Daniel Lubetzky, KIND Snacks Founder, often leaves long days of shooting Shark Tank thinking about things left unsaid. Newly announced as the latest full-time judge on the show as it enters its 16th season, Lubetzky has a list of advice he keeps for entrepreneurs.
Lubetzky often has around 200 thoughts for Shark Tank hopefuls but can only share about two or three as they are relevant to the pitch. Thankfully, he got in a couple of extra lessons when speaking to Fortune.
While his advice to investors might change based on the market, his words to inventors stay more or less consistent. “I had ten years of mistakes,” Lubetzky says, speaking of the “timeless lessons,” he learned while starting a nonprofit called Peaceworks.
One of which is a maxim often taught in elementary school, just be yourself. “You do not want to follow other people’s playbook,” Lubetzky explains.
“If you see somebody do ABC and you try to replicate ABC, it’s the biggest mistake, because the market has changed,” he adds. “You will probably dig a hole in the ground if you’re trying to copy somebody else.” Instead, people should “learn how to be a more critical listener, how to be a better negotiator, how to think outside the box.”
When it comes to partnering with a contestant, Lubetzky is looking for candidates who show such strengths. Fashioning himself not unlike the sharks in Nemo, Lubetzky claims to not be sharpening his teeth when stepping up from guest judge to full-time panelist.
“I view myself as the kind shark, but in the evolved kind word, not like the nice shark,” he clarifies that he’s looking to be honest and take the middle-ground approach by “say[ing] what needs to be said but in a nurturing way.”
What the newest shark wants in a fish
Just as he strives to appear authentic Lubetzky wants the same in whoever he does business with. “Above all, I look for who I want to partner with,” he says, noting that particularly in shark ventures “you’re going to have a lot of ups and downs.”
“It’s a roller coaster ride, and you’re going to need to be in the trenches with these people. If they’re jerks why would you do it,” he asks, noting that he was an entrepreneur with an interesting product that seemed smug which made him not interested in a deal. Rather, Lubetzky wants to invest in the person, looking to lend a hand to someone with “good values” and “high integrity.”
More than just that, Lubetzky is searching for green flags like someone who has a growth mindset or is open to feedback. Of course, he is also looking for a product that speaks to him. Even though, admittedly, it’s not the best investment strategy, he can’t help but to knee-jerk respond to what he likes, especially given the short amount of time that Shark Tank judges
It’s a style unlike other shark, Kevin O’Leary, who often just looks at the financials and lets the market speak for itself. “I’m more willing to take a risk, even if the numbers haven’t fully spoken, if the entrepreneur speaks and the product or service speaks to me,” Lubetzky says.
The newest billionaire in the tank
After fellow billionaire Mark Cuban, Lubetzky is one of the wealthiest sharks, worth $2.3 billion. The rest of the court are millionaires, per TV Insider. But Lubetzky doesn’t necessarily think that changes his mindset or the game itself.
“When I’m in the tank I don’t think about myself that way,” he says, remembering his time at Peaceworks where he had to walk through the laundromat to a windowless basement next to a trash compactor that was his office for two or three years.
“So I know I’m very successful and I know what I have, but I don’t ever think of myself the way you’re asking,” he notes. Perhaps in earlier seasons, as a guest judge, he wasn’t thinking as much about the money, but now he’s “very mindful of the fact that this is a long game, and I don’t want to just throw money away and make mistakes,” he adds.
