WEBVTT - #522 - Mark Cuban on Why He Left Shark Tank & Sold His Majority Stake in the Mavericks + Auditioning for the Show While Hungover + Going Door-to-Door Selling Trash Bags as a 12-Year-Old + Bobby & Mike Discuss Some of the Biggest Success Stories from Shark Tank 0:00:06.840 --> 0:00:10.039 As it turned out, I had gone out night before 0:00:10.400 --> 0:00:13.160 with my buddies and I was just so hungover. So 0:00:13.240 --> 0:00:15.080 I just went for it and just decided I was 0:00:15.080 --> 0:00:17.239 going to be aggressive, and they invited me back for 0:00:17.320 --> 0:00:19.040 season three to be a full time sharkout. 0:00:21.160 --> 0:00:24.079 Welcome to episode five twenty two. We will talk to 0:00:24.239 --> 0:00:27.640 Mark Cuban, which is super cool. The guy is a 0:00:27.760 --> 0:00:30.480 multi billionaire and did not come from money at all. 0:00:30.520 --> 0:00:34.080 He's a self made billionaire. Parents didn't come from money. 0:00:34.320 --> 0:00:36.240 Big guy when it comes to sports like it, was 0:00:36.280 --> 0:00:38.440 the Mavericks owner for a long time. He just sold 0:00:38.440 --> 0:00:40.280 a majority stake. Still in some of it, but he 0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:42.480 just sold a majority steak. I was on Shark Tank, 0:00:42.800 --> 0:00:44.840 I say, was, I guess this episode is still going 0:00:44.880 --> 0:00:46.199 but he's off the show now, right? 0:00:46.400 --> 0:00:46.600 Yeah? 0:00:46.720 --> 0:00:48.720 Yeah, So it was on Shark Tank forever. I just 0:00:48.760 --> 0:00:51.720 assumed he was there from season one because I didn't 0:00:51.760 --> 0:00:54.160 start watching Shark Tank at season one, and I really 0:00:54.280 --> 0:00:57.920 only know it from Mark Cuban being on it. He 0:00:58.040 --> 0:01:00.000 wasn't always on it. I thought that was kind of weird. 0:01:00.040 --> 0:01:03.240 It'skind of got good though, when he was on. He's 0:01:03.280 --> 0:01:04.319 the most famous shark, right. 0:01:04.360 --> 0:01:05.440 Yeah, he's the best one. 0:01:05.480 --> 0:01:08.480 He is the best. Yeah, uh so Mark Cuban. And 0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:12.480 then we will talk after Mark Cuban about the biggest 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:15.160 wins in Shark Tank history, the products that came on 0:01:15.240 --> 0:01:17.800 and actually crust hundreds of million dollars. We've got a 0:01:17.800 --> 0:01:20.679 billion dollar product. We'll do that right after Mark Cuban. 0:01:20.800 --> 0:01:22.759 But thanks for being here for the Bobbycast. And here's 0:01:22.800 --> 0:01:27.040 my conversation with Mark Cuban. Hey, Mark, thanks for your time. Man, 0:01:27.080 --> 0:01:28.360 hope you having a good day. How's it going? 0:01:28.760 --> 0:01:31.399 Another day in paradise by guy. I'm just you know, 0:01:31.880 --> 0:01:32.800 getting up and rolling. 0:01:33.200 --> 0:01:35.360 I was talking to one of my guys here in 0:01:35.400 --> 0:01:36.800 the studio and I was like, I could probably do 0:01:36.840 --> 0:01:40.040 two hours with Mark Cuban, mostly because I'm very interested 0:01:40.040 --> 0:01:43.200 in different parts of your life. Massive sports fan. I 0:01:43.240 --> 0:01:46.680 think what you're doing with prescription medicine and and so 0:01:46.720 --> 0:01:49.720 there are all these areas Shark Tank. We're going to 0:01:49.760 --> 0:01:51.280 get to all of them. But if someone were just 0:01:51.280 --> 0:01:52.960 to come up to you today and be like, hey man, 0:01:53.000 --> 0:01:55.000 what do you want to talk about? Like what even 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:56.560 do you want to talk about as a parton what's 0:01:56.560 --> 0:01:57.960 your favorite thing to talk about right now? 0:01:58.240 --> 0:02:01.800 Well? Right now, I mean considering how We got connected 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:04.040 on this probably by guy Kevin Mack and the song 0:02:04.080 --> 0:02:08.240 we wrote together, which is what people have no clue about, 0:02:08.960 --> 0:02:11.120 and it came about via Shark Tank, which is the 0:02:11.160 --> 0:02:11.960 craziest part. 0:02:12.120 --> 0:02:14.120 So when you write the song, do you guys sit 0:02:14.120 --> 0:02:15.880 in a room and kind of hash it out? How'd 0:02:15.880 --> 0:02:16.919 the songwriting come together? 