AI is making waves in every field it touches.President Biden is now on TikTok and the election draws closer each day.With so much going on in the world, it is hard to keep up with it all, let me tell you.
Hi, I'm Kai Riznali, co-host of Make Me Smart.It's a podcast from Marketplace.And every weekday, Kimberly Adams and I break down the latest in business and the economy with short daily episodes to make it easy for you to stay in the know.
Listen to Make Me Smart wherever you get your podcasts.
Hi, I'm Jacob Goldstein.I'm the host of What's Your Problem, a podcast about the problems that really smart people are trying to solve right now.
Every week on What's Your Problem, entrepreneurs and engineers describe the future they're gonna build once they solve a few problems.
I'm talking to people trying to figure out how to do things that no one else on the planet knows how to do, from building a plane that produces zero carbon emissions to building an AI model that can predict human health.
Listen to What's Your Problem on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
I would go door to door and be like, hi, my name is Mark.Do you use trash bags?I killed it.
You're listening to Life in 7 Songs.I'm Sophie Behrman from the San Francisco Standard.This week, if you haven't guessed already, our guest is Mark Cuban, the billionaire investor known for his impact in so many arenas.
Basketball fans recognize him as the passionate owner of the Dallas Mavericks, while business enthusiasts know him as a star on the hit TV show Shark Tank, where he's been making, and sometimes breaking, dreams since 2011.
And yet we find him now in a moment of transition, recently selling his majority stake in the Mavs and filming just one final season as a shark.
So what better time to sit down and explore the seven songs that have shaped his journey from a young hustler selling trash bags to becoming the business titan he is today.Mark Cuban joining us remotely from his home office.
Thanks for making the time.
Sophie, thanks for having me.
So Mark, you've basically held every job imaginable at one point or another.You famously sold powdered milk, postage stamps.You've owned a bar.You've been a bartender.You've sliced deli meat, laid carpets.I could go on and on.
And of course, I'm not mentioning all the jobs that actually made you a billionaire.We'll get to those.But are you hiding on that resume any music jobs? Were you a singer at some point?Did you sell CDs?
No, but I was in a band for about 15 minutes and it was me and my buddies and we called ourselves the Not So Human Beings.We were 12 years old and we couldn't sing worth a damn, right?
But I tried to teach myself guitar and I took piano lessons for about six months so I can read sheet music and we were just Terrible.Terrible.And there are even tape recordings that prove it exists.If I can find it, I'll play it.
You guys were writing your own music?Or these were covers?
No.No, just covers.I mean, we didn't play anywhere except our basement.And that was a locked door basement because our parents couldn't stand it.So here you go.
I'll let you guys use that, just only so I can tell my buddies to listen to it, knowing that you'll use that music.
We're using it.OK, I did not know that.So look, Mark, a lot of people know your background.It's this incredible origin story.But I don't want to entirely skip over it.So you were born and raised in a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Your dad repaired upholstery and cars.Your mom worked a variety of odd jobs. And it's been said that you were a hustler from a very young age.So just describe that childhood for us.What was it like?
It was your typical middle class.My dad would leave in the morning, you know, 7 a.m., get back at 6, you know, mom doing whatever.And as the oldest, that left me a lot of time to myself.
And so, you know, my parents were very much about you figure it out, you figure it out. And if I wanted something, that's how I got into selling trash bags.My dad was playing poker with his buddies, probably drunk off their ass, right?
And I walked in there saying, remember, because I walked in there to get a donut. And I was like, Dad, can I get some new basketball shoes?He looks at my feet.He goes, you see those shoes?They work just fine.
When you have your own job, you can buy whatever you want.I'm like, Dad, I'm 12.How am I going to get a job?And then one of his probably drunk buddies pipes up.Hey, I've got all these boxes of trash bags that you can sell in the neighborhood.
I'm like, can I do it, Dad?He's like, sure.Cool.And so literally, I would go door to door and be like, hi. My name is Mark.Do you use trash bags?I killed it.And you know, just that attitude.I mean, I sold baseball cards, bought and sold stamps.
Once, you know, when I was going door to door and I realized that it wasn't anything horrific, right?
