30 Days of Genius- Mark Cuban

Mark Cuban's words are in bold. My personal comments are in italics. 

• What are you continuing to learn? What are you continuing to get good at?
• To grow as an individual creative, entrepreneur, barista- whomever- you must continue to develop yourself. Don't ever be stagnant, because the world- and the people- around you are dynamic.

• Our parents had one job. We have 5. Our kids will have 5 at the same time. 
• The old model of dad joining one company, working for 40 years, and retiring in Florida is clearly dead. Today's leader is not the company executive, it's the swiss army knife hustler. Diversify your knowledge, your skills, and your contacts and you'll be able to use each to improve others. 

• Great business has no off season. If you love what you do, you’re working all the time
• The NBA takes a break in the summer, but Lebron James does not. A great salesman goes home to relax at 6pm, but Joe Girard was always bird-dogging. If you want to be great at business, you're not resting because it gets dark or because it's nice outside. You're not taking breaks or vacations. Your break is the extra hour you spend researching your industry. Your relaxation comes in the midst of a sales call. There are no breaks- and no need for breaks- in greatness. 
• "Hard work beats talent if talent fails to work hard."

• Want to be successful? Reduce the stress of those around you.
• "Will they miss you if you're gone" is a rephrasing of Cuban's statement, as posed by Seth Godin in 30 DOG Episode 2. If you (or your product, or your company) are living in a stressful state, you're wrong if you think it's a good thing. Success is about removing stress for everyone around you. Your boss, your customer, and your peers need to value the freedom and peace you provide them, and they need to know that if you were gone, they wouldn't have it.

• The worst thing you can for your company do is raise money
• And this is coming from an investor! If you're raising money, it's an admission to failure. Your product is not good enough. You're not a good enough salesman to earn revenue. You couldn't convince others to come work for you for next to nothing. You couldn't live cheaply enough to support your dream. Once you raise money, it's no longer your party.

• If someone else knows more than you do about your business, how can you possibly think you’re going to win?
• Before entering any deal, business, or relationship, Cuban will learn everything about the industry and the people involved. And if he knows something you don't, you lose his trust. Whatever field you're committing to, you need to be the best. Whether you're selling electric cars or organic chocolate chip cookies, you need to be the hub of knowledge on the topic. And that can't be debated.