0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:19.680 He came up shark Tank with a company called Tickpit. 0:02:20.120 --> 0:02:23.600 We did a deal and I was in Nashville and 0:02:23.960 --> 0:02:27.000 we were just, you know, just talking and talking and 0:02:27.040 --> 0:02:30.640 talking about random stuff and I'm like, Okay, you're gonna 0:02:30.680 --> 0:02:32.400 laugh at this, but I got this idea for a 0:02:32.440 --> 0:02:34.840 country song that me and my friends have always talked about. 0:02:35.040 --> 0:02:37.480 And he's like, okay, hey, I'm always looking for ideas. 0:02:37.520 --> 0:02:40.480 Tell me. And so me and my buddy we'd go 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:42.480 out to bars and when you know, when we were 0:02:42.520 --> 0:02:45.160 in our twenties and in early thirties, and it would 0:02:45.160 --> 0:02:47.720 be like someone would come up to us and be like, 0:02:47.919 --> 0:02:49.960 aren't you that one girl from that one night from 0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:53.320 that one bar? You know, just start All guys have 0:02:53.400 --> 0:02:55.880 these stupid things that they say. And he was like, 0:02:56.520 --> 0:02:59.040 that's a cool idea for the start around the song, 0:02:59.160 --> 0:03:02.480 and so we just started working from there and talking, 0:03:02.520 --> 0:03:04.400 and then we finished it up going back and forth 0:03:04.480 --> 0:03:08.600 via email believe it or not, and then we get 0:03:08.639 --> 0:03:10.400 on the phone and then we got together again for 0:03:10.560 --> 0:03:12.320 start Tank and finished it up. 0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:14.400 And how'd you feel about it the first time you 0:03:14.440 --> 0:03:14.720 heard it? 0:03:15.120 --> 0:03:17.320 I loved it because you know, we went back and 0:03:17.360 --> 0:03:20.440 forth a couple times for modifications, but it was like, 0:03:20.720 --> 0:03:22.959 you know, you know, how guys get together and they're 0:03:23.000 --> 0:03:25.679 drinking and they're saying we should do this, and how 0:03:25.720 --> 0:03:27.960 cool would it be if we did that? And just 0:03:28.000 --> 0:03:30.200 to hear it all put together was amazing. 0:03:30.720 --> 0:03:32.480 Let's talk about the guitar pick for a second, because 0:03:32.480 --> 0:03:35.080 it's a pretty brilliant idea. I play a little bit 0:03:35.120 --> 0:03:37.520 as in I do like comedy music. But yeah, yeah, 0:03:37.840 --> 0:03:41.160 I lose picks. Everybody loses picks all the time. Yeah, 0:03:41.200 --> 0:03:43.400 it's if you play guitar, it's like you need it. 0:03:43.400 --> 0:03:45.480 It's almost like a major league baseball team. You need 0:03:45.520 --> 0:03:47.000 to have a ton of baseballs to have Again, you 0:03:47.040 --> 0:03:48.760 need a ton of picks to have a show. So 0:03:49.320 --> 0:03:51.240 the idea he comes in just kind of give me 0:03:51.280 --> 0:03:52.240 the idea from the start. 0:03:52.440 --> 0:03:55.560 So it's a thing called Tickpit t I Kapik and 0:03:55.920 --> 0:03:58.800 It allows you to take your pick and just put 0:03:58.840 --> 0:04:01.480 it to the bass of the guitar, right, so you're playing, 0:04:01.520 --> 0:04:03.400 you're doing whatever, and you don't need to pick, and 0:04:03.440 --> 0:04:06.280 you just pop it on the bass of the guitar 0:04:06.400 --> 0:04:08.840 and it's dicks, you know, and it's there when you 0:04:08.880 --> 0:04:10.760 need it and if you accidentally drop when you have 0:04:10.800 --> 0:04:13.040 two three four lined up and you know, I'm a 0:04:13.080 --> 0:04:16.000 three three court guitar player. You know, C, D and 0:04:16.080 --> 0:04:18.680 D and that's it. And so you know, it was 0:04:18.760 --> 0:04:21.599 just like, you know, okay, this is fun. You know, 0:04:21.680 --> 0:04:24.040 it's just easy to grab and it's always right there, 0:04:24.440 --> 0:04:27.200 and they're not expensive and you don't lose them. 0:04:27.520 --> 0:04:29.320 You know what's interesting. It's one of those ideas where 0:04:29.320 --> 0:04:31.560 you're like, how did someone not already invent this? Right? 