Daymond John's Keys To Investing | Ep. 48 | CLUB SHAY SHAY

jeff bezos woke up with mark cuban's. money he's going to jump out the window. and if mark cuban woke up with my money. he's definitely jumping out the window. all my life grinding all my life. sacrifice hustle pay the price. wanna slice got the roll of dice that's. why all my life i've been grinding all. my life look all my life been running. all my life. sacrifice plus will pay the price. wanna slice got to roll it dice that's. why all my life i've been grinding all. my life.

hello welcome to another edition of club. shay shea i am your host shannon sharp. i'm also the pride of club shay shea and. the guy that's stopping by today for a. conversation is drink is a fashion mogul. he's a branding guru an entrepreneur. expert savvy business executive a new. york times best-selling author founder. president and ceo of fubu a shark on the. four-time award-winning series shark. tank the people shark damon john damon. how you doing bro. well thank you for having me how you. doing i'm doing great thanks for coming. on the pod since i got you here.

i got a shark and so you know what i got. to make my pitch i might as well make my. pitch so here i go tell me what you. think tell what you think. hello shark i'm shannon sharp and i'm. here to try to raise fund a million. dollars in revenue to increase our. capacity for warehouse sizing um. we have a product a cognac. um called laportier the shea edition is. named after my grandmother and we've. already sold 7 500 uh bottles of this.

cognac but the problem that we're. running into is warehouse sizing because. you have to order it online and it takes. us a while to get the orders come from. france and get it into into the. customer's hand we felt that if we had a. warehouse big enough to house say 400. 000 bottles uh that way we could get it. on the shelves we can put it in say a. costco and say some of these other um. stores and that way we wouldn't have to. go through the the reserve bars and. these other. um online shops in order to get it to.

the consumer so we're trying to raise an. additional 1 million dollars to increase. our warehouse size cost per unit is 12. retail cost is 72 dollars. what do you think. i you know i think that you. you want to you know. take tiny steps and i think it sounds. like you've proven the market um in our. business what we call what you're. looking for uh in your business i think. it's an importer on our side it's called.

a 3pl yes uh that is called third-party. logistics that you probably can handle. that but me not. not having a deep understanding of the. distribution aspect of uh a liquor i. could be wrong. you see okay i feel good i feel good i. mean you didn't say i'm out you heard my. pitch you didn't say i'm out you just. say you know what. that's not really my forte but it seems. like you have a good grasp of what you. want to do and how you want to go about. doing it so i really appreciate that. let's get down let's get down to why. you're here.

you've been on shark tank if i'm not. mistaken 12 seasons you've invested 15. seasons. 13 30 13 13. okay. 13 seasons you've invested over 15. million of your own dollars in 107. startups. um one of the things i wanted to ask. before you invest into a startup. obviously you don't know anything about. these companies you're hearing what. they're saying what are some of the. things you're looking for to make you. say you know what i'm willing to invest. my dollars into this company.

yeah so you know there's a lot of things. that i'm looking for uh. simultaneously so number one i want to. hear the story of. um why was this product or service. created okay where did you find the. passion and the drive for it because. usually when people are successful they. they created something because they. thought that there was a void in the. market that nobody was trying to fill or. they would feel it or they they brought. an extreme amount of joy to people so i. want to know where your passion is okay. i want to know how many times you failed. because if you come on there and say.

well i was doing good and then i did. better then i did better well then why. the hell are you here you don't need us. so tell me about the failures. um. then i want to know if you know your. customer if you don't know your customer. who exactly they are where they're. located how much they're going to pay. for something how much they won't pay. for something well then you're using my. money as tuition. and then i want to know the numbers on. where the margin is like you shared with. me that really uh. great margin on your product because. then i see there's room for profit and.

last but not least. i just got to like you i just got to. feel like you and i can. uh have conversations together solve. problems together learn together make. money together and uh you know and we're. gonna keep doing that because i'm gonna. probably talk to you. you know often and especially if you. work with me i'm gonna sit next to you. maybe eight hours a day five days a week. for the next five years of my life it's. got to be worth it. you said something very important you. said passion because i think a lot of. times people getting sometimes people. get in the business for the wrong reason. well i want to make money well if you're.

passionate about something that aspect. will come so i wanted to hear i was like. okay is passion one of those things uh. how invested are you into the product. how knowledgeable are you about the. service that you're trying to sell me on. well if you're not knowledgeable on it. how do you expect me to invest my money. and you're supposed to be doing this. you're supposed to be the expert at it. so why would i invest my money. you have to unders you have to see the. passion and the drive in somebody. because um you know i'm guilty of it as. well but almost everybody that i've met. that were doing something and the and.

the concept came purely. because of the need to make money um. and it wasn't followed with a passion or. a drive or a love for something they. ended up either in the wrong place right. for that money or they failed at it or. when they made the money it was so. difficult that they blew it right away. because it was they they just needed to. get that money and then they go well. they had no other further drive and. that's what i really see is some of the. biggest challenges in entrepreneur now. you may say well what about the banking. system and venture capitalists yeah.

money is an after after uh uh you know. money what comes after but they love the. kill or they love to see these. structures come together or understand. how to put things together and. extract value from it that's what they. really love the money is definitely. something that comes up it's almost like. you playing ball i don't i don't know. how many you know i'm sure you i'm sure. you uh you know listen better than ben. than anybody else in the world you. probably understand how many kids were. just thinking about all the cars and all. the things they could potentially get.

right but you know and practice was. miserable you was you know it was. probably like you know. it was like i love every day that i'm. i'm learning something i'm getting. better and i gotta i gotta keep getting. better at this because i'm not gonna let. that person challenge i'm gonna take. that person out and that's a whole. different story than money and then. money came. so. obviously there are. a lot of things like if they do. something with fashion you do something. with a product you probably have a. general understanding of that but when. you invest into a a a a commodity that.

