Show Notes
Who really decides what you pay for your prescriptions? Mark Cuban says it’s three middlemen controlling 85% of the market, so he built Cost Plus Drugs to take them on. The Shark Tank investor talks with KIND founder Daniel Lubetzky about the Luka Dončić trade and feeling like he let Mavs fans down, the $82,000 embezzlement that wiped out his company’s bank account, and why he partied like a rock star after his first exit. Plus: the MBA classes he snuck into at 18, getting put through a table by WWE’s Sheamus, and why he doesn’t want to be president. 00:00 Intro: 3 Middlemen, 85% of Your Meds 00:57 Meet Mark Cuban: Garbage Bags, Curiosity & Checking Your Hole Card 10:14 The Power of Broke: Getting Fired, Starting MicroSolutions & Why AI Is the New PC 16:26 Letting Go: Selling the Mavs & Watching Luka Get Traded 19:20 Running Lean: Shark Tank, Cost Plus & the 3 Middlemen Who Control 85% 27:37 Citizens vs. Special Interests & Would Mark Run for President? 36:59 Social Media Warfare: Why Algorithms Control Voters 41:07 Claimable, Learning With AI & Why He Only Punches Up 47:11 Shark Tank Behind the Scenes & Sneaking Into MBA Classes at 18 54:40 The Mexican Inquisition: First Million vs. First Billion & the $82,000 Embezzlement 1:01:37 Build or Break: NBA Fines, Flopping & WWE Tables 1:08:03 Hedging, Retiring at 35 & Partying Like a Rock Star https://www.instagram.com/DanielLubetzky https://www.tiktok.com/@daniellubetzky https://x.com/DanielLubetzky https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellubetzky https://daniellubetzky.com/ 🙋🏻Become a Builder: https://buildersmovement.org/ Music: Amos Cochran https://www.editscoremusic.com/ Production: Straybird Studios https://www.straybird.studio/ Post Production: Jennell Lewis & Scott Convery Social Media Production: https://www.edits-etc.com/ Build or Break Team: Executive Producer & Host: Daniel Lubetzky Executive Producer: Kristin Schneider Head of Programming & Production: Joel Rubin Marketing & Communications: Sarah Black Associate Producer & Social Media: Taylor Larned Booking & Scheduling: Kayla Rose Network Relations: Julianna Cohen
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https://www.instagram.com/DanielLubetzky https://www.tiktok.com/@daniellubetzky https://x.com/DanielLubetzky https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellubetzky https://daniellubetzky.com/ 🙋🏻Become a Builder: https://buildersmovement.org/ Music: Amos Cochran https://www.editscoremusic.com/ Production: Straybird Studios https://www.straybird.studio/ Post Production: Jennell Lewis & Scott Convery Social Media Production: https://www.edits-etc.com/ Build or Break Team: Executive Producer & Host: Daniel Lubetzky Executive Producer: Kristin Schneider Head of Programming & Production: Joel Rubin Marketing & Communications: Sarah Black Associate Producer & Social Media: Taylor Larned Booking & Scheduling: Kayla Rose Network Relations: Julianna Cohen
https://www.instagram.com/DanielLubetzky https://www.tiktok.com/@daniellubetzky https://x.com/DanielLubetzky https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellubetzky https://daniellubetzky.com/ 🙋🏻Become a Builder: https://buildersmovement.org/ Music: Amos Cochran https://www.editscoremusic.com/ Production: Straybird Studios https://www.straybird.studio/ Post Production: Jennell Lewis & Scott Convery Social Media Production: https://www.edits-etc.com/ Build or Break Team: Executive Producer & Host: Daniel Lubetzky Executive Producer: Kristin Schneider Head of Programming & Production: Joel Rubin Marketing & Communications: Sarah Black Associate Producer & Social Media: Taylor Larned Booking & Scheduling: Kayla Rose Network Relations: Julianna Cohen
