WEBVTT - Fubu Founder & CEO Daymond John Talks Entrepreneurship & Brand Building

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, Radio New.

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<v Speaker 2>Do you want to bring you back to Southampton? Here

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<v Speaker 2>we are at Michael Loeb's house, a chartered community summit.

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<v Speaker 2>It's all about entrepreneurship, creating a brand, and we've got

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<v Speaker 2>a great voice who knows a little bit about that

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<v Speaker 2>and more. Damon John. He is the founder and CEO

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<v Speaker 2>of Fubu and of course a star of ABC Shark Tank.

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<v Speaker 3>So good to be able.

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<v Speaker 2>To have some time with you.

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<v Speaker 3>How are you thanks for having me?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, thank you, thank you. Creating a brand it isn't

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<v Speaker 2>so easy.

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<v Speaker 3>It is not easy.

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<v Speaker 2>Is it getting any easier or is it harder? And

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<v Speaker 2>I feel like it's an environment where anybody can almost

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<v Speaker 2>have a brand.

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<v Speaker 4>I do think it's getting harder. I think because you

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<v Speaker 4>have to find this niche audience. But not only do

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<v Speaker 4>you have to create the brand itself for your product

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<v Speaker 4>or services, but you, as a CEO and a founder

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<v Speaker 4>have to be a brand as well.

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<v Speaker 2>What does that mean?

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<v Speaker 3>Well, that means that people.

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<v Speaker 4>Would not only want to know why they're investing in

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<v Speaker 4>the brand or the product or buying it, what story

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<v Speaker 4>does that brand or product have?

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<v Speaker 3>As well as founders.

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<v Speaker 4>Who you know, I always say on Shark Tank that

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<v Speaker 4>you know, none of us are original. I mean, there's

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<v Speaker 4>a million real estate agents, there's only one Barbara Corkan.

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<v Speaker 4>A lot of people own sports teams, Mark Cuban clothing line,

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<v Speaker 4>you know what I mean. People we had created personal brands,

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<v Speaker 4>and then our brands now walk into the room before

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<v Speaker 4>we do when we want to raise capital, when we

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<v Speaker 4>want to make decisions, when we want to defend the

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<v Speaker 4>fact that somebody is saying negative about our brand and

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<v Speaker 4>our company and affecting our payroll and our amazing staff

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<v Speaker 4>that works for us.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you think you could create Fubu today?

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<v Speaker 3>Absolutely? One percent. But today's it's a completely different environment.

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<v Speaker 4>Today's Fubu would be a different right, There's no, there's

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<v Speaker 4>not new to have four young African American men designing

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<v Speaker 4>for their own markets.

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<v Speaker 3>So what would food would be today?

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<v Speaker 4>I would probably do more of the avon you know

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<v Speaker 4>type of thing where I would have one male, one

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<v Speaker 4>female in a college and a high school. They would

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<v Speaker 4>get probably about a one thousand dollars worth of fooble

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<v Speaker 4>on credit for about three hundred dollars, probably underwritten by

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<v Speaker 4>hopefully somebody great, and the more they sell, they would

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<v Speaker 4>get more digital curriculums and various other things and very

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<v Speaker 4>much of an A bomb model. So I would have

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<v Speaker 4>hopefully two million sales reps around the world.

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<v Speaker 1>It's so interesting that you say that, because the retail

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<v Speaker 1>environment has completely changed.

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<v Speaker 3>It's done.

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<v Speaker 1>It's done.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, completely done.

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<v Speaker 4>You know, I've been to fifty six trade shows this year.

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<v Speaker 4>You know, I speak at a lot of shows, and

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<v Speaker 4>the traffic besides the franchise show and maybe the medical

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<v Speaker 4>tech show, it is one third of the traffic at

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<v Speaker 4>these shows because these retailers are now dying. They're not

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<v Speaker 4>walking in the door. You know who's walking in. It's

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<v Speaker 4>a bunch of kids or people. Influencers, could be granfluencers

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<v Speaker 4>who are now doing live selling, whether on Amazon or

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<v Speaker 4>TikTok or whatnot.

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<v Speaker 3>And that's what's happening livee selling.

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<v Speaker 1>That's something that I think is very familiar to people

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<v Speaker 1>in China but not necessarily familiar to many people in

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<v Speaker 1>the US at least yet explain exactly what that is.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, I'm selling as you go, and I'll give you example.

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<v Speaker 4>There's an app called whatnot Right, and people have twenty

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<v Speaker 4>second auction for one little device or let's say a

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<v Speaker 4>piece of makeup right sell for about twelve dollars right now,

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<v Speaker 4>they can do this three separate times in one minute, right,

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<v Speaker 4>so they make a profit about four dollars every time

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<v Speaker 4>they sell it. So now all of a sudden, twelve

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<v Speaker 4>dollars a minute. You times up because now they have

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<v Speaker 4>friends coming on everything. You times app by sixteen hours

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<v Speaker 4>a day. And that's what's happening because then when people

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<v Speaker 4>buy it, now you know who the client is and

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<v Speaker 4>the customer you can sell it to them.