you have very little knowledge of. what makes you like you know what i. think this thing can work and you said. you spend six eight hours a day working. alongside that person so tell us how. sharp so once you say okay i'm in. how does the process go moving forward. well it all depends on what you need so. i think one thing that i left out is a. lot of times as a shark we may not be. into something because we may feel that. we don't add value to it it's something. that i don't know and you don't only. want money if you have something great.

you want smart money somebody who can. also help you right and not just give. you some money because if i only gave. you money and i and i really care about. what you're doing well then if i can't. show up then i'm taking a seat at. someone at the table as somebody else. would give you the money and put in. sweat equity and give you contacts and. give you knowledge and i feel like i'm. doing you a disservice okay so i have to. find you know a true pitch resonates. with somebody and it's very similar to. an infomercial a lot of times you don't. even know when you want something until.

you find these key moments in a pitch. right so it's like somebody say in your. home they go. has this ever happened to you when. you're like. yeah it has yes well it's happened to me. too and i found a better way my name is. damon john i failed seven times in. making this better way both but the. eighth time this thing is working out. right and if you buy this better way by. midnight tonight i'm gonna give you two. better ways for the price of one and if. you don't like it send me your money i'm. gonna send me your product i'm gonna. send it back to you and that's the way. that a real pitch goes you resonate with.

somebody they go. wait a minute i didn't i didn't think of. that and then you find a way to make. them buy in at a low cost and if they. buy in and they don't. really love it you try to find a way to. say all right don't worry about it i. love the fact you have trust in me i'm. going to make it easy for you to get out. of this and that's the best way of. pitches. that's how it was with the air fryer. with me i didn't really know i needed. airfry until i bought two of them. tell me about it that's how it goes. with but the thing is so okay you.

obviously you're very successful at what. you did what you do uh you started a. company from ground floor and you built. it up so. how do you i mean how did you like the. the three companies that you had the. most. success with investing your money. what was it about what they said that. resonated so much with you. it's a story that uh that i shared right. there so the best the best company that. i have. that's done the best uh from shark tank. is the number one.

invested company in shark tank so i have. the number one company in shark tank. history that has grossed the most money. now. ring doorbell did not get an investment. they did 1.3 billion dollars in sale i. mean as a sale to amazon but my company. bombay socks is the number one product. invested in shark tank history but i got. to tell you this pitch. they they found angles to work with me. that i didn't realize i had i go in the. shark tank because i had 10 clothing.

companies and nine of them were dead. after um. 2006 2007 nobody was buying another. shirt or jeans when they couldn't pay. their rent so the last thing i ever. wanted was another clothing company. because i wanted to diversify my. portfolio okay but these young men came. in and said we have socks number one. number two is the real reason we love to. uh sell these socks every time we. buy it you buy a pair of socks we give. one to those in need at the homeless. shelter because socks and underwear and. t-shirts are their number one request.

and we are selling directly to our. customer this is a high margin product. it is a great product they took the seam. out of the toe and so there's enough. money to sell directly to the customer. and give a pair away and why did that. make this attractive to me because i. used to always say you have to make it. then you have to be able to master it. then you can matter how can you help. people if you're not helping yourself. but simultaneously they showed me that. first of all damon retail is suffering. you don't know where retail's going they. don't even know who they want to be when.

they grow up we're talking directly to. our customer and we're also helping. those in need because i know you're big. into philanthropy and charitable. organizations and they switched that. whole thing around on me and i couldn't. wait to invest in that company and that. that's because they understood uh what. the target who i was the target really. wanted to see in life helping people at. the same time is dealing direct to my. consumers. you're known as the people shark and you. place an emphasis on people over the. product why.

because products come and go and there's. nothing new in this world i mean. facebook's a nasty chain letter the. snuggie is a blanket with two holes in. it and uber is a limousine service but. it's the people behind that it's the. people in front of it the people who are. the customers is the people who operate. these things daily that is critical if i. want to spend if i want to make money um. and not have to talk to anybody well. then i send my money over to apple i. send my money over to tesla and i send. my money over to shopify i was shopify. at 28. the high in five years it hit.

it hit 1800 okay today is half off and i. think everybody should buy it but. they're not calling me asking me how to. fix the back end of a website elon musk. is not calling me asking how to fix a. damn car and steve jobs even if he was. alive wouldn't call me and ask how to. fix a computer so if i want to make. money i send my money over there or real. estate so if i'm going to deal with. people i'm going to invest in people i'm. going to want to get to know them i'm. going to want to learn from them we're. both going to have an education have a. good time and if this business fails. we'll just start another one together. because i like the way that you get down.

so you're more into the relationship you. like the per you like the you like to. like okay we're in this together i got. something to lose you got something to. lose you're going to work your tail off. i'm going to work my tail off we're. going to make this grow we grow together. or we fail together as you mentioned. earlier okay we'll start something else. together. that's that's the way it is it's a. partnership. your. your mom was your first investor so your. mom was the very first shark before. there was a shark tape so how did you.

pitch your mom. [Laughter]. oh you know uh mom saw me putting in the. work um. she saw me put in the work and i had um. she's only working on fubu for about. five years prior. um i went to vegas and i got 300 000. worth of orders uh from stores who. wanted the goods i come home i go to 20. i go to banks i get turned on by 27. banks it's not their fault i didn't have. financial intelligence i didn't have. much to collateralize things with and.

something like a fubu was only done. maybe by crocodile across colors earlier. than me so it wasn't really something. that people could see value in i go to. my mother i said i turned down my 27. banks she said damon uh you've been you. know trying to contribute to this house. as long as since you were a kid i. wouldn't do this if you didn't have the. money let's take all the money we can. out of the house you manufacture and. deliver the clothes and put the money. back into the house. and that's how she uh you know she gave. me the funding and my mother went out. and got a hundred thousand dollar loan. on my house and i have no idea how.

because the house is worth 75. until. today i have an answer what she did for. the rest of the money but shout out to. moms. she did that twice. so let me ask you this how did. because food because normally a lot of. times that's a lot of money and for mom. to take out you know that's your home. and you know here's the thing i can't. fail or me and mom both gonna be on the. street. that's right. so you you really had to put your head. down you really had to grind to see this.

