Daniel Lubetzky, class of ‘90, founder of KIND Snacks and star of ABC’s “Shark Tank,” delivered the keynote address at San Antonio Startup Week (SASW) on Oct. 15 at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Riverwalk. SASW is a five-day conference in San Antonio that promotes entrepreneurship through workshops, educational events and pitch competitions, such as the Stumberg Competition.
After being introduced by Trinity President Vanessa Beasley, Lubetzky spoke about the many challenges and lessons that led to KIND Snacks’ development. Lubetzky founded KIND in 2004, with a core mission to “be KIND to your body and others.” The company is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and Lubetzky considered “not-only-for-profit,” a term KIND Snacks trademarked. According to their website, KIND has made investments in movements aimed at fostering peace and social change. San Antonio locals interested in entrepreneurship, Trinity students and alumni attended the speech, where they got to learn about how Lubetzky came to create this billion-dollar company.
Mary Ullmann Japhet, class of ‘84, joined Lubetzky on stage to moderate a discussion about his entrepreneurial ventures. They discussed Lubetzky’s introduction to business at 16 years old, when he sold souvenir coffee mugs with his father, who had a stand at the Eisenhauer Market in San Antonio. He went on to sell various items, whether that was watches at North Star Mall, or sun-dried tomato spread, which he sold door-to-door.
“When I was at Trifnity, I created a network of student salespeople, and I would go into the different administrators’ offices with a big cardboard box filled with all this schmutz,” Lubetzky said.
Lubetzky said that his entrepreneurial spirit was fueled by his father, who was a Holocaust survivor and immigrated to Mexico after being liberated from a concentration camp at 15 years old. Lubetzky said that despite his father’s hardships, he managed to persevere and promote kindness to those around him. This left a lasting impact on Lubetzky, who said that this inspired the name for KIND. Before KIND, Lubetzky said he had many failed business ventures, but he had always wanted to promote social justice to prevent anyone else from experiencing the horrors his father endured.
Before founding KIND, Lubetzky launched PeaceWorks Foundation, a “not-only-for-profit” business that aimed to foster peace between Israelis and Palestinians through economic cooperation. Breaking down stereotypes through business, he said, was the core concept of PeaceWorks.
“I fell in love with the concept of using market forces to try to achieve some positive change, not just to make money, but to do something good for society,” Lubetzky said
Lubetzky said that it took him a long time to realize that building a good company relies on a strong team culture. At KIND, he provided all employees with stock options and encouraged them to have an ownership mentality. He said that questioning things, debating and taking initiative are what lead to advancement in the business sphere. The culture of the business, apart from the product, was the most important facet of KIND, according to Lubetzky.
“The culture was, you [team members] don’t think about your self-aggrandizement, or your career,” Lubetzky said. “You think about KIND, and when you do, your career takes care of itself.”
President Vanessa Beasley said that alumni always show the impact that a Trinity degree can have. For alumni such as Lubetzky and Japhet, she said that this influence is not only seen in San Antonio, but across the nation as well.
“As you heard Daniel Lubetzky say, a liberal arts education teaches you to have the courage to ask questions and to stay curious. And that is what we want for our students,” Beasley said. “Whether they [students] see themselves as an entrepreneur or not, they need to learn how to think like an entrepreneur.”
Alessandra Ceccarelli, senior molecular biology and business administration double-major, attended the keynote and said she found it motivational. As an international student and aspiring entrepreneur, Ceccarelli said that Lubetzky’s story inspired her in her own business pursuits.
“It was an amazing and super cool thing. And it’s cool to see how Trinity has such a big community,” Ceccarelli said. “There were so many Trinity alumni in the audience and students. Like, insanely successful people, too. Just mixing and mingling with us.”
Ceccarelli said that she called President Beasley to tell her how inspired she felt by not only Lubetzky’s speech, but also by SASW as a whole. She said that she learned a lot of valuable information about starting a business through SASW, and that, despite being such a small school, Trinity offers huge opportunities to its students.
