Founders should do this surprising thing more often in pitches, Daniel Lubetzky, the newest 'Shark Tank' addition, says
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- Daniel Lubetzky, founder of snack brand Kind, is joining "Shark Tank" as the show's newest Shark.
- Lubetzky will take a permanent seat on the show after five seasons as a guest.
- Lubetzky told BI that he watches for founders who can be honest about their shortcomings.
Daniel Lubetzky has seen dozens of pitches from founders on the ABC television series "Shark Tank."
But Lubetzky will be hearing even more pitches as he becomes the show's latest new judge — or "Shark" — starting with the show's new season next month.
Lubetzky isn't a stranger to Shark Tank or startups. He's spent five seasons as a "Guest Shark" on the show.
He also founded snack maker Kind in 2004. The brand became known for its snack bars and was acquired by Mars, the company that owns Snickers candy bars and Juicy Fruit chewing gum, in 2020. The deal reportedly valued Kind at $5 billion. Lubetzky retains a financial stake in Kind, though its exact size isn't public.
In an interview with Business Insider, Lubetzky pointed to a quality he looks for in the founders pitching him on Shark Tank.
Founders often pitch with everything that's going well with their business, Lubetzky said. But he also looks for frank assessments of what they're struggling with, he added.
The founders of one of Lubetzky's investments, an arepa brand called Toast It, provided an example when they appeared on a Shark Tank episode that aired last year. Sisters Coco and Mafe Cabezas said they came to the US from Venezuela and founded the food brand in their spare time.
It was clear that they had "an enormous amount of passion," Lubetzky told BI. But during the episode, Lubetzky and the other Sharks asked the Cabezas about their plans to improve their company's margins.
Coco and Mafe acknowledged the challenge of making food products profitable. They also pointed to their efforts to cut packaging costs and plans to save money on ingredients.
"When I asked them tough questions and they had some areas where they were not perfect, they said, 'Yeah, this is our area of opportunity,'" Lubetzky told BI. He ended up striking a deal with the sisters, paying $150,000 for a 20% stake in Toast It.
Acknowledging shortcomings like that shows introspection, he said.
"And for me, that's one of the greatest values, not just for an entrepreneur, but for human beings," Lubetzky said. "If you can criticize yourself and evaluate what you're not doing, you can get better."
Season 16 of Shark Tank will premiere on ABC on October 16 at 8 p.m. ET.