thing through to make sure. that mom didn't go belly up and you. didn't go belly up because we're both. gonna be belly up so. how confident were you you said you've. been working at this for five years how. confident were you. this thing's going to work. i was 120 confident that that that it. was going to work and i was. absolutely wrong. the story goal is that honestly.

i turned around and i had turned my. house into a factory my friends and i. was sleeping in sleeping bags next to. the machines we had all machines in. there my mother moved out. because she like your guys are crazy we. hired seamstresses um i was renting out. the top rooms to strangers to keep the. mortgage i was working out red lobster. uh still at the same time as doing. football and i turned around and a. hundred thousand dollars almost three. months later was only 500 left and they. were talking about taking my house and i. was risking uh losing my mother's most.

valuable possession and it wasn't that i. was i wasn't that i was spending on. lavish things but i didn't know how. money worked and i was paying 90 days. ahead of time for raw goods then i was. paying for a staff and and manufacturing. and then i was paying for shipping and. then the customers wouldn't pay me for. 30 60 90 days terms. so it really got bad and it was my. mother again who said i have one last. idea she took a uh ad in the newspaper. for two thousand dollars i i gave her. the money i went to red lobster went. back to work and the ad said uh million.

dollars in orders need financing she was. looking for what we call today a. strategic partner right and 33 people. call that ad. um but. 30 of them were named pookie and liquida. quakhua for short sal the sausage tony. two time. i think one per. 50 interest live in the adequate. collateral i think one person was named. kevin o'leary with a royalty deal in. perpetuity i think i'm talking about. real scumbags we're calling right but. three of them were real and we ended up. doing a deal um for manufacturing.

distribution with samsung's textile. division. so did you ever get discouraged did you. say man i didn't eff this up i don't. mess my mama's good name up i don't mess. this loan up i don't miss this i don't. messed up everything. yeah no there was some dark times and. that's the best part about i have three. amazing partners and every time they. were down i picked them up and every. time they were down they'd pick me up i. mean or vice versa excuse me and my. mother was still there saying you got. this and my community was behind me and. i realized that i had to make it work.

everything was online there was nothing. else to discuss it was just i had to. make this work you mentioned you got. turned down by 27 banks. were you using the exact same pitch or. when you go in there with a different. pitch each time and they still turned. you down. you know i've never been asked that. before i mean. the pitch got a little sexier after a. while but i think. i think probably by the 20th the pitch. got worse like come on man i just got. turned down by 20 people why did you. tell me that 21 get out of here so you. know.

i but you remember you listen i was i. was 18 and uh. no i was 21 at the time i didn't know. what i was talking about right. i heard a lot of business people say and. i don't know if you can attest to this. because you say you was working out of. your house you had the machines you're. sleeping on a sleeping bag he said one. of the biggest mistakes startups make is. they go get this lavish office space. they get furniture. for that space they're paying a a. mortgage or a rent a lease.

and they made no money. when some of the most profitable. businesses the apples the googles the. hps. amazon started in a in the garage. with no overhead. then you get going once you start making. money you can go get office space as. needed do you think that's one of the. biggest mistakes. that is the biggest mistake small. businesses generally fail due to over. funding and people like what do you mean. over funding. just like you said you know you want to.

eat listen if your grandmother made. really great cupcakes. you don't go and sign a seven year lease. and have a cash machine looks like a. cupcake and that chandelier looked like. a cupcake and those couches look like a. puppet again you ain't never sell damn. in one cupcake right you get you get a. kiosk. you know that you can rent for a weekend. in the mall right and you sell cupcakes. right um and that's how it works so uh. and and also the understanding is that. um money costs the more the earlier you.

take in money the more it costs. right because if you ask me now for a. hundred thousand dollars for 50 of your. business and i think it's great and i. you know i'm like okay here you go. well then let's say that business grows. to 10 million and now you need to raise. another 2 million well i ain't giving up. my 50. so where you gonna get that from home so. oh so don't worry he's gonna have to. work he's gonna have to work on his 50. percent because you good you straight. over here where you are. all good but if you prove your business. well enough. well then you go and get.

a loan from the bank because they see. the cash revenue coming in that loan's. at eight six percent you never know. where it could be from you're gonna do a. crowd funding raise so old people who. you are giving out shares in the company. but they see you have fifty thousand a. hundred thousand two hundred thousand a. million dollars worth of sales you know. so when fubu was uh we were doing really. when we first started for the first four. years i sold to only eight stores in new. york city and the reason i sold those. eight stores was i could have tried to. sell to 30 and 50 stores around the. country but if i had these eight stores.

and i sold eight shirts a week in it my. job was to try to get up to ten shirts a. week in it and after the 10 shirts add. hats in there and jeans in there and. make the ticket price more per store. then when i went to get distribution i. was able to say i can replicate this in. every store and every city and every. store in every country because i figured. it out so that's why i'm taking capital. too soon. do you still own the childhood home. no i you know what i don't i'm thinking. about buying it and turning it into a.

probably a museum in in in hollis queens. um wow so i'm thinking about doing that. you mentioned that your friends you work. with your friends kind of like lebron if. you notice lebron he keep he uh maverick. and rich and randy he kept his circle. kept the guys that were there from the. beginning. what did you see in them that says you. know what. they're going to be savvy business. partners they have the same mentality. that i have that we want to get better. and i want to see all of us succeed.

well that's a really good question. because um you know there's a big 05 an. obnoxious 05 on all the food stuff you. ever see it and the theory behind that. was we wanted to be five different. partners who were all at different taste. levels in hip-hop apparel and if we all. liked something and it probably was. something that everybody would like. because you know one guy dressed a. little more baggy you know whatever. cases um but that fifth partner never. stuck around there's only four of us so. we went through ten of those fifth. partners so there's ten guys walking.

