11-27-2022, 10:18 PM
(11-27-2022, 09:49 PM)F Gump Wrote: This.On the flip side, if Cuban can't take a bit of ribbing and is so sensitive that he'll not do a deal, why would they want to work with him? Read the room? I say take a joke!
While Cuban comes off as looking juvenile in the video, in this case on a bigger level he was right as he could be.
These guys came in with a PLAN to take a shot at Cuban and his baby, and that's not how you win friends (or get someone to want to give you money and help you make money). You want to play to the decision maker's ego, and get him to like you. Calling all the non-GS teams losers - and then making it personal (!) and intentional (!) by acknowledging IN THEIR PITCH how it was a slight at Cuban - is about as opposite an approach as you can take if you want Cuban's money.
Stroke his ego. How easy would it have been to use a Mavs logo, and suck up, and talk about how they would win the next one with fresher scents. But no.
In regards to Cuban, this was total disrespect, as if he's their buddy that they can throw under the bus and laugh at and poke fun of. But Cuban is someone they didn't know at all and whom they SHOULD have shown respect to in that show context. Instead of respect, they deliberately chose the douchebag route.
They also had a chance to read the room and didn't -- ie, when their attempt at humor came off to Cuban as a slap in the face, and everyone could see it on his sour face, THEY should have retreated quickly with humility. Either they didn't have a plan, didn't notice, or didn't care, all of which were bad bad bad.
The worst part of all for them was that Cuban is usually the worst negotiator in the room, and will let his emotions and best intentions out-weigh his business sense. Taking that shot at him, even if they felt it was cute, was an incredibly stupid move from a business perspective (and in Cuban's defense, when these pitch guys show you they are dolts in how they deal with people, isn't it smart to just walk away?)