I've been fighting BDS before people even knew that BDS existed.
— Daniel Lubetzky
Israel, for me, represents so much more than a nation. It's a very idealized example for the world. It's not just a nation that needs to be strong, secure, and safe. For me, for the sake of humanity, Israel needs to be a light that is an example to all nations.
From an early age, my initiative took many forms - teaching myself magic so I could do magic shows, buying wholesale goods and then selling them to other kids, learning many languages.
I grew up in Mexico until I was 16, and then we moved to San Antonio because my dad's business was headquartered there.
For me, work is both a hobby and a passion. And sometimes an obsession.
Empathy is one of our greatest tools of business that is most underused.
When you're nice, you're not bullying people. But when you're kind, you stand up against the bully.
The power of the individual, market forces, and the private sector permeate our lives. With that power comes responsibility to address huge challenges. Climate change cannot be solved by governments alone. Xenophobia, hatred, and intolerance - more business leaders have to play a role in trying to be positive leaders, civic leaders.
The Kind Foundation was created to scale our social impact and be able to deepen our focus on fostering empathy and developing kinder communities.
I believe that everyone in a company should pitch in to foster a culture of ownership and respect. At KIND, this belief translates to everyone being in the trenches - from team members just starting out to executives who have been with the company for years.
I have an innate sense of justice and felt compelled to create an organization that would ensure consumers are provided with sound nutrition guidance. In establishing Feed the Truth, my intent is to elevate reputable science, bolster the voices of the nutrition community, and improve the guidance and information offered to Americans.
Transparency is one of our core principles, We treat the food with integrity. We don't commodify it beyond recognition.
Learning how to contract your power and personality is of incredible importance.
Without a doubt, what drives sales is letting people try our products.
You have to be very careful. If you over-commercialize a social mission, it completely loses its soul.
How powerful it is to surprise a total stranger with a really nice act: buy them a cup of coffee, pay their toll. It makes their day; it makes your day.
I try hard to always question myself and wonder, 'What could I have done better? What did I do wrong?' The culture at our company is to be self-critical, but you have to balance that as a leader with praise for your team.
I'm very non-partisan. I don't consider myself loyal to any party in Israel.
Unless we can join forces and recognize each other's humanity, how can we do business together, let alone make progress on the increasingly complex and difficult problems in society?
When I was 26, I founded Peaceworks as a food company that brought together Israelis, Arabs, Turks, and others in conflict regions to make and sell various food products from the Middle East. That economic cooperation helped bridge divides and cultivate mutual understanding among neighbors.
I have a whole section of a filing cabinet in my office full of ideas. Some are ideas for books or articles I want to write. One is a romantic comedy; one's about my dad's life. I've also got ideas for books on moral relativism as well as democracy and human nature. There's also a really cool concept for a spy novel.
You have a deeper purpose that drives you. You have to talk to yourself about what that purpose is. If you run through like a hamster to chase fame or money, you might end up wasting your life away. You find what drives you and gives you energy.
When I applied to law school, I wrote on my application that I wanted to do two things. One was to solve antitrust law's irregularities and problems, and the second was to solve the Arab-Israeli conflict.
One of the magical things about kindness is that it's what we nerds call a 'happiness aggregator.' People confuse kindness with being nice. And they're very different. You can be nice and be passive. But kindness requires action.
Emotional intelligence is a very important skill set, not just to be happier but also to succeed professionally.
Often, just explicitly acknowledging how the other side must see things can help them open up to see your side and can help both parties achieve a fair and constructive outcome.
The ideal is to build a culture of healthy discussion, where everyone's ideas are valued. At KIND, we want everyone to be comfortable challenging my or anyone else's ideas without ever feeling or making someone else feel that the questioning is a personal attack.
We need to understand the other side to impact the other side. We become much more effective as humans and leaders when we engage in hearty conversations with those who are different from us, not necessarily to change our opinions, but to build the empathy muscle.
We try to think with 'and' rather than 'or.' It doesn't have to be healthy or tasty. It can be healthy and tasty. It can be wholesome and convenient.
The people who work at FDA are just trying to do their jobs.
There's a fundamental tension that is hard to overcome, that what's wholesome is not convenient and vice versa.
The reason people buy Kind bars is that they're delicious and they're healthful. If the product doesn't taste good, isn't the right price, or doesn't fit their lifestyle choice, even if it's made by Mother Teresa, it's not going to work out.
It's very important for people to know what gives them meaning. But it's hard for people to figure out if you're not connecting with yourself and taking the time to just be introspective and daydream.
I'm very inquisitive. I love hanging around people who can teach me. I ask a lot of questions. And I'm very introspective and self-critical.
Politics is, by its nature, not my favorite thing because it's more about dividing people, not bringing them together.
For me, empathy is an existential question - it's about the survival of the human race. That is, it's imperative for us to overcome the challenges we face.
If you had asked me when I was in law school or in college or as a kid, 'Is Daniel going to be running a food company?' I would tell you you're cuckoo. What I was going to be doing was representing Israel at the United Nations.
Showers last only 10 minutes, but you can't do anything else in there but think. The shower is probably the main place I come up with ideas. That's where I came up with the concept for OneVoice, my nonprofit organization.
At KIND, our purpose is to spark kindness.
My dad had this incredible kindness that oozed through every part of his body. He had the ability to look at life positively in spite of what he went through. He was a Holocaust survivor. When he was 15-1/2 years old, he was liberated from the Dachau Concentration Camp by American soldiers who risked a lot to save people they had never met.
The rule of law, democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of expression - we cannot take them for granted. They do not exist willy-nilly across the world; they are very rare.
KIND has gone through many iterations as it deepens its social impact. When you're selling a million dollars a year, the impact you can have is very different than when you are selling over a billion dollars a year. Scale has allowed us to do things we never thought possible.
Even though people do not traditionally think of being empathetic as a business skill, it can create enormous value.
As a business owner, I understand the importance of prioritizing your bottom line, but it's equally as important to consider how you can succeed while also thinking about the long-term impact on the community.
We don't come up with product names like 'Cookie Sugar a la Mode.' We made a commitment that our brand is straightforward.
My dad told remarkable stories about how kindness helped him through, and he lived his life afterward always trying to make people's lives better.
The ideal time period to get an investment is when you've already proved your concept and know what you're doing, and it's about adding water to the seeds.
First of all, magicians practice a lot. It requires a lot of discipline. Second, you can't be afraid to be a leader, to go onstage, and you learn to have presence. You need to be able to visualize and connect and create. Most important, you learn to think outside the box.
Socially conscious brands engender more loyalty.
There are corporate environments where a person has dedicated their life to working hard, and then they're fired with a security person escorting them out the door. I find that so demeaning and disrespectful.
