Introduction

Mark Cuban is not a conventional biographical writer, nor does he have particularly excellent experience in writing academic books. However, Cuban has created a reputation for his candid analysis of business issues in the society in the blogs and on Television. Some of the ventures that have the signature of Cuban include HDNet, Broadcast.com, and MicroSolutions. In these blogs, Cuban attempts to interact with his audiences on a wide range of issues, the most prominent area being business. Besides, Cuban has been involved in a number of commercial start-up ventures including Mahalo, JungleCents.com, motionloft.com, Filesanywhere.com, Naked Pizza, and 140Fire.com. However, Cuban’s acquisition of Dallas Mavericks in 2000 helped in the building of his reputation. As a budding entrepreneur, Cuban appreciates that there is a wide range of challenges involved. In some instances, also, he made business misstates that affected the growth of some of his ventures. In this book, Cuban has updated some of his greatest content from his blog ‘Maverick' to create the book. Thus, to some people, the contents of the content of the book would not sound strange since they could have encountered them hi his blogs. The central attention in this book is the knowledge that is required for one to be successful in the competitive economic environment. In the recent years, there has been a promotion of entrepreneurship as a way of creating employment opportunities. Conversely, many people fail in their entrepreneurial initiatives as a result of poor decisions that they make. In some instances, Cuban says that even noble ideas collapse because of the failure of the entrepreneur to take the most measured course of actions that would bring the greatest rewards to the business. Thus, the book highlights some of the common challenges, mistakes, and issues surrounding entrepreneurship and the best approaches to avoid or address them. 

Historical and Current Context

Business management is a practice that requires certain skills and approaches to obtain maximum benefits. The difference between a successful and mediocre organizational performance is hinged on the ability of entrepreneurs or business managers to demonstrate the presence of the required levels of skills. While all businesses face a wide range of challenges that may have an adverse effect on their performance, the start-ups usually, face a plethora of challenges and obstacles that may hinder their progress or ultimately lead to their collapse. Surprisingly, even organizations that have demonstrated a high degree of success have often collapsed because of failure to develop strategies that would address the situations.

Traditionally, there are theories and approaches that organizations have used to steer their organizations to success. However, in the modern economic environment, which is characterized by highly dynamic business practices, there is a need to master not only the traditional theoretical approaches but also have a practical understanding of the contemporary market condition and apply reason appropriately. In this book, Cuban presents the twists and turns that have characterized his journey in business and the various approaches that he used to solve the challenges. Cuban presents that it at times helpful to resort to the unconventional and less desirable approaches to realize the desired objectives. In this approach, Cuban says that there comes a time when an individual has to play outside of the rules in order to survive.

A rule is part of the human society and contributes massively to the creation of order that allows for the proper functioning of the society. In all aspects of human life, there are rules that govern how individuals conduct their affairs. In spite of the importance of the rules in the lives of humans, it is at times essential for people to make sure that they act according to the circumstances of the situation. In many aspects of the book, Cuban expresses the various ways through which rules may act against the interests of the people. As such, he suggests that those times come when an individual ought to act in ways that defy the established rules in order to achieve success. However, playing outside the rules does not mean that a person commits illegality. It only means that a person would have to take courses of action or steps to make them unique.

The business environment is competitive throughout the world. The business that is not prepared to compete usually find themselves falling by the wayside. Winning in a competitive environment requires calculated effort to carry out a systematic evaluation of the forces in the market and apply the most appropriate ways of responding to the needs of the market. There are many occasions when some organizations have been forced to exit certain markets since they cannot afford the levels of competition in the markets. Having been involved in various start-ups, Cuban has practical experience on the challenges that start-ups face in the business environments and the best strategies that may be used to overcome them.

In any business, there is always a starting point. However rough the starting may be, the future is not decided by how bad the start was but by the efforts that an individual put towards the realization the objectives of the venture. In some cases, the start may be so bad that individual may lose hope in the chances of success. From the experience of Cuban, it is possible to turn around the fortunes of moribund businesses and resuscitate businesses that are on the verge of death. Cuban says that one critical feature that most individuals usually lack is the possession of the right mindset.

For there to be a success in any adventure, the mentality is the most important aspect of personality that is required. The success in any business requires the right mentality. However, since most people usually lack this critical aspect, they usually end up failing to give the most appropriate attention to their responsibilities. Many people have the wrong mentality that they were not destined to do business. With this mentality, they fail to attempt, and as a result, they end up missing opportunities.

Currently, there are many students who clear out of colleges, but they realize the job market is so small that the companies may not absorb them. In his book, Cuban notes that when most students graduate from the universities, they are always looking forward to joining the best organizations in the country. Most graduates fail to recognize that there are opportunities in business that they can explore as a way of earning income. The contents of this book are important to the youths of today. While some students do not see a need for them to invest in entrepreneurship. Besides, to those who claim that they do not the positions from where to start, the book provides rich background information detailing the manner in which Cuban started and the frustrations that he faced when he was starting out his entrepreneurship journey. The information in this book is essential in convincing those who are undecided on what steps to take to take entrepreneurship as we as convincing those who are yet to decide that entrepreneurship is a viable approach that is profitable and needs to be considered an income-generating venture.

Finally, to the businesses that have stagnated and did not see the possibility of a better future, Cuban provides a framework that may be used to help a business to achieve meaningful growth. Cuban realizes that there are many environmental challenges that modern business ventured face and he seeks to provide a realistic path that may lead an organization to commercial success. Generally, the book has provided critical insight on entrepreneurship with specific attention to the ways of surviving and thriving in a business environment that is increasingly becoming complex.