0:04:31.920 --> 0:04:34.480 And secondly, it reminds me of like a ball marker 0:04:34.839 --> 0:04:36.440 when you play golf, and now they have it. It 0:04:36.800 --> 0:04:38.920 magnetizes to like that thing you were on your hat. 0:04:39.360 --> 0:04:40.840 It's the same kind of feeling where it's like, how 0:04:40.920 --> 0:04:43.320 is this already not invented? But I think that's part 0:04:43.360 --> 0:04:45.039 of why it's so brilliant. Did you think the same 0:04:45.040 --> 0:04:46.720 thing when you heard the idea where you're like, how 0:04:46.720 --> 0:04:48.160 did this not already exist? 0:04:48.360 --> 0:04:50.600 Yeah, cause it's kind of like, you know, it's shark tech. 0:04:50.640 --> 0:04:53.600 When someone comes in and my first thought is why 0:04:53.600 --> 0:04:56.320 didn't I think of that? Then I know it's a 0:04:56.360 --> 0:04:59.200 good deal, right, And so I didn't expect this to 0:04:59.240 --> 0:05:01.359 be like one hundred million dollar business, but it just 0:05:01.440 --> 0:05:04.560 made perfect sense. And Kevin, who is just like a 0:05:04.600 --> 0:05:06.640 good guy. You know, you want to deal with an 0:05:06.720 --> 0:05:10.040 entrepreneur that's got a good heart, that cares about you know, 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:13.599 people and customers. And then when you have a great 0:05:13.640 --> 0:05:16.520 product and you pull those pieces together, it was really 0:05:16.560 --> 0:05:19.280 easy to do the deal. And they've just been blown up, 0:05:19.360 --> 0:05:23.040 you know. They they're in guitar centers that we're doing 0:05:23.080 --> 0:05:26.280 deals with all these brands, I mean, and Kevin's a 0:05:26.320 --> 0:05:28.920 good sale grip man. He's out there hustling, you know, 0:05:29.040 --> 0:05:31.359 playner song. It's it's a lot of fun. This is 0:05:31.400 --> 0:05:35.000 one of those businesses where fun meets business and that's 0:05:35.000 --> 0:05:36.040 when the magic happened. 0:05:36.279 --> 0:05:37.960 And this is it for you on Shark Tank right 0:05:37.960 --> 0:05:39.200 final season that's airing now. 0:05:39.400 --> 0:05:41.960 Yeah, and actually it just finished and so I'm done. 0:05:42.120 --> 0:05:45.880 They're actually shooting for season seventeen right now. It's kind 0:05:45.880 --> 0:05:48.440 of weird that I'm not there, but yeah, it was 0:05:48.480 --> 0:05:49.160 time to move on. 0:05:49.600 --> 0:05:53.160 Was it an emotional final not even on camera, but 0:05:53.240 --> 0:05:55.560 like when you leave the last time or was it 0:05:55.600 --> 0:05:57.080 like I'm just kind of ready to get out of here. 0:05:57.400 --> 0:05:59.960 No, it was emotional because, you know, shooting the show 0:06:00.279 --> 0:06:02.960 was fun and it's easy, and the deals are cool, 0:06:03.000 --> 0:06:05.039 and you know, I did the show because it sends 0:06:05.040 --> 0:06:08.280 the message to America, particularly in these times, that the 0:06:08.320 --> 0:06:12.880 American dream is still alive and well. But the relationships 0:06:12.920 --> 0:06:16.560 are really built with the crew, the staff, you know, 0:06:16.600 --> 0:06:19.840 everybody behind the scenes, the other Sharks. I mean, we've 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:23.080 been doing this together for fifteen years. You know, you 0:06:23.200 --> 0:06:25.880 work with somebody for fifteen years, you're going to develop 0:06:25.920 --> 0:06:28.000 relationships and that was the hard part. 0:06:28.560 --> 0:06:31.919 You also sold a large stake of the MAVs, so 0:06:31.960 --> 0:06:34.920 it's like Mark Cuban is leaving this. But I feel 0:06:34.920 --> 0:06:36.640 like you've never been more present, at least like on 0:06:36.640 --> 0:06:38.800 all my feeds right Like, I'm seeing you more. But 0:06:38.880 --> 0:06:42.560 everyone's like he's doing less. So what are you doing less? 0:06:42.640 --> 0:06:44.919 Or have you just moved? And are you doing different places? 