How did someone from San Antonio build a billion-dollar company?
Daniel Lubetzky would know. The founder of KIND Snacks spent some of his formative years in San Antonio and returned to share his successes and, almost as importantly, his failures at San Antonio Startup Week on Wednesday.
“You have to learn from your mistakes, dust it off and try again,” he told a room full of entrepreneurs and business owners.
That was the tone Lubetzky struck throughout his discussion, sharing the highs, lows and lessons from a career which led to KIND Snacks, the New York-based company that was acquired by candymaker Mars for $5 billion.
KIND Snacks Founder and Shark Tank Shark Daniel Lubetzky, right, speaks with Japhet Media founder and moderator Mary Ullmann Japhet during a fireside keynote chat during San Antonio Startup Week on Wednesday. Credit: Amber Esparza / San Antonio Report
Lubetzky grew up in Mexico City, but moved to San Antonio just before he turned 16. He graduated from Legacy of Educational Excellence High School (formerly known as Robert E. Lee High School) and Trinity University.
Lubetzky said he took an interest in business when he moved to the U.S. He didn’t have legal permission to work in the U.S. as a teenager, so he set up small businesses selling products to anyone who was interested, culminating in a series of mall kiosks in college.
His father was a self-educated Jewish immigrant who founded a duty-free business in Mexico, and hugely influential to Lubetzky.
“I saw him doing business, I’m sure I absorbed a lot of it through osmosis from him,” Lubetzky said.
Lubetzky’s father was a holocaust survivor, but always sought to be kind and connected to others. That pushed Lubetzky to focus on solving conflicts. He wanted to do that through business and that led him to PeaceWorks, one of his early ventures.
“The concept of PeaceWorks was to use business to break down barriers,” he said.
The company partners with ventures in conflict and post-conflict regions to introduce trade, create jobs and build a business-based interest in international cooperation.
It was hard, Lubetzky said, and involved years of door to door sales while he and a small team tried to stay above water. He remembers times when shipments would come broken or traffic tickets would hit his profit margins.
“There were countless months like that,” Lubetzky said. “Ten years of two steps forward, two steps back.”
Despite the struggle, he said, there were countless lessons learned.
“For the most part, it was an incredible ride,” Lubetzky said. “For those 10 years, while it was very difficult and I made many mistakes, I loved the journey.”
KIND Snacks Founder and Shark Tank Shark Daniel Lubetzky speaks with attendees after his keynote chat during San Antonio Startup Week on Wednesday. Credit: Amber Esparza / San Antonio Report
After a decade, he decided to try one more thing. Lubetzky remembers discussing the idea of KIND bars with his small team, half hoping the idea would be dismissed and he could walk away. But they took a chance and it clicked.
There were so many things that hadn’t worked, Lubetzky said, but the small KIND team applied those lessons to their new product. They saw a market niche where they could compete with a snack that was marketed as both healthy and tasty, and could be sold cheap without sacrificing quality.
They prioritized the customer experience and continued a commitment to social impact.
“Make sure every single time a consumer tries your product, you exceed their expectations,” Lubetzky said.
He noted the importance of giving workers a stake in the company by granting them stock options and encouraging people to share their perspectives and question things that weren’t working.
KIND Snacks grew rapidly after it was established in 2004, turning into a multi-billion dollar company.
Lubetzky discussed the role of entrepreneurs in building such companies after his talk and encouraged San Antonians to take risks and try things.
“What is an entrepreneur? Someone that has a great idea and takes the time to execute on it,” he said. “I think a lot of what entrepreneurship is is just willing to try things out. It’s just having the tolerance of risk and the initiative to try things out. And for me, it’s fun to come back to San Antonio, because it reminds me of those moments.”
Today, Lubetzky is still focused on connecting people and encouraging them to share their ideas. He finished selling his ownership in KIND Snacks last year and is focused on new ventures.
He founded Camino Capital, an investment company, and is an investor on the popular show “Shark Tank.” He also started Builders, a platform that focuses on non-partisan politics.
San Antonio Startup Week celebrated its 10th anniversary this week. The event runs through Friday at several downtown locations and is free to attend.