"What I try to do is look where other people are not looking," said Mark Cuban, who was in Providence yesterday for a Collaboration Innovation Summit. "People are overly focused on the Internet right now, and they’re ignoring other opportunities. It’s all about content now. Look at where people are spending their money — it’s everywhere but the PC. It’s in consumer electronics, hi-def TVs, DVRs."

Cuban, 49, now has a sports, entertainment, film, and a digital television empire that includes the Mavericks, a high-definition television network called HDNet, and a chain of movie theaters. Last year, Forbes estimated his net worth at $2.3 billion.