Starbucks legend Howard Schultz spilled the beans on the company's early days, shared some of his biggest regrets, and warned the coffee chain is on the wrong track in an on the Acquired podcast, released this week. Schultz helped pioneer the coffeehouse concept in the US. He served as Starbucks' chairman and CEO from 1986 to 2000 and from 2008 to 2017, and as interim CEO between 2022 and 2023.
The business guru also told the stories of how he crossed paths with Bill Gates Sr., Steve Jobs, Costco's cofounders, Coke and Pepsi, and luxury tycoon Bernard Arnault. Here are the 12 best nuggets from the episode, lightly edited for length and clarity.
Starbucks declined a request for comment from Business Insider. 1. Starbucks didn't sell its own coffee early on "When Starbucks opened in Pike Place Market in 1971, they were using Peet's Coffee.
No one knows that, that's new." Schultz said that before it began roasting its own coffee, the company brought Peet's Coffee from San Francisco to Seattle, repackaged it, and sold it under the Starbucks brand. 2.
Italian coffee giant Lavazza turned down the chance to invest early When Schultz was launching his Il Giornale coffee bar concept, he approached two Italian companies for financial backing but they turned him down. "I've never told this. One is the espresso company Faema, and one is the large Italian coffee company Lavazza, and I asked them both to invest in my idea and both of them turned me down.
"Lavazza and Faema, just get that o.