Mark Cuban reveals his negotiation hack, which is to keep quiet and listen.

The billionaire Shark Tank investor learned how to use silence to his advantage, he said in a recent discussion with best-selling author Chris Voss on Fireside, the streaming audio app Cuban co-founded.   

Mark Cuban doesn’t want to be the first to quiz entrepreneurs on Shark Tank, instead, he prefers to “just be quiet and listen,” he said.

Shark Tank is a US TV show where aspiring entrepreneurs around the world pitch their business model to a panel of potential investors, Known as sharks. 

“The billionaire Shark Tank investor learned how to use silence to his advantage”

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Mark Cuban reveals his negotiation hack; silence

Silence gives you a chance to learn. There will be times when someone walks in on ‘Shark Tank’ and I’m thinking to myself: ‘There’s no way I’m interested. Or, if I am, I don’t have quite all the data that I need to make a decision,'” he said. “When I listen to the other sharks, they’re going to tell me if I have any competition financially to do a deal. They’re going to teach me things, potentially, about that industry… about the person,” said Mark Cuban.

Cuban mentioned his fellow shark, real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran, as someone he often learns from on the show, simply by listening.

“Barbara Corcoran, who sits next to me very often… her people skills dwarf mine,” he added. “She is so good at sizing up people and understanding who they are… I want to get a sense of what her perspective is. And just getting that input makes me smarter,” he added. 

“Silence gives you a chance to learn”

MARK CUBAN

Mark Cuban reveals his negotiation hack; silence which could help size up the entrepreneur’s true intentions

The Cost Plus Drugs founder notes that others’ reactions to his quietness are that they “always freak out,” he said. 

“People freak out with silence. So when the entrepreneurs are there, and I’m not saying anything, what happens is, they all start looking at me because they’ve heard from everyone else, and they haven’t heard from me,” said Mark Cuban. 

“The more you pay attention and the more aware you are, the better opportunity you have to get what you want” – Mark Cuban

“[They ask] ‘Mark, you got anything for me?,’ … I’m just waiting or I’m just listening. Because it gets all the other sharks wondering what I’m doing,” Mark Cuban added. “They know I’m not afraid to pull the trigger on a deal. And it gets the entrepreneur wondering what I’m doing because he wants to know if I’m going to bid, or if I’ll pay more or what else I may be able to add,” he said. 

A few moments of silence in a negotiation can give both parties time to reflect and result in better outcomes all around, according to a 2021 study by the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Mark Cuban reveals his negotiation hack, but he said for it to be effective, you must also practice active listening and observing

“The more you pay attention and the more aware you are, the better opportunity you have to get what you want,” he said. 

“Silence is powerful,” he added. “Silence is money … money in the bank.”