Daymond John

Daymond John grew up in Hollis, Queens, New York, and as a young man began sewing hats and apparel with help from his mother and friends; they formally launched FUBU (an acronym for 'For Us By Us') in the early 1990s to serve the urban/hip-hop market. John and his partners built the brand from their homes and neighborhood networks, using grassroots promotion and early celebrity endorsements — notably LL Cool J — to gain visibility at trade shows and retail accounts. At a major fashion trade show in Las Vegas in 1994, John and his partners received large retailer orders but needed manufacturing capital; after extensive bank rejections, his mother took out a second mortgage and the company later secured a manufacturing and distribution deal with Samsung Textiles, which helped FUBU scale to national and international retail distribution and achieve significant revenues in the late 1990s. By 1998, FUBU reported roughly $350 million in revenues at its peak mainstream visibility. After FUBU’s rise, John founded The Shark Group, a brand management and consulting firm that leverages his experience in branding and marketing to advise other companies and executives. He has been active as a keynote speaker and mentor and was appointed by President Barack Obama as a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship (PAGE) to promote entrepreneurship globally. In 2009, John joined ABC’s Shark Tank as one of the investor 'Sharks,' where he evaluates entrepreneurs’ pitches, makes investments, and raises his public profile as an investor and advisor; he has used the platform to back companies such as Bombas and others that later achieved large sales. Beyond television, John is an author of business books, a frequent keynote speaker, and runs education/mentorship initiatives for entrepreneurs.