When I first came into money, I bought six or seven homes. One weekend I went to Miami and bought an apartment and a mansion several blocks from each other, which was not that bright!
— Daymond John
I'm a firm believer in utilizing celebrities because they tap into people on an emotional basis.
I like to look at things that have been developed and re-developed over the course of time so I know the bugs are worked out of it. And in the business itself, I like to look at sales, by far. I want to see that there is a vetted track record of sales to show the price point has worked.
I'm the kind of person that when I saw a lack of African Americans in the apparel business, that was something I set out to do, and I lead by example.
A lot of times, I can put a product together with a distributor when I go into my Rolodex for distributors. I can then put it together with a face, such as an artist. And then I can go into my databank of retailers and people that I've been working with through the years of retail, and then also manufacturing.
One of my business partners would remind me that no fashion line lasts forever, that we would hit the down curve eventually, and that we needed to look for new brands that complement the first one.
I believe the last thing I read at night will likely manifest when I'm sleeping. You become what you think about the most.
When I first got into business, I made a lot of bad decisions.
My parents always taught me that my day job would never make me rich; it'd be my homework.
An entrepreneur needs to know what they need, period. Then they need to find an investor who can build off whatever their weaknesses are - whether that's through money, strategic partnerships or knowledge.
There really is no shortcut just because you have a name, or you have some kind of access or some way you can solve all the problems. And I think one of the things I learned with FUBU, you have to understand that there's really only two ways of operating a business: more sales, or lower overhead.
Every problem can be solved as long as they use common sense and apply the right research and techniques.
If I invest in a CEO, I need him or her to have experience in sales.
Learn as many mistakes and what not to do while your business or product is small. Don't be in such a hurry to grow your brand. Make sure that you and the market can sustain any bumps that may occur down the road.
In my mind, there are too many copycat web products out there that are doing the same thing.
Fortunately, right now 'entrepreneurship' is one of the business world's biggest buzz words and so many young people in our country are looking up to this new generation of CEO's as their modern day rock stars. Whenever you have that effect, it makes the job of promoting entrepreneurship much easier.
I'm a big advocate of financial intelligence.
Most brands started from a strong base and kept a strong belief.
Mentors don't have to be the Daymond Johns or the Mark Cubans. A person running a successful bodega or a tax firm in your community for the last 20 years, that person is working just as much as the individual who's running General Mills.
In the founders, I look for a person I feel is trustworthy, driven and smart. I invest in the person first, because in the event the business fails, the person and I can move forward and create another business.
I've failed way more than I've succeeded.
I've learned, like with anything else, business is only as good as your connections and your resources. And some of the resources that I have are the fact that I work with huge artists.
As an entrepreneur, you love your business like a child, and you're taught to be laser-focused on the business.
Five days a week, I read my goals before I go to sleep and when I wake up. There are 10 goals around health, family and business with expiration dates, and I update them every six months.
I don't care if you're my brother - if we go play football, I'm gonna try to crack your head open. It doesn't mean that I don't love you. It doesn't mean that I don't respect you.
I never knew anything other than wanting to be an entrepreneur. I tried my first business when I was 6 years old, and I started another business when I was 8. I don't think I knew anything besides that.
I value an entrepreneur I can get behind and trust, because I know they are attempting to move forward in life.
The things that I've learned is, try to make all the mistakes with your own money and on a small level so that when you are responsible for a partner's money or assets, you've learned, and you don't make bigger mistakes.
I've come to learn that my initial investment is more about the person versus the product that I am buying into. I've also learned that I really do enjoy giving worthy people an opportunity of a lifetime.
I consider each business investment based on concept and revenue.
A savvy entrepreneur will not always look for investment money, first.
When looking at trends I always ask myself basic and timeless questions about business, and the one I seem to always come back to is, 'How is this different than anything else in the marketplace?'
Good grooming is integral and impeccable style is a must. If you don't look the part, no one will want to give you time or money.
The only thing that scares me in the tech area is that it moves so fast that you have to be ready to invest in 20 things. Because if you just invest in one, next week, somebody has a better mousetrap, and you get taken to the cleaners.
If you don't educate yourself, you'll never get out of the starting block because you'll spend all your money making foolish decisions.
Mentors, by far, are the most important aspects of businesses.
I think African Americans are resilient and hustlers by nature. I think they need to understand that you can take that hustle to the boardroom, but it has to be an education process.
FUBU is pretty well licensed out in China and Asia. In America it's a little more of a challenge, obviously, because it's a branded sport.
No matter what business you're in, business is business, and financing and money are critical. I would have made a lot fewer mistakes if I had more schooling in that area.
I had a little delivery van, and I did work around Queens. I was also a waiter at Red Lobster, so I was working on the business in between jobs.
I started FUBU in 1989 but ran out of money three times and closed it down.
I think that in the earlier days, when I was a 'wantrepreneur,' I was really doing things because I thought what I wanted was to be rich.
If you go out there and start making noise and making sales - people will find you. Sales cure all. You can talk about how great your business plan is and how well you are going to do. You can make up your own opinions, but you cannot make up your own facts. Sales cure all.
I always tried to align myself with strategic partners, friends, and information to help me with the things that I did not know, and ultimately, I made it.
I already have enough apparel businesses that are either doing well or not really doing anything at all, and I'm looking to broaden my portfolio.
I look to work with businesses that know what they are doing but need larger distribution or exposure.
An entrepreneur must pitch a potential investor for what the company is worth as well as sell the dream on how much of a profit can be made.
Poor people put a low value on themselves and their efforts.
You don't have to work for a big corporation if you don't want to.
I think Wall Street is very important, especially to tech companies. Wall Street will get in their rhythm and go fund tech companies, and tech companies will go create jobs and employ a lot of people, so there's that aspect of Wall Street.
