Mark Cuban Wished to Spend money on TikTok Years Beforehand When It Was Musical.ly

• Mark Cuban tried to position money into Musical.ly, the platform that may develop to be TikTok.
• Cuban says the platform misplaced its spark, turning into “agency.”
• In an interview, Cuban talked about specializing in monetization usually harms the actual individual expertise.

Mark Cuban tried to position money into TikTok’s precursor years thus far, nonetheless talked concerning the firm turned him down.

Cuban prompt content material materials supplies creator and journalist Jules Terpak in an interview on her YouTube channel that he cherished utilizing TikTok when it was referred to as Musical.ly.

The platform rebranded to TikTok in 2017 when it was acquired by its present householders, ByteDance.

“I beloved it on account of I am going to merely flip it on and there might very nicely be 15,000 folks maintain instantly that I am going to talk to,” Cuban talked about of Musical.ly.

“It was insane. I beloved it. After which, because of it bought into the dances and every little issue, it was gratifying.”

Cuban prompt CNBC he tried to position money into Musical.ly nonetheless was unsuccessful on account of the corporate wasn’t on the lookout for to lift further funds on the time.

Cuban prompt Terpak he thinks TikTok is much a lot much less gratifying than it was and “further agency.”

He talked about that the dance-focused model of the app was dropping billions of {{{dollars}}}, “and so in some unspecified time in the end, they needed to start out trying to make some cash.”

“I hottest it elevated when it was dances and music,” Cuban talked about. “Now it is a enterprise.”

Cuban talked about TikTok’s early magnificence was that its algorithm served purchasers with further of what they hottest than one other platform.

“Now it is agency,” he talked about. “It is what number of followers are you able to get and the way in which will you’re employed collectively these followers.”

There’s “a diminishing return” for purchasers when platforms monetize, Cuban talked about, pushed by enterprise realities.

“Ultimately, for people who’re there to generate earnings, you may wish to determine how one can generate earnings,” he talked about.

Cuban’s ideas hit on an rising frustration many consumers have with TikTok, the place they’re flooded with adverts and loads of see the platform as a pseudo-shopping channel.

Cuban has a TikTok account himself, the place he has 1.1 million followers — although he would not submit usually.

In 2023, he confronted some backlash for a “tip of the day” on incomes money, all through which he prompt folks to chop as soon as extra on further lattes and streaming suppliers.

“You wish to put that in a cash market account incomes 5, possibly further, % and watch that sucker develop,” he talked about. “That’ll make you’re feeling a complete lot elevated than that further latte that you just merely had that day.”

Some criticized the recommendation for being unrealistic and out of contact with the overwhelming majority of individuals.

Cuban did not take care of the critics, solely posting one completely different tip of the day to “be good” and “smile.”

In response to Bloomberg, Cuban has an web worth of spherical $8 billion. In 1990, he supplied his first tech company, MicroSolutions, for $6 million and went on to position money into numerous worthwhile companies by means of “Shark Tank.”

In October, Cuban launched he might very nicely be leaving “Shark Tank” after its sixteenth season to spend further time collectively alongside along with his kids.