Mr. Cuban, I Presume

June 28th, 2006 at 09:51am Keith Hemstreet 8

My initial impression of Mark Cuban came solely from a few short clips I'd seen on television during the NBA finals. Mr. Cuban, I thought, was a loud mouth billionaire who had been lucky enough to sell his internet company, Broadcast.com, in 1999 before the market came crashing down. He'd then used a portion of this windfall to buy an NBA franchise, the Dallas Mavericks, as any diehard billionaire basketball fan might do, for no other reason than to satisfy a childhood dream. And that, more or less, was my impression.

When Mark Cuban took the stage for the Aspen Institute’s discussion titled, “The Digital Future,” my impression was not altered. He looked as if he was dressed to hit the nightclubs, wearing jeans and a stylish, intentionally untucked, oxford. His face was surprisingly young, which confirmed my belief that he was nothing more than a “lucky kid” with little substance. How could this guy know anything about the digital future?

Walter Isaacson introduced Cuban as, “One of the most interesting people in America.” The moderators, David Kirkpatrick and Norman Pearlstine, took turns praising the man’s accomplishments and that’s when the real Mark Cuban was revealed; a humble, modest man who is still somewhat uncomfortable with his meteoric rise to fame and fortune.

Mark Cuban displayed the body language of an shy adolescent, leaning way back in his chair and turning his head away, as if distancing himself from the crowd. He often shook his head “no” when complimented and his smile was genuine. Could this be the same man, I thought, who was just fined $250,000 for his on court antics during the NBA finals? Come on, where’s the loud mouth jerk I’d heard about on TV?

Almost immediately, he launched into an energetic discussion on business, media and technology and within the first few minutes my impression had changed completely. The guy actually knew what he was talking about, and more impressive, he was unbelievably passionate about his pursuits.

His businesses range from a nationwide chain of movie theaters that play to an “intellectual audience” to a high definition television network, HDNet. When asked how he decides which businesses to pursue, he said, “In media, I look for inefficiencies.” A philosophy that resulted in a vertically integrated Cuban owned digital assembly line, from production to end-user fulfillment.

A dedicated reader, Cuban studies media history to understand how society adapted to previous technological advances in the hopes that he will have a better understanding of the future. He gets most of his news from the internet, using Ice Rocket RSS feeds that deliver the “freshest” news on a particular topic. As far as understanding the complex details of technology, Cuban said, “I’m not opposed to reading a manual.”

On the topic of Blog Maverick, Cuban’s official blog site, he claims that it has made people around me more honest. A prolific blogger, Cuban said, “It gives me the opportunity to say what’s really going on.” As an example of media’s often skewed presentation of events, he discussed the coverage of the NBA finals. “I was smiling 80 percent of the time, but you’ll never see that...blogging gives me the opportunity to get some things off my chest.”

It hasn’t always been easy for Mark Cuban. When he got out of college he had an idea to sell powdered milk, believing people would give up a little taste to save $0.50 a gallon. “It didn’t work,” he said with a smile.

Mark Cuban’s story is a lesson in persistence. “I’ve been fired from more jobs than most people have in a lifetime,” he said. After spending his entire savings on an engagement ring, which is fiancé subsequently lost, he was unemployed and eventually broke off the engagement. That’s when he entered a period of disciplined focus. His goal was to retire at 31 and drink beers with as many people around the world as possible. “I didn’t go on a vacation for seven years,” Cuban said. “I ended up retiring at 30, got a lifetime pass on United, visited 11 countries and drank a lot of beer with a lot of people.”

Cuban’s advice for entrepreneurs, “You only have to be right once.” In other words, just go for it. Inspiring words from a man who went for it and achieved extraordinary success.

Imparting a humorous bit of wisdom, Cuban said, “When you step up to the table, look for the fool. If you don’t see the fool, it’s you.” Leaving the auditorium, I thought about the preconceived notion I'd had of Mark Cuban. In this case, it was very obvious who the fool had been.

Entry Filed under: Technology, Movies, Media, Aspen, Pitkin County