mark cubanAP
When Mark Cuban took the stage Wednesday at Inc.'s GrowCo conference in Nashville in front of 900-some attendees, Inc. President and Editor-in-Chief Eric Schurenberg re-confirmed an agreement the two had made before the interview: It was going to be a no holds-barred conversation. More than an hour later, after Cuban had touched on everything from what the sharks of "Shark Tank" are really like off camera and why he thinks of himself as a bigot, it's clear no such agreement was necessary.


On whether he was destined to be a billionaire:


On his first entrepreneurial venture:

Cuban is most well known for his tech companies but his first business was decidedly low tech. As a junior in college--and at the age of 20--he took his student loan money and bought a nearby campus bar. It quickly became the hottest spot in the area because it was notorious for not really checking IDs. Everything went swimmingly until the bar held a wet t-shirt contest. When the local newspapers covered the event, they eventually ID'd one of the contestants as a 16-year-old girl. "But she was on probation for prostitution! That got us closed down," Cuban said.

On how he made his billions:


But Cuban hit it even bigger with Audio Net, a startup that figured out how to stream audio online before the Internet really even had audio or video. It involved encoding an eight-hour VCR tape and streaming replays of radio casts to see if anyone really cared. It turns out people did care--a lot. "It was like the YouTube of the start of the Internet. Soon they had deals with radio stations and sports teams. In 1999, at the height of the Internet bubble, Cuban sold the company to Yahoo for $5.7 billion.

On why bought the Mavericks when it was a losing franchise:

When Cuban picked up the Dallas Mavericks, they had been voted the worst team in the league. But Cuban, a self-professed "basketball junkie" was a season-ticket holder. He went to the first game of the 1999-2000 season and it didn't sell out. "We were undefeated--it was the first game of the season. That's the time to be excited." But fans were not.


On whether the NBA should ban Clippers owner Donald Sterling for his racist remarks:

"I think [NBA Commissioner] Adam [Silver] had to do it. There's a lot at stake for the NBA--it has to be a leader in the culture… but it's a slippery slope.



On what he would do about patent laws:

"I'd get rid of software patents altogether."

On what he's like as a boss:

"I'm a dick. Ha. Not really… I micromanage you until I trust you. It a back and forth continually… If I send you 30 emails I expect quick responses and direct action. Then we'll go to weekly reports. And I want the bad news first. I want to read, 'God dammit, we lost this sale.' I want to know the setbacks so that I can help you."

On what the sharks are really like off camera:

"People expect them to be the same off camera. Kevin is a jerk on camera, but he's an even bigger jerk off camera. He has his own way of doing business… There's a lot of tension on air… after 10 hour days and 10 days of shooting, you really feel like you want to knock this motherf*cker out."

On his weaknesses:
