When we first opened Starbucks, we were focused on no debt because of my childhood experiences with financial struggles.

I faced significant challenges raising $3.8 million to buy Starbucks, including competition from investors who wanted to take over the company without due diligence.

In 2008, I returned to Starbucks amidst a financial crisis, where the market cap had plummeted from $30 billion to less than $7 billion, and we faced negative sales growth for the first time in our history.

Starbucks had an 80% gross margin due to our ability to source and roast coffee effectively.

Starbucks pricing was linked to rising labor costs and the responsibility to shareholders, especially as a public company.

Starbucks was seven months away from insolvency, and I had to communicate the gravity of our situation to employees, emphasizing that we were trying to save the company.

The mobile app generates significant cash flow for Starbucks, acting as an interest-free loan from customers, which is a unique advantage in our business model.

When I acquired Starbucks, we had six stores and ended the year with eleven stores and 100 employees.

I proposed giving stock options to every employee, which was a groundbreaking idea at the time, and we announced that we would give 14% of everyone's base pay in stock options, which changed the culture of Starbucks and made everyone partners.