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Pour Your Heart Into It, How STARBUCKS Built a Company One Cup at a Time (Paperback)
by Howard Schultz(Founder and Chairman of Starbucks), Dori Jones Yang
| Category:
Motivation, Entrepreneurship, Business, Leadership |
| Market price: ¥ 180.00
MSL price:
¥ 168.00
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 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
Inspiring, motivational and heart-warming, this story serves as another testimony that imagination drives great business success. |
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Author: Howard Schultz(Founder and Chairman of Starbucks), Dori Jones Yang
Publisher: Hyperion
Pub. in: January, 1999
ISBN: 0786883561
Pages: 368
Measurements: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BA00003
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- MSL Picks -
The second most traded commodity in the world today is coffee (the first is oil) at a few cents a pound. It doesn't take but a small fraction of a pound of coffee to make a $3.50 grande.
So, what is being sold here? The romance of drinking coffee from faraway exotic places like Costa Rica, the affordable luxury that can be shared with doctors and lawyers, the oasis or 'third place' between home and work where one can get away from it all, or the casual non-threatening environment and conversation. Surely it is a combination of the above.
Shultz set strong values and a mission statement that would be used to grow this company's size and profits by 50% a year for quite a number of years and overcome trials like the Brazilian frost of 1994 that sent coffee prices soaring.
There are four major areas to which Schultz gave focus. The first was high values which translated to a dignified and diversified workplace with a top-quality product.
The second area is the employee which he calls a partner. Starbucks invests in employee training (coffee history, perfect brewing, customer relations...), and is one of very few that give benefits and stock options to all of its employees, even part-timers. The employees feel the ownership, trust and loyalty that make turnover very low. Employees have proper channels for making suggestions that are responded to, and can even attend open regional forums. Store-level managers can authorize their own contributions to the community or charities. As a side note, Starbucks is very involved in supporting CARE, an international aid organization that helps developing countries grow and cope.
The third area of focus is the customer. This is the third area of focus because to connect with the customers, you must first connect with the employees. This makes the customer feel number one. Schultz wanted to transplant the atmosphere of the Italian coffee shops and the refinement of exquisite coffee that went along with it. He soon discovered that even though he was providing a superior product, and he didn't want to alloy in any way with the likes of the latest non-fat milk and flavorings, that the customer should be said yes to. Anyone who wants a real cup of it was still able to get it though. Another change made along the way included expanding the size of the shop and add seating.
The final area of focus was the Starbucks brand name. He fought to maintain the integrity of the brand name at all costs. For many years he would not allow franchises or other venues for his products. He was able to keep the quality at very high standards. Today, now that the name has been established, he is meeting the new level of customer demand through supermarkets and other retail locations like Barnes & Noble.
Good book. Powerful business precepts. This book is especially good in motivating people to believe in the power of imagination. In many ways, we think Starbucks is the brainchild of the dream of Howard Schultz. He started the company believing it was possible to achieve beyond their dreams. (From quoting Peter Valentine, USA)
Target readers:
Aspiring entrepreneurs, managers, marketers, MBAs and young people who aspire to great careers and lives.
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Howard Schultz joined Starbucks in 1982 and has been chairman and CEO since 1987. He lives in Seattle, Washington.
Dori Jones Yang is a reporter, writer, and bureau chief for Business Week. She lives in Bellevue, Washington.
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From the Publisher:
The success of Starbucks Coffee Company is one of the most amazing business stories in decades. What started as a single store on Seattle’s waterfront has grown into a company with over 5,000 self-owned stores and 2,600 licensed stores worldwide. Just as remarkable as this incredible growth is the fact that Starbucks has managed to maintain its renowned commitment to product excellence and employee satisfaction. In Pour Your Heart into It, Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, shares the passion, values, and inspiration that drive the success of this fascinating company. Schultz gives credit for the growth of Starbucks to a foundation of values seldom found in corporate America - values that place as much importance on the company's employees as they do on profits, as much attention to creativity as to growth. Schultz tells the story of Starbucks in chapters that illustrate the principles which have made the company enduring, such as "Don't be threatened by people smarter than you," "Compromise anything but your core values," "Seek to renew yourself even when you are hitting home runs," and, most simply, "Everything matters." For entrepreneurs, marketers, managers, and Starbucks' loyal customers, Pour Your Heart into It gets to the heart of a company that, according to Fortune magazine, "has changed everything... from our tastes to our language to the face of Main Street."
