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.Sponsors:Anrok: https://bit.ly/anrokacquiredStatsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig24Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acqclaudeThe Biggest Thing We’ve Ever Done:San Francisco. September 10, 2024. Mark your calendars.Links:Howard’s letter “The Soul of a Brand”Worldly Partners’ multi-decade Starbucks analysisStarbucks S-1More Acquired!:Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodesJoin the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Merch Store!© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLC© Copyright 2024 ACQ, LLCNote: 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.
Full Episode
All right. We rolling? We're rolling.
We get to see how you guys do this. It's kind of interesting.
We usually have pump-up music. I feel pumped up. We can do that. We've got a turntable. I saw your turntable. That's beautiful. What do you want to hear?
No, we're starting.
Ben's keeping us on track.
Who got the truth? Is it you? Is it you? Is it you? Who got the truth now?
Welcome to Season 14, Episode 5 of Acquired, the podcast about great companies and the stories and playbooks behind them. I'm Ben Gilbert. I'm David Rosenthal. And we are your hosts. Seven years ago, David and I did an episode on the Starbucks IPO. Just the IPO.
That episode was a mere one hour and 24 minutes, and Starbucks is a $90 billion institution in our world that deserves the full acquired treatment. What were we thinking? Well, it actually was amateur hour back then, David. Gotta start somewhere. Well, today we have a very special third co-host to discuss this third place, Howard Schultz.
Howard started working at the small chain of three Starbucks stores in 1982, eventually buying it and becoming CEO. As you probably know, he is effectively the founder of the Starbucks we know today that exists on every corner of the earth. I come to you, David, and listeners, as an unabashed Starbucks fan.
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