0:06:45.120 --> 0:06:48.159 Yeah? Different places, I'm doing you know less on some 0:06:48.240 --> 0:06:49.919 of the things I did for a long time, so 0:06:49.960 --> 0:06:51.920 I can go on and do more of the things 0:06:51.920 --> 0:06:54.240 that I think are going to be important. You know, 0:06:54.560 --> 0:06:56.719 for the longest time, it was just like, Okay, you 0:06:56.760 --> 0:06:59.680 know the MAVs, what a unique experience, what fun I'm 0:06:59.680 --> 0:07:02.640 about basketball junkie, you know, I love the game. I 0:07:02.640 --> 0:07:06.960 still play all those things. But it was twenty three 0:07:07.080 --> 0:07:10.480 years and then Shark Tank fifteen years, and it's like, 0:07:10.920 --> 0:07:12.760 is this what I wanted to do the rest of 0:07:12.800 --> 0:07:14.840 my life? And it's not that I didn't love either 0:07:14.880 --> 0:07:17.800 one of them, but my kids, you know, were fifteen, eighteen, 0:07:17.840 --> 0:07:20.520 and twenty one, and you know, you know, my middle 0:07:20.600 --> 0:07:23.760 daughters graduating from high school, my oldest daughter is getting 0:07:23.760 --> 0:07:26.160 ready to be a senior in college, my son is 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:28.280 going to be a sophomore in high school, and you know, 0:07:28.680 --> 0:07:32.160 shooting Shark Tank and traveling with the Masks, I felt 0:07:32.160 --> 0:07:33.840 like I was missing things and I didn't want to 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:36.520 miss anymore. And then, you know, we had also started 0:07:36.600 --> 0:07:39.440 costplus Drugs dot Com and that was having such a 0:07:39.640 --> 0:07:43.760 huge impact on people, you know, saving lives, saving people 0:07:44.160 --> 0:07:46.720 tons of money on their medications, and you know, it 0:07:46.760 --> 0:07:49.880 was just one of those things that I felt like 0:07:50.960 --> 0:07:53.120 if I was going to create a mission for myself 0:07:53.280 --> 0:07:55.840 right now? Was it going to be? Okay, what was 0:07:55.880 --> 0:07:58.160 I going to put first a great season on Shark Tank, 0:07:58.560 --> 0:08:02.200 winning another championship, or changing healthcare for the better? Because 0:08:02.240 --> 0:08:04.160 no one looks at healthcare in this country and says 0:08:04.400 --> 0:08:07.480 the economic side anyways is great? Right, Well, you know, 0:08:07.520 --> 0:08:09.960 it's just perfect in the United States, and you know, 0:08:10.000 --> 0:08:11.840 we've really had an impact, and I think I can 0:08:11.920 --> 0:08:13.120 have a whole lot more impact. 0:08:13.400 --> 0:08:16.880 Cost plus drugs is super interesting to me, and I've 0:08:16.920 --> 0:08:20.800 been following you in this journey. I grew up pretty 0:08:20.880 --> 0:08:23.120 much in poverty, and I talk about it people having 0:08:23.160 --> 0:08:25.000 to choose between medicine and food a lot of times 0:08:25.320 --> 0:08:28.200 because all the time, and you don't know about it 0:08:28.200 --> 0:08:31.000 because those people's stories. It's not like that's on the news. 0:08:30.840 --> 0:08:33.600 That's not a sensational headline that you hear, but it's 0:08:33.640 --> 0:08:36.640 happening all over America all the time. So when I 0:08:36.679 --> 0:08:39.560 heard what you guys' goal was, I started following because again, 0:08:39.600 --> 0:08:41.440 that was a big part of my life. We didn't 0:08:41.480 --> 0:08:43.480 even go to the doctor because we knew if you 0:08:43.520 --> 0:08:45.160 went to if you went to the doctor, that was 0:08:45.200 --> 0:08:47.839 going to cost money. So let's just not even find 0:08:47.840 --> 0:08:50.120 out if you're sick or not, because then we may 0:08:50.120 --> 0:08:52.040 not be able to eat or pay rent or whatever. 