Six months, a phone and $500. That’s the entire starting kit.
Billionaire Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban got that scenario during WIRED’s “Mogul Support” video series in 2023, where he answered questions from followers on X.
Read more: Mark Cuban says get your cash ready for this change — ‘That’s when the real money is made’
“You have six months to make as much money as possible,” one follower wrote. “All you have to start with is a phone and $500 in cash. What are you doing?”
Cuban’s reaction came before his answer.
“That is the best question I have ever been asked in my entire adult life,” Cuban said.
His answer had nothing to do with stocks, crypto, or a clever app idea.
His first move is a paycheck, not a pitch deck
Cuban said the plan starts with the one skill he trusts most.
“I am really, really, really good at sales,” he said.
If he were down to his last $500 with nothing but a phone, Cuban said, he would find a sales job and get to work learning the business.
“I am going to get that job, and I’m gonna learn more about that industry than anybody on the planet,” he said.
He would also go after the best pay he could get from day one.
“And I’m gonna set a commission as high as I possibly can,” Cuban said.
Mark Cuban’s 90-day ultimatum
The second half of the plan depends on results.
Cuban said that once he had proven himself “the best salesperson in the history of that company” three months in, he would walk into his boss’s office with a choice.
“You’re either gonna pay me this amount of money to keep me, or I’m gonna start my own business selling this stuff,” Cuban said. “That is exactly what I would do.”
He boiled the whole strategy down to one line.
“Everything always goes back to sales no matter what,” he said.
He’s been selling since the garbage bag days
The answer matches how Cuban built his own fortune.
He has said he sold garbage bags door-to-door at 12 because his dad told him the only way he could get new basketball shoes was by having a job.
He later started a computer consulting business, MicroSolutions, and sold it to CompuServe in 1990.
How to borrow the playbook without being Mark Cuban
Most people won’t become the top salesperson at a company in 90 days. The pieces of the plan still work for anyone.
- Choose the industry, not just the job. The plan depends on learning the business better than anyone, so pick a field worth learning.
- Negotiate on the way in. Commission rates, quotas and bonus terms are easiest to shape before you sign.
- Track your numbers. An ultimatum only works with proof. Keep a record of deals closed, revenue brought in and customers kept.
- Read your contract before planning a breakaway. Many sales jobs come with non-compete or non-solicitation agreements, so taking customers with you isn’t always allowed.
- Use the skill outside work. Asking for a raise, buying a car or renewing a lease all take the same ability Cuban is betting on.
Five hundred dollars doesn’t go far anymore, and nearly everyone already owns a phone. Cuban’s bet is that the real starting money in his challenge is the ability to sell, and nobody can take that away from you.