around here talking about they're the. fifth beatles um. the other three that stuck with me it. was due to the dark times it was that. they found what they respected uh you. know each other's position um we didn't. partner up right right away we all say. listen if you do this amount this will. activate or trigger this amount of. ownership or whatever the case is and. and whatever the case is and i mean you. know i met one of them when i was three. years old i'm i'm turning 53 and another. so i've known him 50 years and the other.

two i met when i was in junior high. school and we're like brothers but the. end of the day is still a business we. have our structure in place on who does. what and why what's ownership who's. played this position do we have fights. yes but at the end of the day we respect. what the paper says and what we need to. do collectively to build the brand and. to support each other. if i'm not if i've read this correctly. you're from hollis queens run dmc's from. hollis queens i think ll is from jamaica. queens or he's. or he's from easter we're.

we're all in the same you know what. there's something in the water we're all. so what do you call it south side. jamaica okay so so nas and all them live. nasa nori uh they live really far away. but the rest of us right ll jaw rule 50. cent salt and pepper lost boys onyx um. intro tribe called quest uh james brown. used to live there uh uh. something's in the water but you know. what i think it is as as two brothers.

speaking. i think that you know when when 86 came. around and crack devastated all of our. neighborhoods a lot of brothers and. sisters moved on to either uh wanting to. be entrepreneurs of the street or un. unfortunately falling victim to the. drugs but we saw run dmc driving down. the block we saw llc then we turn on a. tv and we saw them performing in front. of stadiums and doing something they. love and what happens well ll puts on. his cousin as a as a as a as a bodyguard.

another person as a dj another person he. says you know you can road manage me and. what what happens after that then you. start to find other people in the. neighborhood to do this and that's what. people need to see and i hope that when. they see me on a shark tank knowing that. i couldn't be a brilliant uh athlete. like you and i couldn't rap singer dance. that that doesn't mean that they're. counted out because a young man like me. who just decided to wake up before. everybody and go to sleep after. everybody can make it in this amazing. country of ours and i think that that's. what we saw when we saw all these. amazing people from hollis queens and we.

said we don't have to sell drugs we can. do this and be part of it so that's. that's i think that's what really came. out of hollis queens you mentioned that. in the mid 80s the drug epidemic was. sweeping the inner cities it was going. all over but the inner city was really. suffering and while some were selling. drugs on the corner you decided to sell. clothing what was what what. what was your pitch. so how how do you sell a t-shirt or. jeans or a hat or whatever you're trying. to sell on the corner when people ain't. really trying to buy no clothes on the.

corner. yeah so it was tough you can't have thin. skin um. and and and a lot of the brothers and. sisters didn't even they stopped even. talking to me you know because they were. like and you know listen hip-hop culture. is very homophobic i think it's changed. a great amount right now but prior to. that they used to be like damien you. know what's going on i just feel like. i'm cool with my sexuality i um but i i. think passion is this and um. and and and the more i started putting. it on people the more other people. wanted to come around but those days on.

the corner were very very informative. it's like what you and i were saying but. i learned that i had 10 colors of. t-shirts i wanted to sell people but the. top two colors are 65 of all sales are. black and another 20 20 of white so now. i had two colors i had 10 logos i found. out the logos that was selling the best. now i had one logo and at that time. everybody's wearing a double lex so i. don't care if you're 110 pounds soaking. wet i'm taking the extra small out of. the top of the shirt and putting double. x in there just so you can feel good. about yourself um so i was able to home.

in all my customers and trust me i used. to stand on the apollo theater i tell. people this but i'm joking but i'm not i. used to stand out at that apollo theater. on 125th street at midnight when the. apollo let out and all those drunk. people told me what they thought about. my shirts and my mother so you know i. would just uh you know i figure it out. man you know rejection is not going to. happen to me a nose an absolute maybe. was college ever an option. i'm dyslexic um.

and that doesn't mean i shouldn't go to. college a lot of brilliant people in. college who are dyslexic i. all right so basically i told you about. run dmc i told you about i was on tour i. was on the first i was in a fresh. festival when i was 14 15. i was a cool. kid in school. and uh i got left back already so um. when i was about 18 i said i'm gonna. take one year for college and i was. laughing at all the other kids that were. going to college. and then when i was about 22. a lot of my friends were dead or in jail. i was a waiter at red lobster and those.

kids that decided to go get a formal. education or a higher education they. were coming back from school. and i was in red lobster with tartar. sauce on my on my apron getting them. shrimp and i realized. maybe i'm the idiot maybe i'm the one. who's the idiot because i refused to go. out and educate myself and that i didn't. look back after that i started taking. any course i could i started reading. every book i could i stopped hanging out. because i realized i was i was uh i was. heading down the wrong path just hanging. out thinking things are going to change. if i'm just hanging out and partying.

as a child obviously you know when. something that okay i'm not up to the. level that i should be i see other kids. being able to do things fairly easy. knowing that every everybody's on a. different level but obviously you felt. something was wrong so how did that how. did that make you feel what what was. going through your mind at the time. you know what was going through my mind. was uh. feeling inferior to people feeling like. um. you know i didn't know what dyslexia was.

at that time people weren't diagnosed. for it so it was feeling like. i thought i was cool i'm not. then i thought my friends were cool but. they're all dead or in jail. i need to do and i'm not going to go. down that path um. i need to find something that i really. love and i found i found the beauty of. the the making of the apparel is that i. was in love with seeing how somebody. would reinterpret what i sold them and i. would never even think of them wearing. it in that way but then when i saw them. i was like man that's cool and i felt. like i would dress people for the rest.

of my life but yet i also had i had a. a sense of. belonging to this. uh emerging music at the time called. hip-hop because i'd be able to go to. video sets and people would know me and. i felt like i was part of something and. they would kick every other kid off and. i'd have my little stinky you know fool. shirt and i'd be like i'm here to dress. method man and they'd be like. all right you could stay and i felt like. i belonged and i think that that feeling. we all want to feel like we belong to. something and i felt like i was. respected by other people. uh the right people the ones who.

