Howard Schultz
Howard Schultz
Howard D. Schultzis an American businessman. He is best known as the chairman and CEO of Starbucks and a former owner of the Seattle SuperSonics. He was a member of the Board of Directors at Square, Inc. In 1998, Schultz co-founded Maveron, an investment group, with Dan Levitan. In 2012, Forbes magazine ranked Schultz as the 354th richest person in the United States, with a net worth of $1.5 billion...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionEntrepreneur
Date of Birth19 July 1953
CityBrooklyn, NY
CountryUnited States of America
Success is the by-product when you work toward the target.
There's this myth that has been exacerbated by others that Starbucks means a $4 cup of coffee, which is not true.
We think of Starbucks not as a coffee company but a media company.
When we began Starbucks, what I wanted to try to do was to create a set of values, guiding principles, and culture.
When you start a company, it's a singular focus. You have the wind at your back.
When you're building a business or joining a company, you have to be transparent; you can't have two sets of information for two sets of people.
You walk into a retail store, whatever it is, and if there's a sense of entertainment and excitement and electricity, you wanna be there.
The future of America is not an entitlement. We have been given a treasure chest of gifts and opportunities, but some people are being left behind, and success is not sustainable unless it is shared.
Americans reading the paper, listening to the news every single day, and all you hear is things are getting worse and worse. And that has a psychological effect on consumer confidence. That's what consumer confidence is.
Cutting prices or putting things on sale is not sustainable business strategy. The other side of it is that you can't cut enough costs to save your way to prosperity.
Growing up I always felt like I was living on the other side of the tracks. I knew the people on the other side had more resources, more money, happier families.
I am concerned about any attrition in customer traffic at Starbucks, but I don't want to use the economy, commodity prices or consumer confidence as an excuse.
I could've just walked away but I never could have forgiven myself to allow Starbucks to drift into mediocrity or not be relevant. I just couldn't be a bystander.
We need to reinvent food at Starbucks. Less could be more.