Living The Red Life - Daymond John from Shark Tank : Why CEOs Who Aren't on Social Media Are DOOMED!

Episode Date: January 29, 2025

Daymond John, known for his role as a "Shark" on Shark Tank and his work with FUBU, shares his journey of entrepreneurship, brand-building, and balancing multiple ventures. He dives into his experience with acquiring businesses, helping entrepreneurs, and finding new ways to scale through licensing and partnerships. Daymond also touches on his health journey, highlighting how he manages to juggle his personal well-being with running successful enterprises, advising companies, and creating impactful programs.During the conversation, Daymond emphasizes the importance of branding, especially for high-level CEOs, and the necessity of having a public-facing persona to manage perceptions and create connections. He also explores how businesses can expand beyond just selling products, advocating for licensing deals, and strategic partnerships. Insights on virality, brand loyalty, and leveraging new technologies and trends like AI are also discussed, offering listeners actionable takeaways for growing and protecting their businesses.TIMESTAMPS:02:00 - "Daymond's Multifaceted Focus: Balancing Health and Business"04:15 - "The Importance of Building Your CEO Brand"06:00 - "Why CEOs Should Embrace Public Recognition"07:20 - "Branding Secrets: Daymond’s Strategy for Virality"09:10 - "Creating Sticky Brands and Viral Content"10:45 - "Daymond’s Approach to Scaling Businesses"12:00 - "Licensing as a Key to Expanding Your Brand"13:30 - "How to Use Partnerships to Accelerate Growth"14:50 - "The Power of Licensing for Entrepreneurs"16:00 - "Daymond’s Vision for the Future: Expanding FUBU"Connect with Rudy Mawer:LinkedInInstagramFacebookTwitter

Damon, welcome to the show. I take all the small steps by myself first. I beat myself up. My team looks at me and says, are you kidding me? We're doing this for $7? It's not the $7. It's the action. It's the proof of concept.

And then when I get all those bugs out of the system. Damon John. Damon John is known as the iconic shark from the four-time Emmy award-winning show Shark Tank. He's an entrepreneur, an author, an investor. Inspiring millions to dream big and achieve big. A self-made billionaire, global fashion mogul, and the visionary behind FUBU. Entrepreneurship is a team sport. I get a bunch of really amazing partners and that's what licensing

is, that's what distribution is, that's what everything is. Can you talk a little about how people can expand beyond just like selling their product? So what you doing? My name is Rudy Moore, host of Living the Red Life podcast, and I'm here to change the way you see your life in your earpiece every single week. If you're ready to start living the red life, ditch the blue pill, take the red pill, join me in wonderland and change your life. What's up guys? Welcome back to another episode of Living the Red Life. Very special guest, you may recognize him. Damon, back to another episode of Living the Red Life. Very special guest. You may recognize him. Damon, welcome to the show.

Living the Red Life. I like that. I like the thunderstorm going up there. Thank you for having me, man. We got a lot of lights going on. Yeah, a lot of action. It's on a crack in here. So yeah, if you're not watching on YouTube

or streaming it, go stream it, because you'll see. But Damon, pleasure for having you. Thank you for coming in and excited to dive into the episode. All right. Yeah, exactly. Let's go. I've been excited. I've been taking a tour of this place. You've been helping me and filming all day with me. So I love it. Let's get into it. Good. So first question, you know, I think everyone watching, they obviously know you, but you're up to a lot, right? You're on this crazy health journey right now. You're prepping for the end of the world. Yep. And you know, you're also running all the businesses on Shark Tank

advising. You've got your, your high level program as well. High level program. I have another program with you. Yep. Yep. First question is what are the main focuses? And then the second question is how do you juggle those? This, it's odd, you know, it's a good question because the main focus is every year I know right around the summertime, I'm going to be entertaining, acquiring around 15 companies and I probably come down to probably being an investor in about six or seven of them, which is your shark tank companies. And then I have the companies that I previously invested in. And these are real stories, right?