0:08:52.080 --> 0:08:52.400 It was. 0:08:52.679 --> 0:08:54.439 So trust me, I know exactly feeling. 0:08:54.600 --> 0:08:57.200 So then, what's the genesis of cost plus drugs and 0:08:57.200 --> 0:08:58.920 when did it become a reality you could actually try 0:08:58.960 --> 0:08:59.480 something like this. 0:08:59.840 --> 0:09:02.439 So I got a cold email from a doctor alex 0:09:02.480 --> 0:09:08.959 Oshmayanski in twenty eighteen or nineteen, I forget exactly, and 0:09:09.360 --> 0:09:11.880 he wanted to do this thing called a compounding pharmacy 0:09:11.960 --> 0:09:14.600 for drugs that were in short supply. So, believe it 0:09:14.679 --> 0:09:18.240 or not, there are drugs like pediatric cancer drugs that 0:09:18.320 --> 0:09:22.040 are injectable in hospitals that go on short supply because 0:09:22.080 --> 0:09:25.400 the companies that manufacture them want them to be on 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:29.160 short supply so they can manufacture more, I'm sorry, charge more. 0:09:29.520 --> 0:09:33.400 And so he emailed me telling me about this. I'm like, well, 0:09:33.880 --> 0:09:35.920 that's a good idea, but there's got to be more 0:09:35.960 --> 0:09:38.760 to this. And that was right when the farmer bro 0:09:38.960 --> 0:09:41.679 was going to jail after having jacked up the price 0:09:41.679 --> 0:09:44.160 of this drug, you know, like seventy five hundred percent, 0:09:44.200 --> 0:09:46.840 and I started asking him, I'm like, look, Alex, you 0:09:46.840 --> 0:09:49.200 know why is he able to get away with this, 0:09:49.720 --> 0:09:52.439 and it became very apparent, very quickly that the problem 0:09:52.559 --> 0:09:55.880 was there's no transparency. You know, you talk about not 0:09:55.960 --> 0:09:58.960 being able to afford medications and being afraid to go 0:09:59.040 --> 0:10:01.120 to the doctor, and a big part of that is 0:10:01.160 --> 0:10:04.080 because you have no idea what a medication costs. We've 0:10:04.080 --> 0:10:07.040 all seen it or experienced it or talked to people, 0:10:07.400 --> 0:10:09.640 you know that go to the pharmacy not knowing what 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:12.160 it's going to cost them for, you know, for a 0:10:12.280 --> 0:10:15.320 medication that the doctor prescribed. And when when you think 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:17.240 about it, when you go to the doctor and they 0:10:17.240 --> 0:10:19.280 say you need a med they don't say can you 0:10:19.320 --> 0:10:21.880 afford it? Here's the price? They say, what pharmacy do 0:10:21.920 --> 0:10:25.360 you use? Good luck? You know, And so I, you know, 0:10:25.440 --> 0:10:27.600 to me, it was like, okay, well if you don't 0:10:27.640 --> 0:10:30.719 know all this information, why why has nobody just been 0:10:30.840 --> 0:10:35.400 completely transparent on medication pricing? And he was like, I 0:10:35.400 --> 0:10:37.400 don't know. And so I said, well, let's do this. 0:10:37.520 --> 0:10:39.800 Let's you know, let's see if we can create a 0:10:39.840 --> 0:10:43.840 company that is absolutely transparent that people can trust and 0:10:43.920 --> 0:10:46.040 know if they can afford it and hopefully be more 0:10:46.080 --> 0:10:48.559 able to afford it. So when I got the u 0:10:48.679 --> 0:10:52.520 URL cosplus drugs dot Com and made the decision that 0:10:52.600 --> 0:10:55.080 when you go to costplus Drugs dot com, you put 0:10:55.080 --> 0:10:57.400 in the name of the medication. And now we're up 0:10:57.440 --> 0:11:00.520 to thousands of different skews that we carry, and if 0:11:00.520 --> 0:11:02.200 we carry it, we don't have all of them yet, 0:11:02.200 --> 0:11:04.440 we're working on it. But if we carry it, we 0:11:04.559 --> 0:11:07.160 show you what it cost us to buy. And so 0:11:07.320 --> 0:11:10.800 you know our exact costs for that medication. We mark 0:11:10.840 --> 0:11:14.200 it up fifteen percent. That's it, because you know why 0:11:14.240 --> 0:11:17.200 fifteen percent because I thought that would be fair. And 0:11:17.280 --> 0:11:20.320 then if it's mail order, it's five dollars for a 0:11:20.320 --> 0:11:23.560 pharmacist to review and five dollars for shipping and handling, 0:11:23.840 --> 0:11:27.600 and that's it. And so by doing it that way, 0:11:28.120 --> 0:11:30.320 we were able to cut the cost of medications for 0:11:30.440 --> 0:11:34.760 people like ninety eight percent, like the can. I can't 0:11:34.760 --> 0:11:37.000 even tell you how many times I've got emails or 0:11:37.200 --> 0:11:39.240 even people walking up to me on the street just 0:11:39.400 --> 0:11:42.400 hugging me. I was in Nashville actually to see Kevin 0:11:42.559 --> 0:11:44.960 and this woman walked up and just started crying and 0:11:45.040 --> 0:11:47.280 hugging me and told me the story about how her 0:11:47.320 --> 0:11:51.320 family was saving thousands of dollars per month using costplus 0:11:51.400 --> 0:11:54.559 Drugs dot Com and they, you know, not only were 0:11:54.600 --> 0:11:57.400 not rationing, they couldn't afford it to buy it at all. 0:11:57.440 --> 0:12:00.120 And now they could afford their medication. Or you know, 0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:02.240 I had one not long ago where somebody emailed me 0:12:02.280 --> 0:12:04.959 and said, look, I have cancer. It just is what 0:12:05.000 --> 0:12:07.760 it is. And I was getting ready to make the 0:12:07.840 --> 0:12:11.120 decision that I'm not going to buy any more medications 0:12:11.160 --> 0:12:13.440 because when I'm gone, it's going to be on our 0:12:13.520 --> 0:12:15.679 credit card and my wife is going to be obligated 0:12:15.679 --> 0:12:17.920 to pay that credit card bill. But we found out 0:12:17.920 --> 0:12:21.160 about costplus Drugs dot Com. Went to costplus Drugs dot 0:12:21.160 --> 0:12:23.679 Com and instead of it being nine hundred dollars a month, 0:12:23.920 --> 0:12:26.560 it was like forty three dollars a month. You saved 0:12:26.679 --> 0:12:29.120 our lives. I mean, when you hear that kind of stuff, 0:12:29.160 --> 0:12:33.000 I mean, if that's not motivating and you know, worthy 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:34.640 of attention, I don't know what it is. 0:12:34.760 --> 0:12:36.719 You talk about the doctor emailing you. And this is 0:12:36.720 --> 0:12:39.160 a story that I've been able to tell about you 0:12:39.679 --> 0:12:41.760 for a long time, and it's it's been over fifteen years. 0:12:41.760 --> 0:12:44.040 So you may not remember the story, cause I'm sure 0:12:44.040 --> 0:12:45.760 you've done this one hundred times or more, but I 0:12:45.760 --> 0:12:47.960 had a friend because we lived in Austin for a 0:12:48.000 --> 0:12:51.080 long time, like like twelve thirteen years, and she was 0:12:51.200 --> 0:12:53.079 like going to our first Maps game ever, and she 0:12:53.160 --> 0:12:56.760 just emailed your email address and you actually responded and 0:12:56.800 --> 0:12:58.560 met her out front with tickets of the arena. And 0:12:58.600 --> 0:13:00.439 she was like, Mark Cuban, the freaking owns met me 0:13:00.480 --> 0:13:02.160 and handed me tickets to the game with her and 0:13:02.200 --> 0:13:05.000 her dad. Like, I'm you do stuff like that a lot. 0:13:05.040 --> 0:13:07.800 I'm not making that up. You've done that before, right, Yeah, 0:13:07.840 --> 0:13:09.920 for sure. I would tell people and they're like, there's 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:12.480 no chance that Mark Cuban. I was like, guys, I 0:13:12.559 --> 0:13:15.000 swear to you he met her out front and handed 0:13:15.040 --> 0:13:17.079 her tickets. How do you know whose emails to read? 0:13:17.080 --> 0:13:18.200 How do you look at all the emails? 