In July of 1982 a twenty-something bartender prepared for an interview. Bartender by day, partyer and PC computer geek by night, the 6’2” dark haired, broad shouldered, Mark Cuban put on his cheap, striped polyester suit and walked out the door for an interview with Your Business Software.
A management grad from Indiana, Mark Cuban had just recently moved to Dallas, Texas. He was looking for a more stable career in PC software solutions as opposed to his wandering in the bar scene. After impressing the owners of Your Business Software, he was hired. The man who would go on to own the Dallas Mavericks, a franchise in the National Basketball Association got his first job in Dallas making $18,000 a year. When sizing up a future billionaire and sports franchise owner for his first real job it would be easy to assume he had some special role that would put him on the fast track to fame and fortune. In reality, his role was pretty simple - open the retail store every morning, sweep the floors and sell computer software to customers.
Never having worked with an IBM PC in his life, he quickly learned the skill of deception. He was convinced the customers walking in the door knew as little about the machines as he did. He began to consume the PC manuals like Cookie Monster downed chocolate-chip cookies. Every night he took home a different software manual and would be enthralled in reading the material until he mastered it. Every night, weeknight or weekend, Cuban would devour the material. Eventually people began to think he really knew his stuff. Customers began to trust Cuban’s input and would seek out his advice on software for different tasks.
Within six months, Cuban had developed his own clientele who would ask him to install software on their office and personal computers (a service that had nothing to do with his hourly rate at Your Business Software). He started charging twenty-five bucks an hour to provide this service. Eventually his side business grew and he was earning over $1000 a month on top of his salary at Your Business Software. He began earning consulting fees, and referral fees. He would cold-call companies to grow his own business. He was really starting to get some traction behind the scenes. Still a low level employee at Your Business Solution. Opening doors, sweeping floors.
One day about nine-months into his role at Your Business Solution he had a potential client ask if he could come into their office to close a deal. The meeting was set for nine in the morning. The same time he was to be opening the Your Business Solution door for business in his real job. His side hustle was in confrontation with his real job. He called a coworker to cover for him and he went to close the deal for his side-hustle. The next morning he was fired from Your Business Solution. He had been outed by his co-worker and the jig was up.
Most great employees fear being fired from their job. No one wants to get let go, for poor performance, or insubordination. For Mark Cuban this could have been a crushing blow to his ego. He could have sulked and been upset that he was now out of a job.
Instead, he formed his first company - Microsolutions which was essentially a fancy title for a company that did exactly what he was doing on the side while employed at Your Business Solution. He cultivated his client list off of relationships he built while at Your Business Solution and was off and running.
Microsolutions became a massive success. Taking his personal touch and knowledge of PC computers he scaled Microsolutions over years to become one of the leading companies in the space. Eventually, he sold the company for a small sum of $6 million dollars in 1990. Not bad for a management grad with no prior experience with PC computers except for reading manuals.
Almost a decade after being hired to sweep the floors, Mark Cuban was a multi-millionaire. Cuban parlayed his success with Microsolutions and formed two other successful companies in Audionet and Broadcast.com. Ten years after selling Microsolutions, Cuban purchased the Dallas Mavericks for $285 million.
The former store opener, floor sweeper, and Dallas nightlife enthusiast found his way to business success over decades of progress.
Mark Cuban benefited a great deal from being in the right place at the right time. He was in his prime years right at the beginning of the dot com industry bursting onto the scene. Pure serendipity or providential oversight. Either way, Cuban was not entirely a self-starter. He didn't will himself to the top. In many interviews, Cuban claims there was a great deal of fumbling around on his way to becoming a successful businessman.
However, one thing Cuban did do was maximize an opportunity. He was in the right place at the right time figuratively. But also literally. The right place for Cuban to gain the skill and expertise in this area was at home with his nose in books.
For Mark Cuban, one of the distinguishing factors to his rise from sweeping the floors to owner of the Dallas Mavericks was actually as simple as reading books. A lot of books. Of course there were many skills needed for his rise in the business world. Skills he had inherently and skills he carefully crafted over decades. Either way, Cuban credits reading three-hours a day as a critical advantage in his twenties that led to breakthroughs in business.
“I would continually search for new ideas. I read every book and magazine I could. Heck, three bucks for a magazine, twenty bucks for a book. One good idea would lead to a customer or a solution, and those magazines and books paid for themselves many times over. Some of the ideas I read were good, some not. In doing all the reading I learned a valuable lesson. 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. Most people won’t put in the time to get a knowledge advantage.”
-Mark Cuban
Beyond the possibility of learning information that could help professionally. Reading has been proven to help our health in many ways.
Reading reduces stress
A 2009 study measured the effects of yoga, humor and reading on stress levels of students in medical school. The study found that a 30-minute reading session consistently lowers blood pressure, heart-rate and distress at the same rate that yoga and humor did. Reading is one of the most effective stress relievers at our disposal.
Reading helps prevent cognitive decline
A 2013 study conducted by Rush University Medical Center found over a long term study that individuals who kept their mind engaged by reading books and magazines as they grew older maintained their cognitive functioning at a higher rate than their peers.
Reading can help you sleep better
The Mayo Clinic based in Rochester, Minnesota provided a great resource on sleep. They recommended if you are not able to fall asleep within 20 minutes of laying down to get up, leave your room and go do something relaxing, like reading. Without the white-light of electronics, our eyes are able to relax before bed by reading a book.
At a minimum, reading can enhance our daily health. As a bonus, perhaps it inspires a professional breakthrough. Either way, it’s in our best interest to find ourselves reading some books soon.
Need help on where to start?
Stay The Course Reading Challenge
Stay The Course Book Summaries
Stay The Course,
JB