Shark Tank’s Daymond John Says Biggest Misconception In Business Is That You Must Be Mean & Cut-Throat

December 1, 2013 by tjbwriteratlanta in Latest News with 0 Comments

If you’re a fan of ABC’s ‘Shark Tank‘, chances are you’re quite familiar with Daymond John. Best known as the founder of FUBU, the NYC native has since propelled as an author, investor, TV personality and motivational speaker. Recently, he stopped by Power 105’s ‘The Breakfast Club’. Check out a few of our favorite excerpts including how he hustled his FUBU brand, one of the bigger misconceptions of succeeding in business and if he’ll ever bring FUBU back.

On how he began hustling his shirts, before FUBU official took off:

We would stand out not the corners and hustle. We would basically go out and sell the shirts to people.There wasn’t like a Twitter or any of that stuff was around. If I sold you a shirt, I’m finding you the next day at your house and I’m selling you another one, simple as that. For about two years, we would go and place t-shirts in all the rap videos and we would just take them back after the artist wore them because we did’t have no more money… After two years, we were perceived as a real huge clothing company, meanwhile I was still a waiter at Red Lobster..People started seeing the clothing out there and people started to take to it..LL [Cool J] started promoting it and LL took it to a whole ‘nother level.

On not investing in companies, but in people:

At the end of the day, when you’re gonna make the real money it’s gonna be those long, long bets. When we started FUBU and if I would’ve walked up to you with ten shirts and said, ‘Yo, rappers are wearing this’ you would have said, ‘Nah get out of here’. It’s a long, long bet. We really invest in people. We don’t invest in companies. It’s about someone being able to sell us something. You can have the greatest idea in the world, and if you can’t pitch it and we can’t feel that energy from you and we feel like you’re gonna be the one that we’re gonna work with.. It’s about people.

On the big myth that one must be mean and cut throat to get ahead in business:

I don’t think its necessary. I was fortunate enough to come up and I lived in Hollis Queens and I learned from Russell [Simmons] and a lot of the cats who said, ‘Man, just give back.’ If you give back, you will get. You don’t have to be nasty about it. That was the day and age growing up watching Dallas and all those kinda things, but I don’t think it’s necessary.

On if he’ll ever bring FUBU back:

FUBU is a brand that it may come back 10 years, 20 years, 30 years. It does well in Asia and right now it’s doing okay in South Africa. You know when you have a brand name, you’re business comes back.

Watch the entire interview below.