

The Mark Cuban Stimulus Plan - Open Source Funding - reitzensteinm
http://blogmaverick.com/2009/02/09/the-mark-cuban-stimulus-plan-open-source-funding/

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ojbyrne
3\. It MUST BE CASH FLOW BREAK EVEN within 60 days

4\. It must be profitable within 90 days.

5\. Funding will be on a monthly basis. If you dont make your numbers, the
funding stops

If these are true, unless you're completely poverty-stricken, why whould you
need Mark Cuban? Perhaps we're talking large scale investments, but the whole
emphasis on "sweat equity" suggests not.

~~~
jacquesm
I've stopped taking Mark Cuban seriously long ago. The guy got lucky once, and
mistakes it for business genius, it is that simple.

Sure, if you have a couple of billion lying around it is easy to tell other
people how to solve their problems. But unlike say Warren Buffet I've yet to
see him do something that commanded my respect.

I'd challenge Mark Cuban to follow his own plan, pretend he's broke for 60
days and then show that by his own measure he can make it work.

If he succeeds with that he'll definitely have me take him serious again, but
I doubt he could and until that happens this is just another "I'm rich
therefore I blog" addition to the S/N ratio.

~~~
fallentimes
That's not true.

Before Broadcast.com, he started a computer company (MicroSolutions) and ran a
very successful hedge fund. After Broadcast.com, he bought the Mavs, started
HD Net, formed a charity (Fallen Patriot Fund), actively invests as an angel
and cofounded numerous movie production & distribution companies.

Broadcast.com was certainly lucky, but Cuban was already a millionaire long
before becoming a billionaire.

~~~
pj
And on top of that, when he talks, it makes sense! I mean, it feels like what
he is saying is true even though I don't personally have an evidence to
support it. The numbers _could be_ anecdotal, who knows. In 6 Billion people,
there are probably going to be one or two or 10 people who make every "wrong"
decision and still become billionaires.

He may be one of them.

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pg
Who knows if this concept will work, but it's an intriguing idea. And I like
it that in the middle of a supposed depression, the two top links on HN right
now are offers of funding for new companies.

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polvi
Would you recommend this as a funding option for any of the YC funded
companies?

~~~
fallentimes
Cuban didn't return my emails when we launched :(.

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prakash
He returned my email when I had suggestions for the Mavs a few years back :-)

~~~
fallentimes
The three-sided shot clock?

When I was in college, he returned an email of mine. I asked him if he was any
happier now that he could have anything in the world. He told me that he was
just as happy when he lived off of happy hour food and lived in a dumpy
apartment with his best buds.

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pj
The United States government should follow his lead. Giving more grants and
low interest loans to startups.

The startups, the entrepreneurs, the risk takers, the pragmatists, the
efficient and rational are what we need right now to pull us out of this mess.
Instead the govt is giving all the money to the rich, inefficient, wealthy
elite, who lied to get us into this mess in the first place.

Give some money to those with vision. How much could we here on this list do
with $700 Billion? The banks aren't doing anything with it... We just wasted
it...

~~~
xenophanes
The US Government isn't good at things like this. We don't need it expanding
into new areas. Let the market handle it.

~~~
JesseAldridge
_"The US Government isn't good at things like this."_

Why not? Can we make it better?

~~~
xenophanes
The Government should do things when it's not going to happen otherwise. Like
the military. Or arguably providing free health care to everyone.

But when the Government isn't needed, then it shouldn't be used. Think how
inefficient Microsoft is. Then realize Microsoft isn't actually very bad as
big companies go. Well, the Government is an order of magnitude worse than the
most inefficient huge companies.

The Government is bigger, has more layers of management, rules, and paperwork,
doesn't have to worry as much about making a profit, and there's less
accountability and responsibility for decisions. If a normal company messes
up, it pays for the mistake; if the Government messes up, the tax payer pays.
Those are bad traits that should be avoided when we can.

~~~
pj
_Well, the Government is an order of magnitude worse than the most inefficient
huge companies._

The Social Security System is one of the tightest ships in the world. You
can't even get index funds with lower management fees in the private sector,
because profit wants to be made and should be made.

