Mark Cuban: The Best Equity is Sweat Equity

blogmaverick.com

22 points·toffer··7 comments

"... The reality is that for most businesses, they don't need more cash, they need more brains. ..."

Nice quote and a reality for a lot of software companies and is a key JOS essay: "... convert money to code through programmers ..." ~ http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000074.html

The suggestions here are pretty useful but the title, Sweat equity left a bitter taste. Sweat equity works okay where you are a founder not a hired hand. It really means lower wages with a chance of payoff at the mercy of founders.

More reason for starting your own startup.

Agreed. The term sweat equity is a negative one, but if you are joining a company at the stage Cuban is referring to (i.e. when it has little to no cash) you should be getting a reasonable amount of equity -- at least enough to make your hard work worthwhile.

I first read the Mark Cuban blog a few days / weeks back when he did a repost of his own success story. I was impressed and wanted to read more. The last couple of posts have not been so insightful as the first and leave large "what if"s unanswered. I will keep checking back for sure to see if another gem appears though. Maybe I am too wrapped up in looking for the bridge that takes me from intent and effort to success.

Something about Mark Cuban just pisses me off.

It's hard to take a tech commentator who still writes "MicroSoft" seriously.

Hey, sometimes old habbits die hard. It hardly makes the article less credible.

Probably because his company was called "MicroSolutions". I'm willing to overlook it. His essays are interesting to read.

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