Onward

I should begin by saying that I am not a coffee drinker, so I feel like I related less to the content of this book in light of that. Overall the book was interesting, but not very fulfilling or a book I would recommend widely for others. Much of the book read like something you would see in a company's annual report. There was a lot of self-congratulatory talk. Whenever anything problematic was discussed, it was always presented in the context of ‘what we learned from this minor misstep.' The book did not come across as a candid discussion, and I felt like I learned very little about the true environment of the company or its leader. Seemed like a typical ‘knight rides in on a horse and solves everyone's problems” kind of book, and I didn't find that fulfilling at all.

At its heart, this is a tremendous story about a company's fall from grace and return to the top of its industry. Although he is by no means a perfect writer, it is obvious that Howard Schultz's success as Starbucks' CEO comes from his sense of spirit and desire to enrich the lives of everyone that the company comes into contact with. A wonderful read, and one that I would recommend to every business leader.

Loved the first half of this book! The journey, values and twists and turns of entrepreneurship are always amazing to follow. Fun fact: the founder of Starbucks isn't Howard (the author), but rather an ex-employee who ended up buying Starbucks from his own coffee company!? Okay, so why the 3 stars for this one?

Well, the second half kind of sucks. It's basically around how amazing Starbucks is etc etc without being real of the challenges. Starbucks is in a huge fight against unions right now which doesn't make sense for someone who boasts about how employees are treated as “partners”. Maybe this is a reflection of the shadow company? Idk but TLDR you can stop reading this book once you get 50% of the way through.

What a wonderful book for those that run businesses. Obviously, we all can't run the billion+ dollar bohemoth that is Starbucks Coffee Company, but all sorts of nuggets can be gleaned from the book.

Schultz' primary theme of transformation is well articulated. It seems somewhat strange to mention the theme of a non-fiction piece, but Schultz sets it early and reiterates it again and again. I had heard that times had gotten a little tough for Starbucks, but I wasn't aware of the breadth of the problem; Schultz lays it out plainly. The company's ideas and visions for its transformation were clear and I would encourage all to applaud their dedication to making them happen. Each and every chapter circles back to the theme of transformation. Other themes included leadership, business growth, business ethics, and stewardship.

In 2006, Starbucks had been dabbling in movies, music, etc. The company focused - as Schultz depicts it - almost exclusively on break-neck growth. The company, quite simply, lost its way. It forgot that it was, first and foremost, a coffee company. Enter massive competition from all directions - most notably The Golden Arches - as well as an economic meltdown and the situation became serious in a hurry. Through it all, Starbucks re-organized its leadership team, infusing the team with new people and ideas, and plotted a common course for all (Schultz' “transformation agenda”). Even though the beginning of the transition did not yield results quickly, the team stuck to it. Next thing you know, it all turned around and Starbucks had re-positioned itself as the coffee authority with new products like VIA, Pike Place Roast...the company added a number of new ideas into the coffee industry - Clover, the Mastrena. And, I must say that it was refreshing to see Starbucks not waver from a number of core values. Regardless of how “bad” it had gotten for the company, Starbucks never took away health insurance from its employees. Even though Starbucks made 401k matching discretionary, it never missed a 401k match. Businesses should have a conscience; Starbucks' transformation shows that such a conscience can turn a profit.

Passion...why do we do what we do? Howard Schultz knows; he loves coffee and wants to share the love with everyone. Schultz leads Starbucks to forge a connection with its customers and dubs it “the Starbucks experience”. It lead me to think of what type of connection my company makes with its customers. Is there a JH Consulting, LLC experience? I think so and Schultz made me want to work a little harder to establish that connection.

Each time I picked this book up, I got an idea for my own company...so many that I can't put them all into words. Those above are just the major ones. This book, in some ways, re-ignited my own passion as an entrepreneur. Inspiration can come from anywhere, and for me, it came from a cup of coffee.

This book is absolutely wonderful, it's a great source of knowledge for anyone undergoing transformation. This book taught me that when you start a project of any kind don't be afraid to step in again afterwards when everything is going wrong to make it corresponding to your original vision no matter what it takes.