Shark Tank’s Daymond John: 3 Money Mistakes You Should Avoid
Written by
Heather Altamirano
Edited by
Caitlyn Moorhead
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Daymond John, renowned entrepreneur and “Shark Tank” investor, built his fortune with just a $40 startup budget. FUBU, the urban clothing company he co-founded, turned into a $6 billion global fashion brand, and his own net worth has ballooned to $350 million. His success led to him becoming a leading voice in business mentorship, especially for aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners.
Throughout his decades of experience, John has faced his share of challenges and missteps along the way, not to mention the bad advice. Here are three of the most damaging money mistakes he’s encountered, so you can avoid making them too.
Judging Relationships by Wealth
In an interview with The Root, John revealed that the worst advice he’s received was more of an attitude. He explained, “There is an attitude that some people have that, ‘I want what I want… If you’re just blowing money, then I’ll take your money too.'”
While some people look at what they can gain from a person to determine the value of a relationship, John doesn’t believe in doing the same. As he put it, those who embrace this attitude are almost like con artists. And in his opinion, you shouldn’t look at other people as a financial means to an end.
“[The money] doesn’t matter,” said John. “When you discard people, I think that’s horrible.”
Failing To Build Financial Literacy Early
In the same interview, John admitted one of his biggest mistakes was not educating himself about finances early on.
“As African Americans, many of us haven’t come from legacy wealth. We don’t have a grandfather or grandmother to maybe [teach] us that,” said John. “I didn’t have financial intelligence and almost went bankrupt three separate times. Two times when I didn’t have money and one time when I did have money.”
He goes on to give the example of top-tier athletes and lottery winners who wind up going bankrupt due to a lack of financial literacy. He said, “They weren’t taught financial intelligence. There’s nothing ‘wrong’ with what they did. You don’t know what you don’t know.”
Building and maintaining wealth involves not just earning a paycheck but also learning how to manage each paycheck so that your money grows.
Neglecting To Pass on Financial Knowledge
John is on a mission now to teach kids about financial intelligence with his children’s book, “Little Daymond Learns to Earn.”
During an interview with Fox 5, John explained the purpose behind this venture. After reading his daughter so many books about “some prince that is going to come and save her and find her a glass slipper or save her from a tower,” he was unsatisfied.
“I wanted her, as well as our little boys, to believe that she can make her own slippers and enjoy selling them,” said John. “And I want the prince to come and say, ‘Wow, who owns this whole slipper store, I need to meet her.'”
He wasn’t going to let his decades of experience and understanding of wealth end with him, so he created the story he felt needed to be told — a story about financial literacy.
About this project, he said, “It’s not about a book, it’s about creating a dialogue and watching our school systems change in certain areas because of this product and having other celebrities and banks and educational systems saying, ‘All right, we need to do that in Atlanta, we need to do that in San Diego.”
Overall, John wants his legacy to extend beyond the money in his bank account. He said, “Before I die, I want my little girls to say my daddy created a conversation in this country to help us change the narrative.”
Caitlyn Moorhead contributed to the reporting for this article.
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