Mark Cuban: True Maverick

Cuban, who once wrote a column for CRN, has gone on to spearhead multiple successful technology-related ventures. He came to last month's XChange Americas conference in Dallas to share some of the secrets of his uniquely American business philosophy in a fireside chat with Everything Channel CEO Robert Faletra. Here's a bit of what Cuban shared.

Reseller Roots

When I started there were no local area networks. There was a company you might remember called Novell that was called Novell Shared Data Systems back then and we were like the third or fourth reseller nationally. So we took the initiative. Where everybody else was just getting used to PCs at the time, we said at some point they are going to have to hook them together. I wanted a way to differentiate us. So I figured no one else knew networking any better than I would if I taught myself.

Shake Things Up

When I would go to all the PC and reseller functions, I would raise hell. I was the guy saying you guys are wrong, taking a stand and sticking to my guns until things changed. I was a lot crazier back then than I am now. You have got to know what you are good at and you've got to get long and get loud.

The Work Ethic

I started MicroSolutions in 1983 and I went seven years without a vacation. It was just boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. I went through girlfriends [who threatened] 'It is your business or me.' And I was like, 'What is your name again?' It was just nonstop. And CompuServe came along and made me an offer at the time that was $6 million for the company.

NEXT: Gaining An Edge, Leading By Example Don't Wait For That Call

If you are waiting for the phone to ring, you are screwed. That is it. If your business is based on waiting for the phone to ring or waiting for an e-mail to come in, hoping to come visit you, you are screwed. Because someone like me is out there, calling on them, knocking on their door, e-mailing them, getting in touch with them.

Gaining An Edge

You have to ask yourself: Where do you have an edge? What are your core competencies? What are you good at? Technology goes through zigs and zags. The more you can anticipate, the more of an edge you can get.

Leading By Example

When I bought the team, rather than taking the former owner's office, we had a sales bullpen that only had five salespeople and I put my desk right in the middle of the sales bullpen. Out of the five, I think we fired two people who just didn't want to work. And then we added like 25 more salespeople. We are talking about a list of former season ticket holders and names and numbers. And I got there and I started calling just like the next guy. Every no got you closer to a yes.

Cloud Computing Goldmine

With cloud computing there are so many different types of elements and opportunity, I think it is a goldmine. It is harder to hit your revenue numbers. But at the same time, the real numbers are what you put in your pocket. It is not a certainty in a lot of people's eyes. And wherever there is uncertainty, that is opportunity for an integrator.

Building Trust

As a reseller you have to ask yourself how you can build a customer's trust. Because you guys know better than anybody the bar is always moving. You go through lulls where everything seems to be static and kind of consistent for a while. Then all of a sudden something is going to zig. We all know it is going to zig. We don't know when. But customers want to know they can trust you when it zigs or zags.