• last year
The Shark Tank co-host also addresses why some deals never close post-airing of ABC network's hit reality show, the future of retail, and explains why entrepreneurs should be more open to listening to community voices as they build companies.

FUBU co-founder Daymond John joins “Forbes Talks” to discuss his upcoming Black Entrepreneurs Day in Harlem.
Transcript
00:00 For us, by us, you know it is FUBU.
00:03 And in black fashion and culture,
00:04 there's no way you can tell a story without FUBU
00:07 and all the history and impact that it's had
00:10 throughout 50 years of hip hop.
00:12 Hello everyone, this is Jabari Young,
00:13 senior writer and editor here at Forbes.
00:15 And in a minute, I'll be talking to Daymond John,
00:18 one of the co-founders of FUBU,
00:21 an iconic clothing line, LL Cool J helped put it on a map
00:25 and again, 50 years celebration of hip hop.
00:27 Love to talk shop with Daymond John,
00:30 how he became an entrepreneur coming out of Queens.
00:33 Fourth Black Entrepreneurs Day coming up in Harlem
00:36 and FUBU, right?
00:37 Discussing FUBU and over five billion in retail sales
00:41 that that company has done
00:42 throughout the course of its history.
00:43 Daymond John, right now.
00:46 (upbeat music)
00:49 Fourth annual Black Entrepreneurs Day
00:51 is coming up at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.
00:54 Michelle E. Banks, definitely the new CEO
00:57 of at the Apollo, definitely great job
00:59 that she's doing so far.
01:01 So tell me, in 2020, that's when you kind of
01:03 came up with this concept.
01:05 Where is it at now?
01:06 Again, you're four years in
01:07 and what did you learn about Black Entrepreneurs Day?
01:09 - Well, I learned a lot.
01:12 I started four years ago when we were all home
01:15 watching kids burn businesses instead of build them.
01:19 I figured, you know what, I wanna do what I can do
01:22 to give them the information and the inspiration
01:26 that they need, I think, to educate them
01:29 on how to become successful at it.
01:31 And then four years in, going into my fourth year,
01:34 I've given away over $750,000 in grants
01:37 and this year we will almost hit the million dollar mark.
01:40 Had icons take the stage, right?
01:45 Kevin Hart and Ron from Run DMC
01:47 and I mean, everybody, Tyra Banks, whatever the case is,
01:50 and giving away this money.
01:52 What did I learn from it?
01:54 I learned that the brands that,
01:57 and/or the ones who wanted to be on the marquee
02:00 right next to me that said,
02:01 "We stand for what you're standing for,"
02:03 they're still there.
02:04 I learned that the ones that came and gone,
02:07 kind of like, "Oh yeah, George Floyd, yeah," you know?
02:11 And then they've come and gone.
02:13 But I realized that the brands and the organizations
02:16 that have stayed with me didn't have to stay with me.
02:19 They already had also assets and resources
02:22 really allocated towards the African American community.
02:26 And what I think is when I think of brands like Nike,
02:30 they'll kneel when they need to kneel
02:31 and they'll stand when they need to stand.
02:32 And when you look at brands out there
02:35 who are tried and true, they stay to who they are.
02:37 It's not for the moment.
02:39 And as we see brands now kind of back away
02:42 from African American initiatives
02:45 and act like the things that are happening in this country
02:48 ain't still happening.
02:49 Oh, it's just not being recorded as much or stopped,
02:51 but it's happening.
02:52 I'm learning that you're seeing a defining reason
02:58 why some are successful and some are not.
03:01 What I'm also learning though is that
03:03 the African American community,
03:08 we always, you know, my buddy George Frazier always say,
03:10 "We're the last to hire and the first to fire."
03:12 And as you look at what may have happened in the past
03:17 as systemic or may have happened recently
03:20 as COVID issued money and we get a small portion of it,
03:25 I learned that when you see a community
03:27 of African Americans who are going and competing
03:30 in a healthy way against other African Americans
03:33 for the grants, right?
03:34 Businesses just like them,
03:36 issued by an African American man,
03:38 issued and helped issued out by the NAACP,
03:40 I see they sign up a massive amount
03:45 because I've had some great buddies of mine,
03:48 Dave Portnoy and various of the people
03:50 who have grants and loans and they call me up and say,
03:52 "Damon, why aren't African Americans signing up?"
03:57 And you know what I say?
03:59 They most likely think they're not gonna do it
04:01 or get anywhere and you know what?
04:04 They only have so much time in the day
04:06 and they're gonna go and find and look for the things
04:08 that are gonna be easier and more fulfilling
04:11 towards their business and help them solve a problem.
04:14 So after all these years on Shark Tank,
04:18 that Shark Tank is a globally recognized brand
04:20 and applied by everybody, 15 years,
04:24 we have about 30% of that same number annually
04:27 now that are applying and that's a lot.
04:29 If you have 10%, only 10% of the country
04:32 could apply to something and it's almost like
04:35 one third of what applies to the whole Shark Tank
04:37 after 15 years, that means they see promise
04:40 or they see hope and inspiration.
04:43 - Well I mean listen, I'm glad it's still going.
04:45 I'm from North Philly and I grew up
04:47 and we had this Unity Day and over time
04:50 that Unity Day really helped the community I'm from,
04:53 really helped unite us and over time
04:55 it just kind of fell off.
04:56 Now I know the business side of it now,
04:57 the sponsorships and things, the money made,
04:59 I felt through, but events like this
05:01 after post-George Floyd 2020,
05:03 I think entrepreneur is a key word.
05:05 That and generational wealth are the two ones
05:07 I'm finding are the most used amongst black people.
05:10 So I'm glad that they're excited to do this.
05:12 In the event space though, I can't lie,
05:14 it's becoming so crowded, man.
05:16 Everybody's got a conference, the Forrest B. O. K.'s
05:18 coming up, we do a lot of conferences.
