Mark Cuban built his first business, MicroSolutions, by mastering one basic thing.
He focused on learning as much as he possibly could through reading.
In his book, How to Win at the Sport of Business, he calls it RTFM.
Read the Freakin’ Manual
How often do you skim a lease?
How often do you quickly scan the JV docs or development agreement?
How often do you rush through the construction contract or design proposal?
Reading is fundamental to any and every job, even real estate and construction.
Are you and your team putting enough of an emphasis on reading both far and wide?
Are you reading enough to understand what you know, and more importantly what you don’t know?
Taking it a step further, you will be amazed at what you can learn by reading.
Think about force majeure, contingencies, schedule delays, material escalations.
These things are spelled out in multiple documents that can have a major impact on investment returns.
In due diligence, most people read the summary pages of the reports.
What you sometimes miss is that 5 years ago the building leaked.
What you sometimes miss is that a major issue simply disappeared from the historic Environmental Report with no regulatory closure.
What you sometimes miss is that the Offering Memorandum disclosed the HVAC system is 40+ years old.
What you sometimes miss is that the elevator equipment is obsolete.
What you sometimes miss is that the contractor replaced only a limited portion of the facade sealant joints.
What you sometimes miss is that there are millions of dollars in unused Tenant Improvement allowances that you could be liable for.
If reading worked for Mark Cuban, I am going to make a bet that it can work for you.
What are you doing to master the basics? How can you read more?
The Real Con 005