CEO on the spot: eight questions with Dune’s Daniel Rubin

No. CEO wasn’t necessarily a concept in my mind to begin with. I came from a family of immigrants who set up their own business and had their own factory – I’m fourth generation in the footwear industry. 

My father’s advice was always: ‘Daniel, whatever you do, don’t become a shoe manufacturer, become an accountant.’ I was useless at maths but in those days you listened to your father so I did. I struggled, but it was valuable advice because understanding numbers is really important.

So, although I qualified as an accountant, I guess I always wanted to own my own business. In 1986, I set up my own import company – Browning Enterprises – and that was my first CEO role, then I founded Dune in 1992.

A good leader needs to understand their own weaknesses and bring in people who can fill those blind spots. I think that’s a key lesson. It’s about building the right team, recognising your limitations, and being comfortable delegating to talented people. Give them real responsibility.

At Dune, one of the things we focus on is developing leaders from within. We invest in training and then give people significant responsibility early on. Because we’re not a particularly large company, that hands-on experience and trust in our people is essential to how we operate.

People management is really important, being able to motivate people. Leaders have different qualities – some are quite externally focused, good at selling and exciting the team and getting out there and meeting people.

Others are much more introverted, really good at management, good at systems and creating a really strong work ethic. So it’s about working out what the key elements are that you’re looking for in your team.

I’ve always felt that motivation and attitude is far more important than skill. You need people who really want to work, want to learn and enjoy what they’re doing. Those are qualities for me that are fundamental to building the right team.

When I left manufacturing and became an importer I needed a lot of capital. I had different people offering me money at the time and one offer from a very good company that wanted to take 51% of the shares. A friend of my father’s gave me the advice: don’t give up control. The offer may seem very attractive to you but, if you’re successful and you look back in years to come, you’re going to say ‘why the hell did I do that?’

At the time, and in my current circumstances, it was a crucial piece of advice because the import company was very successful. It eventually financed the growth of Dune. 

The biggest challenges we’ve faced as a business have been external. About seven years ago, I had some very attractive offers to sell the company. If I’d known then what was coming – the pandemic, the ongoing fallout from Brexit, and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza that have disrupted supply chains –  I might have thought considered them.

When you’re trading internationally, especially with the United States, you also have to contend with shifting political landscapes. For instance, under Donald Trump’s administration, tariffs were introduced almost overnight. That means you have to stay incredibly versatile, ready to pivot quickly, but also cautious not to move too fast in case policy changes again. It’s a balancing act.

Setting up Dune in 1992. I’d already spent many years as a manufacturer and importer, focusing on other people’s labels. I was doing all the work –designing the shoes, ensuring the quality, managing production and logistics. But at the end of the day, the finished product carried someone else’s name, whether it was Marks & Spencer, Next or Barratts.

I realised I didn’t have anything that was truly my own, and that the idea of creating my own brand was incredibly important to me. It turned out to be absolutely the right decision. The importing business was becoming increasingly difficult to run; as a middleman, I was being squeezed and my margins were shrinking year after year. Building Dune from that starting point, creating a brand and watching it grow, has been my proudest achievement.

I like reading stories related to our sector. Shoe Dog: a Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight is great. Walter Isaacson’s book on Steve Jobs is also fascinating. His character, commitment and passion when it came to motivating his team to do impossible things is an incredible story. 

Build the right team. That is absolutely crucial. And recognise your own weaknesses. 

Then try to build a culture that is consistent with what you want for the business. Create an atmosphere that is focused on motivation and hard work, but also very much on enjoying what you’re doing. There is absolutely no point coming into work every day if you really don’t enjoy it.