Playing our Part - Mark Cuban at Zeitgeist Americas 2011

Joe McMackin · Top Commenter · University of California, Santa Barbara
If you were 22 again and didn't have money, what industry would you launch your first startup in?

Alexander Taub · Lead Business Development and Partnerships at Aviary
Hey Mark - Do you see a big opportunity around marrying online video content and commerce? Whether product placement, merchandise, etc with what people are watching. And if so- how will that look?

Will Weinraub
Hey Mark - I've bootstrapped my company until now and am about to launch. I'm looking at my bank account and realize I got just about enough to take a quick flight to wherever your at, and pitch you my concept. It's centered around video, and your advice would be indispensable. Taking my shot right here. Got time for coffee?

Max Woolf · Top Commenter · Carnegie Mellon University · 477 subscribers
So, how do you plan to get back home? :P

Will Weinraub
Max Woolf One thing at a time. :)

Greg Hammond · Saint Louis, Missouri
Mark, I'm the project manager/creative director for a new mobile social networking app with location services - currently in Alpha. We have a number of original features we think will not only differentiate our app (which is a social network in and of itself), but are likely to establish new expectations re: how people find one another, communicate and share media/info. We're also able to integrate with any other social network (like FB) to provide them with a much needed boost to their mobile presence - and, you're right - FB's current mobile platform really does suck. We'd love to talk with you. P.S. We're also building new types of games on this platform.

Patrick Sullivan · San Francisco, California
I'd love to know Mark's thoughts on the danger of streaming video piracy. Many offending sites are hosted and operated overseas and can't be easily shut down - Homeland Security has even made some futile efforts.

A quick Google search will reveal illegal streaming sources for most every currently airing TV show. A quick Twitter search will provide a handful of illegal streams for every major sporting event. Even if TV is the future of TV, won't illegal online streams increasingly effect ad rates, subscriptions and eventually viewership?

Benjamin Walker · Texas A&M University
We all know about Broadcast.com, but what made your relatively successful venture MicroSolutions successful? Obviously it isn't one answer, but I would love to get a sense of why the exit was made possible!

Serge Bronstein · Top Commenter · C.E.O at FlameStorm.com FREE Blogging Platform
me too ... i am very curious how you were able to sell that business so successfully
Reply · · about an hour ago

Patrick R. Gibbons · Top Commenter · Las Vegas, Nevada
The U.S. spends around $1 trillion a year on education and we've been integrating technology into classrooms for over 20 years to no effect. Obviously something is wrong, so what do you think prevents technology from disrupting education in any meaningful way?

Mike Snavely · Austin, Texas
Loved your arc on Entourage. Will there be a movie, Ari Gold spin off, or some other vehicle to keep the franchise alive?

Michael Leeds · CEO & Founder at IntroRocket, Inc.
Of all the businesses you have seen, what is the common thread for the most successful ventures?

Brett Strauss
Hey Mark! Will you take a meeting for my local Dallas technology start-up?

Andrew Platkin · Bloomington, Indiana
Hey Mark, are you looking for an intern?

Andrew Weyrich · Fairfax, Virginia
Hi Mark - I pitched 'America's First Free Cell Phone Plan' to you on season 2 of Shark Tank on Nov 1st, 2010 and I didn't get an investment and my segment never aired but it was just a thrill just to pitch to you. I was soo nervous just standing 25 feet away from you :). Just a big fan of your persistence, success and vision.

Ok - on to my question. It seems like about 80% of new startup digital companies are sort of just a better mouse trap (another photo sharing site etc) instead being a really original and innovative idea that solves real problems that face the United States today (obesity, debt, parking, finding, hiring and keeping the best people) etc etc. Do you think young entrepreneurs shy away from solving 'boring problems' because starting another way to photo share is is more sexy, consumerish and fun? (and much easier to start?) If so - what are some of the biggest problems that the next generation of digital entrepreneurs should solve?

Jason Glickman
Hi Mark - my question is not specific to basketball but it does involve how you see technology affecting sports. With the rise of platforms like Twitter, Foursquare and Getglue, as well as the push to try to socially gamify almost everything, watching sports on TV may become much more of an interactive, lean forward experience. Do you think this will begin to happen? If so, do you think its a good thing for the game or does it distract and make the experience less pure?

Timothy James Brown · Top Commenter · Co-Founder, CMO at Reqvu
Obviously our social behavior changes over time as the usage and tools.... mature (if that's the right word). We've launched a product that we think is "Where the puck will be" soon (but isn't really now). Q. Do think there is space for demand driven social behavior rather than strictly broadcast as it is today? We're tackling video and picture sharing by creating a fun social way to ask for what you want to see.... www.reqvu.com

Hanson Yuen · Top Commenter · Atlanta, Georgia
Hi Mark, loved watching you on Shark Tank. The most memorable one was when you threw money in that fire hose business.

So my question is, how did you convince your old client to partner up with you and found MicroSolutions as a fired salesman? What specialty and how did you contribute to the business?

I wiki'ed and google'ed for your bio but most articles I had found fail to explain the sequence of that particular stage of your life.
Reply · · 2 hours ago

Jordan Elpern-Waxman · UPenn
TV has evolved a lot, from black-and-white to color to HBO, TBS, MTV, ESPN, CNN, Comedy Central etc, to cable packages w/ hundreds of channels, to streaming distribution via Hulu. The future of TV is TV... but TV always has and always will be changing. With non-gaming entertainment out of the VC comfort zone, who will make the bold investments to create the next iteration?

Martin Crampton · Top Commenter · Works at Newbrain - Founder
Hi Mark,
Given VC's power lies in being in the deal flow but I wld think they only get to see perhaps 20% of all start-ups, how can we increase the rate of both & keep both groups happy? (Ps Be interested to hear from Angel.co as to how many of their funded start-ups don't have prior successful 'connections'. I want to have my faith restored :)

Josh Barkin · Top Commenter · CEO at Stagename
Mark, do you think digital music companies like Spotify, Last.fm, Turntable.fm etc. can be profitable companies, when 40% of Americans report they don't pay for music and never will, and this number will continue to grow?

Farhad Ghayour · Arizona State University
Did you ever have a major turning point in your life where you realized something you were doing/thinking was inherently wrong? If so, please explain...

Northeast Service Cooperative
Hi Mark, How do you see the growth in private networks - regional, national and global - reshaping today's rather homogenized view of the Internet?

RH Blanchfield · Top Commenter
Mark Cuban is one of my favorite entrepreneurs and proof you don't have to be in the valley to be a success.

Michael Johnson · Syracuse
Mark, how do you know when it's the right time to sell?