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| Fear of failure drove me at first, but as I tackled each challenge, my anxiety was replaced by a growing sense of optimism. Once you overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles, other hurdles became less daunting. Most 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. |
| “Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.” (quoted Peter Drucker) |
| Life is a series of near misses. But a lot of what we ascribe to luck is not luck at all. It’s seizing the day and accepting responsibility for your future. It’s seeing what other people don’t see, and pursuing that vision, no matter who tells not to. |
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| View all 8 comments |
Michael Erisman, USA
<2006-12-20 00:00>
This is one of the best business biographies I have ever read. It is truly inspiring. One simple, and telling, output from reading this book on a plane was that as soon as we landed I headed to the local airport Starbucks for a latte. I rarely even drink coffee! So powerful are the imagery and the passion for coffee in his story that you can almost smell the roasted dark beans, feel them running through your fingers, hear the sounds of the espresso machine and taste the coffee itself!
Why is this imagery so important? Because behind the corporate image of a relentless pack-man like machine churning out new locations at a rate slightly above the national birth rate it seems, is a simple vision of passion for coffee combined with Italian neighborhoods and a warm and friendly place where the worlds best coffee and social friendship intermix. That is what Starbucks was all about.
The book itself is a remarkable insight into this journey. It was even more special for me, as I grew up with Starbucks - literally. When Howard talks about the vision he had to treat even his part time employees with full benefits and ownership in the company through stock, I know it was more than just a nice sounding corporate manta, it really worked. Friends I went to high school with in Bellevue in the mid to late 1980's worked at the first stores, and raved about this little coffee company and couldn't imagine working anywhere else. So, from firsthand experience I can tell you that what he says about the passion and vision coming to life in Seattle is all true.
While company history is quite interesting, and the book itself just hums and glides without ever getting mundane, the real gems are in the emotional reality Howard displays. He talks about being overwhelmed to tears, about the rejection he faced while trying to get funding for his fledgling company, about the naysayers and others who nearly took it all away, and the struggle with having a hand in everything and slowly letting go. You know that you are reading about a real person, someone who came from a poor neighborhood in Brooklyn with working-class roots, not an image generated by a large corporations PR spin doctors.
The value of people, so often lost in corporate bureaucracy, is evident here. Starbucks grew because it struck an emotional chord with people. He knew that in order for the company to be successful he needed people who shared the values. This is often spoken of, and rarely practiced in the corporate world where systems, forecasts, processes and other such tools become the focal point, and the simple fact that all results come through people is lost. He speaks throughout the book of people who helped him, coached him, mentored him, challenged him, and made the company what it was. One quote in particular summarizes his views: "If people relate to the company they work for, if they form an emotional tie to it and buy into its dreams, they will pour their heart into making it better." (Page 6) This theme comes through in every decision.
Overall, this is a wonderful book, and is truly inspiring. I would work for him tomorrow, if it really still is the way it's portrayed here. I encourage you to read this book and see your neighborhood Starbucks in a new light. |
Michael Gordon, USA
<2006-12-20 00:00>
This is an excellent book about an entrepreneur who understands the business world. First, Starbucks understands the "personal touch" - from its name, to its unique coffee brand names (Frapuccino, for instance, whose origins are discussed in detail in the book), to the style of the stores, to its pricing system, and even understands its customers. Starbucks realizes that its typical client is upscale, affluent, college- educated, left-of-center politically (and thus the focus on "fair trade," and all the environmental goals they set out to enforce as a company).
