Lessons Learned: Mark Cuban advises entrepreneurs to do their homework

Sweat equity goes a lot further than a lot of money

Mark Cuban belongs to a very select group of entrepreneurs who built a company with the right technology at the right time and then sold it to the right buyer at the top of a market.

After going public, Broadcast.com was bought by Yahoo in 1999 for just over $5 billion in stock, making it one of the best exits for any dotcom during the Internet boom.

Cuban used the windfall to buy the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball League and set himself up as one of the most visible -- and voluble -- moguls in professional sports. 

He is also an investor in entrepreneurs, as long as they have "an original idea."

"If you've got the next YouTube or the next MySpace, I'm not interested," because those businesses already exist, Cuban says.

Most of the dozen or so investments he's made have been decided via email, before he ever met the entrepreneurs involved, Cuban tells Vator.tv's Bambi Francisco in this quick interview.

You can see his full profile here and read his personal blog here.

"If you've got an edge and can come up with something that's unique and can prove it to me...if  you've done your homework and can tell me who all your competitors are going to be and how you're going to beat them, then I'm interested," he says. 

Conversely, "If you give me a presentation with a bunch of numbers, I'm not interested, because anybody can make up numbers." 

 "I want real entrepreneurs who realize that sweat equity goes a whole lot further than money, and brains and equity go a whole lot further than connections."