cuban:
Know how to sell!
Know your business and industry inside and out
Be honest with yourselves
Always be prepared
Have goals set and don’t worry about anything but
those goals
“Read like a mother******!”
Thanks!