05:20 What's the biggest positive surprise you've learned
05:22 about putting on these conferences?
05:24 Again, you're going into four year now
05:25 and I know it's a live stream, but people still do attend.
05:28 - What I learned is the biggest challenge is
05:32 everybody want to party.
05:33 I'm not here to party.
05:36 We're here to give you the resources
05:39 that you can define partying for the rest of your life
05:43 in whatever means that may be.
05:45 That may be going into a school and being able to party
05:49 with a lot of our youth that don't have opportunity
05:51 and then now all of a sudden you have an app or a business
05:54 that you're able to empower them
05:56 and bring up the next Damon Johns.
05:58 That's the party we're trying to throw.
05:59 And I'm not saying it's purely for African-American.
06:02 They're always trying to party somewhere.
06:04 You don't hear about the great things the NAACP does
06:07 at the NAACP award, but you hear about going to Vanity Fair.
06:10 I don't know too much about the Oscars,
06:12 but I know everybody want to go out
06:13 for the Vanity Fair party.
06:14 People like to party.
06:15 But what else have I learned is that there are,
06:19 you know, with all these events and you know,
06:22 access, everybody says people need access, right?
06:25 They don't need access.
06:26 People need to access the access, right?
06:31 You know, we all have these little super computers
06:34 in our hand.
06:35 Any information we need is out there.
06:36 Not unlike probably when you and I grew up
06:38 and there was no, you went to the library
06:41 and you read a book by somebody that was dead, right?
06:44 In real time, there's access.
06:45 And so out of all the people that go to all those events,
06:48 there's a very few finite people that go there
06:51 and they actually learn and they use those resources
06:55 and they activate that access.
06:57 And that's all we're looking for.
06:58 We need one more person to be bigger and better
07:00 than Damon John will ever be.
07:02 Every year we get one more of those.
07:04 Think about how many we'll have in 20 years.
07:05 - Absolutely.
07:06 Well, I mean, listen, let's get into who Damon John was
07:09 before, you know, we talk about where you are right now
07:12 and where you're going.
07:13 I mean, listen, you grew up in Queens.
07:14 Steve Stout was just in the very seat
07:16 you were sitting in on Friday.
07:18 You know, we were going in and we were sharing stories.
07:19 And as we sit here in October, 2023,
07:22 we are in the 50th year of hip hop, right?
07:24 That's something that definitely inspires you.
07:26 Steve Stout was talking about Shirt Kings
07:29 and then there's the, you know, Dapper Dan, you know,
07:31 and all that.
07:32 And you and I, definitely a part of the culture.
07:34 But I mean, talk about where you kind of got your start
07:37 to become a designer.
07:38 I mean, was it just sitting there
07:40 and you seeing all this happen in front of your face
07:42 and you want to get into it?
07:43 - No, I was in real time.
07:44 So I was in Hollywood.
07:45 So Steve Stout actually helped me with some integrating LL
07:50 and the FUBU ad, integrating the gap.
07:54 I think he was working with him.
07:55 He also, I think Trackmasters were the ones
07:58 who did my Fatty Girl song.
08:02 So Steve is--
08:03 - That was yours?
08:04 With Ludacris?
08:05 - Yeah, that was the FUBU album, yeah.
08:07 And Steve is an icon in the business
08:09 and I love what he does.
08:10 I love what he does over translation.
08:12 I was fortunate enough to literally grow up
08:15 in Hollis, Queens.
08:16 So, you know, hip hop was created in the Bronx
08:18 and slowly made its way into Queens, right?
08:20 But who literally out of these couple of square miles
08:23 comes from Hollis, Queens?
08:25 LL Cool J, Run DMC, Salt-N-Pepa, Tribe Called Quest,
08:28 DJ Clue, Ja Rule, Waka Flocka, Mother--
08:33 - Herb Gotti.
08:35 - Herb Gotti, Hype Williams, 50 Cent.
08:39 And I'm not gonna forget my mentor, Stephen A. Smith.
08:41 That's the guy, he came back.
08:43 - Stephen A. Smith, Ed Lova, Dr. Dre.
08:48 - Yo MTV Raps, take me back now, man.
08:50 - Young MC, 50 Cent, Onyx used to cut my hair.
08:55 You know, intro.
08:59 We all come from this area, right?
09:00 - It's got about intro.
09:01 - Yeah, yeah, yeah, Jeff and all them, right?
09:04 I mean, so many people.
09:05 I mean, Bernard Wright, you know, all of them, right?
09:07 So growing up in Hollis, Queens, it's funny.
09:10 I used to, actually, the guy that,
09:15 if you ever listen to Run DMC,
09:16 it's on Larry Put Me Inside, the Cadillac, right?
09:21 I remember Larry saying to me,
09:22 "Hey man, you could really dance."
09:23 I was a break dancer, a popper.
09:25 He said, "Why don't you go and audition for this group?"
09:28 I got an audition, and I got an audition for Houdini
09:31 to be a dancer on their tour.
09:33 And my mother said, "Boy, you ain't going to no tour."
09:36 And some guy out of Atlanta named Jermaine Dupri
09:39 took my place on that tour as a kid.
09:41 But, you know, we were able to see these music artists
09:44 because what happened was in '86,
09:46 like in every city around the world,
09:48 a very cheap drug came in,
09:50 and it started to devastate the cities.
09:53 And we didn't have any heroes growing up in the community
09:56 because most of the heroes, we wouldn't see them.
09:59 They were going to work at five o'clock in the morning,
10:00 right, they were going and taking care of their kids.
10:02 They weren't running around the streets.
10:04 They were investing in their families.
10:05 So who were the heroes?
10:06 The drug dealers driving by in fancy cars, right?
10:09 We didn't even see heroes that looked like us on TV.
10:11 I mean, Fred G. Samford the Junkman was on TV,
10:14 but it didn't look like he was doing that well, right?