I was just being nice and talking to neighbors and that gave me confidence and that got me excited about business and reading about business and the rest is history.
So the first song you chose is Play That Funky Music by Wild Cherry.What's the story there?
So the story is, I used to go with some friends in the mid-70s.Imagine me with long hair down to here, right?And I had run into a bicycle playing baseball.So these two bottom teeth routers were silver caps.
My parents couldn't afford the caps that were the same.So every time I smiled, people would go like this because there would be a reflection off my cap.
But we would, me and some friends would go, Dave Calla would go to this place, I think it was called The Barn, and there was this band called Wild Cherry that was there.
And they would, you know, they would play that song and they'd be like, look, we're a white band, we play black music, and none of the white stations will play us. So call the local radio stations and get them to play this song.
And so it was me and my friends and other people who went to that bar were calling the radio station, play, you know, play that funky music, play that funky music, play that funky music.And they started to play, it became a hit.
And as a thank you, they played at our prom, my senior prom, the one where Cindy left me to go hang with her friends and me and my friends stood in the corner.
What are you thinking when you hear that?
Oh my God.I mean, that song became so iconic, right?And it takes me back to Pittsburgh.It takes me back to being 16 or so.And it's just insane.Like I tell my kids that story and they're like, whatever.
But to me, it means something, you know, it was just like to be just some kid in Pittsburgh with your friends hanging out at an under 18 bar and turning this song, helping turn this song into an iconic song. That's cool, you know?
And so that's gonna be one of those stories I carry around forever.
It strikes me that a lot of your early jobs were about selling.And I know when I had to sell raffle tickets in school, it was mortifying.Like, I went door to door and I really didn't like it.
And maybe it's because, like, no one wants to buy raffle tickets.
Yeah, a little bit different.You need trash bags, right?
Right.Okay, so that's maybe the difference.But you got a thrill out of it, is the point.Like, it kind of boosted your sense of self in some way.
Yeah, my sense of self, my confidence, you know, it allowed me to be more comfortable going into, you know, situations that were complete uncertainty.
You know, when I got to college, I kind of glowed up from my freshman year of college, sophomore year of college.And so, you know, I started getting a lot more confidence in my appearance and the like.And so I was able to try new things like
you know, opening up a bar, even doing a chain letter to pay for my junior year.I mean, my parents couldn't really, I had to figure out how to pay.My dad sent me 20 bucks every couple of weeks and, you know, helped me where he could.
You don't know what a chain letter is?
Oh, wow.Cool.I mean, maybe I'm dating myself.So the idea of a chain letter, particularly when I was in college, is I go, Sophie, OK, here's the deal.You're going to give me $50.Actually, you're going to give me $100.And I'm going to take $50 of that.
And here's a list of 10 names.We're going to send $50 to whatever dorm room that this person at the top of the list is. Then we're going to take their name off the list and put your name at the bottom.So we'll make it a $50 chain letter.
And as everybody else does that, your name moves up the list until you're at the top.And as we grow the chain letter, hopefully you'll get more money than you put out.
Like social capital, kind of.Like the more people you know.
No, it was basically a scam.
It's a scam.Okay.I was like, it's either a Ponzi
But for me and my friends, it was like I made sure my friends all got their money back.
And so I got up to the top of the list and it was like amazing because I'd go to, you know, in the dorms, you have your little mailbox and you have your little key and everything.
I'd go there and there'd be envelopes with 50 bucks from here, 50 bucks from there.And that's how I paid for my junior year of college.
That's wild.OK, so Mark Cuban, college years, you brought another song, Life's Been Good by Joe Walsh.
So my roommate, one of my best friends still to this day, Ben Kadish and Tim Robinson and Tom Joseph, we used to go out, even though we were underage, we would go out and we would always request the song or we put it on for Joe Walsh.
And it was like, da, da, da, da, da.And we would just go nuts the minute that those chords hit.Because in our mind, going to college at Indiana University, just hanging out, having fun, you know, going to class, life's been good to us.
And so fast forward to my senior year, I opened a bar in Bloomington called Motley's Pub, just because the whole crew of us were Motley.
And one night the Eagles were playing in Bloomington and we had gone to the show and we went to my bar back afterwards.And then I get this call from this guy, Ralph, and he's like, yo, the Eagles want some place to go.Can I bring them to the club?
