Daymond John
FUBU co-founder, Shark Tank investor and author sharing lessons on branding, business and finding a way to start with what you have.
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Latest
Daymond’s happenings, collected from public sources, plus their backstory and Starbook, where fans write.
Known for
Overview
- Born
- February 23, 1969, in Brooklyn, New York
- Hometown
- Hollis, Queens, New York
- Work
- Entrepreneur, investor, author and business creator
- Breakout
- FUBU, the sportswear brand built with childhood friends in Queens
Mini bio
A start in Queens.
Daymond grew up in Queens and worked as a waiter at Red Lobster before building a clothing business. His mother taught him to sew. He began making tie-top hats, then brought childhood friends J. Alexander Martin, Carl Brown and Keith Perrin into the venture that became FUBU.
Getting FUBU seen.
The name stands for “For Us, By Us.” Neighborhood friend LL Cool J wore a FUBU shirt for a promotional photograph in 1993. A Las Vegas trade show in 1994 brought the team back to Queens with $300,000 in orders, while a mortgage on the family home helped finance production.
Sharing the lessons.
As an original Shark Tank cast member and CEO of The Shark Group, Daymond has made branding and entrepreneurship the center of his public work. His books bring those lessons to adults and children, and he created Black Entrepreneurs Day in 2020 to connect business conversations with resources for Black founders.
Creditschronological, newest first
Television and events
- 2026Shark Tank, season 18Investor and executive producer
- 2025Shark Tank, season 17Returning Shark
- 2024Black Entrepreneurs Day, fifth annual eventCreator and host
Books
- 2023Little Daymond Learns to EarnAuthor; illustrations by Nicole Miles
- 2016The Power of BrokeAuthor, with Daniel Paisner
Awards
Quotes
Entrepreneurship is the engine of innovation.Daymond John, Colossal announcement, June 10, 2025
On the first Entrepreneur of Impact campaign and its winner, Madiha Chan.
Trivia
- FUBU stands for “For Us, By Us.”
- Before fashion became his full-time work, he waited tables at Red Lobster.
- He told Yale’s Center for Dyslexia & Creativity that math and science came more easily to him at school than reading and spelling.
Find Daymond
Business lessons, conversations and updates from Daymond’s official channels.
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Random House Books for Young Readers
Penguin Random House