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.

Great companies that build an enduring brand have an emotional relationship with customers that has no barrier. And that emotional relationship is on the most important characteristic, which is trust.

Who wants a dream that's near-fetched?

My son is trying to be a sports writer, and my daughter is a college student. She wants to be a comedy writer, and she's at film school. I discouraged both of them early on from getting involved in Starbucks. I didn't think it would be fair; plus, they didn't have any interest anyway.

The companies that are lasting are those that are authentic.

Entrepreneurs must love what they do to such a degree that doing it is worth sacrifice and, at times, pain. But doing anything else, we think, would be unimaginable.

We are witnessing a seismic change in consumer behavior. That change is being brought about by technology and the access people have to information.