~~~
xenophanes
You're holding up social security as the pinnacle of efficiency, without a
citation?

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_public_debt>

The link says social security is short 7 trillion dollars of 2008 money to pay
for its obligations over the next 75 years. 7 trillion dollars is a lot of
money... Whatever the reason this happened, doesn't it indicate the less
Government the better, to lower the risk of them losing trillions of dollars?

~~~
pj
I'm sorry, it was a bad idea to bring up Social Security. My only point was
that the management of the legal requirements for the organization are very
very small relative to the amount of funds that are flowing in and out.

I do agree that there are fundamental flaws in the Social Security System and
I have said many times, though not here, that I will gladly pay into social
security and never receive any benefits. I don't see any other solution and I
am volunteering to take the hardship.

If enough people join me, we can fix social security. Like a balloon that
slowly deflates through controlled exhaustion...

~~~
redrobot5050
No, social security was a good example and a good idea.

Does anyone remember the parody of Gore on SNL saying "Lockbox"? Does anyone
remember why?

See, GM is in trouble (and claiming its workers cost $75/hr) because it had
huge pension obligations, but instead of saving some of its revenue for when
the chickens came home to roost, it'll will just bank on the company's revenue
growing without bound (like homeowners banked on their property values).

The only problem is when this doesn't happen.

Now, the government, instead of spending its money wisely and saving it for
the social security insolvency that hangs over our heads, decided (under Bush
II) to issue one-time "tax rebates" to stimulate the economy.

Anytime we actually have money to pay into social security, we use it for some
stopgap measure like paying down our trade deficit, tax rebates, etc. If we
followed a rational funding policy for Social Security, both in good times and
in bad (like when you make steady payments on a mortgage) then we wouldn't be
worried about it.

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VonGuard
My favorite comment on that blog, by far, is the dude who wants Cuban to fly
him out to texas so he can pitch him on his Star Wars Toy sales startup.

~~~
josefresco
His name is Kevin Gawthrope and he's on Twitter <http://twitter.com/gawthrok>

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mjnaus
I am having somewhat of a hard time figuring out how this "stimulus plan"
helps the economy, as it appears it's intended.

If a startup is able to reach profitability within three months, this startup
surely wouldn't need Mark Cuban's money to move forward and create jobs at
some point in the future. They would have a rather big chance at succeeding
even without this extra cash.

Mark presents this initiative as doing something for the greater good and the
economy, however investing in companies that need to be profitable within
three months (assuming funding will stop if they don't reach profitability
within that time frame) is not exactly a risky investment and looks more like
an easy way into something new for Mark.

~~~
whatusername
the "open source" nature of it perhaps? The fact that these business plans
need to be posted in full - means that other places can duplicate them.

(also - that's probably the secret - this is probably not a tech play....
Think small local (but replicatable) businesses)

~~~
alain94040
You nailed it. It's a great local stimulus and it could put a bunch of people
back to work, locally. The condition to be sustainable means that he doesn't
want to pay your salary for more than a few months, while you open your store.

The fact that it's open means every person in every town can open the same
store and succeed as well, without directly competing.

~~~
whatusername
:) But when _this_ community thinks startup / new business we instantly think
google/facebook/twitter without looking at other alternatives.

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TomOfTTB
Here’s the thing. If you’re a person with a "big idea" that idea means more to
you than just something that popped into your head. It’s your hope. It’s what
may be your big chance one day. So it's a big deal to you.

He’s asking people to basically give up on that dream. Since it would be easy
for the idea to be stolen by someone with more resources you basically have to
renounce the idea when you reveal it to the world. In return for that
sacrifice you might create a company that would, at best, produce a minor
positive impact on the economy as a whole.

