Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban, renowned for his success in various ventures, attributes a significant portion of his achievements to a fundamental piece of advice from his father: "Time is your most valuable asset." This advice, received at the age of 14, became a guiding principle for Cuban's career and entrepreneurial journey.
During his childhood, Cuban's father, Norton, worked tirelessly, dedicating 60 hours per week to a company that upholstered cars outside of Pittsburgh. Mark often accompanied his father to work, where he not only learned about the business but, more crucially, absorbed the lesson that working for someone else meant surrendering control over one's time and future.
“This time wasn’t spent to learn about what my dad did, but to learn that his job didn’t have a future,” Cuban explains. “His time was never his own ... he wanted me to create my path.”
Motivated by this realization, Cuban prioritized entrepreneurial opportunities over pursuing high-salaried jobs, driven by the desire to gain financial independence and control over his schedule. In a recent MasterClass course, he emphasized, “I wanted to make enough money so I didn’t have to respond to anybody else. I could make my schedule and live my life the way I wanted to do it.”
Additional lessons from his father further shaped Cuban's entrepreneurial spirit. At the age of 12, his dad taught him the value of saving by requiring him to earn money for new sneakers. Cuban's early side hustles involved selling trash bags, stamps, and coins, showcasing his resourcefulness and business acumen even as a young entrepreneur.
These lessons continued into adulthood, with Cuban opening a bar at Indiana University using funds from various side hustles. After graduation, he founded his first company, MicroSolutions, which he later sold for $6 million in 1990, granting him the financial freedom he sought.
Cuban's journey to billionaire status culminated in 1999 when his company Broadcast.com was acquired by Yahoo for $5.7 billion in stock. Today, he divides his time between family, co-owning the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, appearing on ABC's "Shark Tank," and overseeing his pharmaceutical company, Cost Plus Drugs.
Despite his busy schedule, Cuban remains committed to prioritizing time as a key asset. He starts each day by spending an hour responding to emails on his phone, emphasizing the importance of controlling one's time, a principle he learned from his father. “The whole value of being in this position is just being able to control your time. It’s the one asset you can’t control [in typical jobs],” Cuban asserts.
Cuban's success story serves as an inspiration for aspiring entrepreneurs, highlighting the enduring significance of seizing control over one's time and pursuing entrepreneurial endeavors to achieve financial independence.
