“Shark Tank” star and entrepreneur Daymond John will be sharing investing expertise and strategies as a featured speaker at Autovate, an annual automotive retail industry conference held in Scottsdale.
The automotive trend and dealmaking conference is returning to the Omni Montelucia Scottsdale Resort and Spa on Dec. 6-8, bringing together thousands of investors, dealers and industry leaders.
John is participating in a fireside chat on Dec. 8 with Cliff Banks, founder of Autovate and The Banks Report, an online automotive retail industry news source.
“Autovate is all about investing in automotive retail, leading to approximately $1.5 billion in transactions and Daymond John is the king of deal-making as an entrepreneur, investor, coach, and star of ABC’s Shark Tank,” Banks said in a statement. “We’re excited he is joining Autovate’s stellar lineup of speakers."
John is co-founder and CEO of FUBU, a global fashion brand that rose in popularity during the late 1990s and grossed more than $6 billion in sales worldwide, according to Forbes. He is a New York Times best-selling author, operator of brand management and consulting firm The Shark Group and co-founder of Rise Nation Mastermind, a private network for high performing entrepreneurs, investors and executives.
John is also a backer of Phoenix-based startup Noggin Boss, which appeared on "Shark Tank" in 2022 and has since quickly gained traction for its oversized hats. Noggin Boss received $50,000 from John in exchange for a 30% stake in the company, the Business Journal previously reported.
“I’m looking forward to speaking at Autovate, where I will share some deal-closing tips,” John said in a statement.
Other speakers at this year’s Autovate conference include Geoffrey Pohanka, chairman of the Pohanka Automotive Group and the National Automotive Dealers Association; James Taylor, managing director of automotive for Truist Securities; Eric Denlinger, managing director at TD Cowen; Chris Walsh, president of Reynolds & Reynolds; and Alexi Venneri, co-founder and CEO of Scottsdale-based DAS Technology.
Autovate features a question and answer format with dealer principals and executives from investment firms and banks, manufacturing executives and startup entrepreneurs.
"Autovate is the one can't-miss automotive event each year,” Franklin McLarty, chairman and CEO of McLarty Diversified Holdings, said in a statement. “The content, the format, and the networking at the event nails it every time. The opportunity to create new relationships while hearing a rational and expert perspective on where automotive technology is headed is invaluable to me as both a dealer and an investor.”
Scottsdale-based DAS Technology, which leverages artificial intelligence and data to assist car dealers in attracting and retaining clients, acquired Autovate from Banks in 2022. In addition to Autovate, the company operates four divisions: Digital Air Strike, BestRide.com, LotVantage and 3 Birds.
More information on the Autovate conference can be found at autovate.org.