Which is the kicker as far as I’m concerned. No company created like this is
going to save the economy. At best you’ll generate around a hundred jobs in an
environment that’s shedding hundreds of thousands a month. Meaning even the
most altruistic person will have to get over the fact that they won’t be doing
all that much good with this.

Seen like that I don’t see many people taking him up on this offer.

~~~
fallentimes
But the execution is almost always worth more than the idea. Ideas tend to
change a lot once you get started.

And of course one thing won't change the economy, but helping to create new
businesses is a great thing.

~~~
TomOfTTB
But that’s sort of my point. Mr Cuban’s rules limit the scope of what you can
do. If you have to break even within 60 days than you can’t have that many
resources (a 2 person operation at best I would assume). So say you come up
with the idea, he funds it, and you get to work with one other person.

Now what’s to stop some company who sees your idea (which is probably worth
stealing since Mr. Cuban liked it) and puts 6 people on it for the first 2
months. No matter how well you execute it’s hard to beat a team 3 times your
size who are working on the same basic idea.

Because even if you execute better they can self correct fast enough to kill
you off.

~~~
fallentimes
I sort of see what you're saying, but people's ideas are everywhere and are
copied all the time.

Also, more people + more money != faster or better execution.

~~~
TomOfTTB
I think we're pretty much on the same page. The only distinction I would make
is that I think more people + more money + a shameless willingness to copy
your competitors good features might equal better execution.

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callmeed
I submitted one of my (many) ideas. If anyone's interested, here it is:
[http://blogmaverick.com/2009/02/09/the-mark-cuban-
stimulus-p...](http://blogmaverick.com/2009/02/09/the-mark-cuban-stimulus-
plan-open-source-funding/#comment-58149)

(feedback more than welcome)

~~~
run4yourlives
If you can get that launched and advertised, you'll win for sure... biggest
issue I'd imagine is that the wedding industry is a local one, and you'd need
lot's of vendors in the queue for the brides to find things worth their while.

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fascinated
This is the most arrogant thing I've recently read (though maybe, he is
laughing really hard now as many people have bit the bait). Seriously, wow.

What is someone's incentive to publicly post a biz plan+idea in a blog comment
over there? Apparently, a tiny amount of money and likely no other help from
Mark, wow.

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jmtame
google, youtube, and facebook would never have made it past his litmus tests.

you've got 60 days to grow a tree. start watering.

~~~
agotterer
Yea, but besides Google, Facebook and YouTube havent been profitable in 5
years, let alone 90 days. I'm pretty sure that if youtube doesnt come up with
a viable business plan in the next year it might not even be worth keeping.
Facebook on the other hand has serious revenue potential.

~~~
david927
> Facebook on the other hand has serious revenue potential if it can survive
> the recoil from its sudden popularity, and if it can survive the onslaught
> of competitors. But those are both big if's.

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Fuca
I like this Guy good will to always come up with win-win situations all the
time with sincerity and open mind.

Just wonder why would be the reason for rule #2: He will not put his money on
any business getting revenue from ads; I do not see Google going bankrupt.

~~~
gcheong
For one thing it will probably drastically reduce the number of applicants.
More importantly perhaps, is it will force people to come up with viable ideas
for products that get sold directly to the end-user rather than just expanding
the number of advertising channels.

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omnivore
I think it's just a post he's using to drive traffic and mock people for his
own entertainment. I think any serious idea posted in the comments would
probably get deleted.

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patrickg-zill
Send me all your business plans! I won't sign an NDA and neither will anyone
else... but at least someone will profit from this (not necessarily you
however)...

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apstuff
I'd rather be bankrupt of money and have the idea than be bankrupt of ideas
and have the money.

Thank you Mark. But no.

~~~
david927
That's funny, because I submitted a business plan with the idea that 5% of
anything is better than 100% of nothing.

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mynameishere
I have an idea.

Selling whiskey. Cheap.

To Mark Cuban. Profits in 4 minutes.

