Mark Cuban Wants to 'Put the Fear of God' in Elon Musk with this Business Investment
Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban is out for a piece of fellow billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk.And while it won’t (unfortunately?) be in a caged ring or some sort of bizarre Hunger Games-style blood ritual, the stakes are high and the money is significant. And the prize? It might just be saving the planet.The Shark Tank pitch that could change the worldThe tech-sports-entertainment mogul and host of ABC’s Shark Tank announced his intention to go big on the solar energy industry by investing half-a-million dollars into contestant Catlin Powers’ One Earth Designs.Cuban, not one to shirk from a bit of controversy, bluntly asked Powers if she “could put the fear of God in Elon Musk and put them out of business?”Yes, she could, she replied. So Cuban got in for $500,000 and 4 percent of the business, plus a seat on the board.Powers was initially on the show to pitch a line of solar-powered electric stoves and grills that she claims can revolutionize the way people cook outdoors. The Harvard grad, who holds a master’s and doctorate degree in environmental health, came up with the idea after spending time with nomadic families in Nepal, and saw how damaging cooking indoors could be to their health.Out of the frying pan, into the moneyShe since created SolSource, a system whereby a mirror-covered parabolic dish uses the sun’s rays to heat cookware up to 550F. That, she says, can boil a quart of water in 10 minutes. It’s cooking that’s entirely fossil-fuel free and, as Powers says, “As long as you can see your shadow, you can cook with SolSource.” The stove retails for $499, the Classic Grill Pan for $89.99.But as nifty as that sounds, it was Powers’ next project that really got Cuban going. She told the sharks that she was working on a solar battery capable of collecting and storing energy for several days.It stores energy in organic molecules over multiple days at a time, a lot like plants do. It's a natural biomimicry system, and that system will allow us to cook at night and also cook indoors.The technology could theoretically be applied to cars as well.While the others passed, Cuban jumped, calling it a “billion-dollar opportunity.”If Cuban and Powers are serious about chasing and beating Musk in the solar industry, they have their work cut out for them. Musk’s electric car company Tesla bought solar energy services company SolarCity in 2016, and has since been busy building gigantic batteries in Australia and claiming floorspace for its solar battery Powerwalls and solar roof products at 800 Home Depot stores. There are reports of a similar deal involving Lowe’s.
How One Woman Went from Barely Being Able to Walk to Running Ultramarathons
"Sports helped me find my inner child. It was a gateway to exploring my inner life." Big words from someone who, until a few years ago, says the only running she ever did was “running after the ice cream truck.” In 2013, Latoya Shauntay Snell wasn’t running anywhere. She could barely walk. Diagnosed with sciatica, she’d been on doctor-prescribed bed rest for a year and a half. She’d lost her job at the New York Department of Corrections, lost another job at a food prep service, could barely take her young son to the park, and was gaining weight. At 5’3”, she weighed around 265 pounds and was using jokes to deflect cruel remarks directed her way, referring to herself as the “funny fat friend.” I used jokes as a tactic. But the cracks about her weight and unsolicited advice on how to lose weight—even when made out of supposed concern by her friends—were getting to her. So, having reached her rock bottom in May 2013, she decided to change. She joined a gym. "I had no idea what I was doing," she said. She bought and promptly ditched a few fitness DVDs, but stuck with simple moves like squats and jumping jacks. She learned, in her late 20s, how to ride a bike. And then, inspired by an online friend and to her own astonishment, she committed to running a half-marathon. I went to the track and a few weeks later I met the local chapter head of [online fitness community group] Black Girls Run. And they made me a more consistent and honest person. She says the fear of letting down her fellow runners by skipping her commitments inspired her to get up and out even when she really didn’t want to. Finding balance and happiness But even as the weight came off -- she lost around 100 pounds -- Latoya says she still remained unhappy. "I hated myself. Why? Because, even though I fixed my body, I hadn’t fixed my heart or my brain." Even though she was living a healthier, more active lifestyle, she still felt her extra weight all around her. I realized that my weight was my villain who kept holding me down. The weight existed in my brain. It took her a little longer before she was able to truly be happy, and it helped that she decided to focus, when she could, on her own happiness instead of that of others. You need to find time to embrace yourself. It worked. Now working as a freelancer writer, photographer and chef in her native Brooklyn, NY, 32-year-old Latoya keeps a blog called Running Fat Chef, where she indulges her passion for both fitness -- she’s training for a triathlon -- and food. RELATED: How This Man Overcame Addiction, Lost Nearly 200 Pounds and Got His Happiness Back She still suffers from sciatica and endometriosis, but she is not slowing down.
How This Man Overcame Addiction, Lost Nearly 200 Pounds and Got His Happiness Back
It was a long way down for Noah Kingery. And it took everything he had to get back up. In 2007, the former high-school star athlete from Dallas, Texas was playing professional youth soccer in Brazil and wondering whether to sign to a club there or come home and go to college on a scholarship. Life was looking good—until he decided to walk away from everything following a bad break-up. In the span of a year, as he camouflaged his pain with booze and fast-food, he put on 213 pounds, tipping the scales at 356 pounds at his heaviest —about two-and-a-half times his previous weight. “I went through depression, shame, you name it. Everybody who saw me was just like, what happened?” he said. Overweight and dangerously abusing alcohol, Kingery was nevertheless enjoying the outward trappings of success. He moved from soccer to fashion, and by 2009 he was running his own in-demand high-profile fashion company, Prep Couture, and living the good life in Los Angeles. Following the death of a close friend at the hands of a drunk driver, he even managed to lose weight. He got back in the gym and ditched the bad habits, but even as he lost 148 pounds, he says he remained unhappy. Eventually, he started drinking again. And then skipping the gym. And eating unhealthy food. The weight came back, and a flood of depression came with it. One night in 2011, ready to end it all, he was considering throwing himself off the 31st floor of his building when a timely phone call from a friend changed his mind—and saved his life. Post wake-up call After talking to his friend, Noah realized that he was in charge of his own life, and that if anything was going to change, it had to begin with himself. "I said to myself, ‘If this isn’t a wake-up call, you’re never going to have one." He got back in the gym, and lost almost 150 pounds in just nine months. And relapsed again. "By 2013, I gained it all back. I was right back with all the weight, all the addictions and absolutely no purpose. It took me losing everything, all of it, to get back on track." Noah had his last taste of alcohol in January 2014 and has rededicated his life to being better -- not only in terms of health, but as a person. My purpose now is my sobriety but also being a better man, a better son, a better brother, a better friend. Today, the 30-year-old is down to 166 pounds and has left the fashion world to become a nutritionist—what he calls his true calling. You realize quick that this journey is far, far more deep than having a six-pack and looking good. It’s about a lifestyle change, one that’s for real.