"The ULTIMATE ADVICE For Every Business TRYING TO SCALE" | Kevin O'Leary

But I just think you need to throw out all those playbooks because, like you said, what made sense in the past, it's not gonna make sense in the future. And when Kind was born, I was this far away from the tower. People have all these perceptions, having watched it now for 10 years. People have grown up with it. But when you came on the set for the first time, what was not as expected for you?

Well, tell me, let's talk a little bit about Kind because a lot of my followers don't know how this whole thing started. Why don't you give me some background on, you know, obviously, you're a shark now, so you did something right. I'm not quite like Mr. Wonderful, but trying to learn from you, Kevin.

So the story of Kind is prior to Kind, ten years before, after finishing law school, I started a company called Peace Works to bring neighbors together – Israelis and Arabs across the world – that used to use business as a force for trying to create catalyst ventures with neighbors. So the idea was to get peace in the Middle East, which nobody's been able to achieve yet, right? And use business as a force for breaking stereotypes and cementing relations and giving people a profitable interest in maintaining those relations.

And it became a food company, and it was not the biggest company, you know, the biggest success. It was two steps forward, two steps back, ten years of mistakes. But along the way, I had the idea for a healthy snack that I could feel good about eating on the go. I was trying to solve for my own needs because I was crisscrossing the country trying to sell our products or going across or skipping lunch or dinner while I was in the office or on the go. I felt like I wanted a snack that I could feel good about eating, and the idea for Kind came to me, and we launched it, and then it became what it became.

It's one of the things. Let's talk about the metrics of Kind because, I mean, for all the Shark Tank fans out there, how many points of distribution does Kind have? I see it everywhere.

It's our best guess because sometimes we use distributors and stuff, but it's probably maybe northwards of 300,000 points.

Okay, that's – I mean, that's everybody's dream to get a product into 300,000 outlets. I mean, that's just incredible. You know, I think at the end of the day, that power of distribution should be able to help you, you know. When you come back to Shark Tank on Friday, you’re back tomorrow. I mean, in the back of your mind when you’re listening to deals, are you thinking about the power of distribution you have?

I do, but you know, very often when people interview me, they’re like how did you get your distribution? Tell me about your secrets for distribution. And yes, it requires a lot of great and hard work to think creatively and knock on doors, so there’s a lot of work to get that. But I think the number one secret is just have a killer product, because if you have the best product, really, the distribution follows.

Now, there’s a lot of inertia, right, because the established players have that, so you need to take that from them. So it does take a lot of work, but ultimately in our industry of consumer product goods, you know, product is king, whereas maybe in finance cash is king. I think when you have a superior product, it might take a while, but it ultimately gets that distribution.

How challenging is it when you have a – you know, we get so many food products on Shark Tank and my big beef with it is there’s no free shelf space for any new products. It's already full of products with behemoth companies. They're not interested in having some newcomer take some shelf space from an end cap, which is very expensive to even buy or maintain. Isn't that the hardest thing, even to get a chance to get a little bit of shelf space? Because when you're a tiny little snack cockroach, how are you ever going to get any space from the behemoths that control it?

Well, and sadly, that specific challenge, Kevin, is now so much greater today. Like, that’s one of the pain points of COVID because retailers just need to keep their shelves full. They need to keep their supply chains flowing, and the small guys, which I still consider myself, even though we're now a multi-billion dollar company, but I at my heart am that guy who barely was surprised to meet payroll.

I was born out of some of the darkest moments of my life, not just in terms of business but in terms of, like, I had just lost my dad, and I had a lot of other challenges. So I always feel like I'm that guy. And for everyone that’s starting to launch a new product, this is not the right environment because it’s all about having good supply chains that are redundant, and that favors the big guys.

So for the last decade or two, the small guys have been basically winning more and more and more market share from the sizes that were entrenched but not as innovative. The supply chains of the bigger, better established companies have gained back some of that share because the small guys don’t have redundant supply chains. They don’t have if one of their factories goes down or one team member’s sick and they have to close down for a couple of weeks to reclaim; they lose all their sales, and it’s a very tricky environment. Buyers are not reviewing your products right now.

So let's go, let’s talk about your Shark Tank experience. I mean, this is not your first time on Shark Tank. This is, you know, you’re a bit of a veteran now. What was a surprise to you because people have all these perceptions having watched it now for 10 years? People have grown up with it. But when you came on the set for the first time, what was not as expected for you?

So I’ll tell you two things. First, how real it is. Like, you know, my kids and I and my wife, we love watching Shark Tank. I love using Shark Tank to then ask the kids what do you think about this, and for them to learn entrepreneurship. It’s a really fun show for us to watch.

