Acquired

Episode 34: The Starbucks IPO with Dan Levitan


Listen Later

Ben & David "pour over" the 1992 IPO of the legendary Seattle coffee company with the help of Dan Levitan, who served as lead investment banker on the IPO and who would later co-found the venture capital firm Maveron with Starbucks’ CEO Howard Schultz.

Sponsors:

Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25
ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredsn
Vanta: http://vanta.com/acquired
Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig25


More Acquired!

  • Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes
  • Join the Slack
  • Subscribe to ACQ2
  • Merch Store!

© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLC


Topics covered include:

  • The original Starbucks’ founding as a coffee bean roaster, started by three disciples of the legendary coffee roaster Alfred Peet
  • Howard Schultz’s introduction to Starbucks, his joining the team as director of marketing, and inspiration behind his “third place” coffee shop vision
  • Howard’s departure from the original Starbucks, founding of Il Giornale, and subsequent of acquisition the Seattle Starbucks stores
  • Starbucks’ incredible growth following the acquisition and expansion beyond Seattle
  • The state of raising private capital in the 1980’s/90’s, and the decision to go public (link to the S-1)
  • Howard’s ambitious goals for the roadshow and investor participation, and subsequent stock performance after the IPO
  • The narrative and evolution of Starbucks as a technology company, or a consumer company that leverages technology very effectively 

The Carve Out:

  • Ben: Dan Primack’s new daily newsletter, Pro Rata
  • David: The  Wizard and the Bruiser podcast 
  • Dan: The Man in the Glass
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

AcquiredBy Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal

  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7

4.7

3,976 ratings


More shows like Acquired

View all
This Week in Startups by Jason Calacanis

This Week in Startups

1,290 Listeners

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch by Harry Stebbings

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

535 Listeners

Masters in Business by Bloomberg

Masters in Business

2,172 Listeners

Odd Lots by Bloomberg

Odd Lots

1,895 Listeners

a16z Podcast by Andreessen Horowitz

a16z Podcast

1,100 Listeners

Founders by David Senra

Founders

2,127 Listeners

Capital Allocators – Inside the Institutional Investment Industry by Ted Seides – Allocator and Asset Management Expert

Capital Allocators – Inside the Institutional Investment Industry

797 Listeners

The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway by Vox Media Podcast Network

The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway

5,522 Listeners

All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg by All-In Podcast, LLC

All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg

9,902 Listeners

Dwarkesh Podcast by Dwarkesh Patel

Dwarkesh Podcast

506 Listeners

The Memo by Howard Marks by Oaktree Capital Management

The Memo by Howard Marks

447 Listeners

Business Breakdowns by Colossus | Investing & Business Podcasts

Business Breakdowns

353 Listeners

The Ben & Marc Show by Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz

The Ben & Marc Show

118 Listeners

BG2Pod with Brad Gerstner and Bill Gurley by BG2Pod

BG2Pod with Brad Gerstner and Bill Gurley

521 Listeners

Stepchange by Ben Shwab Eidelson and Anay Shah

Stepchange

24 Listeners