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Starbucks (with Howard Schultz)

Starbucks. You’d be hard pressed to name any brand that’s more ubiquitous in the world today. With nearly half a billion global customer purchases per week across its stores and 3rd party retail channels, a significant portion of the human population gets their daily fix in the green and white paper cup. (Including our own Ben Gilbert who famously enjoys his daily spinach feta wrap. :) But it wasn’t always this way. Long before the frappuccinos and the PSLs and the cake pops, Starbucks was just a small-time Seattle roaster that only sold beans — and was started not by Howard Schultz but rather the guys who later ran Peet’s (!). Starting from six tiny stores when Howard took over in 1987, this quirky coffee company named after a character from Moby Dick has scaled to nearly 40,000 locations worldwide. Today, in a first for Acquired, the protagonist himself joins us as a third cohost to tell the whole story of Starbucks. And Howard is in the perfect moment to do this — after three separate stints as CEO he’s now retired, off the board of directors, and in his own words “not coming back.” So place a mobile order (or not! as you’ll hear Howard speak about), sit back with your own favorite Starbucks items, and enjoy. *Links:* - Howard’s letter “The Soul of a Brand”: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/howardschultz_the-soul-of-a-brand-activity-7169073767615332352-ONbX/ - Worldly Partners’ multi-decade Starbucks analysis: https://worldlypartners.com/starbucks/ - Starbucks S-1: https://www.scribd.com/doc/11801030/Starbucks-IPO *More Acquired:* - Get email updates https://www.acquired.fm/email and vote on future episodes! - Join the Slack http://acquired.fm/slack - Check out the latest swag in the ACQ Merch Store https://www.acquired.fm/store! _Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions._

Ben GilberthostDavid RosenthalhostHoward Schultzguest
Jun 4, 20243h 15mWatch on YouTube ↗

CHAPTERS

  1. Why Starbucks deserves the full Acquired treatment (and why now)

    Ben and David set up the episode’s goal: revisit Starbucks as a global institution, not just its IPO story. They frame current headwinds (same-store sales decline, leadership changes, unions) as the perfect moment to examine why Starbucks worked and what comes next.

  2. Starbucks 1.0: the original founders and Peet’s hidden influence

    Howard recounts Starbucks’ pre-Schultz history: three founders inspired by Peet’s Coffee bring specialty beans to Seattle. A surprising detail emerges: early Starbucks reportedly sold Peet’s coffee under the Starbucks name before roasting themselves.

  3. Schultz discovers Starbucks (as a vendor) and moves to Seattle

    Working at Hammarplast, Schultz notices Starbucks buying an unusual coffee maker and visits the Pike Place store. The romance, education, and brand equity feel bigger than the tiny business—pulling him toward joining as head of marketing as Starbucks plans modest expansion.

  4. Coffee in America was broken: Robusta vs. Arabica and WWII’s legacy

    The conversation zooms out to explain why specialty coffee was so compelling in the early 1980s. Schultz contrasts low-grade Robusta (instant coffee boom) with high-quality Arabica, and explains Starbucks’ uncompromising quality positioning from the start.

  5. Xerox, rejection, and the psychology of risk-taking

    Schultz connects his cold-calling Xerox years and childhood insecurity to the drive behind his entrepreneurial leap. A ‘3’ performance rating becomes a catalytic moment, reinforcing his conviction to escape complacency and pursue something bigger.

  6. The Milan epiphany: espresso bars, community, and the “third place”

    A 1983 trip to Italy reveals a different business: espresso bars as social hubs and daily rituals. Schultz returns convinced Starbucks must shift from selling beans to serving beverages and building community—an idea the founders resist for years.

  7. Il Giornale: fundraising rejections, no salary, and Sherry’s role

    After leaving Starbucks to pursue the espresso-bar vision, Schultz raises capital for Il Giornale amid widespread skepticism—even from Italian giants Lavazza and Faema. The emotional strain peaks with family pressure, but Sherry’s steadfast support keeps the mission alive.

  8. The acquisition showdown: buying Starbucks and the Bill Gates Sr. intervention

    As the original Starbucks becomes debt-stressed after buying Peet’s, Jerry Baldwin offers to sell Starbucks to Schultz—who lacks the $3.8M required. A rival all-cash bid threatens the deal until Bill Gates Sr. steps in decisively, enabling Schultz to close the acquisition.

