‘Shark Tank’s’ Daymond John Says A Person’s True Character Comes Out When Playing This Game
ABC’s hit reality show Shark Tank is in its 11th season and shows no signs of slowing down. Making millionaires out of aspiring entrepreneurs, the program shows viewers how profitable deals are negotiated and solidified.
Fashion icon Daymond John, one of the original sharks on the panel, says playing this board game can be very revealing of a person’s business style and genuine nature.
The ‘ultimate entrepreneur’
John launched his million-dollar clothing line FUBU in 1992, becoming a major success with his hip-hop brand. The Shark Tank star always looked to his mom Margot as his role model, who had to raise him on her own after his father left when John was just 10 years old.
“Always working and always trying to find like-minded people around her. Always educating herself,” John said of his mother. “Reading The Wall Street Journal. Looking in encyclopedias. And she was traveling as much as she could. She actually got a job, part-time, working for American Airlines so she could see the world, so she could broaden her view of life.”
According to Business insider, his mother was instrumental in creating FUBU, where she taught John how to sew. Once he started developing his brand, his mom mortgaged her home in Hollis, Queens to provide her son with the funds he needed to grow the business and turned her home into his workspace.
The FUBU owner has a strong respect for how hard his mom worked and sees this quality in mothers who come on Shark Tank to pitch an idea. When John speaks of the most successful entrepreneurs from Shark Tank, he says they are often people like his mom.
“They are usually women,” John said. “They are usually mothers, which I love because I always say, ‘A mother is the ultimate entrepreneur.’”
Give him the boot
John makes spending time with his kids a top priority. The father of three girls, the millionaire investor always makes room in his schedule for daddy-daughter time. “No matter what, I’m going to FaceTime with her every night or I’m going to play with her,” he said referring to his daughter, according to Inc.
Speaking of games, John shared that he plays a specific board game with some members of his staff which he found can reveal a great deal about a person’s character.
“We have a vicious, vicious Monopoly game,” he said of the iconic real estate game. “The fascinating thing about Monopoly is that when you’re negotiating and competing and you’re playing by the rules of the game, people’s true characters come out throughout that four or five hours.”
John went on to share how he assesses his opponents in the game. “Can they make decisions? Are they willing to do questionable things or deals? Are they always making excuses why somebody else is winning or not winning? Or are they polite?” John explained. “The real individuals come out, and it’s fascinating when you play that with your team.”
John also revealed the piece he chooses to make his way around the board. “The boot, because I like to give people the boot,” he explained. “When they’re out of the game, I’ll boot them.”
Character assessment
Though there’s no Monopoly board on hand in the Shark Tank, John makes a point of looking beyond the pitch when it comes to investing in an entrepreneur.
“It always comes down to the entrepreneur’s character,” he said, as reported by Inc. “It always goes back to whether you like the person… If I don’t, that doesn’t mean you’re not going to get the deal. It may mean the deal becomes something else.”
Whenever he considers an investment, John makes sure he does his homework on the business and the person running it. “The due diligence starts the minute I have contact with you, whether it’s online, social media, or shaking your hand,” he said. “Your showing up late, showing up early, saying a couple of things.”
ABC’s Shark Tank airs on Sunday nights!
