Mark Cuban

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.

Leaders don't look backwards to condemn what has already been done; they look forward to create a better future.

It doesn't matter how many times you fail. You only have to be right once and then everyone can tell you that you are an overnight success.

I think you’ve got to be very, very careful when you start making blanket statements about what people say and think, as opposed to what they do. It’s a very, very slippery slope.

Creating a close connection to those you do business with has its many risks, rewards and consequences._x000D_ _x000D_ There are few things in business I have encountered that are more difficult than firing someone, particularly if that someone has always been, or has become a friend._x000D_ _x000D_ On the flip side, I have been rewarded with many friends.

I'm always afraid of failing. It's great motivation to work harder.

It's not whether the glass is half empty or half full, it's who is pouring the water. The key in business and success at any endeavor is doing your best to control your destiny. You can't always do it, but you have to take every opportunity you can to be as prepared as-and ahead of-the competition as you possibly can be.

I still work hard to know my business. I'm continuously looking for ways to improve all my companies, and I'm always selling. Always.

Creating opportunities means looking where others are not.

I believe that starting any business should be as easy as a 10-year-old starting a lemonade stand.

The one requirement for success in our business lives is effort. Either you make the commitment to get results or you don't.

If you really want to know where your destiny lies, look at where you apply your time.

The NBA is never just a business. It's always business. It's always personal. All good businesses are personal. The best businesses are very personal.

You need to turn over every rock and open every door to learn your industry. This process never ends.

We romanticize entrepreneurshi p so much that people don't do the work. It's not just a dream, not just a goal; it's a lot of hard work. A lot of people are wantrepreneurs, not entrepreneurs.

I was lucky. I grew up knowing that hard work and smart work has a greater impact on results than being passionate about something.

There is only one thing in life you can control: Your own effort.

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.

In my opinion, right now there's way too much hype on the technologies and not enough attention to the real businesses behind them.

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.

I think Amazon is the greatest start-up and the greatest company in the world. The way they are using new technologies is not just disrupting retail, it's getting ready to disrupt everything.