I have been watching a lot of Shark Tank this past week or so and I have been really impressed in the way the sharks handle the negotiations, judge a product and strike a deal with the entrepreneurs.
As you may know most of these sharks are millionaires and some of them are even billionaires which, to be frank, is not even a dream for most people in the world just because that’s just a ridiculous amount of money that the average joe can’t even imagine.
Anyways, I was most impressed by Mark Cuban and I did some research on his life and how he made his way to a net worth of $3.3 billion, which is just bonkers. I really learned a lot and realised that people in their positions do two things to reach where they are today.
First and this is really important, they do innovative things at the right time and second, they absolutely nail down the fundamentals that most people simply overlook in a bid to be “different”. Today I want to talk about 5 advices from Mark Cuban himself to help you get a little bot richer.
Live Like A Student
This is just a fancy way of saying to live a life where your cost of living are as low as possible. Don’t worry you won’t always have to do this because then what would be the point, right? This is more of a beginner’s phase when you are just starting out in the world of work.
Cuba advises to suppress your desires relating to things that are simply unnecessary like that awesome car you want or the fancy clothes even. What this does, is it saves you a lot of money over a period of time although it might not seem much and could provide you with seed money for any venture you would like to pursue.
Save Six Months Income
Life is really uncertain and you never know when it will smash a brick on your face and completely catch you off guard. Therefore you need to be prepared at all times for a period of time assuming the worst of the worst. That is why when things are going good or even going well enough, you should have at least 6 months income as savings.
Why six months? Well, 6 months is a long time for you to be able to change things around for yourselves no matter how hard you have been hit. It ensures that your basic requirements are fulfilled in the least and can get back on your feet. A lot of people live paycheque to paycheque and that can be really scary.
Don’t Use Credit Cards
I personally love this one as I have never used a credit card in my life. I absolutely hate using them and the reason is simple. I don’t believe in spending what I don’t have and that’s exactly what your’e doing with a credit card. These days everyone wants to sell a product and therefore credit is availably abundantly.
But your self control takes a huge hit when you’re using a credit card for purchases because you always assume you will be able to pay it off in the future. Well, guess what? Life can be brutal and sometimes you just can’t do it. Then come the calls from the bank to collect the sum and it only gets bigger and bigger the longer you can’t pay, keeping you in a vicious cycle of debt. Completely opposite of getting richer.
Invest In Cryptocurrencies
I can’t believe Mark Cuban actually suggested to invest 10% of your savings on cryptos like Bitcoin or Ethereum seeing how he dissed Bitcoin some weeks ago. Still, he believes it to be a high risk investment and advises you to “pretend that you’ve already lost your money”. Although I don’t believe in that last part, I still believe in the former.
Cryptocurrencies are certainly the next disruptor, not only in the tech space but economic and financial as well and this wave is being touted as much larger than even the dot-com bubble which saw the rise of so many millionaires and billionaires. So, yes, absolutely invest in cryptos. I would personally add Steem to that list as well.
Read Books
This is something that almost every single successful person on the planet will suggest you to do. Even though we are habituated these days to look up any information online, books are still the way to go to enhance your knowledge in any particular field you want. They are often well researched, and written by respected authors from whom you can learn a great deal.
As Mark says, all you need is just one idea you read in one book to launch you into a completely different direction, one where you could end up being more successful and richer than you never thought possible for yourself. History is filled with such examples and you could be one too. Who knows, am I right?
Pretty solid advice! His advice on bitcoin was decent given the audience he's talking to (mainstream).
Yup that's true.
this is really spot on. WHO ON HERE LOVES SHARK TANK, AND MARK CUBAN?
I love watching Shark Tank and am really inspired by Cuban.
Nice reading you.
Thanks!
Guess I live almost perfectly after Mark Cuban's advice:)
That's good for you :)
Great post @sauravrungta thank for sharing. 👍👍
Thank you for reading :)
U are welcome bro,
If I say I haven't enjoyed reading ur article, I would be lying for sure.
Great article, I will start reading books form gud authors 😊
Thank you so much. Yeah, I have to incorporate that habit as well.
I like Cuban's negotiation technique as well. He waits for the other sharks to ask the basic questions (past sales numbers, past growth, scalability). While the other sharks are hesitating and scratching their heads, Cuban makes up his mind quickly. If it's a worthwhile investment, he goes in for the kill with a few quick questions and an offer. He pressures to close quickly. And if the pitch man hesitates and shows cloudy thinking or confusion, Cuban rescinds the offer. It's always fun to watch.
Yeah, his decisiveness is really commendable.
