Howard Schultz： Business Leadership ｜ part 1

Success is not an entitlement. It has to be earned, and it has to be earned every day. I don't have an MBA. I did not go to an Ivy League school. I'm just a regular person, just like you, who had a dream to try and build a great, enduring company. But this is the essence of what it means to be an entrepreneur. You've got to jump into the deep end of the pool without a life jacket and learn how to swim. We are living in perhaps the most exciting time for a business person, an entrepreneur, or the dreaming of a new kind of company. The level of technology and innovation that is available, the degree in which there is a tremendous amount of capital available, much more so than when we were starting, the cost to starting a business today is lower than it's ever been because of technology. The consumer is open to new opportunities, new products, new ideas. And we're living in an environment where there are no barriers in terms of how large the market can be. And so I think this is an enormously exciting time for a young entrepreneur to dream about starting a business. Just do it with great discipline and thoughtfulness and ensure the fact that what you're trying to do in terms of the consumer and the business is balanced out with a deep sense of understanding of not only your fiduciary responsibility to your investors, but your moral responsibility to your people and the communities you serve. We all have self-doubt. So I can promise you if there's 100 people in a room, 100 people have some level of insecurity. 100 people have some level of self-doubt. The self-doubt is not what I'm talking about here. You can't have any self-doubt about your commitment and conviction to do this. You might have self-doubt about your ability to succeed, to raise the money, to attract the right people. Those are two different issues. And I think the latter will be something you can harness by having early success and surrounding yourself with people who can make you better. There's no magical moment. There's no magical time. There's no magical formula. It's really a very personal decision. And I think the personal decision has to be balanced with, are you willing to sacrifice so much for this endeavor? Because it's going to be hard. And there is no single textbook. There is no mentor. There is no primary tool to get you to jump in that pool other than your own courage and conviction of the idea and this moment in time for you and your family. But the flip side of not jumping into that deep end of the pool is this. And this is important. You don't want to be 40, 50, 60 years old. And continuously go back in your life and say, I had this phenomenal idea. I wish I would have done it. Don't look back and have regrets. Look back and say, I tried something. For whatever reason, it didn't work. I tried it again. Live your life to the fullest and take the calculated risk of what it means to be an entrepreneur. If in fact, that's in your blood. If it's not, it's fine. Not everyone is built to be an entrepreneur. Not everyone is built to run a big company or create a big company. It's fine. You got to find your position in life. But if that is in your blood and only you know if it is, then jump into the pool.