disrespected me or didn't see value in. what i was doing that's their problem. i'm not going to let them get to me i'm. going to go and work with people that. actually respect me dame how old were. you. before you no longer felt inferior about. your frailties. well i mean i think that i think they i. think feeling inferior in certain senses. uh that. you know that could be that could be. today various things or it always. happens now now the fragility of it is. not that. it can't be i'm not the person that says.

somebody's just better than me right. it's i'm not applying myself enough. so. yeah i felt inferior up until like 30. you know by the time i was 30 i had a. lot of money in the bank i was well. known but well you wouldn't interfere. with it you you clearly you didn't feel. inferior after that point. no you still i still felt like well you. know what people don't respect you know. they don't respect urban apparel like. you know tom ford and versace don't care. about me yeah and then it was well i'm. walking in the boardrooms and it's not.

the guy you see on shark tank today i'm. walking in the board rooms people. thought that was the foodbook i was. going to come in there with. you know super baggy pants on gold teeth. and a gun in my waist and start. breakdancing and i'm like. you know and then then you know um and. then i i acquired other brands and i. found more and more success and um. you know it depends uh listen there's. always going to be somebody in you you. know there's all being somebody in the. world with a bigger winky and a bigger. wallet right right and um you know you. got to check yourself even though you. may not i don't feel inferior but i got.

to tell you if uh. if if just jeff bezos woke up with mark. cuban's money he gonna jump out the. window and if mark cuban woke up with my. money he's definitely jumping out the. window so there's always you know you. just gotta put it in perspective you. know and then then get comfortable with. yourself but no matter what apply. yourself and and go where you wanna go. was fashion your first business venture. venture and what made you decide to go. the fashion route. no fashion was like my sixth or seventh. but an official business yeah.

official business fashion was like my. third um i loved hip-hop um you know. hip-hop wasn't emerging it was emerging. technology at that time it was uh the. fact that the kids no longer had to. harmonize or play an instrument but they. were communicating through this new. forum of music about their hopes their. dreams their love their aspirations. we're talking about you know early 80s. when i was a kind of like a break dancer. right and i used to spend all night you. know ironing my clothes putting. permanent creases in my pants putting. doing fat laces dying my timberland.

because of course i dyed my children. every week i wanted the girls to think i. had a brand new pair of timberland every. week i just dyed them. right. but 10 years later i would realize that. i can actually put that love of this. music. together with actually. with fashion and then i tell people all. the time anything you can consume you. can sell. you know um so i i put it together and. it. and again like it made me feel like i. belong.

getting in the business you understand. and you said something very early on. targeted audience. did you feel like the black community. was underserved with a product that. representative represented them is that. why you went with fubu for us by us. yeah so. so a lot of time people think fubu was. uh. uh only for people who were black right. it wasn't so so what had happened was. timberland made a comment in the new.

york times that said something like we. don't make our seller boost the drug. dealer symbol is not owned by the same. company now right um but i always tell. people you know if people were buying. timber because of his technical ability. well then you know if you're a mountain. climber hiker or a construction worker. you need one pair of temple in a year. it's the best boot in the world right. but our market. we were buying it because of fashion we. were buying it like the kids buy jordans. and yeezys these days. you took a good die i was buying three. new pair of timberland a year and you.

called me a drug dealer and that's what. ticked me off now. i always believe they never become the. thing you're fighting against so i. created fubu for a culture right is the. culture powered by an african-american. uh art craft that started in the bronx. yes it is but. i i i would dress the i dress the. beastie boys i dress m.c search if it. was super hot when eminem was around i. addressed him i didn't care about your. color i cared about your culture i'm pro. i'm very pro-black but never.

anti-anything else right. how did you come up with the name fubu. because you know there's something about. not a long name like nike simple coke. simple fubu simple. i don't really remember how i ca you. know you know when i reflect over this. 30 years later and it sounds like it was. all. um really uh you know i was an architect. of all these great things no i just. i think i had two forties in the bag of. pork rinds and i came up with yo let's.

name this name. like all right let's go with it you know. it wasn't well thought out but over the. years it did it worked out and also you. know it worked out that. it's not something that you can easily. duplicate so a lot of people didn't know. they're like what's the food was that. like the poo poo platter what's the food. was it italian. you know is it is it asian is it indian. and it's a name that you can't go out. and uh you know there were there there. was little people that could say well i. have a similar name so four letters like. the nike or even names that are.

authentic a google a facebook or uber a. nike or coke uh a xerox when you make. these all these authentic names it it. gives you a long run and let's and puts. in in people's minds what those uh you. know though. they think about the product. how did you get connected in the hip-hop. circle obviously you say you you you you. work with the method man you dress. method man but you really got your big. break when l.l did a commercial and he. had a hat on.

did you did you know it did you know it. was. did you know he was gonna wear the hat. and when he wore the hat did you know. you were gonna blow up like nitro. no and no so. ll had just you know we begged him to do. a deal with us and um and ll is an. absolute amazing um partner and. celebrity spokesperson he's really. dedicated to it the gap called him and. this i think is the conversation about. the importance of diversity the gap. called him you know and he didn't feel. really good about the way they addressed. him but he just felt like they were just.

saying yeah come on in and shoot one of. those rap videos and that's our policy. and whatever the case they didn't. he didn't really feel good about it so. he says for us bias on the low in the. gap commercial they spend 30 million. dollars basically airing a fubu. commercial. and um because they didn't have anybody. in the company or in the marketing. agency that really loved hip-hop or were. of color. they they didn't pull that ad for five. weeks until they finally found out what. happened. and that's because of the lack of.

diversity within their system now i do. got to tell you on the flip side they. hired a very young multicultural agency. after that they did their analytics and. found out the target market the gap was. trying to hit increased by 300 percent. because the kids thought they can get. fubu. at the gap. and they called me up we gave each other. a big old sloppy weight kiss no tongue. and they ended up spending another 60. million dollars re-airing that ad and. that's when fools started to head to uh. 350 400 million dollars. was ll the.