And I'm like, Hell yeah, bring in the Motley's Pub.And so Joe Walsh walks in.And I didn't know it was Joe Walsh.I didn't know him by sight at the time, because he wasn't a regular member of the Eagles.And finally, they send somebody up.
That's Joe Walsh.And that's Glenn Frey. And I'm like, okay, let them in.And so we're playing, life's been good and hamming it up.
So this was all happening at Motley's, at your bar?
And for the listener that doesn't realize, you weren't even of drinking age, right?
Well, by the time the bar opened, I was, but when we started it, I wasn't.
Incredible.So after college, you moved to Dallas early 80s, you're sleeping in an apartment with like five other guys, right?
The shithole.Yeah, it was nasty as can be.You know, my friend Greg Shipper was there and we're talking about, you know, Where should I go from Indiana?And he was like, come down to Dallas.The weather's great.The women are beautiful.
The economy is good.I'm like, the women are beautiful?Here I come.I'm 24 years old.And I come down there.And he's like, OK, you can stay for a little bit.And that little bit turned into six, seven, eight months.I forget.
But literally, I slept on the floor.And if somebody was out of town, I got a bed.Didn't have my own closet.Didn't have my own drawers, nothing.
And I love this story, because you were working as a salesperson at Your Business Software, right?This is one of the earliest PC software retailers in Dallas.And then you get fired.How come?
So I would do whatever it took to learn.I mean, I'd read manuals.I'd sit on the computers all night teaching myself.But I was living in the shithole.
And I had an opportunity to make a $1,500 commission, which would have been an opportunity to move out of the Hill Hotel, we called it. And I went to my boss, Michael Humecki, and I'm like, Michael, I'm going to go pick up this check.
It's $15,000 check.My commission's $1,500.I need it.Some of my responsibilities were to clean up the windows, sweep the floor, make sure that the doors open in time for any customers.And I'm like, I've got that covered.Barbara's got that covered.
Show up with the check.Show it to him.He fires me.
But then you go start your own company.
Then I start my own company, yep.
Yeah so i have my first company was called micro solutions and this is in the eighties and we know i wrote software for pcs what we really good at was connecting them into networks and writing software for them so that made a lot of money there but a lifetime pass in american airlines,
Party like a rock star star and just traveled the world just had so much fun I was young single and crazy and there were no limits and so I just wanted to have a beer with as many people as I possibly could experience as many things as I possibly could and in 1994 one of my good buddies from Indiana Todd Wagner and I were having lunch at California Pizza Kitchen and
And he was like, you know, there's this new thing called the internet.I've been talking to different people about different ideas.You know, how can we do it to listen to Indiana basketball?
I'm like, that's an interesting idea because this is before anybody knew what streaming was.This was the early, early, earliest days of the internet.
And so I bought a Packard Bell 90 megahertz computer and started trying to figure out how we could send transmit audio.
And we started a company called Audionet, a website, it was called audionet.com, went to local radio stations, literally connected an eight hour VCR.
You know how in the back of the old school electronics, there was like the white, blue and red cords that you had to connect?Yeah, we would connect those into the input of these radio station boards.
I'll put into the input of the VCR, eight-hour VCR tapes, take them back to my house, encode them, put them on this website called AudioNet, and then I'd get on AOL forums and Prodigy forums and internet forums and say, hey, if you're interested in anything related to Dallas, news, sports, whatever, come to this website.
And it just blew up.And then as the technology evolved and we created new technology to scale, we got to live streaming and other things.
I got a kick out of learning that one of the events that you all streamed was the Victoria's Secret runway show.It kind of like broke the internet, right?
It did, yeah.Hundreds of thousands of people tried to log on and it just created a cascade of errors.Kind of like the Elon Musk, Donald Trump thing, right?When people try to do the same thing.I was there.
I was trying too, right?It was just like 1998.That was the big deal.This was going to be the first large video broadcast on the internet. And so we gave it a shot.We had 250,000 or whatever people.
So it didn't work out as well as we wanted to, but you live and you learn.
Okay.I didn't realize that it actually didn't work out, but was that bad press good press in the end?
