The Jewish Mexican-American Shark: KIND Billionaire Daniel Lubetzky on Building a Builders Mindset

Jonah interviews Daniel Lubetzky, Mexican-American Jewish founder of KIND, Shark Tank investor, and longtime bridge-builder, about how his Holocaust-survivor father and Mexican Jewish upbringing shaped his commitment to connecting communities. Lubetzky describes mourning his father, saying Kaddish, and launching both KIND and the OneVoice Movement the same year, crediting prayer and purpose with keeping him grounded. He explains PeaceWorks, a trade-based social enterprise linking Israelis and Arabs (and later other conflict regions), which succeeded in sustaining relationships but never scaled and ultimately closed. He recounts OneVoice’s effort to empower moderates against media-driven extremism, mobilizing nearly a million Israelis and Palestinians, yet falling short of ending the conflict. Lubetzky outlines his latest project, the Builders Movement, and its “builders vs. destroyers” framework, its education, media, and civics work, and argues kindness is strong, honest action. 00:00:00 - Welcome Daniel Lubetzky, Kindness as a Strategy 00:05:40 - Finding Spirit in Mourning 00:08:24 - Founding KIND and One Voice 00:10:35 - PeaceWorks: Business for Peace 00:13:00 - Economic Cooperation in Jordan 00:19:15 - Countering Extremism and Polarization 00:27:30 - Builders: Protecting Liberal Democracy 00:30:10 - Shark Tank Experience 00:32:30 - Growing up Jewish in Mexico 00:40:40 - Judaism: Tradition and Purpose 00:45:00 - Parenting and Jewish Education 00:48:40 - Lightning Round - Lubetzky reflects on the impact of reciting Kaddish after his father’s death and how Jewish ritual shaped his worldview. - The founding story behind KIND Bars and why Lubetzky named the company after his father’s values. - Lubetzky’s first social enterprise PeaceWorks, connecting Israelis, Palestinians, Jordanians, Egyptians, and Turks through trade. - How PeaceWorks also operated in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, South Africa, and Chiapas, Mexico to foster cooperation across conflict lines. - The creation of the OneVoice Movement, which mobilized nearly 1 million Israelis and Palestinians around shared peace principles. - Why Lubetzky believes media narratives often amplify extremists instead of moderates in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.-Movement framework built around the “Four Cs”: Curiosity, Compassion, Creativity, and Courage. - Educational partnerships with institutions such as Stanford University to promote builder-mindset leadership programs. - Collaboration with leaders like Van Jones to strengthen alliances between Jewish and Black communities. Thank you to our sponsor: Jewish Communal Fund - https://jcfny.org Follow Daniel Lubetzky - https://daniellubetzky.com/ On Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/daniellubetzky/?hl=en #DanielLubetzky #SharkTank #KindSnacks #Entrepreneurship #JewishIdentity #JonahPlatt #BeingJewish #BusinessEthics #Leadership #Kindness