Dan Fleyshman: from a swap meet table to a public company at 23, and over $50 million today
His parents sold jeans out of a van. At 17 he snuck into a Las Vegas trade show with $5 business cards and walked out with $1 million in orders. At 23 his company went public. Then a $65 million company vanished in a single day. Here is the whole story, the numbers, and what you can copy.
Overview
Dan Fleyshman's parents sold Levi's out of the back of a van at a Los Angeles swap meet, bringing home about $2,000 a month for a family of four. At four, Dan had his own table a few feet away, flipping baseball cards.
At nine, his mom gave him $13. He bought candy bars at Costco for 32 to 34 cents each and sold them at school for $1, because he did not want to deal with change.
At 15 he worked three jobs at once: stadium vendor, Ruby's Diner, and working for a stockbroker who paid him $20 cash a session. In three years he saved $43,000 for college at San Diego State. He never went. At 17 and a half he spent all of it starting a clothing brand called Who's Your Daddy.
You had to be 18 to get into the MAGIC clothing convention in Las Vegas. He was 17 and three quarters. A cab driver took him to a vending machine that printed generic business cards for $5, and that got him in. His booth sat between Sean John and FUBU, and buyers waiting for those brands wrote orders at his. He left with $1 million in orders and no manufacturer who could fill them. The next year he did $9.5 million.
How it really started
- The T-shirts. In high school he trademarked the catchphrase "Who's Your Daddy." He bought T-shirts for $4 to $5 each and sold them at lunch for $15. After 150 shirts he had over $2,000. "I'm basically a millionaire, right?"
- The college fund. He had saved $43,000 from three jobs to pay for San Diego State. At 17 and a half he spent all of it on the clothing brand instead.
- The trade show. MAGIC in Las Vegas, the year 2000. You had to be 18 to register. He was 17 and three quarters. A cab driver took him to a vending machine where you type your name and get generic business cards for $5. Back at the door: "Oh, shoot, I don't have my driver's license, but I have my business card."
- The booth. It ended up right next to two of the biggest brands at the show. Their buyers, waiting for their appointments, stood in front of his booth and started writing orders.
- The drink. A few years later the brand became a zero-sugar, zero-carb energy drink in 8.4 oz, 16 oz and shot sizes, started with his partner Edon Moyal. It won BevNET's Flavor of the Year over 900 competitors, and he used that to pitch chain stores.
- All in. "You wouldn't see me even at a wedding or a funeral not wearing the clothes or having the drink in my pocket." Later, at his poker company, he sewed the logo onto his suits and his pajamas.
What did not work
- Filling the first orders. He walked out of the trade show with $1 million in orders and no manufacturer that could make that much clothing. He had to build supply after the sale.
- Going public was not cheap. It took two years and about $2 million in accounting, legal and audit work. "You literally hire an auditor to audit your auditor."
- The poker company. In April 2011 the US government shut down the major online poker sites overnight, a day the poker world calls Black Friday. His company was worth $65 million that morning and was effectively gone the next day.
- The ranch. He spent about $1.5 million building a 240,000-gallon lake for a wedding venue. The county will not allow weddings. "I've never done a wedding." The ranch and its rescue zoo cost $110,000 to $140,000 a month and make almost nothing.
- The drink itself. Who's Your Daddy is no longer on the market.
Timeline
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| Age 4 | Flips baseball cards at his own table next to his parents' swap meet stall |
| Age 9 | Buys candy bars at Costco for about 33 cents, sells them at school for $1 |
| Age 15 to 17 | Works three jobs, saves $43,000 for college |
| Age 17 | Skips college, spends the $43,000 starting a clothing brand |
| Age 17 | Gets into the MAGIC trade show with $5 business cards, leaves with $1 million in orders |
| Next year | $9.5 million in sales |
| April 1, 2005 | Takes the company, by then a zero-sugar energy drink, public at 23 |
| April 2011 | The US shuts down online poker overnight. His poker site, worth $65 million that morning, is gone |
| Since | Builds Elevator Studio, an influencer marketing agency, and an investing syndicate |
| Today | Net worth over $50 million |
The numbers
| Figure | Number |
|---|---|
| Net worth | Over $50 million, most of it private company stock |
| College savings he spent on his first brand | $43,000 |
| Orders from his first trade show | $1 million |
| Sales the year after | $9.5 million |
| Age when his company went public | 23 |
| Company lost in one day (2011) | $65 million |
| Money raised by his syndicate | $56 million for 18 companies, only 3 failed |
| Angel investments | 43, about $4.3 million deployed |
| Influencers his agency works with | 3,500 |
| Ranch | About $9 million all in, costs $110,000 to $140,000 a month |
| Travel | Over $1 million a year, about 250 days on the road |
How it makes money
His money today comes from three places:
- Elevator Studio. Brands pay it to run campaigns with its 3,500 influencers and celebrities. It has paid for his life for 15 years. He owns 90%.
- The syndicate. Investors join free. He raises $3 million to $6 million at a time for companies already doing $5 million to $20 million a year, and takes 20% of the profits, with no yearly management fee.
- His own angel checks. 43 investments, sometimes paid for with marketing services instead of cash.
What they did right
1. He started selling as a kid
Baseball cards at four, candy bars at nine. By 17 he already knew how to buy low and sell high.
2. He got in the room
Too young for the trade show, he got in with $5 business cards and set up next to the biggest brands there. Their customers became his.
3. He bet everything on himself
$43,000 of college money into a clothing brand at 17.
4. He learned from losing $65 million in a day
"You've gotta diversify with investments, not with attention." He now backs founders who are all in on one company, but spreads his own money across many.
5. He watches his costs
Worth over $50 million, he still flies Southwest most of the time. "If a JetBlue Mint seat is three grand, I'm not there. I'm gonna fly the $400 seat perfectly fine."
Do what they did: step by step
1. Start selling something small now.
Dan's first business was candy bars bought at Costco.
Do this: find one thing you can buy in bulk and resell to people you already see every day. Sell ten this week.
2. Go where the buyers already are.
He set up next to Sean John and FUBU because their buyers were standing right there.
Do this: name the event, market, group or page where your buyers already gather. Get yourself in front of them.
3. Put everything into one thing at a time.
"Diversify with investments, not with attention."
Do this: pick your one business and drop the side projects until it works.
4. Keep your costs low even when you can afford more.
Do this: look at your three biggest monthly costs and cut the one that does not make you money.
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Sources
- BevNET, Who's Your Daddy brand listing and Flavor of the Year coverage
- Tampa Bay Times, "Just what is Who's Your Daddy?", December 2007
- Hampton, Moneywise with Daniel Berk, "Dan Fleyshman: Public at 23, a $65M Company Gone in a Day, and $110K a Month on a Zoo That Makes $0" (interview and full transcript)