Oh, no.It wasn't like you couldn't see it.It was just that everybody couldn't see it.
Right?Because back then it was a lot harder to have that many users.And so it may have been out of the 250,000 that were able to watch it, maybe 25,000, 50,000 were able to watch it any one time simultaneously.Got it.
You start this company.First, you take it public.$18 a share closes at what, like $62.75?Just wild.Then Yahoo buys it for $5.7 billion in stock.
In stock, yeah.By 1998, I mean, we were the YouTube of our day.We went public.It was the biggest IPO in the history of the stock market.We dominated.We did audio.We did video.I mean, you name it, we did it.
And then we sold to Yahoo, kind of screwed it up.But they paid me a lot of money for the right to screw it up.
So we're talking about the 90s, and you chose a song from that era.
So back in 1993, I used to go to LA and visit a woman named Allie Willis. And Allie Willis was one of the most insane, amazing, lovable, loving individuals I've ever met in my life. And she had this concept for the internet called Willisville.
And this is before streaming.This is before graphics were available.And she designed this whole environment called Willisville.And we took it to Electronic Arts.We took it to Intel and tried to get her some financing for it.
And we did some, but that was a side project that I got to know her from.Who she was really was a singer and songwriter, mostly a songwriter. And she wrote the theme song to Friends.
She wrote the music to the play The Color Purple and the movie Color Purple.She wrote all the Pet Shop Boys hits.And she wrote most of Earth, Wind & Fire's hits.And one of those hits was September.
That's another iconic song and that song is special to me because it reminds me of Ali, but I also picked September 21st as the day my wife and I got married because A, that song would remind me of my anniversary so I'd never forget it, but B, every time that song is played it reminds me of Ali and just how special all that is.
Do you remember when you first met Allie, first impressions?
I want to know this person because her hair was dyed crazy colors.Her house was the most insane house I've ever been at.She literally, instead of having a fence on the outside of her yard, she had bowling balls.
And instead of letting cars park in her driveway, she had like a 55 Chevy that never went anywhere.She kept it clean and ready to go, but it was just there for decoration.
And she literally had audio tapes, cassette tapes of every song she had written, jam sessions with, I don't know, everybody from Jimi Hendrix to you name it. There's just, she was just so in tune with pop culture like nobody.
And she was just so sticky and glitchy and just so unique that you couldn't help but fall in love with her.And I did, and we just got to be really, really good friends.And it was just heartbreaking when she died a few years ago.
And now it's time for a quick break.When we come back, Mark Cuban shares the theme song of his life.Stay with us.
Hi, this is Kevin Trong, business editor at the San Francisco Standard.My team reports on San Francisco, its characters, its trends, and its economy.Our focus is local, but these are often the very things helping to drive news around the globe.
I often say San Francisco provides a window to the near future.That's rarely been more true.It happens in politics, like how Kamala Harris's early rise as a local official set the stage for her presidential candidacy.
It happens in technology, like how open AI's efforts down the street from our newsroom will change how we live, work, and interact across the world.
And it happens in transportation, like how self-driving cars are reshaping our relationship with streets and infrastructure.
At The Standard, we cover it all, from deep-dive investigations into political graft to the kinds of things you'll only find here.Nudist vigilantes, anyone?
We're here to bring you stories that make you laugh, make you think, or at least make you the smartest person at your dinner party.To support us, sign up for one of our email newsletters at sfstandard.com slash newsletters.
Hey, Life in Seven Songs listeners, are you looking for a podcast with candid conversations and real-time insights from the best in business?It's time to press play on Rapid Response.
Hosted by former editor-in-chief of Fast Company, Bob Safian, Rapid Response features top leaders from every corner of the business world, like Airbnb's Brian Chesky, Signal's Meredith Whitaker, Salesforce's Mark Benioff, reporting back from the trenches as they navigate their industry's biggest challenges, trends, and pivots.
To listen, subscribe to Rapid Response now, wherever you get your podcasts.
So a couple different groups of friends that I'm really close with.My high school buddies, we just did our every two weeks Zoom call last night, where we catch up, talk sports, talk about our lives, whatever.That's one group.
