Venture Capitalists and billionaires Oprah Winfrey and
Mark Cuban both are known for their full pockets and contagious personalities.
Each has their business hands in various industries, and each is very
successful.
Oprah Winfrey is a huge media mogul and an inspirational leader
to the world. Born in a very rural town of Mississippi she overcame much
adversity in her life to reach the level of success she has (Oprah, 1991).
After being a talk show host for many years, she began diving into various
realms of business as her popularity grew. Oprah used all these business
opportunities to contribute to the building of the empire she leads today.
Oprah is a venture capital investor that almost all investors
wish they had access to because of the “Oprah Effect” (Investopedia). Oprah’s
track record of investments has seemed to primarily focus on the self-help and
educational realms. In a business plan I imagine she looks for something that
is powerful, captivating. These components are key in a business plan because
they grab the attention of the investor, and also create an energy that is
exciting. If an investor’s attention is gained, there are no limits to where a
potential business deal can go with them. She explains that you must do your
homework before creating a business plan (Brewster, 2007) and by doing this
your business plan will be something ready to captivate, and it will also
ensure you don’t sound like a broken record to an investor.
Mark Cuban may be best known for owning the NBA team the Dallas
Mavericks, but in the entrepreneurial realm he is known for taking chances and
supporting business ideas he loves. Raised in a middle class family in
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, Mark Cuban began working at the age of 12 selling
garbage bags and has always been known as a “go-getter.” (Biography) In 1990,
he sold his first company CompuServe for 6 million dollars. (Biography) Since,
Mark has grown his empire to become a billionaire. Being a venture capitalist
has played a large role in the growth of his empire, a role he flaunts on ABC’s
show “Shark Tank.”
On Shark Tank, budding entrepreneurs present their business
plans in a presentation. If moved, Mark Cuban, one of the 4 “Sharks,” invests
in the business. (Shark Tank) After watching seasons of the show, I have
noticed that a key component Mark Cuba looks for in a business plan is previous
successes (if any) and if the plan has the potential to be more than mediocre.
Mark Cuban is fiery, and looks for passion when it comes to start-up
businesses. Mark states, “Don’t start a company unless it’s an obsession and
something you love.” (Cuban, 2012) This tells us that a sense of commitment and
dedication is a must to be present in business plans that he may be investing
in.
Although Mark Cuban and Oprah Winfrey are very different investors,
they both have what it takes to help a business succeed and they each have
their ways of telling if they want to do so or not.
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