Mark Cuban debunks nine entrepreneurial myths. He says virtually every idea has been tried before, a degree isn't necessary, and lack of capital rarely causes failure compared to lack of effort or knowledge. He warns against startup loans and pushes back on excuses about connections or money.
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Here are the 9 phrases you'll never hear Mark Cuban say. Number 1: My business has no weaknesses.
One of the things I always tell people to do is, you know, how would you kick your own ass? You know, if you all of a sudden left your company, went to work for a competitor, what would you do? What are the frailties of your business that you would take advantage of? Because every company has them. You know, what are the things that keep you up at night worrying that, oh, if people realize this, you know, they might realize this part of my business has no clothes. You know, so you've gotta always ask yourself, how would I kick my own ass? Because then you know that that's something that's on the immediate list, things that have to be fixed immediately to keep pushing you forward.
Number 2, I don't have the connections or money to start.
The thing about being an entrepreneur is it's just all to you. You know, a lot of people like to make excuses. I don't have connections, I don't have money, I don't have this, but You know, if you find something that you like to do or love to do, be great at it and see if you can turn it into a business. And worst case, you're gonna have fun doing what it is you love to do. In best case, you can turn it into a business. I, I'm just not big on excuses. I just think if you really— everybody has that opportunity to go for it, they just gotta do it.
Number 3: Nobody has tried my idea before.
You've got to find out the history of people who have tried your idea. Because there's a 99.99999% chance that your idea has been tried before. That's not a good reason not to start it because you might be able to outperform them, but you better learn from the history of your idea, um, because you know what they say about people who don't learn from history.
Number 4: I need to have a great university degree to be successful.
Go to the cheapest school possible to get your freshman and maybe sophomore classes. You don't need to go to Harvard. Harvard, you know, introduction to writing and freshman English and freshman sociology, okay, you can make an argument it's gonna be better than, you know, Joe Blow Junior College or community college, but the reality is you have to weigh that against if you're paying for your school or more importantly if you're borrowing money for your school, do you wanna be saddled with $40,000, $50,000, $80,000, $100,000 in debt? I'll give up the incremental value of freshman English at a great school to not have the stress, just physically, on you and your family. And I think all that's going to change. I went to Indiana. I love Indiana. I always recommend going to Indiana.
IU.
Hoosiers. But the price for out of state has gotten ridiculous. And they want me to build this building, that building. If your school is building business, building buildings, your school is fucked.
Number 5, I don't have the traits to be an entrepreneur.
There's no one set of traits that makes a great entrepreneur because I think everybody has it in them to be great at something. You know, a lot of people talk about passion and determination when to me it's more about effort. You know, what are you good at, what are you not good at, and then putting in the effort to figure out how to make it all work together to create a company. And so once you have that figured out, then you just have to go for it. And if you're willing to put in the time, you know, you can, you can make 'em work.
Number 6, I'm going to take out a loan to start my business.
First of all, if you're starting a business and you take out a loan, you're a moron, right? Because you're, it, there's so many uncertainties involved with starting a business. Mm-hmm. Yet the one certainty that you'll have to have is paying back your loan. And the bank doesn't care about your business, or whoever you borrow from, unless it's family, doesn't care about your business, you know, and so it's just a complete conflict.
Number 7: I failed before and therefore can't succeed now.
And I say this all the time, doesn't matter how many times you fail, you only have to be right one time, then everybody can call you an overnight success and tell you how lucky you are, and you can be, you can win the Shopify contest.
Number 8: I'm failing because I don't have the capital.
99% of small businesses you can start with next to no capital. It's more about effort. You know, small businesses don't fail for lack of capital. They fail for lack of brains. They fail for lack of effort. Most people just aren't willing to put in the time to work smart. I mean, they, they, they go for it in a lot of cases, but they just don't recognize how much work's involved. And, and, and if you do the preparation, if you know, if If you start a business, you better know your industry and your company better than anyone in the whole wide world, because you're competing. And to think that whoever it is you're competing with is just gonna let you come in and take their business, obviously that's naive, and I think most people don't recognize that. If you're gonna compete with me on one of my businesses, you better realize that I'm working 24 hours a day to kick your ass.
Number 9, I have to go full-time to start up.
You know, personally, I think every time's a perfect time to start a business. There's no bad times. If you do the work, if you do the preparation, You'll know when it's time. And it doesn't mean that it won't be a little bit scary, but you know, it's— you'll know. And you don't have to quit the daytime job if you don't feel all that comfortable, and you can give it a run at night. But whatever works for you. Now with the internet, you've got all the choices in the world, and you can just go out there and do your own thing and, you know, set up a business part-time.
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