These are people's real dreams and you're gonna have your bombas socks that have come out of there, your scrub daddies and the stuff that are gonna be massive, massive successes, but you are also gonna have people that are gonna struggle. Yep. All right, and you can't abandon them. So that is of course, right, always the main one. And with that, the challenge becomes, are they gonna air, when they're gonna air, if they're gonna air, you know,

how much do you get them ready prior? Do they want the investment if they don't air? All that kind of stuff happens, all right? And then you go to the other business that we currently have, which is everything from investing in private companies to consulting to sales, this and that. And with this crazy world changing with AI and the way things are distributed, that's a challenge itself because we're trying to help the entrepreneurs, trying to help my

own companies, and then we're investing in startups, right? So that becomes the secondary priority after the entrepreneurs and then it becomes, what am I pushing that year that I think is gonna create substantial change? So whether it is a book that I think is gonna educate children, whether it is, as we just touched on, like educating CEOs that are right at that point that they're either

gonna make it or break it or whether it's you know world-class CEOs. And I have my personal matter which is health and then prepping for the end of the world. So let's talk about, there's a lot I want to pull apart but I am interested in the CEO side just to kick it off because you know I teach a lot of branding, social media and I don't know if you agree but in the last five ten years a lot of high-level CEOs that were behind the scenes are now realizing hey I need to actually grow the front end of my personal brand because of the connections and opportunity it can

create. You know and that's what I agree upon too because what happened is the world has become so visual that the people no longer make it, they'll buy it. They want to know who they're buying it from and what you're about. But I also witnessed so many CEOs who say, well, you know, I don't want to be, whether on social media or whether it be known, but then when something critical happens, they got to go and try to find spin doctors or various other things, or somebody can take down whole corporations who are a kid in the park skateboarding around, but the kid in the park skateboarding around has more influence than a Fortune 1000 CEO and can take that

person down. And often, it's just that kid's perception of that person. And so I realized that that was something critical and I was somebody who had taken advantage of the ability to be a publicly recognized person. And when I started saying that to CEOs, even they were like, I don't know, I don't know, but you know what? Their executive assistants, their wives, their husband are like, no, my husband or my wife or my boss is a great person. They do more philanthropy than anybody I ever know. They manage, you know, 3000 people and they care and they've been painted with a shitstick

for no reason. And, you know, I want them, I want the great work they're doing because the DNA of this company is amazing. The culture is amazing. I want them, I want the great work they're doing because the DNA of this company is amazing. The culture is amazing. I want them to be known. Yeah. And I think that's fascinating because sometimes it is like, you know, these ultra successful CEOs get painted in a bad light because of one thing. So almost what I'm hearing from you is not only is it good to just, you know, for the CEO to have the face for making deals and connections and recruitment and culture, but also it's almost a good defensive mechanism if there is ever an issue that people actually know who they are and they've got their personality and authenticity out there.

Yeah, but you know, also, it's good for their business. Yeah. You know, if you like, listen, there's many people who own sports teams. There's only one Mark Cuban. Yeah, right. There's many real estate agents There's only one Barbara Corcoran many designers. There's Damon John, you know cyber Cybercrime experts. I don't know how many you don't know them, but you know Robert Yeah, I mean we even look at the the new president I mean how many people are into real estate, but who is the most powerful man in the world? Because he was able to brand himself and walk into those rooms way before he physically

walked into those rooms. Other people are anticipating you coming. That means that you can do this. I mean, Richard Branson, I mean, how many music executives were it? Now Richard Branson has 300 companies, everything from jets to soda. And you know, when you're, when you're, when you're powerful like that, you can take your company, your corporation and new things, and you can give new life and new opportunities to these, these people that work for you. Well, it's funny you mentioned Richard, because I, you know, I spoke to him a few times about this

and gone to his island. And I said to him, I'm like, you're the OG of viral marketing, right? Like before Instagram existed 40 years ago, he's like risking his life going around the world or whatever to create viral marketing when he didn't have a budget. And now everyone's cottoning on. But I also think you were one of the first with Fubu. Like when I see what you did there and your stories behind it and the more time I've spent with you listening to them, you had to get savvy.

You didn't like take on hundreds of millions of dollars and just run TV ads. And I know there's one iconic story, or I'm sure there's a few, where you got a lot of publicity and free PR from celebrities and your friends endorsing Fubus kind of in a viral way that you wouldn't see for a normal TV. Oh, you know, listen, if you thought that, you know, money was going to solve everything, you compete with everybody purely for money. Well, then if that worked, then I always say Kodak and Blackberry and Fridays, all of them

and Blockbuster, they'd all still be in business. It's all about when you don't have anything, I wrote a whole book on it, The Power of Broke, and you create virality. It forces you to create something that's sticky. It forces you to create something that somebody wants to talk about. And once you start doing that and understanding that, well, you're learning how to add way more value to your customer. You want your customer to capture something about you, whether it's your person, whether you're a CEO or your brand, and go and, as I say, be the smartest person at the

