2010AJ KHUBANI / FOUNDER & CEO
A founder’s vision.
Four decades
of Telebrands.
AJ Khubani founded Telebrands in 1983. His career connects practical consumer products, the “As Seen on TV” retail category and a lasting commitment to entrepreneurship.
National Direct Response Hall of Fame · 2014ERA Lifetime Achievement Award · 2015
Explore the company’s founding story ↓
THE BEGINNING / 1983
From a student’s ambition
to household names.
Ajit “AJ” Khubani founded Telebrands while still a college student. The AmberVision sunglasses campaign became an early breakthrough. When television-promoted products reached retail shelves, AJ saw an opportunity for a recognizable identity and a dedicated place in stores.
His red “As Seen on TV” mark and work to establish the retail category helped connect television discovery with retail shopping. The company’s later chapters include PedEgg, Pocket Hose and Star Shower.
Read the early history and Hall of Fame record ↗The founding investment & growth
In AJ’s October 2026 firsthand account, he invested a $2,500 student loan in Chrysler. By 1983, the investment had grown to $20,000. He repaid the loan and used investment proceeds to start Telebrands.
AJ reports billions of dollars in cumulative company revenue, with growth supported by operating results, business loans and lines of credit, without further equity contributions from himself or outside investors.1
SELECTED CAREER HONORS
Recognition you can
see in the record.
2010
2014National Direct Response Hall of Fame
View the source ↗
2015ERA Lifetime Achievement Award
View the source ↗DISCOVERY CHANNEL / PITCHMEN
An entrepreneur’s eye.
On a national stage.
AJ brought his experience building Telebrands to the evaluation of inventions on PitchMen. Executive producer and on-screen star Anthony “Sully” Sullivan describes him as a recurring cast member, judge and product evaluator, helping assess inventions and their commercial potential.
Sullivan also recalls AJ being referred to within the show as the Godfather of the infomercial business
.
A PERSONAL TRIBUTE / OCTOBER 2026
A creative mind.
A few moves ahead.
“AJ is the Bobby Fischer of TV advertising—a creative genius who sees moves, angles, and opportunities that others simply can’t.”
Jon Zacharias
Co-founder · GR0
VOICES FROM THE 2015 TRIBUTE FILM
Respected by people
who know the business.
Business leaders, educators, friends and family reflect on AJ Khubani in his Lifetime Achievement Award film.5
▶ Watch · 2:58“AJ is one of the best item merchants I’ve ever seen.”
Joe Grady
Vice President · Walmart · in 2015
▶ Watch · 3:33“Many imitate. None duplicate.”
Greg Renker
Co-Chairman · Guthy-Renker · in 2015
▶ Watch · 6:38“AJ, you are my hero.”
Ron Popeil
Founder · Ronco · in 2015
▶ Watch · 2:23“He brings vision and instinct.”
Joy Mangano
President · Ingenious Designs · in 2015
▶ Watch · 2:16“His superpower is vision. Vision to have created what we all now know is the As Seen on TV logo.”
Mindy Grossman
CEO & Director · HSN · in 2015
▶ Watch · 3:55“He goes into categories that other people laugh and think are absurd, and they work.”
Collette Liantonio
President · Concepts TV Productions · in 2015
▶ Watch · 2:31“AJ is a forward-thinking innovator in the area of marketing, and his approaches have disrupted the status quo.”
Daniel M. Nosenchuck
Princeton University · Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering · in 2015
▶ Watch · 5:46“AJ didn’t take his education and leave. He made a success and then he came back to the university to help support the next generation of AJs.”
Dr. Susan Cole
President · Montclair State University · in 2015
▶ Watch · 6:33“I am proud to be your friend and to know of the good works you are doing.”
Cory Booker
U.S. Senator · New Jersey · in 2015
▶ Watch · 3:37“People try and copy AJ because he’s the best at what he does.”
Randy Jackson
American Idol · Entrepreneur & Grammy Award Winner · in 2015
▶ Watch · 6:32“You’re the best.”
Anthony Sullivan
CEO · Sullivan Productions · in 2015
▶ Watch · 1:16“AJ was brilliant from the time he was a kid.”
Andy Khubani
Chairman & CEO · Idea Village · in 2015
AJ’s brother
▶ Watch · 6:11“I’m very appreciative for the opportunity to be there and watch him grow and watch his success. It’s led me to where I am now.”
Chuck Khubani
CEO · OnTel Products Inc. · in 2015
AJ’s brother
▶ Watch · 5:58“AJ is the quintessential family man.”
