Left: Jeff Bezos, Right: Mark Cuban
Bezos highlighted the benefits of that experience in a 2025 interview, according to Fortune. Because those are hard to find, he said, “Don’t get the perfect job.
The billionaire investor said an ordinary first job can help graduates build experience and demonstrate responsibility. “I always advise young people: Go work at McDonald’s,” Bezos said. Mark Cuban wants young workers to stop waiting for perfection. His advice echoes that of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos , who worked at McDonald’s as a teenager. “ You learn responsibility. You learn how to show up. You learn how to deal with people. You learn how to hustle. Cuban made a similar argument on a recent episode of The Diary of a CEO. Just get a job. Both emphasised developing practical skills rather than waiting for an ideal role.
“Even though your life mission isn’t to be the manager of a McDonald’s or a Dairy Queen or whatever, the fact that you can show a future employer that you moved up the line…that’s what you need,” he said. Speaking separately to Fortune, Cuban said early jobs can teach employees to follow a schedule, work under a manager and cooperate with colleagues from different backgrounds. He highlighted “learning to work for a boss and doing a great job” alongside “learning how to reduce the stress of your boss”. “Trying to figure out how to become more productive at your job,” he added. Cuban said a substantial career improvement can take two or three years. “I’m going to let you in on a little secret: While these things matter in the moment, they are much less consequential than you might think,” he told Stanford graduates. “People with very high expectations have very low resilience—and unfortunately, resilience matters in success,” Huang told students at Stanford.
Before building his technology fortune, Cuban worked jobs such as selling rubbish bags, slicing deli meat, teaching dance, and bartending. He argued that young people should consider what they can demonstrate through a job rather than judging it only by its title or industry. Cuban has worked a shift at Dairy Queen, while Bezos worked at McDonald’s as a teenager. The examples illustrate his argument that starting somewhere can create opportunities to establish a work record. Beyond interpersonal skills, Cuban encouraged workers to understand how their employer makes money, identify opportunities to contribute and learn what progression requires. He acknowledged that workers may feel stuck, but urged them to recognise that frustration without letting it determine their next steps. Google CEO Sundar Pichai has similarly argued that many early career decisions carry less lasting weight than young people expect. Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang, whose early work included washing dishes and cleaning bathrooms at Denny’s, has emphasised resilience. You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.