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Daniel Lubetzky

  • Social Entrepreneur Founder of KIND Snacks and Purpose-Driven Business Leader
  • Shark on ABC's 'Shark Tank' and Founder of Camino Partners
  • New York Times Bestselling Author of Do the KIND Thing
  • Founder of the Builders Movement and Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship

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He built a global brand from a windowless basement and turned it into a movement.

Daniel Lubetzky is best known as the founder of KIND Snacks, the multibillion-dollar company that helped redefine health transparency and purpose-driven business. What began in 2004 as a scrappy startup became an iconic brand rooted in a simple belief: business can be a force for empathy and long-term value. Today, as a full-time investor on Shark Tank and founder of Camino Partners, Lubetzky backs founders building enduring companies that enhance consumers’ lives.

The son of a Holocaust survivor and a proud immigrant to the United States, Lubetzky’s work has always extended beyond profit. From early efforts fostering economic cooperation in the Middle East to launching the Builders movement, he has focused on bridging divides and replacing “us vs. them” thinking with practical collaboration. On stage, he challenges leaders to think flexibly, act courageously, and build institutions that last, offering a blueprint for scaling businesses and ideas without losing sight of values.

 

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Daniel Lubetzky: Why the World Needs More Builders — and Less “Us vs. Them” | TED - Get Sharable Link
Talks & Conversations with Daniel Lubetzky
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Why the World Needs More Builders — and Less ‘Us vs. Them’

DANIEL LUBETZKY—founder of KIND Snacks and the nonprofit Builders Movement—urges a shift from polarized thinking toward a “builder’s mindset.” He suggests reframing our problems not as us vs. them, but rather as all of us vs. extremism—positioning extremism, not people, as the true adversary. Lubet ...

DANIEL LUBETZKY—founder of KIND Snacks and the nonprofit Builders Movement—urges a shift from polarized thinking toward a “builder’s mindset.” He suggests reframing our problems not as us vs. them, but rather as all of us vs. extremism—positioning extremism, not people, as the true adversary. Lubetzky traces this philosophy back to his early venture, PeaceWorks, which brought Arab and Israeli entrepreneurs together through a shared business project—transforming “us versus them” into meaningful, collaborative action. Rooted in his personal history—his father was a Holocaust survivor—Lubetzky emphasizes that if builders don’t act, destroyers will fill the void, potentially replaying history’s darkest chapters. This talk isn’t just theoretical—it’s the foundation of the Builders Movement, a global initiative aimed at equipping people to uncover hidden common ground and build on it with real solutions that advance the will of the people.

From OR to AND — Unlocking Enduring Innovation

The marketplace of ideas is strongest when diverse, even opposing, perspectives come together around shared values. Innovation thrives not despite our differences, but because we harness them constructively. Leaders who shift from an “OR” mindset to an “AND” mindset—anchored in trust, communication, ...

The marketplace of ideas is strongest when diverse, even opposing, perspectives come together around shared values. Innovation thrives not despite our differences, but because we harness them constructively. Leaders who shift from an “OR” mindset to an “AND” mindset—anchored in trust, communication, and shared purpose—unlock creativity and lasting solutions. DANIEL LUBETZKY has seen this firsthand. From helping communities in conflict find common ground to building KIND’s ownership culture, he has shown how trust and open debate turn opposing views into opportunities. By challenging false assumptions—like the belief that food can be healthy or tasty but not both—KIND created a breakthrough product that redefined healthy snacking. And because these solutions addressed real consumer needs, they endured long after diet fads faded. In this keynote, Daniel reveals the problem-solving methodology behind KIND’s success and introduces the Builder’s Mindset: a way of leading that rejects false choices, embraces “AND,” and delivers transformative, enduring innovation.

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Books by Daniel Lubetzky
Do the KIND Thing: Think Boundlessly, Work Purposefully, Live Passionately

Do the KIND Thing: Think Boundlessly, Work Purposefully, Live Passionately

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Press & Media
Shark Tank’s Daniel Lubetzky Is Building a Movement of Moderates - TIME
New speaker forum to focus on solving problems across differences - Stanford Report
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Biography

Daniel Lubetzky is a Builder. Best known as the founder of KIND Snacks, Daniel is a social entrepreneur whose work spans industries, ideologies, and borders—always rooted in the same mission: to equip people to think flexibly, solve problems creatively, and build lasting solutions to our world’s most difficult challenges.

The son of a Holocaust survivor, Daniel is committed to building bridges across perceived lines of divides to ensure nothing like what his father lived through happens again. His early work focused on bridging divides in the Middle East through economic cooperation, which introduced him to food entrepreneurship. In 2004, Daniel founded and operated KIND Snacks out of his windowless basement, and went on to grow KIND into an iconic multibillion-dollar brand known for its pioneering role in health transparency and its commitment to making the world kinder.

Today, through Camino Partners, Daniel and his team of investor-operators back leaders building businesses taking an enduring approach to enhancing consumers’ lives. He is also the founder of Builders, a movement helping people move beyond “us vs. them” mindsets. Builders equips citizens to uncover hidden common ground and build on it – with solutions that advance the will of the people.

Daniel is a proud political independent who brings a values-driven lens to everything from entrepreneurship to civic life. His insights have been featured in TED, TIME, Newsweek, CNN, and Fortune. After five seasons as a guest on Shark Tank, Daniel joined the cast full-time in 2024. He is also the author of The New York Times bestseller, Do the KIND Thing.

Daniel’s work has been recognized with honors including The King Center’s Beloved Community Award, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, and the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award. President Obama named him a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship.

Daniel holds a BA in Economics and International Relations from Trinity University and a JD from Stanford Law School. A proud U.S. citizen who immigrated from Mexico at 16, he enjoys time with his family and a good magic trick.

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