10:16 But all of a sudden we started to see these people
10:18 drive by in fancy cars,
10:19 and they weren't pimps or drug dealers.
10:21 They were creating music around the world,
10:23 and they were enjoying what they were doing.
10:25 So I remember going on the first tour,
10:27 I went on the first national rap tour.
10:29 It was LL Cool J, Beastie Boys,
10:34 Fat Boys, Big Daddy Kane, Rakim, all those guys.
10:38 I go on this tour, and I'm going on with my friends.
10:40 Like we just, we would go when they're in like Troy,
10:42 New York, we'd take a bus or a train, get up there.
10:45 And so one of my friends and I, one of my friends said,
10:46 "Hey, I'm going to be the biggest guy in music."
10:48 I said, "Man, I'm going to be the biggest guy in fashion."
10:50 Another guy said, "I'm going to be the biggest guy in videos."
10:52 Another guy said, "I'm going to be the biggest drug dealer
10:55 in history."
10:56 And we were all about 15, I think, and that was me,
10:59 Hype Williams, Irv Gotti, and the other guy was
11:03 the guy who Hype made the movie Belly about, DMX.
11:08 And we all got to the level that we were happy about
11:12 in our lives.
11:12 Well, the guy with DMX, he just came home
11:14 after 27 years in jail.
11:16 But the bottom line is that's who I was.
11:18 I grew up in this world of hip hop, and I would,
11:21 you know, and then I grew up in New York City,
11:24 so we'd take the train and go into New York City
11:27 and go to Paradise Garage.
11:28 Because I was 14, I couldn't get in.
11:30 If I finally snuck in, I would stay in Paradise.
11:33 I would go on Friday night.
11:34 I wouldn't come out till Sunday morning,
11:35 because they had a little movie theater.
11:36 You could hide in with your book bag and backpack.
11:39 And we just saw this crazy culture,
11:41 and that's where I came from with just understanding hip hop
11:44 and the love of hip hop.
11:46 - Yeah, I mean, you say Fat Boys, it takes me back
11:48 to that movie Disorderly.
11:49 It's like, man.
11:50 - Disorderly, the Fat Boys.
11:51 - Baby, you're a rich man!
11:53 - Oh yeah. - You're a rich man.
11:54 - Great times, man.
11:55 - And I think people don't realize that the hip hop
11:57 is the voice of African Americans from the streets,
12:00 but it was the voice of everybody.
12:01 - Absolutely.
12:02 - And you look at the big, you would say hip hop,
12:04 well, it came from African America.
12:07 Well, the first big ones after Grandmaster Flash
12:11 and all that, it was Debra Harry.
12:13 It was Malcolm McLaren.
12:16 It was the Beastie Boys.
12:17 And they all were together, Rick Rubin and Russell, right?
12:21 It was this really great melting pot
12:23 of collaboration, pop, funk, and rap.
12:27 - Yeah, I tell you, you take me back to a great time.
12:31 Again, this is what I grew up in, right?
12:33 And it's good to see it because I was telling people,
12:36 when I go around and speak to the universities now,
12:38 and I'm talking to kids at Columbia University
12:40 and we're talking about, and I'm like, man,
12:41 I was around when the internet was first coming around,
12:43 when Black Panther, when we were just discovering,
12:45 hey, I could talk to somebody in Florida.
12:47 - Oh yeah.
12:48 - 'Cause all we knew was what we saw, right?
12:50 And so here you are at 15, you're running around,
12:53 hip hop is inspiring you,
12:54 but then let's fast forward to 1993, right?
12:56 That was a great year.
12:57 Queen Latifah dropped, Tribe Called Quest,
12:59 I mean, it was a great year.
13:00 I think Black Rain came out that year.
13:03 And also that was the year--
13:03 - The movie?
13:04 - No, no, no, it was her album, I think it was.
13:06 Queen Latifah's album, believe it or not,
13:08 don't quote me on that.
13:09 I'm a good journalist, telling you not to quote me.
13:11 But take me back to that time
13:13 where you were creating FUBU,
13:16 and then you kind of helped LL,
13:17 or LL kind of took it to the next level.
13:20 'Cause I know, coming up in Philly,
13:22 we had Carl Kanai, and then it was that cross,
13:26 and FUBU started to work out,
13:28 it worked its way down to Philly,
13:29 and like, all right, what is this?
13:31 Is it cool, is it not?
13:32 And that was a golden time,
13:34 but what was that like, developing that brand?
13:37 - Well, it was a golden era.
13:39 It was just amazing.
13:41 And so, Cross Colors had came out,
13:43 and they went up and they went down fairly quickly.
13:47 Not really 'cause their fault.
13:49 They put most of their clothes
13:52 into a company called Merry-Go-Round at the time,
13:54 and Merry-Go-Round ended up filing Chapter.
13:57 And so now their pipeline was busted, right?
14:01 And then great brands came out of there.
14:02 I think Walker Wear, but I definitely know Carl Kanai
14:05 worked over there and stuff like that.
14:06 And Carl is who inspired me.
14:08 You know, because Walker Wear,
14:10 because, excuse me, Cross Colors
14:12 made some generally yellow and red and green,
14:16 the kente cloth colors, but I said,
14:18 I love that, and I love my heritage,
14:21 but I wanna wear a pair of blue jeans, man.
14:24 I don't even try to look like a lollipop
14:26 walking down the block.
14:27 And then Carl Kanai came out.
14:29 And then it was a golden time in general
14:33 because what was happening was
14:34 you were starting to see these people
14:36 who were previously maybe music or sports and athletes,
14:41 and things were coming.
14:42 Matty Rich was starting to create movies,
14:44 and John Singleton, right?
14:46 And then you had, so you had the ownership of that, right?
14:49 Now you got Bad Boy coming up,
14:51 and you have Def Jam, of course, right?
14:53 So then you Barry Gordy's.
14:54 And then you got The Source, which,
14:58 and Quincy Jones' Vibe,
15:01 and you got, you're hearing this story,
15:02 and BET's growing.
