Think About It: Does Mark Cuban Regret Not Investing In Big Cat's Brain?
Today marks the first appearance on Pardon My Take by Dallas Mavericks owner and Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban. However, today does not mark the first time that Mark Cuban has met with Dave, Big Cat, and appeared on other Barstool content. Let's flash back to about four years ago, when Mr. Cat met with Cuban to try and pitch him some ideas in the video below:
Fast forward to the present, and here we are. Mr. Cat, Cuban, and basically everyone else in the sports world happened to be in Miami last week for the Super Bowl. Here is the story of how Cuban got in touch with Mr. Cat and Mr. Commenter, and the trio reflects on whether or not the Mavericks owner/Shark regrets not investing in some of Mr. Cat's ideas:
Mr. Cat: I've wanted you to come on Pardon My Take for a very long time. And it so happens we are in Miami, we're taping this right before the Super Bowl. The Penn National deal gets announced, and a lot of congratulations come my way. All of a sudden, I look at my email. I have an email from Mark Cuban replying to an email asking him to come on Pardon My Take from 2017! That's a power move, to just reply to a three-year-old, like wasteland of a thread.
Mark Cuban: Sometimes you've got to take your time to get it right.
Mr. Cat: You had an opportunity to not only invest in my brain, but to have half of Barstool for free. Any buyer's remorse?
Mark Cuban: No. Because who needs the fucking money? I got plenty of that shit.
Mr. Commenter: You don't want $250 million?
Mark Cuban: It was 160, don't exaggerate.
Mr. Cat: Ohhhh you looked at the deal!
Mark Cuban: And you don't own it all! I'm a Shark Tank motherfucker!
Mr. Cat: So, wait, do you remember when we came in and pitched it [Barstool] to you?
Mark Cuban: Yeah. "Think About It" was one of the best gets ever.
Mr. Cat: Trademarking "Think About It," because now you're thinking about it.
Mr. Commenter: I was actually very upset with that video because (before I worked with Barstool) Big Cat hit me up and he said, "Hey, I'm about to sit down with Mark Cuban. We're gonna pitch him some stuff. Do you have any ideas? I gave him a great idea, which we've subsequently pitched to Rob Gronkowski, who loves it. But you shot it down in about half a second. It's called "Brotein." It has alcohol and caffeine in it.
Mark Cuban: So, it's Four Loko with protein.
Mr. Commenter: That's exactly what I'm going for. College kids would eat that shit up. And I was a little bit offended that you shut it down so quickly.
Mr. Cat: So, the thing that makes me happy, though, is that you have been thinking about it.
Mark Cuban: I think about it.
Mr. Cat: Think about it has been rattling in that brain for five years now. That's actually better than you buying us. So do you regret, though, not investing in my brain? Because I just I remember I was gambling too much and I needed the cash. I needed to get liquid fast. And I was going to give you 10 percent of all future earnings for one million dollars. Do you regret that?
Mark Cuban: No.
Mr. Cat: Because you think I would have just been lazy after you gave me the money?
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Mark Cuban: Yeah. Like you said, you wanted liquidity and I wanted you to starve and struggle. And look where it got you. You learn the most when shit ain't working. And you have to hustle the most when you think it's the darkest. And that's where the best entrepreneurs learn the best lessons. So you owe me money for saving your ass.
Mr. Cat: It's true. And that video was very funny because Dave pitched Barstool to you. You boiled it down to, "You guys are in the hard dick business," and you told Dave, "You have a great product, but you work too hard and you need to find a way to make it easier, to make it bigger." And I remember when you said "No, I'm not investing," Dave walked out and he was like, "Mark Cuban likes us. I just got to keep grinding." It's like, no, it's the opposite of what he said. And finally, we realized, you know, we've hired 215 people, a ton of, you know, staff and everyone else.
This is a (no pun intended) very cool, full-circle story. Mr. Cat and Mr. Cuban crossed paths just as Barstool was continuing to get bigger and bigger four years ago. Things didn't quite work out the way that Mr. Cat wanted, but here we are today. It was CUBAN who took the initiative to ensure he could secure some time on the No. 1 sports podcast by... scrolling back and replying to an email that's three years old?! Strange, but true. And awesome, too. So, the next time Mr. Cat and/or Mr. Commenter ask a potential guest to come hop on the show to kick it back and chat for a few minutes, I think it's fair for he or she to do one, small thing when given the offer...
Think about it.