Mark Cuban would totally hate me
I love Mark Cuban, and I recently listened to a bunch of his interviews on different podcasts.
And on one of those podcasts (I can’t find which one 😔), he said something along the lines of:
When startups pitch me, I never invest in the Harvard, Wharton, Bain, BCG, McKinsey founders.
Now, as someone who has gone to Harvard College, Harvard Business School and worked at BCG, I’ll admit it — I bristled.
I was like, “Hey! But I have all these fancy names on my resume! I did a good job!!! Appreciate me, dammit!!!” 😂😂😂
But I totally see where he’s coming from.
Because the decision-making that leads you to have a bunch of impressive names on your resume can be quite different from the decision-making that leads you to build a successful startup.
Neither is right or wrong. And I’m certainly not saying that people with fancy names on their resume can’t build great startups — of course they can.
But there are two different ways to think about what to do next in your career.
Two different frameworks that you’ll probably want to use at different points in time, depending on what you’re trying to get done.
The Mark Cuban framework vs.
The McKinsey partner framework
Here’s the McKinsey partner way of choosing what’s next:
📊 Mitigate risk
👩🏻🏫 Go where you can learn best practices and be trained by experts
🥇 Maximize prestige and selectivity
And here’s the Mark Cuban way of choosing what’s next:
📈 High risk, high reward
💪🏽 Go where you can roll your sleeves up, learn by doing, and develop your own playbook
🌎 It’ll probably be a no-name when you go there… But you’re going to put this place on the map.
If you just graduated college or grad school…
The McKinsey partner framework would say:
Join a consulting firm, an investment bank, a rotational management program, Big Law, or any other training ground for young professionals.
The Mark Cuban framework would say:
Look for an interesting company and ask if they need your help. Or find an interesting business idea and try to make it work.
If you’re leaving consulting to join industry…
The McKinsey partner framework would say:
Join a corporate strategy or bizops group in a well-established company with a lot of other consulting alumni.
The Mark Cuban framework would say:
Get an operating role, roll your sleeves up, and figure out how to really run a business rather than just advise one.
If you’re in middle management and figuring out your next move…
The McKinsey partner framework would say:
Look for a well-known, well-respected company or department.
Get the best title you can.
Make sure your next step logically follows with what you’ve done so far and that anyone who sees your new job announcement on LinkedIn would “get it” and be impressed.
The Mark Cuban framework would say:
Look for an interesting problem that you think you can make a lot of impact on.
Title is less important, but DO make sure you have lots of space and ownership to run with things.
People on LinkedIn might not “get it,” but that’s okay. They’ll get it by the time you’re done, because you’re going to MAKE this the hot place to be.
Neither framework is right or wrong. Or smart or dumb. Or brave or cowardly.
There’s no moral goodness in using either framework.
This is not slander against Mark Cuban or McKinsey partners :)
These are just two different ways of making decisions.
But it IS important to know which framework you’re using.
Because what looks smart to Mark Cuban looks unbelievably stupid to the McKinsey partner.
And what looks smart to the McKinsey partner looks unbelievably stupid to Mark Cuban.
If you have mentors or advisors using different frameworks, they can give you VERY strongly worded but very contradictory advice.
If you’re using one framework but your friends and family are using the other, you’re going to get a lot of confused looks when you tell them what you’re doing.
And if you’re not sure which framework is the best fit for your situation, you’re going to be very confused waffling back and forth.
I can’t tell you which framework you should use for the decision you’re currently making.
But I can give you some questions to guide you.
Q1: Where do you want to go?
Is your end goal to be in the top position inside a selective institution?
(A consulting firm partner, law firm partner, investment banking managing director, C-suite at a Fortune 500 company, tenured faculty at a prestigious university, etc. etc.)
If yes, follow the McKinsey partner framework.
If no, say thank you for the fabulous training and start figuring out how to get where YOU want to go.
Q2: Do you have the baseline knowledge, training, network & relationships, and brand pedigree you need to do what you want to do?
Said another way: Would additional knowledge, training, network & relationships, and/or brand pedigree make a meaningful difference in your ability to do what you want to do?
If it would, go the McKinsey partner route. Do the prestigious, selective, training-program-esque thing until you’ve gotten everything you need.
If it wouldn’t, it may be time to stop collecting gold stars and start charting your own path.
Q3: How does each choice make you feel?
Does the McKinsey partner choice make you feel calm, secure, and on-track…
…or bored, stifled, and stuck?
Does the Mark Cuban choice make you perk up with excitement…
…or make you feel like you’re going to throw up?
You can make all the logical arguments in the world, but at the end of the day, YOU have to live the day-to-day experience of your choice.
Make sure it sits right in your gut, not just your brain.
This is just the start of the conversation, not the end of it.
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