Pour Your Heart into It : How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time
Author: Howard Schultz
List Price: $15.95
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ISBN: 0786883561
Publisher: Hyperion Press (13 January, 1999)
Sales Rank: 2,957
Average Customer Rating: 4.38 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 4 out of 5
An insightful read - much better than the typical CEO tract
I was pleasantly surprised as that number of insights I picked up in Howard Schultz' tale. He and Dori Jones Yang really appeared to have connected in the writing of this book. There's an effortless flow in the telling that gives you a 'fly on the wall' insider's feel without getting bogged down in coffee arcania or management dribble.Schultz walks you through some of the thought processes and actions that led to important advancements in Starbucks' success with their customers. And, he's not afraid to point out when he's been dead wrong. He's strong enough to admit being dead set against the Frappuccino & totally missing the boat on what ended up being a blowout product for the company.
One comment - it's hard for me to reconcile Schultz' recent fixation on the Internet, going so far as ruminating about buying Williams-Sonoma for its online potential, with the clear-headed thoughts expressed in this book. [Yes, let's see...I'll have a latte and this leather couch, thanks.] Throughout the book, Schultz shows a complete understanding of a company's need to please Wall Street via growing profits, and also is quite clear of having to evaluate each decision by asking "Will it strengthen or dilute the brand?"
Rating: 5 out of 5
drips of truth and passion...
Starbucks- the very name conjures up images of a brand not of coffee, but of passion , love, sincerity and superb customer service; that the coffee too is great (though expensive)is an added plus.. But here is a brand in the most common of products and having arrived to the top of the minds in less than a decade- how did it all happen? Pour Your Heart Into It is a fascinating saga of the Starbucks journey, written by the man -Howard Shultz- who made it happen! This is one of the best business biographies I have ever read for its storytelling of a person"s passion to his idea and then betting his life and much much more onto it.. While going through the book, I came across some very inspiring and meaningful quotes, either mentioned in the beginning of the chapter or as part of the narrative, here are some of them which have stayed with me even today months after I finished reading the book Highly recommended book for anybody who wants to live- and maybe die- by his or her BIG IDEA! Amazes me how in prime Mid Town Manhattan ;how a mere coffee store can have probably 8 shops in a 6 blocks radius - around 42nd and Madison but Starbucks is not coffee any more; I do not say now" Lets have coffee", we just say"Lets have a Starbucks"! POUR YOUR HEART HEART INTO IT:
1. A HUNDRED TIMES EVERY DAY I REMIND MYSELF THAT MY INNER AND OUTER LIVES DEPENDED ON LABORS OF OTHER MEN,LIVING OR DEAD AND THAT I MUST EXERT MYSELF IN ORDER TO GIVE IN THE SAME MEASURE THAT I RECIEVED.....
2.IF IT CAPTURES YOUR IMAGINATION..IT WILL PROBABLY CAPTIVATE OTHERS TOO.
3.SOME MEN SEE THINGS AS THEY ARE AND SAY..WHY. I DREAM THINGS THAT NEVER WERE AND ASK..WHY NOT!
4.IF YOU SAY NEVER HAD A CHANCE,,PERHAPS YOU NEVER TOOK A CHANCE.
5.VISION IS WHAT THEY CALL IT WHEN YOU CAN SEE WHAT OTHERS CAN NOT SEE
6.WHENEVER YOU SEE A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS...SOMEBODY SOMEDAY MUST HAVE MADE A COURAGEOUS DECISION...
7.WE JUDGE OURSELVES BY WHAT WE FEEL CAPABLE OF DOING.. WHILE OTHERS JUDGE US BY WHAT WE HAVE ALREADY DONE...
8.SOMETIMES..SINCERITY SELLS BETTER THAN BUSINESS PLANS
9.THE ULTIMATE MEASURE OF A MAN IS NOT WHERE HE STANDS IN MOMENTS OF COMFORT AND CONVINIENCE ,BUT WHERE HE STAND AT TIMES OF CHALLENGE AND ADVERSITY...
10.EVERYTHING MATTERS
11.WHEN YOU SEE THE OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME..MOVE QUICKLY
12.A 100 STOREY BUILDING NEEDS A FIRM FOUNDATION
13.DO NOT BE THREATENED Y MEN SMARTER THAN YOU
14.THE BEST EXECUTIVE IS ONE WHO HAS GOOD SENSE TO PICK UP GOOD MEN TO DO WHAT HE WANTS DONE AND SELF RESTRAINT TO KEEP FROM MEDDLING WITH THEM WHILE THEY DO TI.
15.THE ONLY SACRED COW IN AN ORGANISATION SHOULD BE IT"S BASIC PHILOSPHY OF DOING BUSINESS..
16.TO STAY AHEAD,ALWAYS HAVE THE NEXT IDEA WAITING IN THE WINGS..
17.THE BEST WAY TO BUILD A BRAND IS ONE PERSON AT A TIME.
18.THE FUNDAMENTAL TASK IS TO ACHIEVE SMALLNESS WITHIN A LARGE ORGANISATION..
19.VALUES SHOULD NOT WHITHER AS SALES GROW.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Great Inspiration for aspiring Entrepreneur
This book is written in a conversational manner that describes how the author has innovated a new way of drinking coffee in America. It retells some of the challenges the author had to face to make his dream alive. It focuses a lot on having a Passion, having an eye for opportunity, having a vision and perserverance. If you are looking for a book to inspire you onwards with your entrepreneurial dreams, this book might just be the one. Similar Products
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