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<v Speaker 3>Again.

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<v Speaker 4>Remember there's only three ways to ever deal with the customer.

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<v Speaker 4>Acquire a new one, upsell a current one, or make

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<v Speaker 4>one buy more frequently. That's why you want to supericize

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<v Speaker 4>everybody's fries. And now you know who they are, they

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<v Speaker 4>can upsell them or buy more frequently.

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<v Speaker 2>So what does it mean for all the retailers that

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<v Speaker 2>still have, you know, big retail locations. I'm thinking about Nike.

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<v Speaker 2>Nike reported earnings now they're up today, but they've been

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<v Speaker 2>kind of working their way around some different problems. I mean,

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<v Speaker 2>what does it mean for a brand like Nike.

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<v Speaker 4>Well, Nike's been doing some great stuff in the past,

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<v Speaker 4>so you know they'll make one shoe for one person customizer, right, Well,

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<v Speaker 4>they're doing thirty billion dollars a year, whatever the number is.

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<v Speaker 3>You say, why would you make one shoe?

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<v Speaker 4>Well, they're looking at this algorithm of all the people

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<v Speaker 4>around the world who like these certain colors, patterns and styles.

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<v Speaker 4>They're the customers designed the line for them for the

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<v Speaker 4>next year. But if you look at retail shops, Walmart

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<v Speaker 4>target viruses, other things. Walmart just put in podcast rooms.

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<v Speaker 4>Why do you want to put podcast rooms in there? Well,

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<v Speaker 4>now you have a bunch of influences coming in doing podcasts.

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<v Speaker 4>I bet you in two minutes they're gonna start being

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<v Speaker 4>able to live sell the products in Walmart. You want

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<v Speaker 4>to always make sure the consumer has something at in

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<v Speaker 4>your retailer that they can't do at home. You know,

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<v Speaker 4>if you're a retailer, put a runway in there where

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<v Speaker 4>people can buy the clothes. What they buy, they link

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<v Speaker 4>to their social media and you can buy it as

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<v Speaker 4>an affiliate.

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<v Speaker 3>On what's on.

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<v Speaker 4>Their body as they walk down the runway. You have

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<v Speaker 4>to have reasons why people are coming in. And I'll

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<v Speaker 4>tell you the hottest topic today, longevity, biohacking. If you

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<v Speaker 4>are a retailer, you're handling how people can control their

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<v Speaker 4>lives a little bit better and not deal with just

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<v Speaker 4>big pharma.

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<v Speaker 3>You're in the gold.

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<v Speaker 1>This last question is for Carol because I know she

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<v Speaker 1>is like, that's.

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<v Speaker 3>Like wild look ahead.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, it's a shark tank. The investments that you've made

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<v Speaker 1>over the years, what is the gain on the investments

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<v Speaker 1>or the loss on the investments? And how much have

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<v Speaker 1>you invested.

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<v Speaker 4>I think I've invested about fourteen million dollars. I'd just

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<v Speaker 4>been a shooting two days ago, sitting nest to Kevin.

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<v Speaker 3>Oh my god, for two anyway, so.

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<v Speaker 4>There is You can't say a gain and loss because

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<v Speaker 4>a lot of times it's way more time put in

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<v Speaker 4>on these individuals. But I gotta tell you I'm up

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<v Speaker 4>overall because I have the number one product in Shark

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<v Speaker 4>Tank history ever.

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<v Speaker 3>It's called Bomba Socks.

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<v Speaker 4>You have to interview any of my other underachievers I

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<v Speaker 4>call fellow sharks, remind them and.

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<v Speaker 3>More missed them Bomba socks.

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<v Speaker 4>And more important than the two point two billion dollars

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<v Speaker 4>that they'll hit in total sales this year is they've

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<v Speaker 4>given away almost over two hundred million units of clothing

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<v Speaker 4>to those in need in the homeless community.

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<v Speaker 3>And it feels really good. So overall, I'm up.

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<v Speaker 4>But you know you're gonna lose, you know, listen, Adventure,

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<v Speaker 4>You're gonna lose, you know, out of nine out of ten.

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<v Speaker 4>I'm losing seven out of ten, because that's just an investment.

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<v Speaker 3>We signed up for it.

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<v Speaker 2>Get a miss Mark Cuban.

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<v Speaker 4>I absolutely miss Mark Cuban. The other day I broke

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<v Speaker 4>down when it was his last episode. When I thought

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<v Speaker 4>about it, I was on the stage publican speaking, I

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<v Speaker 4>broke down in tears, and then I said to myself,

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<v Speaker 4>this man's well and alive in Dallas and just made

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<v Speaker 4>another three point five billion dollars, and now I gotta

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<v Speaker 4>buy more crap one Shark Tank?

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<v Speaker 3>What am I crying about? Always fine? When we get

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<v Speaker 3>some time with you, be well.

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<v Speaker 2>Thank you so much, of course, Damon John. He is

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<v Speaker 2>the founder and CEO of Forbu a shark on ABC's

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<v Speaker 2>Shark Tank and so much more.