Top 35 Daymond John Quotes

You don’t have to work for a big corporation if you don’t want to.

I consider each business investment based on concept and revenue.

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 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 started FUBU in 1989 but ran out of money three times and closed it down.

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.

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.

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?’

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 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 value an entrepreneur I can get behind and trust, because I know they are attempting to move forward in life.

In my mind, there are too many copycat web products out there that are doing the same thing.

A savvy entrepreneur will not always look for investment money, first.

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.

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.

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.

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’m a firm believer in utilizing celebrities because they tap into people on an emotional basis.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Mentors, by far, are the most important aspects of businesses.

If I invest in a CEO, I need him or her to have experience in sales.

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 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 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.

As an entrepreneur, you love your business like a child, and you’re taught to be laser-focused on the business.

As an entrepreneur, you never stop learning.

Most brands started from a strong base and kept a strong belief.

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’ve failed way more than I’ve succeeded.

Poor people put a low value on themselves and their efforts.