Mark Cuban Success Quotations

What does it take to be a successful entrepreneur? It takes willingness to learn, to be able to focus, to absorb information, and to always realize that business is a 24/7 job where someone is always out there to kick your ass.

Never follow your dreams. Follow your effort. It's not about what you can dream of. That's easy. It's about whether or not it's important enough to you to do the work to be ready to be successful in that business.

What I’ve learned is that if you really want to be successful at something, you’ll find that you put the time in. You won’t just ask somebody if it’s a good idea, you’ll go figure out if it’s a good idea.

Expect the unexpected, and always be ready - everyone has inside them what it takes to be successful. You just have to be ready to unleash it when the opportunity presents itself.

One problem people have is that they lie to themselves. You may think you are more talented then the next guy. Which is exactly what the next guy thinks as well. Rarely is talent enough. You have to find ways to make yourself stand out. You do so by playing to your strengths and making people aware of those strengths. Always remember that no matter how many times you get shot down, you will get smarter, better and you only have to be right once to be successful.

The reason I do Shark Tank isn't to try take make more money of the deals, even though every deal I want to make money off of and even more so I want the entrepreneurs to be very successful and make money, but Shark Tank sends a message to everybody that the American Dream is alive and well.

The template for success in the NBA changed from the Portland model of 1999-2000, when I got to the league, to the Detroit, San Antonio, Miami model. Although we have succeeded on the court to the point of five straight 50-plus win seasons, we certainly didn't do it 'the best way.' We did it the most expensive way. It cost us flexibility and created lots of bad habits. That was my mistake, and it ended up costing us Mike (Finley).

Being successful entails being able to not only get along with people, but also to give something back

A sure sign of failure for a startup is when someone sends me logo-embroidered polo shirts. If your people are at shows and in public, it's okay to buy for your own employees, but if you really think people are going to wear your branded polo when they're out and about, you are mistaken and have no idea how to spend your money.

I love to compete. To me, business is the ultimate sport. It's always on. There is always someone trying to beat me.

With every effort, I learned a lot. With every mistake and failure, not only mine, but of those around me, I learned what not to do. I also got to study the success of those I did business with as well. I had more than a healthy dose of fear, and an unlimited amount of hope, and more importantly, no limit on time and effort.

I still work hard to know my business. I'm continuously looking for ways to improve all my companies, and I'm always selling. Always.

Work like there is someone working twenty-four hours a day to take it all away from you.

Because if you're prepared and you know what it takes, it's not a risk. You just have to figure out how to get there. There is always a way to get there.

The system allows us to look at every play, in every way, and to tie it back to stats. So, we can watch how we played every pick and roll, track our success rate and also see how other teams are doing it. It's an invaluable resource that makes us smarter when combined with a lot of advanced statistical analysis we do.

Make your product easier to buy than your competition, or you will find your customers buying from them, not you.