15:03 It was just a great time, right?
15:06 And you felt this camaraderie,
15:07 and we were all out together,
15:09 and we were trying to all work together.
15:11 And yeah, so what really happened was
15:17 that was a really special time in hip hop,
15:19 and we were also doing things
15:20 that we'd never done before, right?
15:22 We were now controlling the narrative in the videos,
15:26 and you started hearing people talk about,
15:28 if you really look at those videos back then,
15:29 Puffy and all of them were happy
15:31 'cause they were all finding scooters in Miami.
15:33 You remember that? - It's a good time, yeah.
15:34 - And then all of a sudden,
15:35 it moved up, right? - Absolutely, yeah.
15:36 - To this level, and that level, and that level.
15:38 So we were growing, and you know who helped me grow?
15:41 Carl Canai helped me grow.
15:42 A lot of people don't hear these stories,
15:44 but Carl Canai was when I had $27.
15:48 I was at the Magic Trade Show.
15:49 I didn't have any money.
15:50 He saw me, and he said,
15:51 "I think I know you from that ad.
15:53 "Come in the show.
15:54 "I know you don't have pass.
15:55 "I got you."
15:56 He introduced me to all his buyers in the show, right?
15:59 So you don't hear that story.
16:00 I distributed Fat Farm in Europe for Russell.
16:04 I found a guy named Jeff Tweedy
16:06 and put him over as the president of Sean Johns, right?
16:10 So a lot of people don't realize
16:13 we hear more of the stories,
16:15 and this is the issue,
16:16 or this is the sweet spot for Black Entrepreneur's Day
16:20 that you need to know that we have always worked together.
16:25 This theory that we don't work together
16:28 is absolutely wrong.
16:31 It is wrong.
16:32 It is the, you know,
16:33 when I first got my office in Empire State Building,
16:36 I'm looking out of this office, a card comes,
16:39 and this guy who already had a clothing line
16:41 wrote on his simple card, "I see you."
16:43 His card was by Spike Lee.
16:44 He already had 40 acres and a mule,
16:46 and he sent me a card and says, "I see you."
16:50 That was one of the things that I will remember
16:52 for the rest of my life until,
16:54 I remember, you know, I met him a fair amount of time,
16:56 but I remember seeing him a couple of years ago
16:59 when he had that Oscar with Vanity Fair point,
17:01 and I said, "I see you, man."
17:02 So these are the stories that people need to hear
17:07 because, you know, you're only hearing these other stories,
17:09 and by the way, when I say Black Entrepreneur's Day,
17:12 it's people of all colors too coming together
17:14 to award this money to people and educate people.
17:18 We only are hearing about the negative.
17:21 - Yeah, you know, again, we could talk all day.
17:24 I love the fact that LL kinda helped put that,
17:27 you know, FUBU on the map.
17:28 - Kinda helped.
17:29 There's no kinda.
17:29 - Well, I mean, listen, you still needed the people, right?
17:31 Because LL careered all day,
17:33 but people still needed to go out and buy.
17:34 - Yeah, no, 100%, but I mean, you know,
17:36 LL doesn't get enough credit.
17:39 - No, he should.
17:40 - He should. - And he doesn't, right?
17:42 Because I think that from being such a legendary artist
17:46 who has spanned the test of time so many years,
17:49 but also being that person who said,
17:52 "I don't know if FUBU's ever gonna be anything.
17:53 "I'm going to jeopardize my career and go into a Gap ad
17:58 "and say a name of a new brand
18:02 "and let them spend $30 million airing it,
18:04 "and Madison Avenue will probably never touch me again."
18:09 - Yeah, it's about taking risks.
18:11 And I share LL's story all the time because, you know,
18:14 I remember when I first heard his stories
18:16 one of my favorite episodes on Combat Jack,
18:18 I Bless His Life, and I share with kids all the time.
18:20 I said, "You know how LL got into Def Jam?
18:22 "He kept calling, he kept sending his tape
18:25 "over and over again until the fact that Rick Rubin
18:27 "and those dudes got tired of hearing from him
18:29 "and said, 'Dude, pick up the tape
18:31 "'and just listen to this dude so he can stop calling us.'"
18:33 - Right.
18:34 - And you discover LL Cool J, right?
18:35 - I never heard that.
18:36 - You gotta be persistent.
18:37 - Wow, I never heard that story.
18:38 - You gotta be persistent.
18:38 You gotta go back and listen to Combat Jack.
18:39 - I do, I do, I do. - Combat Jack, absolutely.
18:41 You know, let's fast forward now because, again,
18:43 you know, your brand FUBU is still there.
18:45 You still own it, right?
18:46 And as I'm going, I went to the WNBA game,
18:49 the Brooklyn or Liberty versus the Aces,
18:51 and as I'm getting on the sub,
18:53 I look down and I said, "Don't say FUBU?"
18:56 And there's a pair of sneakers,
18:58 and so it's still here, right?
18:59 But think about all the brands you've inspired.
19:01 Again, I'm from North Philly, so we start State Property.
19:03 I mean, you go Rockaway, Sean John.
19:04 - I think Don's Zim's out of Philly,
19:06 but I got Blaine on there. - All of that.
19:07 I mean, you know, Sean John.
19:09 I mean, I'm from an era where you rocked the Jebo jeans.
19:12 Grand Pool was known for that, right?
19:14 The guest jeans with the pencil pocket.
19:16 When you look at where we are now, right,
19:18 because I don't know if kids, they didn't appreciate it.
19:20 Now I look around now, D-Mon,
19:21 all I see 'em wearing is Gucci and a Christian.
19:24 It's elevated a level, right?
19:26 Can we get to a time where you see maybe a Urban line
19:28 come up and maybe get that type of support?
19:30 - Absolutely, I think so.
19:31 And maybe we have one in actively black
19:34 'cause I know you kind of was, yeah.