Then I have my IU friends.Then I have my IU rugby buddies that I played rugby with.All these guys that I'm still close to.And then I've got my Dallas friends that I live with.You know, the list goes on and on.
And so we, you know, as you get older, you kind of venture into your old life, your own lives. But we all, probably not enough, but we all get together and go drink and act like we're stupid again and have fun because they'll be my friends for life.
So you're our first guest to have emailed a category of songs, which is rugby songs, but said that we can't play any specific song because they're inappropriate.
Completely inappropriate.
What are these songs about generally?
Just sexual innuendo songs. You know, alouette, gentille alouette, alouette, gentille plumerie.Does she have the turned up nose?Yes, she has the turned up nose, turned up nose, alouette.
Now, I'm leaving a lot out, but it's just when you play rugby, and it's got a lot more corporate now than when I played, but When I played in particular, and for years, decades after, you would just beat the hell out of each other in a game.
But after the game, you would get together, drink beer, and sing these songs, and it was bonding.So when I went to Indiana, and I played then in Pittsburgh, the songs was a bond, right?Got to Dallas and played, the song was a bond.
Go back to Bloomington for our reunion every two years, and we're singing these same songs. over and over and over and over again.
That's just a bond of stupidity that just brings us together that, you know, kids today aren't going to gravitate to those songs because they are inappropriate.
70s, 80s, 90s even were a different time, but it's still something that when you talk to rugby players and you ask them about rugby songs, they'll smile.
So you have famously said that the sport of business is the ultimate competition.It's 7x24x365 forever, and time is the ultimate commodity.There have been some changes recently.
You announced that you're saying goodbye to your role on Shark Tank, and you sold your majority stake in the Mavs.So I'm curious, what's that ratio for you now?It can't be 7x24x365 anymore.
No, it is.It really is.I'm the luckiest guy in the world.I love doing this stuff.I love, you know, people like, well, you're wealthy.Why are you still doing business?Why aren't you on a boat somewhere?But this is what I love to do.
I mean, like costplusdrugs.com, we just started a few years ago, and it's already changing the entire healthcare industry. And so the ability to be disruptive, to have an impact on the healthcare industry, which everybody pretty much hates, right?
And to reduce people's cost and get letters and emails weekly, if not more often saying, you saved my life.You saved my husband's life.
You saved my grandmother or grandfather's life because they weren't sure they were going to be able to afford their medications.And by you doing that at a cost plus basis, you saved us. $40, $50, $100, $1,000 a month or more.I mean, that's fun.
And so I don't look at it as, OK, you know, it's only about the competition.I look at it as that's fun and I enjoy the competition and I enjoy being disruptive.And why stop that?You know, why slow down?It's fun.
You chose another song, DMX's Fame, which in other interviews I've heard you describe as the theme song of your life.
You know, Anybody who's struggled or faced challenges, there's always some music that kind of fires you up and reminds you that other people have faced it and, you know, there's a part of you that has to keep on fighting.
And there's just a line in there, the only thing I fear is I'm never going to fly.And like I always say, it doesn't matter how many times you fail, you only have to be right one time.You only have to fly one time.
And that's why it always resonated with me when it came out.You know, it's not that I fear I'm going to die.It's just I fear I'm never going to fly.And it was just always motivating to me.
And I got to meet DMX one time and I brought it up and he kind of rolled his eyes.
Obviously, I've had the pleasure of watching you on Shark Tank for quite a while.I have to say, you're a lot more intimidating on that show.Still very nice.
That's editing.But you've had an incredible run on Shark Tank.And as you're leaving, what has that role meant to you?
I can't even put words to it.It's not being on TV that's made it special.It's sending a message to everybody that watches that the American dream is alive and well.And one of the things I'm proudest of is that it still is.
It's one of the top watched shows on television by Families Together. And we hear it all the time, you know, I grew up watching Shark Tank and I started this business.
You know, now in these more recent seasons, entrepreneurs are coming on pitching to us saying, you know, I learned about business or I got excited about starting my own company by watching Shark Tank.And that's really rewarding.
