“It is hard to imagine a more satisfying brew than this memoir.”
—Publishers Weekly, July 7, 1997
The exclusive, insider’s view of how Starbucks began
Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time tells the remarkable tale of how Starbucks grew from a tiny coffee shop in Seattle to a worldwide phenomenon. Co-authored by Dori Jones Yang with Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, it is accessible and engaging for both business experts and general readers.
The making of a worldwide phenomenon…
The success of Starbucks Coffee Company is one of the most amazing business stories in decades. What started as a single store on Seattle’s waterfront has grown into a company with nearly 30,000 stores in 76 countries worldwide. This remarkably fast expansion has been coupled with financial success. As it did well, Starbucks also aimed to do good, maintaining its commitment to product excellence and offering health and education benefits even to part-time workers. It was Howard Schultz who, as head of Starbucks, drove its growth, profitability, vision, and values.
As co-author of this book, published in 1997 and still selling well, Dori Jones Yang drew on her Business Week journalistic expertise to explain the origins of Starbucks in terms understandable to any typical latte drinker. In that sense, it bridges the gap between business expertise and ordinary consumers. Writing in the voice of co-author Howard Schultz, she paints the story of his impoverished childhood, his first exposure to Starbucks Coffee, and the steps he took to grow the company from a tiny seller of coffee beans to a national company known for its specialty coffees and the “Third Place” atmosphere of its ubiquitous stores.
A New York Times business book bestseller, it has been translated into more than ten languages, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, Spanish, and German.
It is still widely assigned in business schools as a case study in how to found and grow a successful business with values.
Read a Short Excerpt
The story of Starbucks is not just a record of growth and success. It’s also about how a company can be built in a different way. It’s about a company completely unlike the ones my father worked for. It’s living proof that a company can lead with its heart and nurture its soul and still make money. It shows that a company can provide long-term value for shareholders without sacrificing its core belief in treating its employees with respect and dignity, both because we have a team of leaders who believe it’s right and because it’s the best way to do business.
Featured on multiple major bestseller lists
Connecting generations and cultures through the lives of ordinary people
Dori Jones Yang is a writer who aims to build bridges between cultures and between generations. Author of a wide variety of books for different audiences, she loves to explore different countries, explain complex issues in understandable language, and make history come alive.
Dori Jones Yang
Writer’s Comments
After writing an article about Starbucks for Business Week in fall 1994, I approached Howard Schultz about writing a book together about the growth and success of Starbucks. We had an excellent collaboration, since Howard has big ideas and unique experiences. In addition to spending long hours with him, I interviewed seventy individuals, inside and outside the company, as research for this book. In the course of writing it, I came to admire Howard’s idealism and firm belief that business can do good while doing well. I deliberately wrote the book in a style that is accessible and understandable, in an effort to bridge the gap between business-book readers and ordinary people who enjoy drinking Starbucks coffee.
Author’s Comments
After writing an article about Starbucks for Business Week in fall 1994, I approached Howard Schultz about writing a book together about the growth and success of Starbucks. We had an excellent collaboration, since Howard has big ideas and unique experiences. In addition to spending long hours with him, I interviewed seventy individuals, inside and outside the company, as research for this book. In the course of writing it, I came to admire Howard’s idealism and firm belief that business can do good while doing well. I deliberately wrote the book in a style that is accessible and understandable, in an effort to bridge the gap between business-book readers and ordinary people who enjoy drinking Starbucks coffee.