I was stunned at how real it is. Like, people ask me what’s Mr. Wonderful like in real life? You see what you see is what you get. You guys are really real, like very much; you know, you’re actually a little bit sweeter than you let on.

Don't let that secret out.

Daniel, are you kidding? You could destroy my reputation. I'm a confused Mexican Jew, but I have a connection with Israel and Israelis. They call them sabras because outside they have spikes, but when you open up the fruit, it is very sweet. That's who you remind me of.

But, but for the most part, your personality, you're very straightforward. Lori is very nurturing. Mark is very, you know, to the point. Robert’s very empathetic. Damon’s very prepared. Like, every one of you guys, what you see on TV is what you get, and you do not get any preparation.

It’s enormously challenging because you have to keep up with all these inputs, but my greatest surprise was how you stole two deals from me right from right! I don’t know if you remember, but like we – Lori and I – twice, and the pain is that once it broadcast, then you remember all those feelings. We were about to get a deal, and then you came from down under, and you’re there.

So if I’m back, believe me, I’m not gonna let that happen again. I take the challenge – you throw the gauntlet down; I’m ready anytime, buddy.

I'm looking forward to all the new ideas that are being created while people sit in quarantine all over America. There’s going to be fantastic new ideas, all kinds of new problems to be solved with new entrepreneurs. I think, you know, I’m very optimistic always, but we get out of this mess we’re in, America is going to be more efficient than ever, and there’ll be new ways of doing business. Maybe people work at home more. Who knows? All the changes that are going to occur.

But I don't know about you; I'm looking forward to getting back there and seeing all the new ideas and investing in them. That's the best part, don’t you think?

I like you. I’m in awe of the entrepreneurial spirit and the creativity and the staying power of entrepreneurs. And you know, there are things in this very painful experience that we learn on silver linings about, like you said, online marketing, online shopping, online delivery, digital experiences, working from home. There’s a lot of things that I think we’re going to learn, and hopefully, we’re going to take this crisis as an opportunity to figure out how our society and our community can actually become better from it.

And it was painful, but, you know, fundamentally, yeah, I am a very big believer. And as I was hinting earlier, Kevin, when Kind was born, I was this far away from the towel because literally, we just lost a million dollars. We were at a two million dollar business, and we had lost under those two million dollars because we had one product that was importing, and we had no control over the manufacturer.

They added artificial ingredients that we can do in the natural stores, and we literally went around the table and said should we try this again and create our own brand, what became Kind, or should we just close this? And nobody, Kevin, would have faulted us for closing and giving up at the time.

It had been ten years of effort. I could not pay myself a salary. And then we tried it, and it became what it became. And you never – I would have never imagined, you know, back in 2003, 2004, well, you only need one great idea to change your life, and certainly, it has done that for you.

I want to do an open invitation to you, Daniel, because I get thousands of questions on my YouTube channel called Ask Mr. Wonderful about launching new food products, and I think it’s extremely difficult.

So what I’d like to do is get you on as a guest host and talk about just that. What does it take to launch a new, you know, you could do beverage and snacks because everyone – I’m always getting somebody saying, oh, I got this fantastic new snack.

I'm right now living through the experience with Bohana, which is pop lily seeds, water lily seeds. It sells very well direct, and I sold it on QVC this week, and we sold 107 more than the target. But distribution in retail is an absolute – it’s so difficult.

And so I want to bring you on as a guest. You could tell me what a cockroach I am. That’ll be great. Everybody talks about cockroaches in a different frame.

But I would be very honored to be on your YouTube channel. My kids were challenging me that how pathetic it is that they have more followers on YouTube. I think I have three followers because we just opened our YouTube channel, Daniel Lubetsky. I have three subscribers, and they’re like if you will have me on your YouTube channel, I’ll be honored, but –

Well, look, I’ll help you out a little bit there.

I hope so. That’s going to be my open invitation.

So I’m looking forward to seeing you tomorrow night on Shark Tank, and I think it’s pride we’re tomorrow. Sorry, I’m confused; it’s Friday night. I don’t even know anymore which day of the week it is. They’re all the same to me.

It's like Groundhog Day; there’s one tomorrow because it’s the next to last, and then Friday is the finale, and I think it’s going to be the best one of the season.

The season is finished; I’m looking forward to it. I always loved to see how they edited it. You were there, you know, the pitches can be 10, 20, 30 minutes long, but only seven minutes makes it to television. So I think they do a masterful job, because I really enjoy seeing – because I always remember the products, all of them, every single one that’s ever been on there.