19:35 - I helped actively black.
19:37 I got them their license for Black Panther, you know,
19:41 and I look at them, I think so, you know.
19:43 But I gotta tell you something about the brands
19:47 and, you know, people try to take it personal.
19:49 You know, United Colored Baton,
19:52 they're not doing, well, I think it was United Baton,
19:55 whatever it was, right?
19:56 But Levi's that came in the market,
19:58 they were doing 18 billion.
19:59 They went down to three, they're coming back up, right?
20:02 So fashion itself is fickle.
20:04 And we can talk about the legend.
20:07 There are some brands that are unicorns.
20:09 Nike, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, a couple of them, right?
20:13 But where was Prada before a couple of years ago?
20:16 And Coach, right?
20:17 They fluctuate, right?
20:19 I think there's always gonna be room for amazing,
20:22 you know, brands of any culture to pop.
20:26 I mean, it's just gonna be how do they build that culture?
20:30 You know, and it's all operating
20:32 and how do people operate it?
20:33 You know, FUBU today, if we decided to change the brand,
20:38 and I think that we're working on some stuff,
20:41 but we decided, FUBU earlier was,
20:45 you never really saw as many African Americans
20:48 who owned the brand putting the brand out.
20:51 And that was something new,
20:53 and you had Kalkanai, you had Cross Colors,
20:55 but when we started putting the four guys out on the tag,
20:58 we got kicked out of, not kicked out,
21:00 we didn't even get accepted by a lot of the big departments
21:02 'cause they said, "It looks like an African American gang.
21:05 "We don't want those type of people in here."
21:07 That's what they said to us.
21:08 So we broke down those barriers with a lot of other people,
21:11 and we were happy about that.
21:13 Today, FUBU's authenticity is a brand of black,
21:17 made by black people for a culture
21:20 stemming from African American art
21:23 made in the streets of the Bronx.
21:25 That's nothing new today.
21:26 But if FUBU was a brand today who said,
21:28 "I'm gonna give you $500 worth of FUBU
21:30 "that's worth $1,500,
21:33 "and I'm gonna only have one male, one female
21:35 "in every high school and every college
21:37 "as an authentic dealer.
21:39 "And now when you get,
21:41 "and you gotta get it on credit, first of all,
21:43 "and now you sell the $1,500 worth of stuff,
21:47 "the rest of that's your money.
21:49 "And by the way, as you sell more,
21:51 "bring more people, very much an Avon level,
21:53 "we're gonna give you more curriculums
21:56 "for financial intelligence,
21:57 "or how to create your business, digital curriculums,
22:00 "because you're using, you know, the brand."
22:02 I think that's the new level of the brand, right?
22:04 And please, somebody steal my idea.
22:07 I'm cool with that, right?
22:09 So what I think is that brands will find other ways,
22:14 like my Bomba socks gonna, you know,
22:16 this year hit giving away 100 million pairs of socks
22:20 and underwear to people.
22:22 They found a different angle that was created by Tom Shoes.
22:27 There's gonna be big brands out there, I think,
22:29 from various cultures.
22:30 - Yeah, what do you tell an entrepreneur
22:33 before switching right into the business side of it,
22:35 again, going a little bit deeper into retail,
22:37 'cause I definitely wanna get your opinion on that
22:38 before you leave.
22:39 But what do you tell that inspiring entrepreneur
22:42 who's into design?
22:43 And I see a lot of them, right?
22:44 Instagram and social media,
22:46 they help us discover these people, right?
22:48 I see a great sister on Instagram,
22:50 Madonna designed some great dresses.
22:52 What do you tell that inspiring entrepreneur
22:53 that's into design now about how to navigate this decade?
22:56 - Well, it's always gonna be the fundamentals, right?
23:00 What are you doing that you're absolutely obsessed with,
23:02 and how are you gonna over-provide for your customer
23:05 every single day and know that that's your job,
23:08 and take affordable steps doing it?
23:10 And how are you using technology today
23:13 to take the things out of your way that you can't do?
23:16 Technology's not gonna necessarily design that piece
23:20 you want inspired for the same reason,
23:22 so that's what you need to do.
23:23 But how are you growing your community?
23:27 Because that's the biggest issue.
23:29 I don't care what it is.
23:30 I don't care if you're selling,
23:31 voting for you as a politician,
23:35 or you're selling nutritional food or liquor.
23:40 It's all about the community you're building, right?
23:42 And the designers today,
23:44 they have something I've never had before.
23:46 They can make things on demand.
23:50 They can take advanced payment fairly quickly.
23:53 They can put up their line of four or 10 or 20 pieces
23:56 and say, "Vote, and whatever you vote for,
23:59 "we're gonna do, and it'll be delivered
24:01 "directly to your door."
24:02 They can get so many things
24:04 that would've taken me years to get, right?
24:06 They need to utilize that,
24:08 'cause it's always gonna be,
24:10 when you put your brand out,
24:11 somebody else is going to take that brand
24:13 and interpret it a way that you've never realized,
24:16 and you go, "I never even thought about that."
24:19 But if you have these blinders on
24:22 where you're just like, "Well, this is the way
24:23 "it's gonna be, this is the way it's gonna be,"
24:26 that's always gonna be the worst thing you could ever do,
24:27 'cause you're not listening to your community.
24:29 - Yeah, $1.7 trillion market was predicted
24:33 in 2023 for US in retail.
24:35 When you look at retail today,
24:37 and this was about a year ago from some reports,
24:41 when you look at retail today,
24:42 what's the state of retail as you look now?
24:44 I mean, we have commercial real estate up and down.
24:46 We have state retails in and out,
24:47 but every time I go to the mall
24:48 or when I go to these stores, I see lines.
24:51 I mean, I still think people are buying,
24:52 they're always gonna buy clothes.
24:53 You look nice, right?
24:54 So I still think you're gonna be buying, right?
