Howard Schultz

Yeah. And we've got, yeah, all of that. And lastly, I think the personal responsibility of a founder, in my case, who loves this company as much as I love my family. And so it's a challenging, fragile thing on a very personal level. And you can't escape it. You made your point. You want to go somewhere and get, I mean, you can't escape it. So it's always around you.

Yeah. And we've got, yeah, all of that. And lastly, I think the personal responsibility of a founder, in my case, who loves this company as much as I love my family. And so it's a challenging, fragile thing on a very personal level. And you can't escape it. You made your point. You want to go somewhere and get, I mean, you can't escape it. So it's always around you.

But now that you've achieved this level of success, you have an expectation that you've got to keep not reinventing, but you've got to make sure that you're as good as you've been. No, better.

But now that you've achieved this level of success, you have an expectation that you've got to keep not reinventing, but you've got to make sure that you're as good as you've been. No, better.

You've got to be better.

You've got to be better.

Again, your success is not an entitlement, like Starbucks. It just isn't. And when you have success, it gets harder because the bar keeps getting higher.

Again, your success is not an entitlement, like Starbucks. It just isn't. And when you have success, it gets harder because the bar keeps getting higher.

Yeah, that's just human expectations. Going into this, I was thinking, I had some funny thing occur to me, which was, at some point, why does Starbucks need to grow anymore? It's already everywhere. And of course, it's a public company, so it literally just has to keep growing. but it's just human expectation that things keep getting better than they were last year. They should.

Yeah, that's just human expectations. Going into this, I was thinking, I had some funny thing occur to me, which was, at some point, why does Starbucks need to grow anymore? It's already everywhere. And of course, it's a public company, so it literally just has to keep growing. but it's just human expectation that things keep getting better than they were last year. They should.

People should just figure it out and make it better. We all think that about every product and experience that we have. Well, listeners, we were thinking about how to land this episode. And, you know, in our normal episodes, we land the plane in some way or come up with the one thing you really you can't leave the episode without thinking about.

People should just figure it out and make it better. We all think that about every product and experience that we have. Well, listeners, we were thinking about how to land this episode. And, you know, in our normal episodes, we land the plane in some way or come up with the one thing you really you can't leave the episode without thinking about.

And I feel like we covered a lot of those in playbook. And so rather than drilling into that again, we were talking with Howard and he threw out this idea. I really do have one more thing to say.

And I feel like we covered a lot of those in playbook. And so rather than drilling into that again, we were talking with Howard and he threw out this idea. I really do have one more thing to say.

Back to the interview. Well, Howard, we're at the end here, and... I think listeners may be wondering, OK, but what about Starbucks today? And the last few years have seen you come back as interim CEO for a year, transition to a new CEO. It's been about a year after that. And it's been a rough couple of years. I mean, part of it is coming out of the pandemic.

Back to the interview. Well, Howard, we're at the end here, and... I think listeners may be wondering, OK, but what about Starbucks today? And the last few years have seen you come back as interim CEO for a year, transition to a new CEO. It's been about a year after that. And it's been a rough couple of years. I mean, part of it is coming out of the pandemic.

But I think anybody who tuned in the last earnings call is wondering, what's up with the future of this company? Can you give us a little bit of narration on what brought you back, the things you did, and where the company is today?

But I think anybody who tuned in the last earnings call is wondering, what's up with the future of this company? Can you give us a little bit of narration on what brought you back, the things you did, and where the company is today?

Let me try and go back to when I returned as an interim CEO in April of 22. I was asked by the board to come back to the company and I said no. My life has changed. I have no desire to come back. I have no intent to come back. But it was clear to me as the weeks were going on that the company was heading into an existential crisis.

Let me try and go back to when I returned as an interim CEO in April of 22. I was asked by the board to come back to the company and I said no. My life has changed. I have no desire to come back. I have no intent to come back. But it was clear to me as the weeks were going on that the company was heading into an existential crisis.