How Starbucks Took Over the World — with Howard Schultz on Acquired
- by: Jatin Chaudhary
Source: Acquired
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Before the frappuccinos, PSLs, and 40,000 stores, Starbucks was just a quirky little coffee bean shop in Seattle — and Howard Schultz wasn’t even the founder.
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Before the frappuccinos, PSLs, and 40,000 stores, Starbucks was just a quirky little coffee bean shop in Seattle — and Howard Schultz wasn’t even the founder.
This episode is different. For the first time ever, Howard Schultz joins the Acquired podcast not just as a guest, but as a cohost — telling the entire story of how he took a six-store operation in 1987 and built it into one of the most iconic global brands.
Howard is fully out now — no board seat, no CEO role, no plans to return — so what you get is raw, unfiltered reflection. From big vision bets to cultural missteps, it's honest, deep, and surprisingly emotional.
✅ Brand building lessons
✅ Culture, leadership, retail scale
✅ How not to lose your brand soul at scale
✅ Culture, leadership, retail scale
✅ How not to lose your brand soul at scale
It’s rare to hear a founder at this stage talk like this.
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