• Mark Cuban says it takes luck to become a billionaire, and the extremely rich should pay higher taxes.
• “Shark Tank” investor says crypto needs a killer app, and NFTs will make a comeback.
• Cuban says teaching people to make full use of Alexa and ChatGPT is a fascinating opportunity.

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During an episode of Wired’s “Tech Support” released this week, Mark Cuban outlined the role of luck in becoming super-wealthy, called on the super-wealthy to pay higher taxes and revealed how he would make money from scratch.

The “Shark Tank” investor and Dallas Mavericks owner — who sold his Internet-radio startup to Yahoo for about $6 billion in 1999 — also flagged Alexa and ChatGPT as business opportunities, suggesting a killer app for cryptocurrency. Expressed regret over the shortage and adopted a bullish stance. Tone on Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs).

Here are six of Cuban’s best quotes, lightly edited for length and clarity:

1. “The reality is that, to become a billionaire, one thing you have to have is luck. Any billionaire who tells you he can do it again, no. You have to be lucky.”

2. “Billionaires should pay more in taxes. I wouldn’t be in this position without this country, because nothing good — whether it’s healthcare, teachers, roads, you name it — gets people to pay their taxes. Without paying. It may be painful when you write that big check, but just think about how you got there. One of the most patriotic things you can do when you’re rich is do your taxes. pay.”

3. “I’m really, really, really good at sales. I’m going to find a sales job, and I’m going to learn more about that industry than any other person on the planet. And I’m going to get as high as possible.” I’m going to set the commission. And three months later, after I’ve demonstrated that I’m the best salesperson in the history of that company, I’ll walk into my boss’s office and say to him, ‘You’re either ‘I have to pay this amount to keep it for myself, or I’m going to sell this stuff and start my own business.’ That’s exactly what I would do. Everything always goes on sale, no matter what.” (Cuban was asked what he would do if he only had $500, a phone, and six months to make as much money as possible.)

Mark Cuban is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks. Rick Bommer/AP

4. “Alexa has a lot of capabilities, and a lot of people have them, but they don’t know how to use the programming or scripting capabilities. You can go and start a business where you can have your neighbors, You can go to car dealership businesses, and show them for 50 bucks an hour or more how to use your Alexa in your homes to save energy, to save time in your businesses.

“The same thing is happening with big language models like ChatGPT. ChatGPT and its competitors have new features coming every month. So if you get involved and stay ahead, you’ll be an in-demand person selling your services. How to inspire ChatGPT to help a business, or even teach kids how to best use it for school.”

5. “Crypto has some problems. Most people, when they think of crypto, they think of speculation. Crypto is not really like that. Crypto is really about creating new applications that make things better and easier. What is missing in crypto is an application that Grandma actually wants to use.

“Think about the iPhone. It came out in 2007, but the App Store and the iPhone didn’t really take off in popularity until great apps like Instagram and Snapchat and Facebook came to mobile. Crypto is still having its Instagram moment Is waiting for.” (Cuban gave the example of NFTs being used as tickets so that their original owner gets a cut every time they are resold.)

6. “The NFT market sucks. You know how many other industries have sucked? There was a time after the internet stock market crashed where Amazon was selling for $5 a share, one-hundredth of what Microsoft sells for now.” I was selling in. I’m not going to tell you what you should or shouldn’t do about NFTs, other than to say, the best time to buy is when you’re a collector and you like NFTs.

“Don’t buy to speculate. You know what happens to speculators? They get their work handed to them. Someday you’ll turn around and say to yourself, ‘I should have bought those damn NFTs when they were almost worth Neither were there.

Source: markets.businessinsider.com