And along with, you know, I don't even know how many millionaires we've created through all the companies we've invested in.Not all of them, obviously, but, you know, a significant number have been successful and,
that that's something too and you know we're so partisan these days that just getting people to agree that there is an American dream that still exists and that people can be excited about that that's been important to me and and just I still truly believe that
Every one of us at some point gets that idea that they feel in the pit of their stomach.Oh, this is a great idea.Then, you know, I'm gonna go to Sophie.Sophie, what do you think?Oh, I like that idea.You ought to look further.
And then you go to Google.Ah, nobody's starting it.You know, nobody's done this before.And then most people stop.And so if we can incent or excite or, you know, help encourage people to explore, that's a good thing.
You chose a song to represent your time with Shark Tank, Rapper's Delight, by the Sugarhill Gang.What's the connection between it and you and the show?
For 15 years, we played that.Because sometimes you get tired.You get really, really retired, right?You're concentrating.We get there and start shooting between 8.30 and 9.And we're going until 7.And it's just one deal after another.
And it's just mentally exhausting sometimes, particularly after lunch, right?Because you're in a food coma. And so whenever we need energy, that's the song.
Do you remember who brought that song?Like, how it first materialized?
I asked them to play it, right?It was just one of those songs that everybody knows Hotel Motel to, right?And so you're going to get some reaction.And there's videos of Damon and I just primping, and we'd have people on set.
And we tried to get them into it as well, so it was fun. Now what you hear, and then there's this one part.Next on the mic is my friend, Hank.Come on, Hank, sing your song.Well, now it's my friend, Damon.Come on, Damon, sing your song.
And he's like, I'm built a bit, the ladies flip, the women fight for my delight.And so we're just going and doing it for 15 years.
Ah, that's so great.OK, so another big change.You recently sold your majority stake in the Mavs, which you bought in, when did you buy them?
Why did you buy them?Just taking us back to 2000.
So I was a Mavericks season ticket holder, then a huge basketball fan, played pickup all the time, now a huge basketball fan, try to play pickup as much as I can.
And my then girlfriend, now wife and I were at a home game, it was the opening day of the season, and it wasn't a sellout.And I'm like, oh my goodness, right?We're undefeated, we should have a good team.And I'm like, I can do better than this.
And got a hold of the then owner and said, hey, do you want to sell it?He said yes, in less than a month, we had agreed.And a couple months later, I was the owner.
And what's the reasoning behind stepping back a little bit?
My kids are now 15, 18, and 21.And it's a lot of pressure for them.And running a professional sports team isn't always good.When you're winning, it's great.We go to the finals this past year.Everybody loves me.Everybody loves us.
But when you're having a bad season, just kids are on social media.I just don't want them to put up with all that abuse and everything.And that was the primary reason.
But you did choose a song to represent your time.I mean, you're still obviously with the Mavs, but what's the song?
So back in 2001, we moved to a new arena.And there was a head of marketing was a guy named Matt Fitzgerald, who was a good friend of mine, basketball buddy, who unfortunately died of ALS a couple years ago. And he came up with this song.
And the whole idea, like if you go to a Chicago Bulls game, you hear that da-da-da-da, you know, song that goes back to Michael Jordan Day.And I wanted a song that could last forever.And he came up with Eminence Front.
And I promised him as he was dying that as long as I was involved, this would always be the opening song for the Mavs.
I could see, are you feeling like a little emotional even speaking about it?
Yeah, I miss Matt.He was a great guy.
What do you miss about him?
He was a good guy.He was a good friend.He had a great heart, great family.He talked a lot of shit when we played basketball.You know, so we would go back and forth at each other.You know, I wouldn't say we were best friends, but we were good friends.
I'm sorry for your loss.But the song, it's a good pick.What did he hear in it?Like what made it the right song?
You just have to hear it.When you hear it, you see that it's a song that drives energy.And so now anybody who's listening that hears this that's a Mavs fan, they'll immediately think of Mavs games.
So while the beginning of the song is playing, there's a hype video that's going on on the Jumbotron that everybody gets to see.And so it's highlights of the last game.It's introductions to our starting lineup.
And if you ever watch a Mavs game, you'll see me getting hype right there, especially if it's a big game.
Oh, my God.I'm all, you know, I'm getting into it.I'm like driving the crowds into it.Everybody's clapping, cheering.Yeah, it's amazing.