0:13:18.720 --> 0:13:20.920 You just get a sense of it, you know. I 0:13:20.920 --> 0:13:22.480 don't do a lot of phone calls. They don't do 0:13:22.640 --> 0:13:25.080 many meetings at all. I try to do everything via 0:13:25.120 --> 0:13:27.800 email because it gives me a tickler file, and it 0:13:27.840 --> 0:13:29.719 gives me a history, right, I can go back and 0:13:30.280 --> 0:13:32.679 search for things, and like, if you told me her 0:13:32.960 --> 0:13:36.559 email address, I could probably find that email. But having 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:38.920 read so many of them, you kind of get a 0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:41.960 feel for what's real or not. And you know it's 0:13:42.600 --> 0:13:45.640 typically the longer the backstory, the less likely it is 0:13:45.640 --> 0:13:49.560 to be true or necessary. But when somebody is like 0:13:49.679 --> 0:13:52.880 shortened to the point, hey, you know we can't afford it. 0:13:53.000 --> 0:13:55.160 My mom and my dad, it's been their dream to 0:13:55.200 --> 0:13:57.040 go to a MAVs game. You know, if you ask 0:13:57.120 --> 0:13:59.400 me for a Lakers game, I'm probably not going to 0:13:59.480 --> 0:14:02.480 respond if you say, we'll take any game at all. 0:14:02.600 --> 0:14:06.480 We just want to go and experience it together. I'm 0:14:06.520 --> 0:14:08.600 gonna be your guy, you know, and I'm gonna get 0:14:08.640 --> 0:14:11.319 you those tickets, and you're gonna come to a Math game. 0:14:11.360 --> 0:14:12.280 We're all gonna have fun. 0:14:12.960 --> 0:14:15.600 Let's take a quick pause for a message from our sponsor, 0:14:24.440 --> 0:14:26.680 and we're back on the Bobby Cast. 0:14:27.400 --> 0:14:29.520 What was life like for you at like eight years old? 0:14:29.600 --> 0:14:31.120 Like I'm just trying to picture the young version of 0:14:31.120 --> 0:14:34.280 you and how you this presentation what we see now? Like, 0:14:34.320 --> 0:14:35.280 how did that get formed? 0:14:35.480 --> 0:14:38.440 You know? I grew in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. My dad did 0:14:38.480 --> 0:14:42.360 a pollstery on cars. My mom did odd jobs at 0:14:42.360 --> 0:14:45.280 two younger brothers. Nothing. You know, we weren't poor, but 0:14:45.440 --> 0:14:49.440 we weren't rich, that's for certain. And I was always 0:14:49.560 --> 0:14:51.800 my parents were always like, if you want something, you 0:14:51.800 --> 0:14:55.320 got to earn it. My dad was one, you know, typical, 0:14:55.640 --> 0:14:58.320 you know, blue collar worker, up at six to work 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:02.560 at seven, home at five, on the easy chair by six, 0:15:02.760 --> 0:15:06.600 watch you whatsever on television, you know, asleep by nine, 0:15:06.920 --> 0:15:10.920 and you know, we just had a normal family. But 0:15:11.400 --> 0:15:13.600 they were always like, you know, if you want better, 0:15:13.720 --> 0:15:15.920 you've got to earn it. And so from it as 0:15:15.960 --> 0:15:18.600 long as I can remember, like I was taking baseball 0:15:18.640 --> 0:15:21.480 cards and going to the park in the neighborhood and 0:15:21.640 --> 0:15:24.280 reselling those baseball cards to make money to buy more 0:15:24.360 --> 0:15:27.920 baseball cards, or like one time I wanted to get 0:15:27.920 --> 0:15:30.760 a new pair of basketball shoes. And my dad was 0:15:30.760 --> 0:15:33.240 playing poker with his buddies at the house and I 0:15:33.280 --> 0:15:35.320 came in and you know, to grab a donut or whatever, 0:15:35.360 --> 0:15:38.160 and they were drinking playing poker, and I'm like, Dad, 0:15:38.280 --> 0:15:40.600 you know, I want a new pair of basketball shoes. 