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February 16 - February 23, 2021
The day he died, of lung cancer, in January 1988, was the saddest of my life. He had no savings, no pension. More important, he had never attained fulfillment and dignity from work he found meaningful.
But I knew in my heart that if I was ever in a position where I could make a difference, I wouldn’t leave people behind.
prominence than gives us license to experiment with innovative new products. Both sales and profits have grown by more than 50 percent a year for six consecutive years.
without sacrificing its core belief in treating its employees with respect and dignity,
What many in business don’t realize is that it’s not a zero-sum game. Treating employees benevolently shouldn’t be viewed as an added cost that cuts into profits, but as a powerful energizer that can grow the enterprise into something far greater than one leader could envision.
The other is the vision and values I brought to the company: the combination of competitive drive and a profound desire to make sure everyone in the organization could win together.
situations that weren’t comfortable, so that I could learn to overcome adversity. I don’t know how she came to that knowledge, because she didn’t live by those rules. But she willed us to succeed.
majored in communications and took courses in public speaking and interpersonal communications. During
people can achieve beyond their dreams if they insist upon it. I’d encourage everyone to dream big, lay your foundations well, absorb information like a sponge, and not be afraid to defy conventional wisdom. Just because it hasn’t been done before doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.
collar guy whose skills and training are not quite world-class. Yet at crunch time, he’s the one the coach sends out to the field. He’s so driven and so hungry to win that he can outperform
I was able to attend the best sales school in the country, Xerox’s $100 million center in Leesburg, Virginia.
Cold-calling was great training for business. It taught me to think on my feet. So many doors slammed on me that I had to develop a thick skin and a concise sales pitch for a then-newfangled machine called a word processor. But
many of my peers. As I proved myself, my confidence grew. Selling, I discovered, has a lot to do with self-esteem. But I can’t say I ever developed a passion for word processors.
selling products I liked: a line of stylish Swedish-designed kitchen equipment and housewares. As a salesman myself, I knew how to motivate my team of salespeople. I quickly placed the products in high-end retail stores and built up sales volume.
and formal, while Gordon was offbeat and artsy, unlike anyone I’d ever met before. As they talked, I could tell they were both highly intelligent, well-traveled, and absolutely passionate about quality coffee.
Seattle people tended to be polite and unpretentious.
But the founders of Starbucks were not studying market trends. They were filling a need—their own need—for quality
The name evoked the romance of the high seas and the seafaring tradition of the early coffee traders.
To Starbucks’ founders, quality was the whole point. Jerry, especially, imprinted his strong opinions and uncompromising pursuit of excellence on the young
I had never heard anyone talk about a product the way Jerry talked about coffee. He wasn’t calculating how to maximize sales; he was providing people with something he believed they ought to enjoy.
exclusively with the dark roast. Jerry and Gordon tweaked Alfred Peet’s roasting style and came up with a very similar version, which they called the Full City Roast (now called the Starbucks roast).
First, every company must stand for something.
fundamental truth about selling: To mean something to customers, you should assume intelligence and sophistication and inform those who are eager to learn.
and Gordon were doing? How would it feel to own equity, not just collect a paycheck?
Some men see things as they are and say “Why?” I dream things that never were, and say “Why not?”
Starbucks would mean giving up that $75,000 a year job, the prestige, the car, and the co-op, and for what? Moving 3,000 miles across the country to join a tiny outfit with 5 coffee stores didn’t make sense to a lot of my friends and family. My mother was especially concerned.
in her career as a designer, she, too, was ready to leave New York. As the daughter of an Ohio entrepreneur, she understood instinctively the value of taking risks and following your dreams.
No great achievement happens by luck.
she didn’t hesitate. She supported me 100 percent, as she’s always done. That constant encouragement has been vital for me.
When I start something, I immerse myself totally in it.
It took a while to build trust. Still, I was hired to do a job, and I was overflowing with ideas for the company. I wanted to make a positive impact.
Italians have an unparalleled appreciation for the fine pleasures of daily life. They have figured out how to live in perfect
passion. Nothing is mediocre. The infrastructure in Italy is appalling. Nothing works. But the food of Italy is absolutely incredible. The architecture is breathtaking. The fashion still defines elegance all over the world.
even more crowded. I noticed that the gray-haired man behind the counter greeted each customer by name.
beautiful cup of coffee. The coffee baristas of Italy have a respected place in their neighborhoods.
understood the personal relationship that people could have to coffee, its social
Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.
Rickey. While bad luck, it’s true, may come out of the blue, good luck, it seems, comes to those who plan for it.
My heart sank when we took on that burden. It tied our hands and deprived us of the flexibility to try out new ideas.
There is no more precious commodity than the relationship of trust and confidence a company has with its employees. If people believe management is not fairly sharing the rewards, they will feel alienated. Once they start distrusting management, the company’s future is compromised.
loss of personal control over the operation. I believe that the best way for an entrepreneur to maintain control is by performing well and pleasing shareholders, even if his or her stake is below 50 percent. That risk is far preferable to the danger of heavy debt, which can limit the possibilities for future growth and innovation.
something for myself and for my family, to achieve something unique, to be in control of my own destiny.
The insecurity, the desire for respect, the burning need to rise far above the circumstances of my parents’ struggles all came together in that defining moment.
We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.
attract some investors, and build a business that is profitable and sustainable. Trouble is, you usually have to start as the underdog.
complemented each other well: I had the vision, and he knew what information and projections were needed to attract private investors and how to outline the opportunities and risks.
SOMETIMES SINCERITY SELLS BETTER THAN BUSINESS PLANS
How much do you need? Will $100,000 be enough?” Ron pulled out his checkbook and pen and wrote the check on the spot. I wish all my fund-raising had been so easy.
Ron doesn’t invest based on financial projections but looks instead for honesty and sincerity and passion. He looks, in short, for someone he can trust.
more money. Any number of different factors can knock a company off its course in the period between its founder’s initial enthusiasm and the eventual returns. But passion is, and will always be, a necessary ingredient.
