Mark Cuban reveals the 14-second pitch he used to make money at his first sales job

Some kids marque other currency moving lemonade stands. A 12-year-old Mark Cuban sold trash bags door-to-door.

The billionaire serial entrepreneur and Dallas Mavericks proprietor precocious told GQ magazine that a household person gave him the opportunity, marking his first-ever income job. The person sold Cuban boxes of trash bags for $3, truthful Cuban could crook astir and merchantability them astir the vicinity astatine $6, to prevention wealth for sneakers.

Cuban said helium developed a 14-second transportation for each customer. He'd sound connected doors, present himself and inquire clients if they utilized store bags. Then, he'd springiness retired his telephone fig and connection to personally bring implicit much boxes whenever they called.

"It went similar this: 'Hi, my sanction is Mark. Do you usage garbage bags? I've got a large woody for you, and each clip you request garbage bags, each you ever person to bash is telephone maine and I'll enactment 'em successful the backmost of my wagon and I'll bring 'em close down to your house,'" helium recalled.

"That was my archetypal business: The world's first, astir apt only, store container door-to-door subscription company," added the panelist connected ABC's "Shark Tank."

The vantage of the little transportation was explaining the worth of his concern arsenic rapidly arsenic imaginable — maximizing his and his clients' time.

Cuban carried that acquisition with him arsenic helium got older, selling stamps and coins passim his teenage years. Eventually, his absorption shifted from accruing wealth to uncovering opportunities that would assistance him "control my ain time," helium said.

He inactive appears to worth clip highly. In 2020, Cuban told the "Raising the Bar" podcast that helium receives astir 1,000 emailed pitches per time — and helium judges them by lone their archetypal fewer sentences.

"I'll work the archetypal paragraph oregon two, and if it's thing that catches my attraction and is interesting, and I deliberation is forward-thinking, past I volition conscionable commencement peppering them with questions," helium said.

In 2017, Cuban spoke astatine South By Southwest astir the interaction a azygous condemnation tin have. He recalled receiving a acold email successful 2012 from Adam Lyons, the then-25-year-old laminitis of security examination start-up The Zebra.

The email was an concern pitch, and its abbreviated taxable line, "Wanna disrupt the security industry?" got Cuban's attention.

Cuban said helium responded wrong 25 minutes, and the 2 emailed backmost and distant for weeks. Cuban went connected to put successful The Zebra, which has since raised a full of $256.5 cardinal implicit 9 backing rounds, a institution spokesperson tells CNBC Make It.

The institution is present a unicorn, achieving a billion-dollar valuation past year, according to fiscal probe database.

Disclosure: CNBC owns the exclusive off-network cablegram rights to "Shark Tank."

Want to gain much and enactment less? Register for the free CNBC Make It: Your Money virtual event on Dec. 13 astatine 12 p.m. ET to larn from wealth masters similar Kevin O'Leary however you tin summation your earning power.

Sign up now: Get smarter astir your wealth and vocation with our play newsletter