It’s, you know, it’s crystal clear. And I remember, you know, some of the deals you were involved in were 25 minutes. It was a long debate.

But I have to tell you, I am in awe of you guys because I recorded for one day in June and one day in September, and when we finished that day, I start at 7 a.m. and go all the way to like 7 p.m., and I finish the day exhausted, depleted, and it takes me three or four days to just decompress and digest.

Oh my God, I should have come back to Mr. Wonderful with that.

You’re very witty; you’re very fast. But not only that, how do you guys do it? Because you record not one day like I did; you do like 10, 14 days straight. How do you keep it together? It is stunning; it really is not easy.

I’m – how do you – don’t get exhausted like a mouth? And I’m very impressed with you guys.

Well, I think we do get exhausted, but we love the entrepreneurs that keep us energized.

I’m hoping this year, we don’t know, it’s going to be so different with all these new ideas they’re going to be – it’s not – people aren’t going to be coming out, Daniel, saying I have another retail idea anymore. It’s going to be much more direct to consumer, I think, because retail is under amazing challenge and puts big guys like you at a huge advantage.

You already established distribution as it opens up; you’re going to be there.

But, you know, I’ll just give a shoutout to Kind Bar. I never eat a lot of snacks because I’m always trying to control my weight. So every time I grab them, you were very kind to send me some bars, and I eat one every day now—sometimes too, because I read the calories.

You’ve done a great job making them tasty with good stuff and low calories, high protein, low calories. That’s all I give a about. I want low calories, so keep up the good work on that.

Let me challenge you on the cal. Yes, low calories is useful, but more useful is the quality of the calories. If you got a low calorie, but it's empty calories without nutrition, it’s not good. You want to look for nutritionally dense ingredients.

Like if your calories are coming from almonds that are heart healthy and brain beneficial, it’s very different if it’s just from – like I love the – what – like I’ve tried so many different flavors, obviously, and I have my favorites.

But anything with nuts with low calories, I feel, I mean, I’m doing something healthy for myself, and I don’t want a lot of sugar like that. I think you’ve done a masterful job, and I wouldn’t say that if I didn’t believe it.

It’s the only snack I carry around with me now because when you really have that, you know, you miss lunch or something, and I always say I’ll just eat half, but I eat the whole damn thing.

Let’s send Mr. Wonderful more product, please!

What you said.

I want to ask you a question, but real quickly on your prior point – distribution, yes, I do think we have an advantage. But I just think you need to throw out all those playbooks because, like you said, what made sense in the past, it’s not going to make sense in the future.

So, every entrepreneur right now, it’s a great opportunity for them to completely think about it. As horrible as it is, all the rules have changed, so there’s a space for entrepreneurs to fill it up without the entrenched power of the prior players and to completely disrupt the industry with all of the stuff like you said.

There will be a lot of people that are going to be able to see something that others didn’t see because the space has changed so much.

Well, that's very optimistic to say, and I'm looking forward to seeing exactly what that's going to be. I think innovation is always disruptive, and that's okay.

But anyways, Daniel, thank you for your time today. I'm inviting you to the Ask Mr. Wonderful, and I want to meet your kids when we do that too.

One question to you.

Yeah, but you have to say the truth. You are like so fast, and you talk about, you know, everything. And sometimes you're joking about it, but you actually have a big store of knowledge. How does it really come to you, and do you pre-plan it? Do people send you ideas? How do you come up with like such facts?

I say the reason, and here's my answer to that. When I was young, just like you, I had some international experiences. My father, my original father, died when he was 36. I was only eight years old, and my mother remarried George, my stepfather, who was graduating from the University of Champaign-Urbana, University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. He took a job with the United Nations, and for the rest of my life, I moved to a new country every two years all through my youth: Cyprus, Cambodia, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Japan, Germany, France.

And I just thought that's how everybody lived. And so it was sort of learning new stuff in new societies and new places. And, you know, I became an assistant to a – a Chef, T. Vendang, were their names, and that’s how I learned to cook. But I used to go at five in the morning to the market to make in the Mekong Delta and eat live snails.

I thought everybody did that. But I think it was a great education, and I think a lot of that has stuck with me, and it’s been very useful on Shark Tank.

It's hard to both – it’s really hard to – to me, Daniel. It really is.

I know, it's very impressive. I’m like, how does she know that stuff? And but also you’re like fast. You guys, all of you, you come up with these things, and I’m like how did they do it?

Well, you know, I’ve looked at a lot of deals. But look, that invitation is open, and bring one when we do the shoot. Let’s have one of your kids around; that would be fun just for them to say hi on the YouTube channel.

If you like that video wait did you see my next one, don’t forget to click right over here and subscribe!