24:57 - I'm not gonna lie, but I would look nice in anything.
24:58 (laughing)
24:59 - Yeah, that's true.
25:00 What's the state of retail today when you look at it?
25:02 - Well, it all depends on what do we describe as retail.
25:05 Is Amazon retail?
25:06 Well, then Amazon has doubled
25:07 in the last X amount of months, right?
25:10 Retail, I find that retail is always gonna be there,
25:14 but it all depends on are you giving somebody
25:15 a unique experience, and I like to invest in companies
25:19 that are creating a universe or a unique experience, right?
25:24 Is Tesla doing well because of one aspect?
25:27 Well, maybe it's doing well
25:28 because they put Teslas in the mall, right?
25:32 So when the mom is going shopping,
25:35 well, the dad got a place to sit,
25:36 and then they say, "Get the kid in the car,"
25:38 or when the mom is there, she no longer feels intimidated
25:42 by having to pull up to some big lot, you know,
25:45 and so why is there, put the kid in the car?
25:48 Well, you know what?
25:49 I got a pretty nice car, I promise you, I don't have a lot,
25:51 but I got a pretty nice car.
25:52 I'm in my car, really nice, actually.
25:55 You know, my daughter's yelling out the window,
25:56 "Look at the Tesla!"
25:57 Well, is it because that's on Roblox?
25:59 - 'Cause she sees it in the mall.
26:00 - Right, and then who dictates the buying in a household?
26:04 It's always the kids or the mother.
26:06 - Absolutely. - It ain't the dad, right?
26:08 So if you go into Apple, well, you know, you go in there,
26:12 and now you used to have maybe an iPod
26:16 or something like that.
26:16 Well, now they have on your Apple Watch,
26:19 you can hit a button and you're right into a world
26:21 like Peloton or you're streaming movies
26:24 or you're now getting creative, right?
26:27 So it's the universe, and if it's a store,
26:30 I always tell people, if it's a store,
26:32 well, I can get the clothes at home,
26:33 but I can't get a runway.
26:35 Why is there a runway in your clothing store
26:37 that I can put on everything I bought?
26:39 I can link all of my social media followers to it
26:42 and say, "If you buy this outfit, I get 10% off anyway.
26:44 "I already bought it."
26:46 It's an experience, and I think retail
26:48 is gonna be very, very strong.
26:50 But it's just how are you absorbing retail?
26:52 Because my wife on the other side,
26:55 before you ever get to the mall, she bought 10 things,
26:58 and it's being delivered to the house.
27:00 That's still retail on a farm.
27:02 - I saw a report that says luxury stores, Gucci's,
27:06 they're actually expanding their in-person,
27:08 their brick and mortar stores,
27:10 and I'm thinking it's the experience.
27:11 And again, we're at a time where young people,
27:13 we grew up with the guests in jeans,
27:15 now we rocking Gucci.
27:17 That's what rap stars have done.
27:19 They've elevated us to a luxury line,
27:21 and now you see this whole new level of kids lines
27:24 that are coming, right?
27:25 When you hear that, what does that tell you?
27:28 - Well, it tells me that brands are expanding themselves.
27:30 I mean, they are, and I'm not really,
27:32 you know, a lot of time, retail itself
27:35 is kind of a lost leader, right?
27:37 But you get to feel and you get the emotional
27:40 attachment to retail, because when you see
27:43 these people expanding their brands,
27:45 you go in and your kids start to love the way it's set up.
27:48 You see, because you can't set it up necessarily
27:50 the way that you want it online.
27:53 It looks visually, it's okay, right?
27:55 But you walk into retail, and now all of a sudden,
27:56 you're like, oh my God, look at those hats,
27:58 look at those little gloves,
27:59 oh, look at the big Christmas setting.
28:00 Now that kid goes back with you and mom,
28:03 and that kid, they're now addicted to that.
28:06 Well, now, whether you're ordering online or retail,
28:09 you've now got a new customer.
28:12 And breaking the habit of customers' traditional spending
28:15 is always gonna be the hard thing, right?
28:17 Because if you know and I know,
28:19 I'm always gonna wear Shell Toadidas, always.
28:22 I'm from Hollis, Queens, you have to wear
28:24 Shell Toadidas Run DMC.
28:26 So if you want to see me go in,
28:28 I got these new sneakers, I don't call it AWOL,
28:31 or wall, did you see these running sneakers?
28:33 - I haven't.
28:34 - There's two new companies taking it over.
28:36 I went in and I tried it on,
28:37 I would've never tried it on online.
28:39 Now, by the way, I'm five seven and a half,
28:40 I wanna make sure you understand the half, right?
28:42 When I wear these sneakers now, I'm five nine, homie.
28:45 Now, I'm not sure if I'm ever gonna wear Shell Toes again,
28:48 because now I'm five nine.
28:50 Now I'm one of the regular population.
28:52 Now, I wouldn't have done that
28:53 if I didn't go into retail and see 'em.
28:55 I'm hooked now.
28:58 I'll never wear another brand.
29:01 So, you understand?
29:02 It's all about getting them in the door.
29:04 - Touch points.
29:05 So listen, I love where we are now
29:07 and I love the ability to be able to tap it
29:10 and you can go, but again, I'm from an era
29:11 where you went into the mall to get it.
29:14 We're just talking about circuiting.
29:15 You went there to get it.
29:16 You went into those stores, you tried it on,
29:19 and when you left, you couldn't wait to get home,
29:21 go to the club the next night
29:22 'cause you knew you was gonna be fresh.
29:24 - 100%.
29:25 - You knew you was gonna be fresh.
29:26 - It's a great experience.
29:26 - Absolutely, and I couldn't wait for Amazon to deliver it.
29:28 I had to go get it at the mall that day.
29:31 Some leadership stuff, I'll let you get out of here.
