‘Shark Tank’ investor Daymond John shares ‘shark points’ with local entrepreneurs

“The People’s Shark” Daymond John, star investor on the hit ABC reality show “Shark Tank,” yesterday shared with the Buffalo entrepreneur community five lessons he learned while creating a billion-dollar clothing company.

John, founder and CEO of FUBU (For Us, By Us) a hip hop apparel company, was the keynote speaker for UB’s Bright Buffalo Niagara (BBN) program.

Organized in collaboration with 43North, the world’s largest business idea competition, the event —held at the historic Statler City in Buffalo — brought together dozens of local entrepreneurs and businesses, as well as semifinalists from 43North, for their own version of “Shark Tank,” where each business delivered 90-second live pitches to potential angel and venture capitalists.

“I’m thrilled to welcome the next generation of innovators to the Bright Buffalo Niagara Entrepreneur Expo,” said Norma Nowak, executive director of UB’s New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences, which hosted the event.

“This event showcases that Buffalo’s startup scene is bright, and it is an amazing opportunity for each company to introduce themselves to potential founders and hear from an iconic investor and entrepreneur who has walked in their shoes.”

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, who declared John’s speech a “dynamic presentation at a dynamic time in the history of our city,” surprised the shark with a proclamation declaring Oct. 28 as “Daymond John Day.”

Throughout his address, John detailed his journey from a young hip hop fan and waiter, who after learning how to sew from his mother, went on to launch a clothing line that generated more than $4 billion in sales.

John’s five shark points for aspiring entrepreneurs:

Set a goal: While attending a Run DMC concert, John noticed that those in the audience were wearing the “uniform of hip hop” — an assortment of similar outfits that were created by such brands as Kangola and Addidas. In that moment, he set the goal to create the uniform of hip hop.

“I knew that I could never set a goal and hit a target that I couldn’t visualize, and I visualized me being successful one way or another,” John said. “If you don’t set a goal … you then let everyone else set goals for you.”

Homework: John attributed many of his early mistakes to a lack of completing research.

His company originally was named BUFU, but after learning the word was used as slang and had a negative meaning, he quickly changed the brand’s name to FUBU. He also attributed the company’s early struggles to not understanding how to manage the business’s finances.

John attributed part of FUBU’s rapid success to studying his target market and understanding hip hop culture. Completing his homework, he said, helped FUBU amass $30 million in sales in three months at a time when he was expected to sell $5 million in three years.

“You will never create anything new in this world again; it will only be a new form of delivery. Your analytics are the only thing that is going to get you there,” said John, who added that new technology has made it easier for companies to track and understand their customer’s likes and interests.

Amor: The only thing that successful people have in common is that they love what they do, John said.

His love of hip hop inspired him to create a company in a market that didn’t exist at the time. FUBU’s decline, he added, came at a time when he began to lose passion for his work.

It was then that John’s interest turned toward helping other entrepreneurs build their dreams. He began appearing on small business-themed television shows before being asked to join the cast of “Shark Tank.”

Remember you are the brand: Branding never stops, John said. In part because of social media, people must maintain their image constantly.

“We do not invest in companies; we invest in people,” he said. “Can you go home today and put yourself, personally, into two to five words? Because if you don’t know what your two to five words are, you leave it up to us to interpret when you walk into the room.”

John referenced the Kardashian family as the pinnacle of branding.

Keep Moving: The simplest of his five points, entrepreneurs must never stop pushing toward a goal. Even if they fail and have to pivot toward a new idea or business, what matters is that they don’t stop.