Time to Get Tough: How Cookies, Coffee, and a Crash Led to Success in Business and LifeMichael J. Coles, the cofounder of the Great American Cookie Company and the former CEO of Caribou Coffee, did not follow a conventional path into business. He does not have an Ivy League pedigree or an MBA from a top-ten business school. He grew up poor, starting work at the age of thirteen. He had many false starts and painful defeats, but Coles has a habit of defying expectations. His life and career have been about turning obstacles into opportunities, tragedies into triumphs, and poverty into philanthropy. In Time to Get Tough, Coles explains how he started a $100-million company with only $8,000, overcame a near-fatal motorcycle accident, ran for the U.S. Congress, and set three transcontinental cycling world records. His story also offers a firsthand perspective on the business, political, and philanthropic climate in the last quarter of the twentieth century and serves as an important case study for anyone interested in overcoming a seemingly insurmountable challenge. Readers will also discover practical leadership lessons and unconventional ways of approaching business. |
Contents
Step into the Valley | 1 |
1 In the Shadow of Goliath | 7 |
2 Hey Kid Do You Want a Job? | 16 |
3 Its All Sold | 26 |
4 What Strike? | 37 |
5 Do You Know How Many Cookies? | 53 |
6 From Cookie to Counter | 64 |
7 The Crash | 73 |
12 That Was Pretty Fast | 129 |
13 Building a Brand Religion | 139 |
14 Fifty Percent to Go | 151 |
15 This Is the Battlefield | 157 |
16 Service Service Service | 170 |
17 Love Spoken Here | 181 |
18 The Last Five Miles | 187 |
The First Law of Nature Is Growth | 202 |
8 Inch by Inch | 83 |
9 Exit 666 | 96 |
10 TTGT | 105 |
11 The Reckoning | 114 |
Acknowledgments | 209 |
About the Authors | 215 |