water cooler Monday morning or the smartest person on Zoom, because it's sticky and they want to share it. And that's really what social media is. I found something so fascinating that I want to share it. Yeah, love it. So we talked a little about the brand side, virality side, content side. I want to just pull back to the amount of stuff you're able to do, right? Like your own health journey and personal family stuff. And I mean, it looks like you do a great job of balancing all that for how busy you are. How do you have the system, the teams,

just a quick overview to do all these things well? Yeah, you know, I like to tell people, I say it all the time, you know, I'm Willy Wonka and it looks great, but Willy Wonka's chocolate factory really messy. I don't have it as much in order as you think. And when I do get it in order, I mess it up by doing more stuff. One other stuff.

Yeah, I do more shit. Look, I think you and I, we have a great program. I found that you had this passion for helping entrepreneurs in this way to articulate it and brand them. I think you're a way better brander than I am when I really think about it. And I look at somebody like you and I say, well, how do I partner up with you? I find that entrepreneurship is a team sport.

I get a bunch of really amazing partners and that's what licensing is, that's what distribution is, that's what everything is. Co-branding, curriculums, marketing. So what I do is I usually, I take all the small steps by myself first. I beat myself up, my team looks at me and says,

are you kidding me? We're doing this for $7? It's not the $7, it's the action, it's the proof of concept. And then when I get all those bugs out of the system, I go to a partner or somebody else and say, Hey, I fixed this and I got it right now. I need to put gasoline on and put a bullhorn on it. And that's how I find that I've scaled businesses. And if you look at some of the greatest brands in the world, like the, you know, the Disney, they basically, and Mickey Mouse is great, but they have everything from networks to products

to theme parks because they license out most of the stuff and find great partners, and that's what I do. And I think just to talk about the license side, that's one thing I've definitely taken from you and working with Ted and stuff. I think as an entrepreneur, I know as I built my business to millions and then 10 million and beyond, you're always just like working so hard on selling.

But then you go, well, how can I, you know, get bigger faster? And it's like, well, I can add in M&A and I can add in license deals. And I think most entrepreneurs, because I didn't go to business school, you don't learn that, right? And that's what you need to go from that 10 to 100 million is so can you talk a little about how people can expand beyond just like selling their product? Yeah, so like you're saying, M&A, you're talking about licensing, franchising, various other things. So what you do is you try to find a way to master something really, really well. And so I'll give you an example about FUBU fubu, you know, we would really well We were really good in doing for us by us young guys who love the hip-hop culture

So we knew that at that time, you know, you can only buy like hip-hop Type of clothes were either really cheap made screen printed stuff with characters on them You know looking like a baseball cap or something or you had had to go and buy a, let's say, Lecoq Sportif or Carhartt or Levi's and Leaves and Kangle and reinterpret it for the streets, you know, and actually you got, like if you're a break dancer, you had to go and get the pants stitched to be closer to the leg and all kinds of other stuff. So we decided that when we were going to come out with our brand, there was a, and then you could also buy Kinte cloth colored stuff. I don't want to wear a green or a yellow or an orange denim suit. I mean, maybe red sometimes, but not all the time. Why couldn't I just make really quality clothes that aren't going to rip up in the, in the,

in the laundry? Why that are not green because I want to represent African-American kente cloth and just make them, they're affordable, but they were a little more pricey because they were investment in your clothing. So I did that, but I couldn't make ladies. I didn't know how to make bags, boots, fragrance. Now I can go down a learning path to doing that. You try to make shoes, you try to make sneakers.

Sneakers are almost like building a car. Yeah, yeah. Right? So what do I do? I go and find a company that is really good at sneakers, making them, but they're not good at branding. Okay, well, why don't you license my FUBU brand? You'll get to use the name.

We can clear and as long as we love the designs, we're good with that. You do exactly what you've been really good at, manufacturing, we will keep marketing it. And you pay us a We're good with that. You do exactly what you've been really good at manufacturing We will keep marketing it and you pay us a certain percentage to do that And then if it doesn't work out in three or four years, we take the brand back If it doesn't work out you get an automatic renewal. Yeah, so that's what licensing is so we did that in boys boots bags, whatever and then we go well, I

Don't know the market in Japan or Australia. Why don't we license stores? Because you want an operator in those properties, right? And that's basically the same as the partnering thing, right? It's like you're saying, hey, instead of me going, I could figure it out, take me four years and a lot of mistakes, or I just partner with someone already. They can lease it. Yeah.

