The Power of Broke by Daymond John

Shark Tank’s Daymond John, started his home-sewn t-shirt business with no funding and only a $40 budget and eventually launched the FUBU brand into a $6 billion dollar global phenomenon.

The book was a quick read, but I was a little disappointed in the book. I am not saying the book is bad. This book didn’t meet my expectations not in a bad way though. I was expecting to learn about Daymond and his tricks in succeeding, but it ended up being more about other business’s story of success, which was interesting and inspiring. There really wasn’t too many tips and tricks. I learned a few things, but it wasn’t at all what I expected. It seems more of an inspirational book than a “How to” book. He told how people started their business with little money and resources to now having very successful companies. Being broke never stopped them it just made them work harder. Some of the business people he talked about in the book included:

Acacia Brinley, a social media. Rob Dyrdek who is a skateboarder, producer and a reality star. One of my favorite business stories was Christopher Gray, who developed a scholarship app. He raised over a million dollars for the school. There are eleven more different business stories to inspire.

Daymond didn’t just focus on the fashion industry, but he included cupcake, computer, producing, sports, etc.. in the book. He had a variety of business industry stories everything from cupcakes to computer apps, to clothing, retail stores, and Internet retail. I feel that Daymond John tried to get enough inspirational examples to get the reader inspired.

Broke doesn’t have to be money, as Daymond explains, it can be location, dyslexia, not having experience in the field you want to start your business, or a woman starting a business in an industry dominated by men. I really enjoyed reading the section about being dyslexic and learning that Daymond is also dyslexic. Throughout his book, there are power facts and one of them is a fact on Dyslexia. “Dyslexia is far more common among entrepreneurs than it is among executives in traditional corporate setting bot in U.S. and United Kingdom. (p.131). This sure makes me feel not so alone. Daymond goes on to list a variety of famous people like Ben Franklin, Albert Einstein and Winston Churchill, whom all suffered from Dyslexia.

The main takeaway from that I got from the book was that being broke only breaks you down if you let it, but it can also make you. When you have nothing to lose then you have everything to gain. Don’t give up even if you get turned down. “Walt Disney got turned down 302 times before getting financing for Walt Disney World p.(160).”

I would recommend this book because it truly does inspire.

Always keep in mind that suffering produces perseverance. Perseverance, character; and character, hope.

“I received this book from Blogging for Books  for this review.”