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Whole Foods Founder: Vegans Called Him a Hypocrite. He Built a $13B Company.

By John Mackey · Mindset & Career · 1 min read

John Mackey is a plant-based ethical vegan who sold meat. Vegans called him a hypocrite. His response: what exactly have you done? If you think a vegan store will work, do it.

Key Points

Half of 1% of Americans are vegan — you can't build a big business on that alone
You have to meet the market where you find it, not where you'd like it to be
It's easy to be a critic. It's actually hard to be an entrepreneur.

It's easy to be a critic. It's actually hard to be an entrepreneur. It's hard to actually create anything.

What Exactly Have You Done?

Mackey: I'm plant-based. I hear it all the time from vegans — 'you say you're an ethical vegan and yet Whole Foods sells meat, so you're a hypocrite and a liar.'

But what exactly have you done? If you think a vegan store will work, do it. Don't just criticize other people. The problem is — about half of 1% of Americans are vegan and 2% are vegetarian. You just don't have a big market.

What exactly have you done? If you think a vegan store will work, do it.

Dance With Your Partner

Mackey: You have to meet the market where you find it, not where you'd like it to be. The perfect is the enemy of the good. If you just want to have your ideals, you can have them — but you may not have a business.

We're always pushing our ideals but always listening to our customers. It's like a dialogue, or a dance. If you don't dance with your partner, your partner's going to dance away from you.

We're always pushing our ideals but always listening to our customers. It's a dance.

It's Easy to Be a Critic

Mackey: There's a tendency to project our own failings onto other people and criticize them. 'You're not doing what I think you should do' — of course I'm not doing anything.

It's easy to be a critic. It's actually hard to be an entrepreneur. It's hard to actually create anything — particularly anything that's going to be successful and meet the test of time. But it's very easy to find fault with what other people are doing.

It's easy to be a critic. It's hard to be an entrepreneur. It's hard to actually create anything.