Post-Oslo Accords, Arab suppliers were eager to do business with Israelis
“They were super receptive because this was, remember, the romantic time. This was after, after the Oslo peace process. And it's hard to appreciate and remember how magical that time was, but you would go to Arab capitals, and you would go to Arab towns, and th…”
A social mission cannot drive sales without product quality and value
“What I discovered along the way is that if you're too mission forward consumers will give you one shot, but then they think they're doing you a favor. And what I discovered is you need to make sure that you're not trying to tell the consumer, do this because o…”
Roughly 95% of snack bars are manufactured as pastes
“Most bars, I think, 95% of bars are what's called an emulsion or a paste, and it flows really easily to the manufacturing line.”
For CPG founders, growing sales intensifies cash flow strain
“One of the most interesting challenges for a consumer-produced entrepreneur is that the more you succeed, the harder it is for your cash flow.”
Retail buyer enthusiasm is dangerous if an emerging brand is unready
“One of the most significant dangers is when a buyer loves you because sometimes you're not ready and you couldn't say no to Walmart.”
KIND scaled its sampling budget from $800 to $20 million
“Our sampling went from 800 dollars in 2008 to 800,000 dollars in 2009. And within a couple of years, we're sampling twenty million dollars. It's like maybe forty million bars or thirty million bars.”
Nine in ten consumers who sampled KIND became repeat buyers
“What we found out, guy, is that anytime somebody tried a kind bar, nine out of 10 would fall in love with the brand, would tell others about it, and within a month it would pay for itself because they would start buying the product.”
KIND granted stock options to every employee after six months
“Every single team member had a stake from the beginning. If you were in the company six months or longer, you got stock options. Everybody was an owner.”
Mars acquired the remainder of KIND Snacks in December 2024
“Well, they bought a controlling stake in 2020, and then they bought the rest of it in December 2024.”
Lubetzky sold 100% of his KIND stake by December 2024
“I sold a hundred percent of my financial stake as of December, 20, 24, and the relationship is predominantly very informal. I think I consult with them three times a year.”
Building multi-billion dollar companies requires luck and is rarely replicable
“There's no question that luck played a gigantic role, because if I were wrong, if it was predominantly me that was a genius, And all the other entrepreneurs that you interview, you'd have many more entrepreneurs that have built many multi-billion dollar compan…”
Daniel Lubetzky defended and consulted Neuro for 18 months during lawsuit
“He hopped on a phone call with us right away for 18 months, consulted us, defended us. He was talking to his lawyers, our lawyers, their lawyers.”
Lubetzky commits to building bridges and uniting against terrorist division
“I'm gonna choose to laugh, I'm gonna choose to live, I'm gonna choose to build, I'm gonna choose to build bridges, and particularly now that there's so much darkness, I'm gonna choose to be a light, and I want everybody that's listening to you today to choose …”
Lubetzky: Palestinian Staff Report Hamas Is Blocking Gaza Evacuation Routes
“We have staff in Gaza that are trying to escape Gaza, and we have ways to get them out, but Hamas has blocked all exits. They've bombed roads, they've blocked roads. This is from our Palestinian staff in Gaza that are telling us they're not able to get out bec…”
Lubetzky personally donated $2.4M to aid Middle East conflict victims
“We've personally donated 2.4 million dollars to humanitarian efforts to help The victims of terror, and we're deploying the frontline impact project to help both Israeli and Palestinian civilians that are impacted by the war.”
Lubetzky: Frontline Impact Project mobilizes 100 corporate partners for regional aid
“The victims of terror, and we're deploying the frontline impact project to help both Israeli and Palestinian civilians that are impacted by the war. We have a hundred corporations in our network, and we're inviting all of them to donate pallet size quantities …”
Lubetzky: Echo chambers during conflict prevent mutual understanding and sow hatred
“All of my Jewish And pro-Israel friends are sharing content with each other, and they think that they're doing something constructive, but it's just speaking to the group that is already convinced about their cause. And then all of my Palestinian and Muslim fr…”
Lubetzky plans movement highlighting Israeli and Palestinian builders over extremists
“We're gonna build a movement of builders versus destroyers that's gonna help show how Palestinian entrepreneurs, Israeli inventors, Muslim and Jewish teachers are builders, And terrorists on either side whether Israeli or Palestinian that deny the humanity of …”
Lubetzky: Extremist Israeli leaders must be isolated and removed from power
“And there are some amongst our Israeli friends, and they need to be isolated and removed from power.”
Lubetzky: Being a 'Builder' Matters More Than Donating Money
“Even more important than donating money is taking a stance in being a builder rather than destroyer.”
Lubetzky: My father was liberated from Dachau by US troops, not escaped
“He didn't escape. He was liberated by American soldiers, which is a very important distinction, right?”
Lubetzky: PeaceWorks joint Arab-Israeli partnerships lasted over 25 years
“The partnerships we forged between Israelis and Palestinians and Jordanians and Egyptians and Turks and Arab Israelis and Arab and Jewish Israelis stood steadfast throughout the vicissitudes of the conflict for over
25 years,
and so it was even transgenerati…”
Lubetzky: Fear of cancellation and suppressed disagreement harms businesses
“Stagnating inability for people to debate with one another. It's bad for business too. If people are scared to express their opinions because they're going to be canceled or they can't build a good business if they're not going to be able to disagree.”
Lubetzky: Judgmental Environments Drive Left and Right to Ideological Extremes
“Our inability to create a, an environment where we're more forgiving and less judgmental starts creating an environment of intimidation where everybody on the left and the right start moving to the extremes, and that lack of diversity of thought.”
Lubetzky: Over 90% of Americans Believe Things Can Change for the Better
“We just did a survey where over 90% of Americans felt that there's a way to Change things for the better.”
Lubetzky built a multi-billion-dollar company from a $10,000 investment
“I built, you know, a multi-billion dollar company out of, A 10,000 dollar investment.”
Mauzé: KIND Snacks Was a Sub-$20M Brand When VMG Invested
“No, I mean, it was a sub-twenty million dollar brand, it was a sub-twenty million dollar category, and I don't think any of us knew how large that category could be”