Two Legends Talk Shop

Panera Breads Ron Shaich and Kinds Daniel Lubetzky discuss creativity, control, and the future of entrepreneurialism.

The setting was spare: a small table and two chairs in an otherwise empty conference room in Kind’s New York City headquarters. The discussion was anything but.

In the first installment of a new series called Icons and Innovators, Inc. has paired well-known but not necessarily like-minded entrepreneurs to talk about their work.

Ron Shaich, the force behind Au Bon Pain and Panera Bread, also started Act III, an investment firm that provides what he calls “venture management” and eschews the traditional VC model in favor of long-term investment. Over a 36-year career, Shaich has made high-stakes decisions as his businesses have evolved, including dumping Au Bon Pain. He sees his job as studying consumers to find out how to solve their problems. It’s allowed him to anticipate trends such as fast-casual dining, which led him to Panera.

Daniel Lubetzky is the classic, from-the-ground-up entrepreneur. An immigrant from Mexico, he veered away from a law career to pursue and create an all-natural, minimally processed snack bar that would change the market for healthy treats. He turned Kind into a multibillion-dollar, purpose-driven company. Along the way, he learned how to do every job needed to make Kind a success, like showing up at stores at 5 a.m. to meet buyers, and handing out samples on planes. He is the customer, but now must operate within a much larger corporate environment.

Despite different approaches to their businesses—Shaich is more analytical, Lubetzky more intuitive—the two found a lot to share about the state of innovation and entrepreneurship in their hourlong conversation. You can read the highlights in the following pages or view the entire conversation at Inc.com. —BILL SAPORITO