Leasing it from you. You know, today, if I wanted, because the world is getting so health conscious, if I wanted to make FUBU frozen soul food, healthy plant-based, it's a name already. But you think I'm gonna learn how to do all that? The license partnership side, I think it's fascinating for entrepreneurs,

because I think most entrepreneurs, especially the ones I work with, a lot of zero to 10 million, they think so one lane, right? Ads to sell my product through Shopify or whatever. But I really think they have to get empowered and believe in themselves. Like, no, I can do these JV partnerships. You start getting these license deals. and steals. The only thing that's important though is licensing is not easy in a sense that, you know, if I was making, you know, you're really great in branding yourself and I say, hey, Rudy, you know what, I want to make broadcast equipment under your brand.

You would need to share with me who is buying your brand. Is it women buying it for themselves? Are they buying it for their husband? They're buying it for their kids? Is it influencers buying it for this? Why are they buying it? So when we understood the brand was young men, primarily 18 to 34, they would pay 20% more, who mostly lived in major cities.

So now all of a sudden the person who, the sneakers, they know what stores they could put it in. They know the pricing they can put it at. So you really have to be able to understand that. Now franchises is the same thing. I've created this great cheese steak and here is exactly the recipe. Here's how long the person needs to be in

and out of the door. Here is the price. Here's the places it sells. Here's the themes and the recipe. Here's how long the person needs to be in and out of the door. Here is the price. Here's the places it sells. Here's the themes and the names. You're going to buy the store. You're going to pay for all that. And you're going to give me a percentage every cheesesteak you sell. And I'm going to come up with new cheesesteaks and I'm going to help market it. Yeah. Well, we have a mutual friend, Jeff Fenster with, you know, Evergold. Absolutely. A great way for him to expand.

Evergold. Yeah. Yeah. He's expanding and he also has partners like Drew Brees. And so now not only does he have- And he has the backend to build it. He has the backend to move it. Great product. He builds out these stores, right? And then he has great partners like a Drew Brees who says, who really is passionate about it.

There you go. One, it's a win-win because he has the McDonald's model of owning the real estate side or making money off that part. But then also like Drew Brees is an example, he has the brand to blow it up and buy a bunch of stores instantly,

but he doesn't want to learn the manufacturing and the recipes. So it's all collaboration. So all collaboration, great example. So last couple of questions as we wrap up. We didn't talk about the health side, right? Like you're, you know, I came from a health background, a sports background and the link between health

and entrepreneurship, I think a lot of entrepreneurs are cottoning on now. So how important is health for entrepreneurship? I mean, entrepreneurship is a very hard business, right? What do they say, right? You give up 40 hours to work 80, and often because you are an entrepreneur, you're usually of so much service to others

that you don't take care of yourself. And you'll say, I'll get an hour less sleep or two hours less sleep. You risk your family and various other things. And then you turn around and you realize that, you're not as healthy as you thought. And then sometimes it goes really good for you and you get to eat three different steaks

with mashed potatoes and lobster that day when you were poor earlier. So you can't even believe you're eating caviar and drinking champagne. And other people are paying for it. And other people are paying for it. So it's the greatest thing ever. So you have to have the discipline and be able to do that.

But when you start really looking at your health, you know, so many people pass away due to this neglect and then you go, what am I really working for? So, uh, uh, entrepreneurs, the great thing about them is they're about, they're about doing their homework. And once you see an entrepreneur start going on their health kit, they never stop. They start keep reinvesting in themselves. And it's been great and I've had a great time and I love seeing all my friends who are now addicted to their health. Yeah, they start keep reinvesting in themselves and it's been great and I've had a great time And I love seeing all my friends who are now addicted to their health. Yeah, that's great. Good. Well, we're out of time So we'll have to save the end of the world part for another episode. Maybe it again, but it's been a pleasure

Thank you. And guys if you want to learn more, there's a ton of ways to work with Damon We've got an event coming up very soon in Miami. so come check that out. I'll drop the links below. Damon, pleasure as always. Thanks for having me, man. And I'll see you all with us collectively. Yep. See you guys soon. Take care.