There were things I did not know before I read this book. For instance, the amount of training each barista receives - enough training to discuss the various coffees in great detail. In fact, because Starbucks trains its employees to such a large extent that it is fearful of allowing any franchisers to run Starbucks because then they would not be assured of the quality control of the company. That is certainly debatable, of course.
Starbucks provides its workers with incredible benefits, as we all know, but I didn't know how strong those benefits were. On top of your salary, you receive 14% in stock options (which, in most companies, are reserved for higher-level managers and executives), and health insurance, even for part-timers. Well, looks like the high prices for the coffee go someplace!
Starbucks is not Wal-Mart, however. Coffee competitors need not fear Starbucks, Schultz says, because, after all, he charges more than his competitors do.
One irritating part of the book is that he refers to his coffee as gourmet or exceptional at least 20 times, which can be a bit tiring. Yes, I understand the point! Your coffee is good. Point headed. ; )
In any case, this book was fairly well-written and had a conversational tone to it. |
Van H. Dai , USA
<2006-12-20 00:00>
First of, this is a marketing propaganda written by Howard Shultz to impart familiarity and intimacy for his company. To this extent, it is an emotional, inspiring, and enthusiastically well written piece, and it successfully leaves me understanding the company all the more. It is a great read and very fun to read. I feel a certain understanding for Starbucks now... but... it is true?
I was too young to experience what Starbucks was like back in the good old 80's when it all got started and I didn't wasn't much of a coffee drinker during the 90's. I'm not sure what it was like in the past, but I know for a fact that on the majority, Starbucks of present falls far below the ideal and vision that Howard Shultz paints in this book.
The idea and vision is so picturesque when you read it that you almost forget about the actual experience of your most recent visit at a local Starbucks. I've visited some Starbucks in which the espresso drinks were too sweet, coffee was not brewed correctly, and the baristas just plain rude. Often times, I don't get greeted. Nor do I get a thank you for your patronage. Don't get me wrong there are some great employees working there, but on the whole, they fail to live up to the expectations presented in this book.
Where's the romance? The camaraderie he envisioned in his original Starbucks? Maybe it existed long ago, but it certainly does not exist anymore. The romance of hearing milk frothed is no longer romantic or even "cool." The baristas lack the qualities that Shultz portrayed in the Italian baristas. There's no sense of the romance at all.
Read this book for the enjoyment of it, and come away knowing that a disparity exists between Shultz's romantic vision of the espresso experience and the actual experience of today.
If you hope to start your own coffee shop or any business for that matter. I would highly recommend this book for its attempt and success at providing vision and guidance and experience in starting your own coffee shop (or business). In that respect, you will be richer for reading the book.
But just don't read it and believe that the ideals envisioned in this book still stands as it is today. Starbucks is far from this picture of perfection. They must crack down on quality and go back to its roots - the experience. 4 stars for a very enjoyable and inspiring blend of fiction/non-fiction!
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Mark Ahn , USA
<2006-12-20 00:00>
Schultz goes from his early childhood, to his first experience with high quality coffee, from opening his first store, to opening his thousandth store, but what distinguishes this book, is not the technical aspects of how stores are opened, but rather how his passions and beliefs have guided Starbucks through a series of incredible accomplishments. The book is inspiring because Schultz comes from the Projects of New York and is able to rise to becoming the creator of a multi-billion dollar company. It is motivational because he works so hard and is able to successfully guide Starbucks through what many would believe to be the impossible. And it is heart-warming because he is able to reach his goals without compromising on his moral principals and beliefs. I read this book because I am interested in opening up a coffee shop and wanted some answers on technical aspects of designing and costs. I was surprised to find so much more than just that, I found all the emotions that happen at every stage of this entrepreneur and all the inspiration I'm going to need to do this… |
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