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TV 'shark' shares his road to success at El Paso conference [El Paso Times, Texas]
[October 23, 2014]

TV 'shark' shares his road to success at El Paso conference [El Paso Times, Texas]


(El Paso Times (TX) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 24--Daymond John's demeanor is mostly no-nonsense and contemplative in ABC-TV's "Shark Tank" realty show, in which he is one of six investor sharks.

On Thursday, the 45-year-old multimillionaire clothing mogul and start-up investor bragged, joked, and talked nonstop for more than an hour as the star of his one-man entrepreneurial show at the El Paso Business Conference and Expo at the El Paso Convention Center. He punctuated his story and tips with a stream of photos flashing behind him and cuts of music to match his changing moods.



John, sporting a brown, pin-striped suit and small, diamond earrings, spent most of his luncheon talk to about 1,000 people detailing how he turned his love and passion for Hip-Hop, or rap, music as he was growing up in Queens, N.Y., in the 1970s into the hip, rap-centered FUBU clothing brand that made him rich.

Rap music was the Twitter of that time, he said.


He also detailed how his early fortune and fame resulted in a divorce and, for a time, the loss of his entrepreneurial smarts.

"I stopped setting goals. I stopped doing my homework. The market was shifting," John said as the video screen behind him just finished flashing a photo of him playing air guitar on stage with rock star Prince. That was a perk of being rich, he said.

"I stopped doing what I love. I started hanging out, partying." His wife divorced him and took their two daughters. But in the process, his ex-wife convinced him to set new goals and made him realize how the Internet and other technology was changing the clothing market, he said. It also made him get away from the "fake people" surrounding him, and to "play it forward" by providing his entrepreneurial insights to others, he said.

John's company took off after rap star LL Cool J, who lived down the street from John in Queens when John was forming FUBU in his mom's house, made a TV commercial in 1997 for the Gap clothing chain. The rapper wore a FUBU hat and, unknown to GAP's marketers and executives, rapped out FUBU's moniker, "For us, by us, on the low." That sent youths running to the Gap for FUBU clothing that it did not sell.

New management came into Gap and realized the value of the commercial, spent $60-million re-airing it, and FUBU became a global success, John said.

FUBU's popularity today is mostly overseas in South Korea, South Africa, and other countries, John said after his speech. He declined to give annual sales for FUBU, or for the list of other clothing lines he now has. John also has investments in a host of other companies.

John said he was able to make FUBU successful along with three partners because of the "A" in his "five shark points" to success.

"The only thing that every single entrepreneur has in common that are successful is 'A.' Amor. Love. The main reason we do it, and most of us have got into business is because we love what we were doing and money came later," John said.

His shark points are: "S," set goals; "H," do your homework; "A," amor; "R," remember, you are the brand; and "K," keep swimming.

John said it's important to know who you are and know your company.

"If you don't know what your two to five words are that describes you, then you leave it up to us to interpret it when you come into the room. Why is that more important now more than ever? Because people are watching you through social media. Does your social media represent the two to five words that you stand for? "Think about it. Nike, 'Just do it;' Apple, 'Think different,'" John said as he rattled off a list of big corporations and their short, corporate identities. He then threw in some local ones: "WestStar Bank (lead sponsor of the business conference), 'It's a partnership;' 'El Paso, It's All Good,' baby." John also said the common mistake he sees entrepreneurs make when they are pitching their ideas to investors, as is done on "Shark Tank," is they base their pitch on what's important to them instead of what is important to the person they are pitching.

John, in answer to a question from the audience, said the Internet is the best vehicle for business success today.

"Brick and mortar (stores) is dead," he said.

Andy Krafsur, founder and CEO of Spira Footwear, a fledgling El Paso company that makes running shoes with springs in the heels, said John's one-man show was one of the best presentations he's seen on entrepreneurship.

"He's a guy who's been there and understands," Krafsur said after the luncheon. "His point about setting goals is often overlooked. It's such a critical part of entrepreneurship." More information: daymondjohn.com Vic Kolenc may be reached at 915-546-6421.

___ (c)2014 the El Paso Times (El Paso, Texas) Visit the El Paso Times (El Paso, Texas) at www.elpasotimes.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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