only rapper that you reached out to. about a branding about you know being in. dorsey being a partnership with were. there any rappers that turned you down. how many rappers turned me down but ello. was only one we formalized a long a. long-term contract but um yeah but we. but but most of the rappers really. support us now it's funny you know as i. talked about all those other people who. who came out of hollis queens when i was. 14 or 15 i was on tour and i promised my.

buddies my four other buddy not my. partners i said i'm going to be the. biggest dude in fashion another dude. said i'm going to be the biggest doing. videos another dude said i'm going to. create a record label and another dude. said i'm gonna be the biggest drug. dealer and those friends were hype. william who became the very big producer. yeah um irv gotti who owns murder inc. who discovered ja rule right down the. block for me and irv lived a couple. other blocks for me and our buddy who. decided to become the biggest drug. dealer uh he just came home after 26. years of serving time and hype and made. the movie belly about him so.

um i think it's when you speak it into. the universe and you set goals at such a. young age i mean when you think about it. me hype and irv me hyper irv and alfred. who they call buns in in belly dmx. played we all set those goals at a young. age and we all executed them in some. sense. i'm looking at nsync mariah carey snoop. dogg the odb e40 height you mentioned. height williams who's a good friend of. yours oh. you got some of the biggest name mariah. carey msync at the time uh snoop buster.

in fubu. so now you know okay we've made it. because these are some of the biggest. entertainers in their chosen field. wearing fubu and we know how we are we. oh if snoop got it on if mariah carey. got it on it's got to be legit. yeah 100 and and that was you know that. was again we were culturally we we we. spoke the culture like. we didn't go to boardrooms and stuff. like that to meet these artists. you had to if you want to meet method.

man well you better get ready you know. that was keith's job on my team you. better better get ready to be at the. studio two in the morning and get smoked. out. man right that's just where you're gonna. meet him right and um you gotta and you. understand you know all these people. come with a crew some do want the bag. over here and this and that but you have. to understand the culture and we were. very and still are very entrenched in. the culture of what it was so we spoke. their language. you also um i'm looking.

you broke into this. distribution deal with samsung. how did that come about. well that came about with the that came. about with the ad that we put in the. paper and they felt that they can you. know. finance and make the million dollars. worth of goods and grow the brand but we. had already. you know i got that deal in 96 97 i had. started food 189 i actually closed who. down three times from 89 to 92. because i ran out of money but i only. ran out of 500.

a thousand dollars i was able to recover. from it. you know um but we got that deal and by. the time we got the deal with samsung. they had already seen the product all. over the place and they called around. did their due diligence and called all. the stores and all the stores said. the kids are coming in here asking for. fubu every single day we just don't have. any um you know and that was because. they were seeing them and seeing the. product in all these videos right. how do you decide what companies to. partner with.

like you know again it goes back to do. they know their customer how much of. that my time and and and cash flow do. they want um do i add value do i see. something here with the. with the entrepreneurs do i see a good. exit or do i see a way that i'm going to. make money you know a lot of people. think uh you know i'm sure you're in. this situation just because you have. money you're supposed to buy everything. i'm not the bank if i like your if i. like your product don't mean i have to. buy the product i'll buy one of your. sponges. but but if i like you and i see an. upside and i see things that we can do.

have fun make a difference um then then. those are the things i weigh on. and uh and it works out only uh probably. about three out of ten times or maybe. four out of ten times when you're. investing in so many companies you know. the the numbers really are four out of. ten time but all you need is one bombers. you need one. you need one you need one home run. you just i'm still spending money from. baggage jeans i sold in 99 so it's all. good how do you decide what companies to.

acquire if i'm not mistaken you uh uh. acquired coogie. yeah so i couldn't you did your homework. brother i did um uh so that was i i. acquired kuji because a lot of times we. have to self-reflect on what is our. strength and what is our weakness as. business people. and i gotta tell you. you don't need that i'm not a great. designer if i'm just gonna put a bunch. of old five and slap a big football and. everything right but what was my what. was my skill set well in my asset my. asset was foolwood did real well i knew. all the buyers from all the stores i.

knew all the celebrities and i knew all. the manufacturers so let me acquire a. brand that already had a history that. people knew of so i'm not introducing a. new brand right and then look let me put. my my skill set in it let me put it on. the kardashians put it on pitbull put it. on whoever is hot at the moment and then. let me say to macy's or jc penney's or. whoever look you know me you know i'm. going to manufacture the goods you know. i'm going to deliver on one time you. know they don't sell i'm going to take. them back.

and then make some quality goods and. that's what i did i just replicated what. my strengths were i didn't go out and. try to create a new brand because it was. easier acquiring another brand that um i. could just put through the same pipeline. you travel. what is it like to go overseas saudi. arabia korea china go all over these. countries and you see fubu you're like. bro this ain't hollis queen this is not. america i'm over steven. duke.

it is an honor when i see billboards and. stuff and you know we're really big in. certain countries like south africa. we're big in germany we're big and we're. big in um the philippines. and in korea and um when you see the. brands there. again they reinterpret them very. differently you know fubu in. korea is very much a skate brand like. hardcore skate um fubu in uh manila and. philippines it's it's pure. hip-hop. and fubu in japan you know they wear it.

very differently they wear like. character they they almost look like. characters in fubu in japan so um when. you see it reinterpreted in different. ways it it's just fascinating to know. that i i created that thing out of my. basement and then people 30 years later. are still you know um supporting it. well uh i have a fubu jacket uh it was a. 5x if i'm not mistaken i was a 2x at the. time but i wanted to fight back for. there but i had the big bag of jeans but. i believe the most. uh. impressive collab successful collab was.

the fat album collection the platinum. collection yes how did that come about. well that came about because we we you. know our community loved iceberg at the. time and icebreak had these characters. on it but. that's what it shouldn't have been 700. 800. um and i just felt that it was obnoxious. of the pricing and i thought that you. have these characters on it but does. anybody know about fat albert and the. gang or the harlem globetrotters or the. ali cartoons that many of the older.

