Mark Cuban’s advice for high schoolers

Photo+courtesy+of+Gage+Skidmore+from+Peoria%2C+AZ%2C+United+States+of+America%2C+CC+BY-SA+2.0

Photo courtesy of Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0

Maya Nayak

Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban, an investor on the hit ABC TV show Shark Tank and the owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, recently did an interview for The Viking Logue. He offered his advice for high schoolers, his thoughts on Artificial Intelligence, and more.

Please note that this interview has been lightly edited.

What skills would be most valuable for high schoolers to develop?

The most valuable skills are math, science, computer science and business. BUT, and this is important, not everyone is oriented towards those subjects. You can be just as successful by trying as many things as you can until you find something you love to do and are willing to spend time at.

But no kid in school should stress if they don’t know what they will be when they grow up. Even college grads usually don’t know. Now is the time to learn all you can about as many different things as you can.

What advice would you give your high school self?

Cut my hair. It was down to my shoulders and I would chew on it in class.

You often credit your success to your willingness to learn by reading. What is the last great book or article that you read?

I’m reading all these technical articles about blockchain and NFT on Medium.com. It’s a great resource.

As we near normality, what should the government do to foster economic growth?

I think the stimulus was the right approach, along with getting everyone vaccinated ASAP.

You have talked extensively about how we must overhaul the healthcare system. What do you hope healthcare in America will look like in the future, and why is Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs a viable step in that direction?

I hope that this country self-insures every American without insurance so no one has to worry about the cost of care or getting sick. I hope that healthcare companies become compassionate and realize that you can make money and still have reasonable prices. I hope shareholders of drug companies that rip off patients sell their stock and the price drops. There should a higher price for compassion.

What common qualities did entrepreneurs that succeeded in pivoting during the pandemic have, if any?

They are agile. They realize that change is constant and they have to always be learning and adapting.

What role do you expect humans will play alongside Artificial Intelligence in the future?

Side by side. Humans are the auditors and implementers of AI.