4 ms·

Yeah, that sounds about right. I briefly worked at a startup where the founder had received funding from Mark while they were at a Superbowl party together. He'

Yeah, that sounds about right. I briefly worked at a startup where the founder had received funding from Mark while they were at a Superbowl party together. He'd be an interesting guy to meet.

mindcrime 13y ago
I had a chance to meet Mark at one of those VC /investor panel things, where he was the keynote speaker. After his speech, he hung around to talk to people. By and large, he struck me as a cool guy. He was in jeans and a polo shirt, and was seemed pretty laid-back for a billionaire. If you had not known who he was, you really wouldn't have realized that he was a celebrity or super-rich (well, other than the crowd of people mobbing around him, trying to get a piece of his attention). He did also emphasize to the crowd that he does check his own email, reads it all, and is open to cold pitches. He even claims to have done deals entirely via email before, without even meeting the person on the other end face-to-face. So yeah, I'd say this story isn't exactly a surprise, given that it's Mark Cuban. FWIW, I got to speak to him briefly about my startup, and his response was "Sounds good if you can just execute". We weren't pitching to raise money at the time, but if we ever do start trying to raise a round, I figure it'll be worth shooting him an email. Edit: I just finished reading TFA and see that this actually is one of those cases where Mark invested without meeting face-to-face. Very cool. Also cool to see that Validic are locals here in the Raleigh/Durham area. Way to represent the Triangle! Congrats to you guys, if you're reading.
- larrys 13y ago
  "and was seemed pretty laid-back for a billionaire. " Reminds me of what my mom said many years ago when she met Jay Leno. She remembered how nice he was to her and how she didn't expect that. I think that when you are a public person like that you probably have to try to make extra sure that you aren't a "dick" or a "tool" lest word gets around that harms your image. Especially when you are on TV. I'm not saying that he isn't (I don't know him from before he was famous) but I would imagine that you have to go to a conscious effort to be on your best behavior or suffer (as we might see from time to time with celebrities) the consequences of not treating people in a really nice way. And to not seem as if you are above them. For example I was at a restaurant last night, didn't like something, and complained. I'm sure if I was famous or well known I would have thought twice about what I said and did. And if I did complain I would have done so in the most charming and deferential way.
  - mindcrime 13y ago
    That's a fair point, and I don't claim to know him well enough to make any strong claim one way or the other, regarding whether he's a "cool guy" or a total asshole. All I can say is that, given my one brief encounter with him, he came off as an OK guy. Maybe that's natural, maybe it's manufactured, who's to say about such things?

Yeah, that sounds about right. I briefly worked at a startup where the founder had received funding from Mark while they were at a Superbowl party together. He'd be an interesting guy to meet.

mindcrime 13y ago

I had a chance to meet Mark at one of those VC /investor panel things, where he was the keynote speaker. After his speech, he hung around to talk to people. By and large, he struck me as a cool guy. He was in jeans and a polo shirt, and was seemed pretty laid-back for a billionaire. If you had not known who he was, you really wouldn't have realized that he was a celebrity or super-rich (well, other than the crowd of people mobbing around him, trying to get a piece of his attention). He did also emphasize to the crowd that he does check his own email, reads it all, and is open to cold pitches. He even claims to have done deals entirely via email before, without even meeting the person on the other end face-to-face. So yeah, I'd say this story isn't exactly a surprise, given that it's Mark Cuban. FWIW, I got to speak to him briefly about my startup, and his response was "Sounds good if you can just execute". We weren't pitching to raise money at the time, but if we ever do start trying to raise a round, I figure it'll be worth shooting him an email. Edit: I just finished reading TFA and see that this actually is one of those cases where Mark invested without meeting face-to-face. Very cool. Also cool to see that Validic are locals here in the Raleigh/Durham area. Way to represent the Triangle! Congrats to you guys, if you're reading.

larrys 13y ago
"and was seemed pretty laid-back for a billionaire. " Reminds me of what my mom said many years ago when she met Jay Leno. She remembered how nice he was to her and how she didn't expect that. I think that when you are a public person like that you probably have to try to make extra sure that you aren't a "dick" or a "tool" lest word gets around that harms your image. Especially when you are on TV. I'm not saying that he isn't (I don't know him from before he was famous) but I would imagine that you have to go to a conscious effort to be on your best behavior or suffer (as we might see from time to time with celebrities) the consequences of not treating people in a really nice way. And to not seem as if you are above them. For example I was at a restaurant last night, didn't like something, and complained. I'm sure if I was famous or well known I would have thought twice about what I said and did. And if I did complain I would have done so in the most charming and deferential way.
- mindcrime 13y ago
  That's a fair point, and I don't claim to know him well enough to make any strong claim one way or the other, regarding whether he's a "cool guy" or a total asshole. All I can say is that, given my one brief encounter with him, he came off as an OK guy. Maybe that's natural, maybe it's manufactured, who's to say about such things?