https://www.instagram.com/DanielLubetzky https://www.tiktok.com/@daniellubetzky https://x.com/DanielLubetzky https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellubetzky https://daniellubetzky.com/ 🙋🏻Become a Builder: https://buildersmovement.org/ Music: Amos Cochran https://www.editscoremusic.com/ Production: Straybird Studios https://www.straybird.studio/ Post Production: Jennell Lewis & Scott Convery Social Media Production: https://www.edits-etc.com/ Build or Break Team: Executive Producer & Host: Daniel Lubetzky Executive Producer: Kristin Schneider Head of Programming & Production: Joel Rubin Marketing & Communications: Sarah Black Associate Producer & Social Media: Taylor Larned Booking & Scheduling: Kayla Rose Network Relations: Julianna Cohen
https://www.instagram.com/DanielLubetzky https://www.tiktok.com/@daniellubetzky https://x.com/DanielLubetzky https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellubetzky https://daniellubetzky.com/ 🙋🏻Become a Builder: https://buildersmovement.org/ Music: Amos Cochran https://www.editscoremusic.com/ Production: Straybird Studios https://www.straybird.studio/ Post Production: Jennell Lewis & Scott Convery Social Media Production: https://www.edits-etc.com/ Build or Break Team: Executive Producer & Host: Daniel Lubetzky Executive Producer: Kristin Schneider Head of Programming & Production: Joel Rubin Marketing & Communications: Sarah Black Associate Producer & Social Media: Taylor Larned Booking & Scheduling: Kayla Rose Network Relations: Julianna Cohen
Jamie Siminoff was personally bankrupt before Shark Tank even aired. When Kevin O'Leary offered him $700K for 10% of his company, he walked away with no deal. Amazon bought that company, Ring, for $1.15 billion. In this episode of Build or Break, Jamie breaks down the actual mechanics behind the story most people only know the headline version of: why he turned down Mr. Wonderful on national TV, how everything almost fell apart before Shark Tank even filmed, and what he says now about first-night sales numbers that most founders get wrong. He also gets into the failed products before Ring (including an email he sent Nest's founder that changed his approach), what Ring's Fire Watch tool did during the Palisades fires, and why the app has reunited millions of lost dogs with their families. Daniel Lubetzky sits down with Jamie for an unfiltered conversation about rejection, conviction, and fish tanks. Fish tanks? Yes, fish tanks. 00:00 Cold Open & Intro 0:58 Meet Jamie Siminoff, the Garage Inventor Turned Billion-Dollar Founder 8:13 The Doorbot Era: Pre-Sales, Debt, and Desperation 11:41 Shark Tank: The Pitch That Almost Saved Him 22:00 The November Miracle: When Everything Changed 26:22 From DoorBot to Ring: Rebuilding Everything in Nine Months 28:54 The Safety Pivot: When Crime-Solving Became the Mission 34:43 The Mind of an Inventor: From Fish Tanks to Floodlights 47:32 Life at Amazon: The Entrepreneur in the Machine 55:21 The Mexican Inquisition: Jamie Sets a New Record 1:01:58 Build or Break? https://x.com/JamieSiminoff https://www.instagram.com/jsiminoff https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamiesiminoff/ https://www.instagram.com/DanielLubetzky https://www.tiktok.com/@daniellubetzky https://x.com/DanielLubetzky https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellubetzky https://daniellubetzky.com/ 🙋🏻Become a Builder: https://buildersmovement.org/ Music: Amos Cochran https://www.editscoremusic.com/ Production: Straybird Studios https://www.straybird.studio/ Post Production: Jennell Lewis & Scott Convery Social Media Production: https://www.edits-etc.com/ Build or Break Team: Executive Producer & Host: Daniel Lubetzky Executive Producer: Kristin Schneider Head of Programming & Production: Joel Rubin Marketing & Communications: Sarah Black Associate Producer & Social Media: Taylor Larned Booking & Scheduling: Kayla Rose Network Relations: Julianna Cohen