Mark Cuban’s advice on how to fight through the crisis

© LinkedIn Mark Cuban

A few weeks ago, shortly after it became apparent that this pandemic was going to do inexorable damage to the economy, Mark Cuban showed up on LinkedIn with an offer: Suffering small business owners could post their question and he’d give as much help as he could.

The response was overwhelming. His post garnered nearly 200,000 reactions and more than 10,000 comments from people who found their life’s plans suddenly shattered. Restaurateurs, gym owners, freight movers, consultants, nonprofit managers, even an underground utility compliance evaluation entrepreneur explained their situations. Cuban doled out ideas — and LinkedIn members offered up their own advice.

At the same time, my team and I were trying to figure out what to do with This is Working, the interview series where I've sat with dozens of the top people in business and culture to learn about how they’ve steered their careers and their enterprises. In our new world, in-person is out. And there is only one topic that currently matters: How to get through this. So we retooled.

What you have here is the new This Is Working. I’ll be talking exclusively with leaders who are showing the way through this crisis and we’ll do each interview as a LinkedIn Live (recorded from my home, of course), which means you’ll be able to ask your questions in real time. Just follow LinkedIn Editors to get updates on who is appearing and to get notified when we go live. We’ll edit the best of each interview into the This is Working podcast, which you can subscribe to on Apple, Stitcher, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.

Our goal is to provide professionals with real answers and real hope.

Considering the demand for Cuban’s insights, it was natural that we kicked off with him. Cuban is a self-made billionaire who is motivated to help others find their own success. When he left Indiana University and wanted to keep listening to IU basketball, he crafted a streaming radio service called Broadcast.com that he later sold to Yahoo for $5.7 billion ($8.7 billion in today’s dollars). He bought the Dallas Mavericks and became a fan favorite for his emotions and investments in the team and experience. When the NBA season was frozen because of the virus, Cuban immediately promised that hourly workers would continue to get paid. He’s the original host of Shark Tank and, if you judge by the cheering of my kids as they watch, the soul of the show: His Pittsburgh roots show off in his honest and empathetic talk with those pitching him.

In our Live show, Cuban had tangible insight to offer professionals. For small business owners, he had three big takeaways:

Take action now: Whatever your employees were doing before, they now all need to be refocused on doing whatever it takes to save the business. (It’s clear that we all need to learn how to cold call.)

Be compassionate and be giving: Everyone is suffering. Give with your heart — and with ownership stakes.

Be honest and listen: Your employees and customers need to hear clearly where things stand; be open with them and solicit their ideas

And for jobseekers, he also had ideas and some optimism. Perhaps the most important nudge: “You don't need a perfect job, you just need a job. You just gotta get through this period. Hopefully we get to the other side and then you reevaluate and go from there.” And for those who can afford it: Start thinking about new ideas and invest in sweat equity from friends and family.

Cuban also explained why he’s switching to Tide detergent — and what that means for businesses, big and small. I hope you’ll join us for future recordings and download the interview with Cuban today. Let me know who you’d like to hear from in the comments — and how you’re taking action today.

We’ll get through this together.