29:33 First, we did talk about you and investments
29:36 and I know that, as far as we hear,
29:37 we did a story, we went inside of Shark Tank
29:40 and I read that story over
29:41 and I found it was very interesting
29:42 and I know you didn't back down
29:44 and is there anything that needs to change about the show?
29:46 Because one of the things that stood out
29:48 about that Steph Forbes article
29:50 was that once these deals are done,
29:51 behind the scenes, the deals change.
29:53 And I know you say, "Hey, listen,
29:54 "these people are getting up, it's like a first date.
29:57 "We don't know what we're getting,
29:58 "but once we get further on,
29:59 "we start to get to know each other,
30:00 "we see her breath where his breath stinks,
30:02 "we don't wanna go no more."
30:03 Anything need to change about that show
30:05 so that way you don't have that clarity
30:06 or will this always just be the thing?
30:08 - No, the articles that come out,
30:10 nothing against the journalist, right?
30:11 And obviously, I'm sitting here, right?
30:14 I think we need journalists to keep us fair, 100%.
30:18 I do think that there is no new story on "Shark Tank", why?
30:22 Now, the guys are doing great, everybody's doing great,
30:25 everybody's happy, everybody's doing this.
30:26 So what's the new angle?
30:28 Well, the new angle I find from the journalists
30:30 have been, "Oh, the deals don't close
30:31 "exactly like they do of the show."
30:34 So no disrespect to the journalists,
30:38 but for the most people who see,
30:39 who are business people, you know what they say?
30:41 "No shit, Sherlock, are you saying to me
30:44 "the sharks actually negotiate a deal after due diligence?
30:49 "I'm so surprised."
30:53 But the everyday person, "Oh my God, are you kidding me?"
30:57 You ever go to a house and after the engineer report
31:01 comes back, the 300,000 you can offer them,
31:04 they say the boiler's broken, you go, "I'll give you 310."
31:07 It doesn't work like that, that's just business.
31:09 So splashy headlines and clickbait.
31:12 - That wasn't clickbait!
31:14 - I'm not talking about you, actually.
31:16 I don't even remember the article, to be very honest.
31:19 And Forbes has always given us, what I believe,
31:22 a good look at the stuff.
31:25 The people that talk the most about it
31:27 is the sensationalized people,
31:29 but I'm saying that nothing needs to change in a show.
31:33 The reason the show works is the purity of the show.
31:37 We have adjusted the show in some senses.
31:40 Initially, the first two, three years,
31:43 there was some kind of ABC,
31:45 wanted some kind of royalty attached to it,
31:49 or whatever, whatever percentage.
31:51 We didn't get good deal flow.
31:53 Nobody wants to come in there and do that.
31:56 Also, we find that if people are coming in,
31:59 you can clearly see that they're just using this platform
32:02 for an advertising and commercial.
32:04 Nobody benefits off of that besides them.
32:06 The viewer at home doesn't get to see hardworking people,
32:11 everyday people who needed a shot.
32:14 There's a place to pitch those type of deals,
32:16 and that's fine, right?
32:18 So we always try to adjust the show.
32:22 If a family's coming in with children,
32:24 we always say, "Hey, kids,
32:28 "even less is the kids' business,
32:30 "let Mommy and Daddy talk to the sharks."
32:32 Why?
32:33 Because that doesn't mean that that business
32:35 is good or bad, but you,
32:36 the show, we never want a child
32:38 to see their parent right there
32:40 told no.
32:43 So I love the show, and I love what has come out of it,
32:46 and I love journalists keeping it honest.
32:49 I love it.
32:50 - And like I said, I had you,
32:51 I wanted to make sure if anything needs to change.
32:52 And again, in that article, you were quoted,
32:54 you didn't back down from it,
32:56 and you kind of said,
32:57 and I thought it was a good analogy.
32:58 Sometimes when it gets down the road
32:59 and you need to change something, and it is business,
33:01 you have to take the emotion out of it, right?
33:03 And that has to be understood.
33:04 - It's all good.
33:05 Business is a transaction.
33:06 - Absolutely it is.
33:07 Leadership stuff now.
33:08 We can talk all day again about how you built the business,
33:12 but I was looking around and I said,
33:15 "I wonder what books does the brother like to read?"
33:17 Right, and I see Rich Dad, Poor Dad is one of them.
33:19 Think and Grow Rich, right?
33:21 And that's another one.
33:22 - That is my number one book.
33:23 - That's your number one book,
33:24 Think and Grow Rich, right?
33:25 - Yeah.
33:26 - Any other book, outside of your own,
33:29 any other book that you can recommend an entrepreneur,
33:31 like they must read it?
33:33 - Oh, it's funny.
33:33 So, The Art of Barter.
33:36 - Who's that by?
33:37 - I'm not even sure.
33:39 And the book itself, take away from it,
33:42 The Art of Barter, because I think a lot of people
33:44 don't realize OPM is other people's manpower,
33:46 mind power, manufacturing, marketing.
33:48 Don't think of everybody has something of value to trade.
33:52 I like Blue Ocean Strategy,
33:55 where it shows about thinking outside the box again.
33:57 The Greatest Salesman in Babylon,
34:02 Who Moved My Cheese?
34:03 One Great Manager.
34:04 All the little books, the fundamentals of them.
34:07 Yeah, and remember, I'm dyslexic.
34:09 So, reading has always been a challenge.
34:11 Now, thank God I get them in audio.
34:14 I like Traction, the book.
34:17 But, you know, Tony Robbins and, oh, Lewis Howes,
34:20 his newest book, Lewis Howes, I forgot.
34:23 I don't know if I got the title of that.
34:24 And Tim Ferriss, Tribal Mentors.
34:27 There's a lot of great material out there.
34:29 I don't actually like writing books,
34:32 and I don't know if I'm gonna write any more for adults.
34:34 I'm finding that the kid book area,
34:37 where I'm doing right now, is really the most fulfilling.
34:40 And the adult books are really hard to write.
