I enjoy watching Shark Tank, particularly the maverick Mark Cuban.

Mark was born in Pittsburgh (1958). His dad worked as an automobile upholsterer. Mark started his first business at age 12. . . selling garbage bags so he could buy basketball shoes. He now owns the Dallas Mavericks.

In his new book, How to Win at the Sport of Business, Mark talks about how he went from a directionless, penniless college kid to a billionaire entrepreneur. It was often a difficult road.

Three years after graduating from college, Cuban was living hand to mouth, going nowhere. He decided to start over. So, he packed up what little he had and moved to Dallas.

Mark rented a cheap apartment with a bunch of unruly roommates, often having to sleep on a smelly couch or the filthy floor. He had no money, no connections and no job.

Mark finally found work at a computer software store. The problem? He didn’t know a thing about computers or software.

Within just a few months Mark was selling more than anyone else. He was also getting paid to provide expert advice to customers.

How did it happen? Mark did what the other employees were too lazy to do.

He “READ THE FRICKIN’ MANUAL (RTFM)”

A quote from the book,

“Every night I would take home a different software manual, and I would read it,” Mark writes. “Every night I would read some after getting home, no matter how late. It was easy on the weekends. After drinking that cheap champagne, I wasn’t getting out of bed ’til about 9 p.m., so I had tons of time to lie on the floor and read. It worked. Turns out not a lot of people ever bothered to RTFM (read the frickin’ manual), so people started really thinking I knew my stuff. As more people came in [to the store], I could offer honest comparisons because I knew all the different software packages we offered, and customers respected that.”

The takeaways?

RTFM. . . Read The Frickin’ Manuals

The more you learn, the further you’ll go. Yes, it is that simple.

 

MAFL: Manuals Are Frickin’ Long

I have a long list of books I want to read. My problem is time. I’ll bet you feel the same.

Most books are built around a few ideas. If you’re like me, you can sum up the key takeaways in a book that took you hours to read in just minutes.

And that’s the point of RapidFire Books. If you’ve got the time, go ahead and read the books. If not, give us a try. We read thousands of pages searching for the most creative money-making ideas in the hottest new business books.

If you’re hungry for knowledge but starved for time (like me) check out www.rapidfirebooks.com. You’ll be so smart they’ll think you stayed up reading all night.