09/30/2026
He was told no by his own bosses — so he left, built the proof, and came back with a checkbook.
Howard Schultz joined a small Seattle company that sold coffee beans. After a trip to Italy, he came back convinced coffee could be an experience, a place people gathered between work and home.
The founders weren't ready to change the business. So Schultz left and opened his own café to prove the idea worked. Four years later, he bought the company that had turned him down.
That company was Starbucks.
If you've got an idea nobody else believes in yet, this one's for you.
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