3 entrepreneurs who built multibillion-dollar brands share their best business advice for new graduates

Ulukaya, who created the yogurt company Chobani in 2007, told the students of Northeastern University in Massachusetts on May 13 that entrepreneurial hopefuls should keep one thing in mind when starting businesses: How can they benefit both the community and the employees?

Ulukaya said that as he built Chobani, he learned about a group of refugees nearby who had a hard time finding jobs. When he considered hiring them, he was advised against it — some people suggested customers would boycott Chobani because of his decision, he said. But as an immigrant from Turkey, he knew how hard it can be to emigrate and leave everything behind.

Ulukaya said that today Chobani employs hundreds of immigrants and refugees in its facilities in Idaho and New York. He said that this inclusion of refugees had a huge impact on him and that he began to think about what more he could do to help refugees in the country.

In 2016 he founded the nonprofit organization Tent Partnership for Refugees, which aims to mobilize the global business community to include refugees. It says more than 220 companies have committed to training and hiring refugees.

He told the Northeastern graduates that they should think about how they can give back when they start businesses because of the fulfillment it will bring.

"I promise you that there is nothing more rewarding than showing up in the world for other people, no matter how hard it may be," he said.

Chobani last year filed confidential paperwork for a stock-market listing that could value the company at more than $10 billion, though its IPO plans are currently paused.

In his speech to graduates of Vanderbilt University in Tennessee on May 12, Hoffman, a founder of the networking behemoth LinkedIn, stressed the importance of personal connections in the professional world. He said friends will not only enrich your life but be truthful allies as you build your business.

"Making, cultivating, and keeping close friends may be your life's most important work," he said. "Friends will be absolutely central to your sense of happiness, connection, and meaning."

Hoffman credits a close friend with encouraging him to start LinkedIn. In 2002, Hoffman wanted to take a year off from work, but a friend suggested he cut the vacation short and focus on his startup idea. The following year he launched LinkedIn, which Microsoft bought for $26.2 billion in 2016.

"Friends will tell you not what you want to hear, but what you need to hear," he said.

Lubetzky, who created the snack company Kind in 2004, encouraged graduates to find a cause that drives their entrepreneurial spirit.

"You will achieve far more success, including financial success, if you find purpose in whatever you choose to do," said Lubetzky, who has also appeared on "Shark Tank" as a guest judge. "I am not talking about the what but about the how."

Lubetzky also spoke about the importance of daily habits for professional success and personal growth.

"It may seem simple, but it is seriously hard work," he said. "While your individual actions may feel small, all of us practicing good habits can cause a massive ripple effect of positive transformation."

Lubetzky said that at Kind, he and his team value hearty debates, a sense of humor, and treating everyone with dignity, adding that those elements contributed to the company's accomplishments. In 2020, Mars acquired Kind; while the terms were not made public, people with knowledge of the deal told The New York Times it valued Lubetzky's business at $5 billion.