generation grew up with and how can i. sit there and put characters that are. relevant to our community and our. history to educate you simultaneously. and of course half the price of iceberg. but still just to fly so that was us. just trying to um you know serve our. community on our terms and not let. iceberg dictate the way that the terms. should be set. i read that somewhere that you said that. you felt that fooble had at one point. oversaturated the market why did you. feel that way. well you know listen a hot fashion brand.

lasts five to seven years we're not. talking about the unicorns like nike and. louis vuitton booboo obviously had large. large logos that was it at the time. ralph lauren and tommy hilfiger did the. same thing. but we did oversaturate the market we. had a lot of stuff a lot of goods out. there that we were selling um in. different veins of uh you know of. distribution some some mid-tier some low. and some class for the mass. um and you know listen at the end of the. day a kid who has uh four years worth of.

fubu in their class and they're in high. school you know when they go to college. maybe they want to dress a little. different it's a different time in their. life you know and maybe they want to try. something new and we don't take it. personal um you know it's not oh my god. you know you better you know support us. it's it's we get it we may have over. saturated the market it's fine and uh we. will learn from that and uh we will we. will we will reset and just do it a. little more wisely so you're gonna. you're rebranding so what what are you. gonna do different this time around. well fool with the product is out and so.

many different way we did our 50th and. uh puma's 50th anniversary collaboration. we we um we have a product everybody you. can go to you know fubu on instagram and. order product and we have different type. of collaborations exclusive drops as. well as we have stuff that we do sell to. regular stores and uh i think i think. after the george floyd situation a lot. of people really wanted to revisit. some of the you know brands from the 90s. and early 2000s that were owned by. people of color um so you know it's a.

great time um and you know we love our. brand we love we love we love the people. who support us and we love the way the. brand is reinterpreted right now. how have you been able to remain. black owned. no wait nobody gave us a big enough. number so i i i i'm sure somebody. captured they've come to you. know they have come i mean you know. earlier on in the days uh kmart had came. to us and they wanted to buy the brand. for themselves and we just felt that it. was um.

it wasn't the right time and it wasn't. all right we we thought we would let too. many people down right um and i think. that you know that's just the way we are. very passionate about our brand and and. what our consumer feels about us and we. just didn't feel like that would have. been the right thing. this is what you can really help us on. here and i'm glad dave i really. appreciate your time i understand you're. very busy so i really appreciate you. taking time out of your day. black spending reaches 1.6 trillion in.

2021. but black net worth falls. how how what what can we do. to make sure that our spending power. is going into. black pockets. not to say hey i'm not saying hey we got. to spend all our money with one location. but something something is is off in. this in this scenario here. yeah those are it's a little above my. pay grade those are very uh systemic. issues that.

uh we all know that you know um. it starts with us you know it starts. with with uh spending money back in our. communities and things of that nature. and you know they they say that uh for. every uh. for every fifteen dollars i think no. every ten dollars that comes into the. community nine dollars goes out and that. is um. you know it's sad. um but you know the reality is. most of us have not had generational. wealth and legacies that our. grandparents and parents could pass down.

to us right and to explain to us how. cash work how invested in the community. pays off there's a lot of systemic. things that have happened but you know. the reality is they've happened already. and we have to acknowledge it we have to. learn from it and we have to keep. reinvesting in ourselves but again. that's a much deeper conversation with. people with way bigger brains than me um. but all i can say is if you if you take. the time to keep um you know right now. um keep going out and investing in. people you know you know i i you know. when after george floyd i i said to.

myself who's ever going to change the. narrative out there these young brothers. and sisters um they need to be building. businesses instead of burning them down. correct and i realize that nobody else. is doing so i mean people are doing. something so i created something called. black entrepreneurs day where i gave. away a quarter million dollars. um 25 000 times ten to each to small. businesses black african american-owned. businesses to keep them open i brought. on the show uh you know interviewed bob. johnson shaquille o'neal ice-t and llq. to talk about their biggest mistakes.

and uh you know we found a couple of we. found a lot of african-americans who. said we just didn't know about all this. stuff and thank you and they're you know. and they're they started educating. themselves and apply themselves in. business so. you know. it takes a tribe you know to to. to to help these young brothers and. sisters and let them understand the. value that they have um and. it's challenging i think for both of us. to think about it and talk about it. how do we get venture capitalists how do. we get them to invest in the black.

community. by showing them where they can make a. profit. and there's plenty of places to make a. profit and there i mean i i do um i am. part of a group called the the boca. group it's. 50 um. well-known african-americans like ken. chanel and varys and bob johnson and. various other people um there are some. financial instruments being created by. some big banks that are talking about. infrastructure and various other things. where vcs can come in and make a lot of. money um but you know i think that.

uh you know we're getting we're very. connected world and i think that there. is a million young damon johns who know. how to. um. to talk to their community and i think. there's a lot of money to be made um. where where you know if people back. these young men and women. um you know you will prosper you know it. is it is very profitable you you know. the data's there you said how much we're. spending yep why don't we spend it why. don't we spend it someplace where we. know it's going back some way into. educating and or empowering the.

community it's serving you mentioned ken. chanel the former ceo of american. express who came up with a very good. idea the most recognizable credit card. ever the black car. yes. i i know let me ask you this. did you ever think there would be a shoe. that would challenge the jordan kanye's. yeezy because jordan had such a head. start i mean you're going back he had a. 30-year head start on kanye and kanye.

just started what yeezy what. six decades maybe maybe a decade ago. because i think like seven years yeah. yeah because at first he was doing you. know he was doing yeezys with with nike. obviously he wanted a little bit more. control nike said no so he says okay hey. adidas what y'all got for you boy he. goes to adida and yeezy is is on fire. did you think. someone could challenge jordan. i i do i think cause the generation they. you know they they move on and they grow.