  9. Starbucks 2.0 begins: merging Il Giornale + Starbucks and staying debt-free

    The acquisition closes in 1987, combining Starbucks’ brand and roasting with Il Giornale’s beverage model. Schultz institutionalizes a no-debt philosophy shaped by childhood, and the combined company begins its rapid store growth trajectory.

  10. The hidden machine: unit economics, cup/lid design, and experience flywheels

    Schultz explains why the coffee bar model is unlike restaurants: extremely high gross margins driven by roasting + beverage economics and repeat frequency. Starbucks also standardizes experiential details—paper cups, sip lids, language, and name-on-cup—creating scalable intimacy and a walking billboard.

  11. Scaling without marketing: Chicago fixes, LA ‘halo’, and the H2O operating system

    Starbucks expands market-by-market with operational discipline, learning hard lessons in Chicago before betting big on Los Angeles. Schultz highlights the leadership triad—Schultz (vision), Howard Behar (people-first operations), Orin Smith (adult-in-the-room discipline)—that built scalable culture and systems.

  12. People as strategy: Bean Stock, healthcare, Costco parallels, and cultural proof

    Schultz details the deliberate choice to treat employees as “partners,” including equity grants and benefits for part-timers—rare for retail. He connects this to retention, performance, and brand trust, and shares how Costco leaders influenced key distribution and philosophy decisions.

  13. Distribution as ‘billboards’: Costco, United, grocery—and the Frappuccino leap to Pepsi

    With little paid marketing, Starbucks expands awareness through strategic channels that put the brand in customers’ hands beyond stores. Frappuccino—initially disliked by Schultz—becomes a breakthrough product, and a napkin-deal JV with Pepsi turns bottled coffee into a massive brand-and-revenue engine.

  14. Becoming public: IPO realities, comps education, and early East Coast expansion

    Starbucks goes public in 1992 as a small-cap with few comparable companies and an investor education challenge. Schultz describes underwriter dynamics (Goldman passes), the retail-vs-restaurant narrative, and how early data (mail order strength) guided market selection like Washington, D.C.

  15. International expansion: Japan’s instant success and China’s long struggle (then breakout)

    Starbucks initially avoids Europe, targets Japan, and defies consultant advice—only to see massive opening-day demand in Tokyo. China proves far harder; after partner issues and years of losses, Belinda Wong’s decentralization and local adaptation unlock China as a major revenue pillar.

  16. 2008 crisis and rebirth: store closures, truth-telling, and rebuilding the ‘reservoir’

    Schultz returns amid the financial crisis to a company close to insolvency, with negative comps and overexpansion. The turnaround focuses on restoring craft and culture—closing stores for retraining, re-centering coffee quality, and rallying leadership through radical transparency and partner-driven execution.

  17. Mobile order & pay: huge innovation, unintended chaos, and today’s Achilles heel

    Starbucks becomes an early mobile pioneer, but Schultz argues the app’s success outpaced operational governance and eroded the third-place experience. He describes the ‘mosh pit’ problem, on-demand expectations, and why convenience must be balanced with intimacy for an experiential brand.

  18. Real estate and control: why Starbucks avoided franchising (and what ‘licensed’ means)

    Schultz explains Starbucks’ site selection logic (traffic counts, corners, office density, co-tenancy) and the strategic rejection of franchising to protect culture. He distinguishes traditional franchising from Starbucks’ licensing/JV model, where Starbucks controls coffee and standards while partners run operations.

  19. Full-circle Italy + Roasteries: “Willy Wonka” theater and earning the right to enter Milan

    To fight ubiquity and elevate the brand, Starbucks creates immersive Roasteries—manufacturing and theater at massive scale. The Milan Roastery becomes the symbolic return to Starbucks’ Italian inspiration, enabled by a Blackstone-owned post office site, and Italy embraces Starbucks with espresso as the top order.

  20. Founder DNA, succession, and Starbucks today: unions, drift, and Schultz’s counsel to Laxman

    The group synthesizes why Starbucks worked: scaling humanity, unit economics, brand flywheels, and culture-first leadership—while acknowledging founder-dependence risks. Schultz reflects on succession missteps, recent underinvestment, and his 2024 letter urging Starbucks to be more coffee-forward and rein in mobile’s damage to experience.

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