Yesss..
You are right @sauravrungta
Thank you :)
All other points are good!
But investing in crypto currencies is always risk
Yes, but they also have great returns, which is a risk a lot of people are willing to take apparently.
Great post Saurav as always. Indeed, bitcoin, etherium and Steem should skyrocket in the days and months to come. One should invest atleast a bit of their savings into cryptos for sure. I personally believe in Steem and Steemit platform and its a great time to grab a few at these levels for sure. Upvoted and following u as always. If u find some time, do review my recent post. I am sure you would not be dissapointed :)
Regards Nainaz
#thealliance
Yeah, I believe in them too. hopefully the coming months will see a great deal of growth.
I agree with the advice given by Mark, being financial literate is important and know how to be thrifty and invest. Plus, reading is always one of the best investment! There is where we get new knowledge and exposure.
Yeah, the great thing is that a lot of these advices are really basic things. It shows that it really is not that complicated as we often make it out to be.
true, but it is always the hard to form the basic habits. It is like so mundane that we don’t find it interesting doing it all the time. However, it is impactful. A lot to learn from them
Hey @sauravrungta
I agree with all of your points specially the last one. I see many billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Tony Robbins, etc read books.
When you said these people invent, I recall it from the book "Zero to One" http://amzn.to/2zUZs51
If we want to be a billionaire, we have to invent the wheel. We have to invent something which is only one in the world. For example Facebook, it's only one and first foremost social media site.
Thanks for this wonderful article Saurav.
Yeah, innovative ideas are really worshipped in today's world.
Upvoted and also resteemed :)
Thanks :)
Nice post, thanks for sharing this.
Thou am new here.
I will follow you to gain some knowledge from you
Thank you :)
It's always fun to see how all the sharks negotiate. One thing I've learned over the years is to find something that works for you and stick to it. I use and love credit cards since in the long run I get to redeem points for amazing stuff. Great insight @sauravrungta!
Yeah, they sure have learned a lot over their careers.
Great insight. Asymmetric investing is the key to tackling the BTC cryptocurrency investment strategies. So, I think crypto investments are smart if you're diversified. Cuban's strategies are good - too bad I can't stomach them. Not patient enough. Anyway, upvoted and resteemed.
Yup, as with everything else, different things work out for different people.
Great post, brief but has enough takeaways for a reader.
While some of these advices seem rather simple, putting them into practice takes a lot of sheer willpower. Take the case of living like a college student for example - I believe the gist of the message is to live frugally - one thing we often observe is how the average corporate worker keeps increasing his expenses and liabilities (a swanky new car on EMI, expensive gadgets for bragging rights) as his income increases and despite his burgeoning paycheck, still lives from hand-to-mouth and has depleted his earning before the month runs out...And then to keep up his/her lifestyle, spends using credit he gets from that free credit card of his - which then accumulates in interest thereby stretching him further..
And all this time, his actual needs never really increased - it was the extravagance that pushed the person into a corner....
Eventually he gets into this never ending cycle of paying on credit and they paying off the debt...leaving no room for investment and at the end of his working life, he's not much better than what we was to start off with.. .
Yeah, people enter a vicious cycle which they can't come out of. There lies in a lot of people's problems. This shows that it is better to be patient first and build yourself up and then enjoy the fruit of your labour.
Good write up. He is impressive on the show and I agree that his advice on crypto investing is a step in the right direction from prior comments... good stuff.
Yeah, I was really impressed by him. Thanks for reading :)
Thanks for sharing, the part you put about investing in crypto leads to another point: buy assets. Poor people buy liabilities, middle class buys toys, rich buy assets with their money.
Yeah, you can never go wrong with buying assets. They are certain to increase in value over your life time.
Awesome ....
Thanks for sharing and i will follow you and yu will follow me and upvote my post
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Thanks for reading.
very interesting the post ... I have seen that program several times and it is true is amazing how they think and analyze the products ... the credit card I do not know if I never say never use it ... I have rarely used the card. .. I only made it to pay in installments for example a TV or computer that I would have cost more to buy in cash...and it is true you just have to have an idea and know how to apply it (and have funds to invest to carry it out)
I have started using busy.org to post my posts ... I would like it if you want to follow me to increase that vote ... I would really appreciate it ...
Thanks for reading. Sure I will follow you :)
good job
Thanks!
I watched something on him, where he said that if he lost everything he would become a bar tender, and a commission sales man.
Really? I didn't read that about him. Cool choice of work.
These are all great tips.
And I'm willing to admit that even though I think Mark Cuban is a self-centered douche-bag.
So wise!