34:43 And I usually only write them after I get so many questions,
34:45 something I can't answer, or tell somebody,
34:48 "Well, check out this book."
34:49 But I think I'm really gonna start
34:51 mainly focusing on kids' books.
34:52 - And I guess the illustration,
34:53 all the kids have FUBU gear, right?
34:56 - (laughs) You know what, I don't wanna defeat the point
34:59 by putting stuff like that on there,
35:00 because I want kids to--
35:01 - That's what I'm saying, market it, man.
35:02 I'm gonna get to it.
35:03 - Yeah, you know what, this is my three-peat
35:05 where it comes to, I did FUBU,
35:08 hopefully I changed some lines.
35:09 Shark Tank, hopefully I changed some lines.
35:10 But the one I'm gonna go to the grave with
35:13 is teaching our younger generation
35:15 financial intelligence, so financial wellness.
35:17 - Yeah, financial literacy, yeah.
35:19 John O'Brien always says,
35:20 "This generation is about silver rights."
35:23 Right, not silver, silver rights.
35:26 Listen, one of my favorite books,
35:27 Jim Collins' Good the Great.
35:29 And I always appreciate--
35:31 - Gotta read that.
35:32 - It's a phenomenal book,
35:33 and it teaches you about leadership, right?
35:34 And I'll ask you, what's the difference
35:36 between a good entrepreneur and a great one?
35:39 - Well, I think that's kind of like a,
35:42 you kind of set me up for that one, right?
35:44 With a good entrepreneur, I think,
35:47 is one that is chugging along
35:50 and being of service to people
35:53 and trying to figure it out.
35:54 A great entrepreneur is one who is taking affordable risk,
35:57 being vulnerable, constantly educating themselves
36:01 and putting their team first,
36:03 understanding that they are just as quick
36:06 to pick up a box and do what they've asked
36:08 of their team members.
36:10 And they set by example and they lead by example.
36:12 - Yeah, and I'm not gonna get you out,
36:14 I gotta go on this one too,
36:15 because you're a designer, right?
36:17 The difference between a good designer and a great one.
36:20 - You know, there's design, I'm not a designer.
36:25 I believe I'm more of a marketer.
36:28 Yeah, did I do design and functionalities
36:34 that I think were needed in the community?
36:35 Yes.
36:36 - Okay.
36:37 Well, let's change it.
36:38 The difference between a good marketer and a great one.
36:40 - Yeah, well, a great marketer pivots,
36:43 a great marketer thinks outside the box
36:46 and doesn't go the traditional ways.
36:48 When I talk about design,
36:49 when I think of people like Tom Ford
36:52 or people that, or Dapp,
36:55 who physically made the pieces and envision pieces
37:00 that, you know, that, I mean,
37:02 when you have somebody go down a runway
37:04 with a beautiful piece, that's a designer.
37:06 Now you do have designers who are great marketers
37:08 at the same time.
37:09 Jean-Paul Gaultier is a really great way
37:12 because he designs in a marketing perspective, you know?
37:15 But Louis Vuitton and Gucci are great marketers to me.
37:21 You know, they're able to market.
37:23 Louis Vuitton will never go on sale,
37:24 so that's part of the marketing.
37:25 They'll burn all the goods that they don't sell.
37:27 They'll keep the price up there.
37:29 They will make trunks
37:30 and they'll make various different other things.
37:32 Their marketing is they're taking in, you know,
37:35 Hermes will do the seats on your boat and on your plane,
37:40 or the horses, everybody's thinking Birkin.
37:43 No, their touch points are various different areas,
37:46 and that's a great marketer.
37:47 - Yeah, wow.
37:48 And I didn't even know that Louis Vuitton.
37:50 I'm not a big Louis Vuitton.
37:51 Listen, I come from an era.
37:52 I see kids walking around.
37:54 I saw Dickies.
37:55 I'm seeing Dickies.
37:56 I'm thinking, "Man, is the baggy era coming back here again?"
37:59 I mean, it's just great.
38:00 And that's how, you know, again, fashion goes up and down.
38:03 - That's how it goes, yeah.
38:04 - Damajohn, thank you so much.
38:05 Congratulations again
38:06 to your fourth annual Black Entrepreneurs Day.
38:09 Hopefully you can see fifth, sixth, and 25 years down the line.
38:12 - I love it, man.
38:12 And I'd just like to thank you for supporting,
38:14 and you know, for Gault for supporting us.
38:17 And I do have to honestly say, you know,
38:19 this one's coming up and I don't know if we mentioned it,
38:22 but you know, we're really excited.
38:24 We're gonna have Whoopi Goldberg there,
38:25 Anthony Anderson, Shaquille O'Neal.
38:27 - New president of Reebok, Shaquille O'Neal.
38:29 - Yeah, yeah, Cedric the Entertainer,
38:31 performed by Rick Ross.
38:34 - Nice.
38:35 - And who have stuck by me, you know?
38:37 You know, Chase and The General and Shopify and Lowe's
38:42 and actually two new companies who said,
38:44 "We are not doing enough.
38:45 "We're doing a lot."
38:47 McDonald's and you know, Hyatt.
38:50 And I gotta shout out to T-Mobile.
38:51 - And well, tell them to send some for us BLK way, man.
38:54 We need some of that money too.
38:55 - Say what?
38:56 - Send them for us BLK way.
38:57 We need some of that money too.
38:58 - They probably will,
38:59 because they're looking for more opportunities
39:02 where they can just keep not only doing that,
39:05 but giving some of the resources they have too.
39:08 - And if we've proven anything,
39:09 we've proven in hip hop the last 50 years, right?
39:11 Culture drives it, right?
39:12 And who better than the culture?
39:13 - We all know it.
39:14 - Yeah.
39:15 - And we all know you do.
39:16 - Absolutely.
39:17 - Thanks for the time.
39:17 - And thank you, man.
39:18 - Appreciate it. - Thanks for the support.
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