Daymond John, a Queens‑born entrepreneur, launched FUBU in 1992 after buying $40 worth of fabric and selling the first batch of tie‑top hats for $800 on a Queens street corner. The brand, short for For Us, By Us, grew to generate more than $6 B in global sales, according to ABC News and a 2018 RECon account.
John’s mother, Margot John, turned their living room into a makeshift production line, later securing a second mortgage that released about $100 000 in equity after 27 banks rejected the venture. “I kept the dream alive because I saw the market hungry for a brand that represented us,” John recalled.
The label’s breakthrough came when LL Cool J, a Queens native, wore a FUBU hat in a Gap commercial and referenced the brand in a freestyle rap in 1997. That exposure catapulted FUBU into mainstream hip‑hop culture and attracted buyers at a Las Vegas trade show.
While juggling a Red Lobster shift, John leveraged his earnings and family support to sidestep traditional financing, a strategy he later chronicled in his 2016 book The Power of Broke. He argues that constraints breed innovation.
Today, John’s story informs his role as an investor on ABC’s Shark Tank, where he mentors budding entrepreneurs, and he continues to speak at industry events about turning limited resources into scalable enterprises.