For episode 3 of The Thrive Global Podcast, in partnership with iHeartRadio, Thrive Global founder and CEO Arianna Huffington sits down with business mogul, Dallas Mavericks owner and “Shark Tank” star Mark Cuban for a candid conversation on how he uses his “geeky” superpowers to keep tabs on his kids.
The tech-obsessed father of three has found himself not only managing his businesses, but his kids’ phone time. Cuban has Cisco routers with management software that allow him to detect the apps his kids are currently using — and shut down all activity. Unsurprisingly, his 13-year-old daughter isn’t a fan.
“That’s the downside of having a geeky dad, you know. I can figure all this stuff out,” Cuban says.
At first Cuban had his children earn their Netflix hours: For every hour the kids read, they got two hours of Netflix. “And that worked out really well until one of her friends gave her her password.” he says. “I caught onto that very quickly…I try to stay one step ahead, and it’s good for me, too, because it keeps me abreast of all the new apps and all the new technology.”
He employed a similar tactic with his son whose time playing Minecraft is now earned in math problems.
“On one hand, getting better at Minecraft, which can be intellectually stimulating and a learning tool is great. But watching these videos over and over and over again, we had to put time limits on it,” Cuban says. “If he watched math videos or did math problems for me, he could earn time to watch Minecraft videos.”
Download the podcast here to learn how you can thrive like Cuban, and be sure to stay tuned for more episodes of The Thrive Global Podcast, featuring astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and bestselling-author Glennon Doyle Melton.
Listen to the The Thrive Global Podcast Episode – Episode #3: Mark Cuban on iHeartRadio
Stream the The Thrive Global Podcast episode, Episode #3: Mark Cuban, free & on demand on iHeartRadio.www.iheart.com
You can also listen to the Thrive Global podcast internationally for free on iTunes and Stitcher.
Originally published at medium.com