So you mentioned your kids are teenagers and I imagine their childhoods have been a little bit different from yours.
A lot different.I mean, it wasn't like I went hungry, but anything I had, I had to get for myself.You know, anything I earned, I had to earn for myself.
Anything that came my way, including the failures, including all that went wrong, I had to earn myself.But for my kids, it's just different.I have to tell them, right?Because, well-known, if I would have gotten drunk and stupid,
People would just kick me and say, wake up and take a shower.Now you're going to be on the front page of the paper if you're my son or daughter.
Everybody's going to know about it and people are going to take pictures of you because you're my son or daughter.You don't have that unique privacy or the ability to just be unnoticed that I had.And that's hard.
I'm not saying feel sorry for them, but it hasn't always been easy for them. You know, I got really wealthy when I was 39, 40, right?And so I wouldn't say I was mature, but I, you know, I'd grown up a little bit.
They've had to face this their entire lives, you know, not always knowing if somebody cares for them for them or for what they may be able to have access to.So, you know, I give them a ton of credit.They're good kids.They've got big hearts.
They're smart.They're respectful.
Did your parents get to see your success?
Yeah, they just died a few years ago.And I remember telling my dad when I first had $100,000 in the bank, and him just crying, just
You know, my first suit when I went to work for Your Business Software was at a place where they only sold used clothes.And so all my first suits were used.My first polos were used, you know, dress shirts.
And then my polo polos were fake that would like tear because I was buying them for six to eight dollars. And that sensibility, like my parents were children of the depression, particularly my dad.And my grandparents definitely were.
They fled Russia, came here without speaking the language.And so they didn't know where things were coming next.They had tons of hardship.I mean, just their whole lives were hardship.And so that's what my parents grew up under.
And that was passed on to us and it never left them. You know, they traveled and went places, but, and my mom would still shop at TJ Maxx and buy used clothes.She was not gonna buy anything expensive.My dad, pretty much the same way.
He would wear the same clothes for 30 years.I mean, it just is what it is.
Is there a conversation between you and them that sticks out?
Just, I mean, my dad in particular used to say, I just don't understand. I don't understand how you're doing and what you're doing or why you're doing.I don't understand how you learned all this stuff and became so successful.But I love you.
My parents were just normal parents, right?They love my brothers.I have two younger brothers and, you know, I'm still close to my brothers and it's just a normal family.That's all.There was nothing unique or special or different.
Our pictures are the same stupid pictures and our stories are the same stupid, you know, family vacation stories and the like and driving six hours or whatever.It's just normal and that's a good thing.
I guess my last question is what's one thing people get wrong about you?
They all think I'm short.I'm 6'2, 6'2 and a half now.
Why do they think you're short?
Because of the mass.I'm always standing next to someone who's seven foot tall.So if you see me on TV, I look tiny.So that's probably the biggest thing that people get wrong.I think they think that I have butlers and I live that kind of life when
you know, that I always get invitations to all these foodie events and that's just not me.
I mean, you have a better chance of seeing me going to 7-Eleven and eating than sitting down with a five course meal where you're going to have, you know, I have to remember which fork to use and which glass to use.
That freaks me out more than anything.Like, am I going to get all the proper etiquette down in front of all these people?And it's just like, you know, I'm just not, I get sent bottles of wine and I'm like,
you know, I'll give them to my wife or friends like, send me a beer, you know, send me a Bud Light and I'm happy.
Mark Cuban, 6'2", working 24-7 for the passion.Thank you so much for sharing your seven songs with us.
Sophie, this is amazing.I really enjoyed it.
Life in Seven Songs is a production from the San Francisco Standard.This episode was produced by me, Sophie Bearman, and our senior producer, Jasmine Morris.
Our executive producers are Griffin Gaffney and John Steinberg, and this episode was mixed by Michelle Lanz. Our theme music is by Kate Davis and Zubin Hensler, and Clark Miller created our show art.
Our music consultant is Sarah Timbexian, and our studio engineer is Sean McKenna at Pure Mind Studios.You can find Mark Cuban's full playlist at sf.news.spotify.Thanks for listening, and see you next time.
