There is so much partisan and tribal politics, from not just those seeking office but potential voters as well, that we never get real attempts at solutions to problems.
— Mark Cuban
Liquidity is a good proxy for relative net worth. You can't lie about cash, stocks, and bond values.
Entrepreneurs need to be reminded that it's not the job of their customers to know what they don't. In other words, your customers have a tough enough time doing their jobs. They don't spend time trying to reinvent their industries or how their jobs are performed.
If I ran as a Dem, I know I could beat Hillary Clinton. And if it was me vs. Trump, I would crush him. No doubt about it.
Every job in a company is important. Unless you experience a wide range of those jobs, I don't think you are as well prepared to start and run a company as you could be.
Anyone who says he is an expert in the market is lying to you. There is no such thing.
None of us have pure thoughts; we all live in glass houses.
I was born to sell it as a kid. I think it's partially innate, and partly it's because my parents were always very clear: if I needed anything that wasn't a necessity, I was going to have to save my money and buy it myself. That meant not only did I have to buy basketball shoes, but I had to figure out how to pay for college as well.
I had a Taco Bell audition where I had to wear a huge sombrero and walk around like an idiot. I got call-backs for the movie 'Twister,' did small independent stuff that I won't name. But it led to all my breakthrough moments on 'Entourage.'
You've never heard me talk about politics all that much, and it's just - I can't think of anybody more dangerous as president than Donald Trump. I can't think of anything worse than with him not having a clue. I mean, could you imagine somebody who doesn't read and doesn't learn trying to deal with the day-to-day changes and challenges of that job?
Donald Trump has got unlimited number of insecurities. But the No. 1 one thing, I would say, is his insecurity with his intellect. There's a reason why he always refers to where he went to college and, you know, that, 'I'm a smart person.' You know, it may be narcissism. But I think it really reflects an insecurity.
When someone has to go to the hospital because they don't have insurance - and by the way, I think the insurance companies should be out of the mix altogether - but when someone needs health care, and they don't have the ability to pay for it, in our communities, we end up paying for it one way or the other.
I try not to be an ideologue about anything. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, and I'm willing to evolve.
The people I don't like to work with are people like me. I need people who can complement my skill set, people who can do the nitty gritty with me.
I'm a competitive person. Business is a much more competitive sport than any real sport. It's 24x7x365. I'm a business adrenaline junky.
I'm not a fan of giving to charities. I have a few I support, but the overhead and inefficiencies really bother me. Instead, I pay people's bills and help solve problems.
I love helping entrepreneurs. It's something I really have fun doing. It's like planting a little seed and watching it grow.
I know that I'm not perfect. While we all have our prejudices and bigotries, we have to learn that it's an issue that we have to control, that it's part of my responsibility as an entrepreneur to try to solve it, not just to kick the problem down the road.
Your customers can tell you the things that are broken and how they want to be made happy. Listen to them. Make them happy. But don't rely on them to create the future road map for your product or service. That's your job.
Up until Trump announced his candidacy, the conventional wisdom was that you had to be a professional politician in order to run. You had to have a background that was politically scrubbed. In other words, smart people who didn't live perfect lives could never run.
I think people are tired of politics as usual. We're tired of everything being scripted; we're tired of every comment being politically correct.
I have stocked shelves, waited on tables, and bartended. I have been a salesperson at many levels. Each giving me a unique view of what made a company successful and, even more importantly, what made a company fail.
I think he tries to be nice. But he has absolutely zero self-awareness. None. Zip. So we see the public Donald Trump, the candidate, as being different than the in-person Donald Trump.
My guiding principle and motivation was that I wanted to retire by the time I turned 35. There actually are two books that I bought and still have - Paul Terhost's 'Cashing In On the American Dream: How to Retire at 35' and Andrew Tobias's 'The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need' - that were my personal financial road map.
I think what has allowed me to be successful is that I can absorb more information than most and drill down to the key business elements of that information and make faster decisions. And of course, I truly try to enjoy every minute of my life. I can never understand why anyone wouldn't.
I bought a lifetime pass on American Airlines and had a blast. The most memorable was going to Barcelona on a whim and scalping tickets at the Olympics to the Dream Team Quarterfinals.
Talent without effort is wasted talent. And while effort is the one thing you can control in your life, applying that effort intelligently is next on the list.
Donald Trump I wouldn't trust as far as I could throw him.
If you break your finger, that's on you, right? But if you get a chronic illness, if you get a serious illness or life-threatening illness, that's something I think we should all share the cost in because we all face the same unknowns and the same risks.
There are a lot of things I suck at. I'm not organized. I have to have partners and people around me who dot my i's and cross my t's. I'm sloppy. I'm a ready-fire-aim guy. I need to have people around me who aren't.
When I die, I want to come back as me.
After military service, the most patriotic thing you can do as a wealthy person is pay your taxes.
I placed too much importance on comparing how much I had to others early on. Then I started realizing time was a far more valuable asset. When I started using money to create more time, I appreciated both more.
I used to drive around looking at the big houses, wondering how they got there. I used to love biographies about successful business people, wondering how they got there. You start to realize that if they can do it, I can do it.
Automation is going to cause unemployment, and we need to prepare for it.
Someone is out there looking to put you out of business. Someone is out there who thinks they have a better idea than you have. A better solution than you have. A better or more efficient product than you have.
I'm not cut out for politics.
If the pitch starts with a sob story, I'm out. If the pitch talks about personal issues, I'm out. If the pitch starts off with how big the market opportunity is, I'm out. If the pitch tells me what is unique about the product, how it can make a profit, and it's an area where I have expertise, I will read on.
'Shark Tank' is fun, but it's all business. We use our own money, and the competition between the sharks is fierce. More importantly, it's an opportunity to invest in businesses that are being watched and considered by millions of people every time it's shown.
I'm the one guy who says don't force the stupid people to be quiet. I want to know who the morons are.
I knew how to sell. I felt confident I could run a business. I was willing to outwork anyone. I wasn't afraid to live like a student on next to nothing. So that meant I had absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain.
When you post something, when you text something, you lose ownership of it when you hit enter or send. Who you send it to, where you post it, they take ownership of that information whether you like it or not. Unfortunately, you don't lose responsibility for that text or post.
At least before my hip replacement, I had a quick first step. I could get by you off the dribble. My business game is the same way. I can turn an idea into a business before you know it's going to be important. My first step will blow by you.
Owning a popular sports team is very different than any other type of business. They don't throw parades when Apple has the biggest quarter in corporate history. People don't call and email asking for anyone from the team to come visit their sick child. They don't cry as they request a jersey of their child's favorite player to be buried with them.
When you look at 'policy wonk' in the dictionary, the one picture you won't see is Donald Trump.
I believe in lower taxes. I believe in more efficient government. I believe in reducing bureaucracy. I believe that we shouldn't have lobbyists who can go in or former government workers who can come back and lobby.
There's no law against stupid - I learned that a long time ago.
Whatever you can say in a meeting, you can put in an email. If I have questions, I'll tell you via email.
Nice goes much further than mean.
Staying true to who I am was tougher when I first got wealthy. Having great friends kept me grounded.
