You cant build any kind of organization if youre not going to surround yourself with people who have experience and skill base beyond your own.

In many places where coffee is grown, deforestation is a major issue. With Starbucks' position in the marketplace and the respect and relationships we have, we can - and have, in some cases - been able to educate and influence people.

There's a metaphor Vincent Eades likes to use: "If you examine a butterfly according to the laws of aerodynamics, it shouldn't be able to fly. But the butterfly doesn't know that, so it flies.

Don't buy preground coffee.

When I first discovered in the early 1980s the Italian espresso bars in my trip to Italy, the vision was to re-create that for America - a third place that had not existed before. Starbucks re-created that in America in our own image; a place to go other than home or work. We also created an industry that did not exist: specialty coffee.

You walk into a retail store, whatever it is, and if there's a sense of entertainment and excitement and electricity, you wanna be there.

A great business has to have a conscience. You have to know who you are and who you are not.