Poonam Khubani
President, International · TeleBrands Corp. · in 2015
AJ’s wife
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT
A career that
helped shape
an industry.
Watch the Lifetime Achievement Award film celebrating AJ’s entrepreneurial journey and contribution to direct-response marketing.
Open the film on YouTube ↗
The film opens on YouTube in a new tab.
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY / SEPTEMBER 2005–JANUARY 2011
Bringing business experience
into the classroom.
Chairman, Industrial Directors Board
Princeton University’s Entrepreneurial Engineering program
Working with Professor Daniel M. Nosenchuck, AJ helped develop the program’s entrepreneurial content and contributed teaching and mentorship across six fall-semester offerings.
He recruited Telebrands professionals as lecturers, mentors and reviewers. After many course offerings, AJ accompanied selected student teams on educational manufacturing visits to China, funded by AJ and/or Telebrands.
An earlier letter from March 2003 records AJ’s lecture on “Finding Winning Products” to Princeton’s Mechanical Design class. Explore that early chapter ↗8
Read Professor Nosenchuck’s statement ↗Explore the educational work ↗
INVESTING IN THE NEXT GENERATION / 2017
Giving new ideas
a place to begin.10
$500,000Five-year commitment announced
$80,000Announced annual student prize pool
BulbHead.com’s 2017 announcement committed $500,000 over five years through 2022 to Montclair State University’s Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship.
The support for BulbHead.com Inventors Day for Aspiring Entrepreneurs put student ideas in front of judges and helped promising teams take their next steps.
Explore entrepreneurship & education ↗MORE OF THE STORY
A lifetime of ideas.
An enduring curiosity.
Explore AJ’s personal website for the extended biography, interviews, television archive and the stories behind the brands.
Explore AJ Khubani’s websiteNotes & sources
- The founding of TelebrandsFounder-reported cumulative revenue, not annual sales, profit or valuation. Read the source and qualifications ↗↩
- Photograph or illustration: A signed PitchMen photograph featuring Billy Mays and Anthony Sullivan, preserved in AJ’s Fairfield officeA signed PitchMen photograph featuring Billy Mays and Anthony Sullivan, preserved in AJ’s Fairfield office. Date not confirmed.↩
- More than 18 episodesIn his September 29, 2026 statement, Sullivan bases the count on his recollection and review of the episodes.↩
- Photograph or illustration: Jon ZachariasPortrait supplied for Jon’s testimonial.↩
- Respected by people who know the business.Personal tributes to AJ from his 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award film. Quotes and approximate timestamps follow the AJ Khubani website testimonial archive. Titles reflect the film’s on-screen identifications in 2015, not current appointments; these personal remarks are not current corporate, institutional or government endorsements. Andy and Chuck Khubani are AJ’s brothers; Poonam Khubani is his wife. The displayed portraits match the approved images on AJ’s personal website: selected film stills use AI-assisted reframing, background extension or lighting adjustments, with original on-screen identifications retained. Andy’s image is an approved AI-assisted colorization of his LinkedIn portrait, not a film still. Selected approved November 2026 stills and clarity treatments are used for Joe Grady, Greg Renker, Ron Popeil and Joy Mangano. Dr. Susan Cole and Cory Booker retain their original film stills. Image treatment and original-photo notes. View the original award film.↩
- Joy Mangano and the film JoyJoy Mangano’s life inspired the fictionalized 2015 film; it is a dramatization, not a documentary. Film details: 20th Century Studios. Biographical context: TIME, “The True Story Behind the Movie Joy,” December 27, 2015. Poster © Twentieth Century Fox; artwork supplied by AJ and reused from his personal website to identify and discuss the film. The cast and studio are not presented as endorsing AJ or Telebrands. The accompanying tribute is Joy Mangano’s own comment from AJ’s 2015 award film.↩
- Photograph or illustration: Nassau Hall · Princeton UniversityNassau Hall · Princeton UniversityPhotograph: Dmadeo / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0↩
- Chairman, Industrial Directors BoardProfessor Nosenchuck’s September 16, 2026 statement documents this historical contribution. Exact trip and student totals remain under review.↩
- Photograph or illustration: Montclair State University check presentation, 2017Montclair State University check presentation, 2017. Photograph supplied by AJ Khubani.↩
- Giving new ideas a place to begin.The figures describe the 2017 company announcement, not an audit of completed disbursements or a current contest offer. View supporting record ↗↩