into um. you know loving other people that are. more relevant at the moment. um and there's always gonna be somebody. new that talks to someone you know some. young kids these days may not actually. know who jordan is believe it or not. it's very surprising and and. and. some people may not have ever heard of. muhammad ali right um and they would be. relevant now if they're somebody who is. like a kanye very polarizing very. fashionable makes good music always in.

your face um and you walk into the store. and you are. a seven-year-old who may not have heard. of jordan and you're looking at a kanye. shoe and you're looking at a jordan. but you know. that's. yeah there's always going to be somebody. new um it doesn't take away from brad. and jordan at all right. you worked on the uh kardashians. show. are you surprised how big i remember. what i was like okay this is a show it's. a little reality show.

bro i'm not gonna lie i never thought. this thing is ginormous. i know i'm i'm totally surprised i'm. fascinated but i'm also not surprised in. a sense um. chris jenner is brilliant. that family is thick as thieves. um. they don't backstab each other they are. not on drugs they are very very laser. focused i remember when we were first. working season one together kris jenner. said.

i just hope after the 15 minutes of fame. over maybe you know three four five. years that each one of my children have. two businesses that will hopefully be. somewhat successful and that was her. goal and the girls they they. they uh you know they they strapped. apart. and they got focused on it and they got. busy. you know and i think we can all learn. from them you know you don't have to. have this specific talent you just have. to know your customer right um and you. know if they can do it they'll always.

say if i can do it somebody else can. let's talk about virgil what what will. be burger's legacy. um you know i didn't i didn't know. virgil that well he was very respected. in the groups that i do know but i don't. know him well enough to talk i mean i. did see some really amazing work with. him out of nike and of course uh i. bought the entire louis vuitton. collection uh right before he passed not. knowing that he was sick but it was such. a brilliant collection that. this felt like it was made by it felt.

like it felt like it was made by. somebody who understood fashion of all. aspects um. but i don't i really don't know where he. will where he will be you know going. with the versace of the world or the lag. of her legopoles or or stuff like that. cara lagravel you know i don't know. i know you've seen this and we've seen. this far too many far too many times. rappers beefing with high-end fashion. brands jim jones just posted a video him.

in a gucci store. um. saying he was about to spend 29 thousand. dollars and. he felt that he was big you know he's. been profiled or he's been somehow he. felt he's been wrong he'd been. disrespected. but we hear this pop up from time to. time and guess what a year later two. years later guess what somebody else is. back in one of those high-end retail. stores spending tons and tons of money. saying this. are we going to learn. we will i'm a very optimistic person um.

we will learn i hope. but um it's challenging it is. challenging i mean you don't see people. you don't see the you know you don't see. that same community knocking down the. door begging for fubu right when they. know that you know you know the fubu's. of the world um employ other people that. look like them and and and do. activations and put money into schools. in the community but you know um. again these are over my pay grade um.

you know i i i personally i don't wear. brands that have have have have had. black face on them or nooses on them. uh stuff like that i do not wear them um. i just refuse to do so. i want to get you out of here what. advice would you give anyone chasing an. entrepreneurial dream. well first of all it would be um. take affordable steps. what do you mean by that i think every.

meaning that you know. you don't go to vegas and play blackjack. the first time and you. play a thousand dollar hand right you go. to vegas and play a thousand dollar i. mean a thousand one dollar hands. take what you can afford and some people. will say. i don't have that much money. all right well when i first started i. can afford making. 50 calls a day. i promised myself i was going to make 50. calls a day and after six months if i.

got somewhere with these calls that i. was going to then do it again. i called 10 manufacturers 10 stores 10. record labels see their music artists. want to wear 10 regular customers to see. how they got the product and how was it. and i could afford 50 calls a day. so. whenever you are an entrepreneur or. anybody investing in anything. what can you afford you know if you. follow a thousand pages on social media.

and whether they're jokes or cooking or. half naked girls. follow 10 pages that are talking about. stocks or nfts or financial instruments. or finance financial intelligence or. manufacturing or showing why not right. you have the time put it in what's your. asset you and that you make affordable. mistakes maybe you're a veteran you come. from a great community of a like-minded. veteran maybe you're a mompreneur maybe. you're an athlete who who uh who who has. uh the most influential people in your. rolodex and you're like hey we're gonna.

do this or i need your advice can you be. my board member you know take take. affordable steps and that's how you. become an entrepreneur because real. entrepreneurs they act they learn and. then they repeat it again a little more. wisely. before i get you out of here what are. you working on now. what's in uh damon john's future. um i'm working on my next black. entrepreneurs day where we're gonna give. away a couple of you know whether. another quarter or half a million. dollars to more uh people in you know. who are making a difference in the. community i'm about to go and start.

filming shark tank season number 14 so. i'm i'm i'm i'm really humbled and. honored that i can invest in other. people's dreams and they'll allow me to. i'm constantly working on my health um. and i'm working on you know trying to. find that work-life balance with my. little five-year-old and trying to be. you know a great child of god. bro thank you you're the personification. of the american dream you took forty. dollars and you made it into a six. billion dollar empire brother there's a.

lot of people that's very very excited. for you not just around the world but. i'm speaking for our community what. you've been able to do the way you've. been able to do it and the way you've. handled yourself and doing it thank you. thank you. thank you too man i've seen how you. pivoted and and flipped the game and a. lot of people let's uh thank uh. congratulations on an image uh i think. you got a did you get the award or you. got a domino you got nominated. excellent excellent brother so you're. doing great things man we're all. watching you we appreciate you man and. what an illustrious and great career.

you've had so uh congratulations on all. that and thank you for having me thanks. for coming on appreciate a few moments. of your time today all the best moving. forward man thank you all my life been. grinding all my life. sacrifice hustle paid the price. wanna slice got the roll of dice that's. why all my life i've been grinding all. my life look all my life been running. all my life. sacrifice plus will pay the price. wanna slice got the rolling dice that's. why all my life i've been grinding all. my life.

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