Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time

I still found this book extremely interesting to read. It helped me to understand so much more about how to build a business from a 'vision'. It is not just the normal 'sort of telling you the right way to do business' type of educational book, it is more like a story telling book, written by a very successful Starbucks CEO, telling you how he managed to turn his dream into reality and all the possible risks he faced. This is a very intriguing book to read indeed. It helped me to differentiate a true business dream from just a passing phase type of dream. As long as you are truely passionate about something, you will be able to find a way and to achieve your dream.

I’ve just got this book and cannot put it down. Howard Schultz is such an inspiring man that started from a very poor background and became the successful man he is today. The book is well written and really hooks you up. I can’t wait to get myself a job at Starbucks to learn the art of coffee appreciation. This book made my day!

This books details how Howard Schultz built Starbucks from a small Seattle based business to the global brand it has become today. I particularly enjoyed the stories of the early years, the author comes across as very humble about success often crediting the team around him, however, there are more many inspiring anecdotes and quotes. A highly recommend d read for anyone interested in business.

Made me want to drink more Starbucks. Like all corporate bios, its very subjective, and its not the end of the Starbucks story, but I enjoyed it. An easy read, entertaining and told the history of Starbucks back then

I'm only a little way into this book so I'm maybe a bit churlish to deliver a verdict so early in the reading, but for me the text screams 'Not written by Howard Schultz - written by a ghostwriter'. And so it seems, judging by the back cover credits. I had the same issue reading Jo Malone's autobiography recently. Professional writers make something polished and seamless of their raw material, so that the true voice gets glossed over and replaced by something more like PR. This aspect is very much putting me off.

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication but it is easier if you have a clear identity and purpose and ensure that it is your guiding light in all that you do. This book demonstrates the value of that.

a must read for entreprenurs

Fast service with book arriving in good condition. However, the barcode sticker on the spin was really on firmly. I Tried to steam it off but it did damage the cover.

Good read. Personal story, never give up.

This is one of the best business books I have ever read. Howard Schultz is the epitome of the Level 5 leader Jim Collins describes in 'Built to Last' -- humility combined with a fierce resolve. Humility is really the outward expression of respect. In other words when you respect people deeply, you behave in a humble manner. Howard's respect is clearly demonstrated by his committment to his employees. Early on he ensured that Starbuck's provided health care coverage and company stock purchases worth 15% of compensation, for any employee working 20 or more hours per week. In 2014 Starbucks started offering full tuition re-imbursement for a four year US college education and the employee can quit the day they graduate. These benefits are very expensive totalling perhaps $1 billion a year. When you have P/E ratio of 30 to 1 these benefits repesent a potential $30 billion in stock value. As a consultant who works with employee ownership systems it is not often I come across a leader who really gets the qualitative value of employee engagment the way Howard does. In terms of fierce resolve, Howard describes tells the story of his leaving the original Starbucks to start a competing coffee company. Starbucks originally sold coffee beans and did not brew coffee. After a trip to Italy Howard became convinced that brewing coffee was the future. Howard describes the nature of the disagreement he had with one of the founders over the introduction of brewed coffee: "Jerry and I never had an argument, throughout the entire course of our professional relationship. But we both recognized that we had reached an impasse, that our disagreement was not over merely a new twist on business, but over what could potentially represent a sea change for the company. Shrewd as he was, he knew there was a fire burning inside me, a fire there was no way to put out." That fire burning inside is a fierce resolve, especially if there is no way to put it out. But its Howard's humility that lead the way forward. Not only did the founders allow Howard to start a potentially competing company they actually invested a substantial amount in Howard's new venture. Even though they did not believe in the brewed coffee dream for themselves, they did believe in Howard. So much so, that a few years later they sold the entire Starbucks chain to Howard. This book is packed full of all kinds of useful stories and anecdotes, but most importantly it stands testament to qualitative values. Qualitative values instilled by a dedicated leader can take a company to heights that quantitative analysts would never consider. The mission statment captures it well: "to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time". If you are interested in building business value there is a lot to learn here and if you are considering succession planning you may also want to look at my book: Hire Your Buyer: a Philosophy of Value Creation

As you might guess this book is about the story of Starbucks, one of the most esteemed and recognized brand not only in the US but also worldwide. Howard divides the book into three chronologically separated sections: Rediscovering Coffee - The years up to 1987, Reinventing the Coffee Experience - The Private Years, 1987-1992, and Renewing the Entrepreneurial Spirit - The Public Years, 1992-1997. While numerous business books about specific companies focus solely on the business/financial side, Starbucks and Howard beg to differ. As he best puts it "...The Story of Starbucks is not just a record of growth and success. It's also about how a company can be built in a different way. It's about a company completely unlike the ones my father worked for. It's living proof that a company can lead with its heart and nurture its soul and still make money. It shows that a company can provide long-term value for shareholders without sacrificing its core belief in treating its employees with respect and dignity, both because we have a team of leaders who believe it's right and because we have a team of leaders who believe it's right and because it's the best way to do business." This book is filled with lessons of true leadership, about setting a vision and inspiring every single person within the organization regardless of title or rank to live it and help achieve it. This inspiration is a by-product of putting employees first, first and first. The passion that Howard and his team have about what they do clearly radiates through the book, even for someone like myself who is not a big coffee fan! I want to conclude by two excerpts that I particularly enjoyed reading: a) "Great companies need both a visionary leader and a skilled executive: one for the top line, the other for the bottom line. As Fortune's Ronald Henkff wrote in November 1996, "The businesses that thrive over the long haul are likely to be those that understand that cost cutting and revenue growing aren't mutually exclusive. Eternal vigilance to both the top and bottom lines is the new ticket to prosperity." b) "We built the Starbucks brand first with our people, not with consumers-the opposite approach from that of the crackers-and-cereal companies. Because we believed the best way to meet and exceed the expectations of consumers was to hire and train great people, we invested in employees who were zealous about good coffee. Their passion and commitment made our retail partners our edge and fervor created a buzz among customers and inspired them to come back. That's the secret of the power of the Starbucks brand: the personal attachment our partners feel and the connection they make with our customers." An enjoyable and highly recommended read! While you are at it, enjoy a Frappuccino.

A very insightful story about starbucks history. Take a chance to read it. It is worth the time spent. Now stb is 15 times bigger than when the book was written.

Great read. Lovely to get an inside view of this great company. I'm not a coffee drinker but after reading this book I am tempted to become a regular at Starbucks