How Mark Cuban is Drawing Young Talent to Dallas

Mark Cuban helped bring a title to Dallas’ NBA franchise, the Dallas Mavericks.

Now, the team owner has set his sights on the millennials.

A video starring Cuban is the first in a series of testimonials featuring local business leaders and entrepreneurs speaking about the advantages of moving to and living in Dallas.

“Unlike in a lot of communities in a lot of states, in Dallas, you just get in the door and get to work,” said Cuban, shown with the American Airlines Center as his backdrop. “If you’re young and ready to start a business — no matter where you live in the world — I say, come to Dallas because it’s friction-free. It’s really quick, simple, and easy to start a company. There’s just a different work ethic here.”

“If you’re young and ready to start a business, no matter where you live in the world, I say, come to Dallas because it’s friction-free.”
Mark Cuban

The Cuban video is the first of many that will elevate the Dallas Regional Chamber’s Say Yes to Dallas campaign, targeting recent college graduates and millennials living in high-cost areas across the U.S. The two-month promotion launched today, and will be incorporated into Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram, and in pre-roll video ad placements on YouTube. The more immediate goal is to drive millennials to the Say Yes to Dallas site, which features employers hiring in the Dallas region.

Cuban (and the Chamber’s) message in the campaign: the Dallas region has the jobs, culture, and quality of life that millennials are looking for.

The Chamber’s “Say Yes to Dallas” campaign is aimed at attracting the largest generation in the U.S. workforce: those born between 1980 and about 2000.

Cuban‘s experience exemplifies the millennial startup culture. He moved to Dallas at the ripe age of 23, slept on the floor of a tiny Dallas apartment (which he shared with five buddies), tended bar at night, and worked toward steadily toward his end game of starting and owning his own company. That firm, Broadcast.com, sold to Yahoo for $5.7 billion in 1999, giving Cuban the money with which he bought the Mavs.

“Mark Cuban represents the entrepreneurial spirit of Dallas, and he only backs things he believes in.”
Jessica Heer

“Mark Cuban represents the entrepreneurial spirit of Dallas, and he only backs things he believes in,” said Jessica Heer, who is leading the Say Yes to Dallas campaign. “Mark agreed to appear in this ‘Say Yes’ video because he’s lived his Dallas startup success story. This is his way of supporting the city that gave him his first big break.”

The Chamber’s “Say Yes to Dallas” campaign is aimed at attracting the largest generation in the U.S. workforce: those born between 1980 and about 2000.