0:15:40.760 --> 0:15:42.200 And he looks at me. He goes, you see those 0:15:42.200 --> 0:15:44.520 shoes in your feet, they look like they work. When 0:15:44.520 --> 0:15:46.760 you have a job, you can buy whatever you want. 0:15:46.960 --> 0:15:48.680 I'm like, Dad, I'm twelve years old. How am I 0:15:48.720 --> 0:15:50.760 going to get a job. And one of his buddies 0:15:50.760 --> 0:15:53.200 piped up. You know, I got these trash bags boxes, 0:15:53.280 --> 0:15:56.280 the trash bags that you can sell the neighborhood. I'm like, Dad, 0:15:56.360 --> 0:15:59.280 can't I He's like sure, and so literally, you know, 0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:02.200 I was well at the time, I was going door 0:16:02.240 --> 0:16:05.120 to door probably the world's first and only garbage bag route. 0:16:05.400 --> 0:16:07.440 But I'd be like, you know, going to my neighbors, 0:16:07.480 --> 0:16:10.880 going Hi, my name is Mark, I'm your neighbor. Do 0:16:10.920 --> 0:16:14.840 you use garbage bags? And you know, once I learned 0:16:14.880 --> 0:16:17.520 I could sell and I became confident at it, then 0:16:17.600 --> 0:16:19.600 that that kind of just set the tone for me 0:16:19.640 --> 0:16:22.480 to be an entrepreneur, because you know, that's the foundation 0:16:22.600 --> 0:16:24.880 of being out front, you know, with your own show, right, 0:16:25.160 --> 0:16:28.000 if you're not selling, you're not on air for a 0:16:28.040 --> 0:16:31.240 whole for all that long. And so it was the 0:16:31.280 --> 0:16:34.040 same with me. I learned how to sell. You know, 0:16:34.200 --> 0:16:36.680 that gave me confidence to start my own companies. And 0:16:36.960 --> 0:16:39.400 from then on I was a lousy employee, but I 0:16:39.440 --> 0:16:41.120 always knew I was going to be an entrepreneur. 0:16:41.440 --> 0:16:43.080 How did it end up in tech for you? 0:16:43.160 --> 0:16:43.320 Then? 0:16:44.040 --> 0:16:46.120 Because broadcast dot Com and the legendary story of you 0:16:46.200 --> 0:16:49.840 selling that, how did that end up with you pursuing 0:16:49.880 --> 0:16:52.000 a career in tech or just creating something. 0:16:52.840 --> 0:16:56.000 So I moved to Dallas. I went to Indiana, had 0:16:56.040 --> 0:16:59.120 a couple of random jobs. I moved to Dallas, and 0:16:59.160 --> 0:17:01.200 I got a job at night working as a bartender 0:17:01.240 --> 0:17:04.040 slash bar back, and then you know, I was searching 0:17:04.080 --> 0:17:05.960 for a regular job. I was living six guys in 0:17:05.960 --> 0:17:08.640 the three bedroom apartment in a place in Dallas called 0:17:08.640 --> 0:17:11.879 the Village, which is the world's largest apartment complex, and 0:17:11.920 --> 0:17:16.040 so I had five roommates. Worked at night. But I wanted, 0:17:16.119 --> 0:17:19.240 you know, a career. And I was twenty four and 0:17:19.400 --> 0:17:22.080 got a job working for this company called Your Business Software. 0:17:22.480 --> 0:17:25.040 And they're like, what do you know about computers? I'm like, 0:17:25.440 --> 0:17:29.360 not much, but you know, I'm a learner and I'll 0:17:29.400 --> 0:17:31.520 read the manuals and I'll prove to you and if not, 0:17:31.640 --> 0:17:34.280 you fire me. And so they gave me a shot. 0:17:34.720 --> 0:17:37.520 I was doing really well until about nine months later 0:17:37.560 --> 0:17:40.679 when I got fired because I wanted to pick up 0:17:40.680 --> 0:17:42.600 a check that was going to give me a fifteen 0:17:42.680 --> 0:17:45.159 hundred dollars commission so I could move out of the 0:17:45.200 --> 0:17:48.080 hell hole that I lived in with five roommates. Called 0:17:48.119 --> 0:17:51.480 my boss and said, look, I want to go pick 0:17:51.560 --> 0:17:53.800 up this check. He's like, no, you're supposed to sweep 0:17:53.840 --> 0:17:55.720 the floor, wipe down the windows, and open up the 0:17:55.760 --> 0:17:58.480 store that I worked at, the sole software. So I 0:17:58.520 --> 0:18:01.720 made the executive decision. And this guy named Michael Hugh Mecky, 0:18:01.760 --> 0:18:03.680 who was my boss when I came back with the check, 0:18:03.680 --> 0:18:05.720