Daymond Garfield John (born February 23, 1969) is an American businessman, investor, television personality, author, and motivational speaker. He is best known as the founder, president, and CEO of FUBU, and appears as an investor on the ABC reality television series Shark Tank. Based in New York City, John is the founder of The Shark Group.
Video Daymond John
Early life
John was born February 23, 1969 in Brooklyn, New York City, but grew up in the Queens neighborhood of Hollis. Early jobs included handing out flyers and waiting tables at Red Lobster. In high school, he participated in a program that allowed him to work a full-time job and attend school on an alternating weekly basis, which he credits with instilling an entrepreneurial spirit. After graduating high school, he started a commuter van service.
John didn't attend college so that he could begin supporting his family as soon as possible.
Maps Daymond John
Career
FUBU
John started FUBU in his mother's house in Hollis, Queens. When John first had the idea for a clothing company for young men, his mother taught him how to sew and supported him by allowing her house to be taken over to grow the business.
Wool ski hats with their tops tied off with fishing line were popular, and John noticed them being sold for $20, which he considered overpriced. He went home and sewed around 90 hats with his next-door neighbor. They sold their homemade hats for $10 each and made $800 in a single day. After the hats, they began selling screen printed T-shirts. To break into the market, they sold on consignment and at large events around the Northeast. To make ends meet, John held a full-time job at Red Lobster, working on the FUBU business in between shifts.
Sensing potential, John and his mother mortgaged their house for $100,000 to generate start-up capital. In addition to Brown, he recruited longtime friends J. Alexander Martin and Keith Perrin into the business, and began sewing the FUBU logo onto hockey jerseys, sweatshirts, and T-shirts. They loaned about 10 of the hockey jerseys out to rappers for their music videos for 2 years and got product placements in about 30 videos. They were perceived as a large clothing brand, despite being a relatively small company and stores started requesting their brand. In 1993, he convinced LL Cool J, an old neighborhood friend, to wear a FUBU T-shirt for a promotional campaign. Later, while filming a 30-second advertising spot for The Gap, LL Cool J wore a FUBU hat in the commercial and incorporated the line "for us, by us" in his rapping.
In 1992, or 1994, John received $300,000 in orders and also an offer for participating in Macy's (M) at a Las Vegas fashion trade show, MAGIC. They had to take out a second mortgage of his mother's house in order to fulfill the orders. After being turned down by 27 banks for a loan, his mother used the last of their money to take out an advertisement in the NY Times. As a result of the ad, FUBU made a deal with Samsung Textiles, allowing them to complete their orders.
FUBU has earned over $6 billion in global sales.
FUBU is featured at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African-American History and Culture.
Shark Tank
In 2009, John received a call from Mark Burnett asking him to join the cast of ABC's new realty business show Shark Tank, which gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to pitch their businesses to investors, or "Sharks" in the hopes of receiving an investment. The show is now in its 9th season. John has invested $8,567,000 of his own money in Shark Tank companies as of May 12, 2017. His favorite investments on record by 2015 were Al "Bubba" Baker's boneless ribs and Bombas socks. In 2016, Shark Tank won an Emmy Award, and won Outstanding Reality Program from 2012-2014.
John invested in Bubba's-Q Boneless Ribs on Season 5 of Shark Tank and has helped grow the company from $154,000 in sales to $16 million in 3 years. In 2017, Bubba's-Q Boneless Ribs partnered up with Carl's Jr. to create the limited-edition Baby Back Rib Burger.
On Season 6 of Shark Tank, John made a unique deal with 15-year-old Moziah "Mo" Bridges, who is the owner of Mo's Bows. John decided not to invest in Mo's Bows but instead to mentor the young entrepreneur. Recently, Mo's Bows agreed to a seven-figure licensing partnership with the NBA to create bow ties that use the teams logos.
After investing in Bombas Socks on Season 6 of Shark Tank, total sales for the company increased from $450,000 in the first nine months to $12 million. For every pair of socks sold, Bombas donates a pair to someone in need and, as of August 2017, they have donated over 4 million pairs of socks.
John invested in Sun-Staches on Season 6 of Shark Tank and they have done over $4.2 million dollars in sales. Shark Tank has won 4 Emmy Awards and has been nominated 9 times.
The Shark Group
John is the CEO and founder of The Shark Group, a brand management and consulting firm. The Shark Group office is located in Manhattan, New York.
Consulting and speaking
John has become a public speaker. He works with brands and celebrities to create additional revenue streams and brand extensions; some of his clients include Pitbull and the Miss Universe Organization. John is also a brand ambassador for the e-commerce company Shopify.
John has been a motivational and business speaker at engagements include California First Lady Maria Shriver's 2010 Women's Conference. AT&T's History Makers Tour, Babson College School of Entrepreneurship, and the Creative LIAisons program at the annual London International Awards.
Awards and recognition
John is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-selling author.
John has received numerous awards, including Brandweek Marketer of the Year, the NAACP Entrepreneurs of the Year Award (which he won twice), the Advertising Age Marketing 1000 Award for Outstanding Ad Campaign, the Essence Award, Crain's New York Business Forty Under Forty Award, Ernst & Young's New York Entrepreneur of the Year Award, the Brandeis University International Business School's Asper Award for Excellence in Global Entrepreneurship, Details 50 Most Influential Men, and the Congressional Achievement Award for Entrepreneurship (which he won twice).
In 2015, President Obama appointed John as an ambassador to promote underserved entrepreneurs.
Bibliography
- Display of Power: How Fubu Changed a World of Fashion, Branding and Lifestyle (Naked Ink, 2007) ISBN 978-1595558534
- The Brand Within: The Power of Branding from Birth to the Boardroom (Display of Power Publishing, 2010) ISBN 978-0982596210
- The Power of Broke: How Empty Pockets, a Tight Budget, and a Hunger for Success Can Become Your Greatest Competitive Advantage, with Daniel Paisne (Crown Business, 2016) ISBN 978-1101903599 2016
- Rise and Grind: Outperform, Outwork, and Outhustle Your Way to a More Successful and Rewarding Life, with Daniel Paisne (Currency, 2018) ISBN 978-0804189958
Personal life
John is dyslexic. Two of his favorite books are Think and Grow Rich and Rich Dad Poor Dad. His father is from Trinidad and Tobago.
In April 2017, John was diagnosed with stage II thyroid cancer. John successfully underwent surgery to remove the cancerous nodule.
Philanthropy
John is on the Board of Overseers and volunteer as a host or judge at NFTE events. NFTE is a global organization with chapters in 12 countries that teaches the value of entrepreneurship and core competencies to students in low income areas.
Filmography
- Shark Tank (2009-present) as himself
- The Game (2013) as himself
- The Real (2013) as himself, episode 3
- Sharknado 2: The Second One (2014) as himself
- To Tell the Truth (2016) as himself
- The $100,000 Pyramid (2016) as himself
References
Works cited
- John, Daymond (2018). Rise and Grind: Outperform, Outwork, and Outhustle Your Way to a More Successful and Rewarding Life. New York: Crown Publishing. ISBN 978-0-804-18996-5.
External links
- Official website
- The Shark Group official website.
- "Daymond John". Shark Tank official website (ABC). Retrieved 2017-02-25.
- Daymond John's Story
Source of article : Wikipedia
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