Scott Duffy (host/author of Launch) presents a short, conversational talk emphasizing the importance of personal relationships for long-term entrepreneurial success. He contrasts common business-focused advice (plans, teams, capital) with the personal side of entrepreneurship and illustrates the point with an extended anecdote about Howard Schultz: Schultz's early sales call to Starbucks, subsequent hiring, firing, and plans to start his own coffee business.
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Welcome to another edition of Microsoft Launch the program. I'm Alan Taylor from Ink Radio. Scott Duffy. He is the author of Launch. And we're here all week long with inspiring stories to help you entrepreneurs or wantrepreneurs, people that want to be entrepreneurs, perhaps, make that change of life. And, you know, I will tell you, the one thing I've Learned throughout the 55 years of my life is relationships are golden, are they not? They sure are. And what most entrepreneurs think is the key to building a successful business is all about business. And the business stuff. It's writing a good plan, building a great team, raising the capital that you need, all those types of things. But if there's anything that I've learned, it's this, that all that stuff is like 50% of what it takes to be successful. Really, you got to nail down the personal side of being an entrepreneur in order to really make things happen over the long term. And it reminds me of a story where a couple years ago, I had an opportunity to work on an event with Howard Schultz. And I remember I was so excited to see him that day because I'm such a big fan of what he's done, and I'm probably in his stores every single day drinking Starbucks coffee. I am.
Stores have been my office more than once. And you said, but if there's anything I've learned tonight, it's that I'm really nothing like you. And he said, the reason is when you talked about having difficult times tonight, you had a billion dollars in your pocket. But for most of the people in this room, when we're having tough times, we're trying to figure out how to meet payroll and feed our families in the same week. And in that moment, I became Howard Schultz's biggest fan because he stood up and he walked across the stage and he said, I'm exactly like you. He said, let me tell you a story. When he was a young guy, he was a salesman, and on a call, a sales call to Seattle, he was selling parts, and he went in and he pitched a store called Starbucks. And he loved Seattle, and he loved the people, loved the people at that store. And eventually he asked them for a job, and they hired him as a marketing guy. He started working for Starbucks. I think he had one or two stores at the time. And he came in with a big idea and a lot of energy, and eventually he got fired. Oh, that's not what I thought you were going to say. Yeah, and here's the thing. He was so upset and frustrated and all that kind of stuff that he decided that he was going to go and he was going to open up his own coffee thing. And so he found another brand to license and he got started with his work. And then one day he got a call from his father in law. And his father in law said this. He said, howard, I want to talk to you. He said, we have a problem. He said, the problem is this. He said, my daughter, your wife is like six months.
