Mark Cuban Shares The 4 Simple Keys To A Perfect Pitch

Mark Cuban knows a thing or two about investments. When he's not screaming on the sidelines of Dallas Mavericks games or writing his frank blog posts, the billionaire investor is blasting flimsy pitches that cross his path on ABC's hit pitch show "Shark Tank."

Luckily, Cuban broke down the basics of a perfect pitch at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference on September 9.

First, Cuban warned that funding isn't the "end-all, be-all," which is especially important given the intense focus on funding in most young Silicon Valley companies. Instead, Cuban emphasizes cash flow.

He keeps an eye out for the company's game-plan for becoming "insanely cash-flow positive." With the insane cash flow, he says, it's an easy decision for the investor to keep funding as the company matures.

The second major faux pas that entrepreneurs make, Cuban says, is asserting that your company is going to be a disruptive success if it captures a mere slice of a billion-dollar market.

Cuban tells TechCrunch he looks for four things when deciding whether to invest in a company:

The company's core competency: What you're aggressively, remarkably, and incomparably good at.

Why you're great: Why the team is totally capable of cruising through the storms that will inevitably come in launching a startup.

How the idea is protect-able: Why you're not going to get scooped by someone doing it more cheaply and faster than you.

How it can scale: How you're going to be able to serve the whole of a market - not just a slice of it.

For more from Cuban, watch the video.