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Inner strength drives success: former Starbucks CEO Narasimhan
Narasimhan discussed shifting career patterns, the accelerating impact of artificial intelligence and the value of frontline experience.
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Malvika Choudhary - Mon, 24, Nov 2025
- 16:13 EST
- 23
Photo (left to right): Laxman Narasimhan, former CEO of Starbucks and Reckitt, and former CCO of PepsiCo, and SFSU alum Chris Larsen (B.S., '84), Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Ripple, Inc. speaking at the Lam-Larsen Distinguished Lecture Series event held on October 28, 2025 at SFSU. / SFSU News
Former Starbucks chief executive officer Laxman Narasimhan highlighted inner strength and human connection as central to long-term success.
Speaking at the Lam-Larsen Distinguished Lecture Series hosted by San Francisco State University’s Lam Family College of Business, he said, “I would urge you to find this inner strength in you. Because you know what really, actually, at the end of the day, drives success long term is how strong you are on the inside.”
Also Read: Starbucks replaces Indian American CEO with Chipotle's Brian Niccol
In a conversation with Ripple co-founder and executive chairman Chris Larsen, Narasimhan discussed shifting career patterns, the accelerating impact of artificial intelligence and the value of frontline experience.
Born and raised in India, he moved to the United States as a first-generation college student at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
“I’ll tell you one thing: If I had landed in any other country, I would never have made it. I made it because it was America,” he said.
Reflecting on the rapid growth of AI, he noted that traditional work paths are changing. “I think we’re going to see very non-linear careers ... with non-traditional people, either acquiring non-traditional skills that they’re going to have to relearn and rebuild over time in a non-traditional way,” he said.
Narasimhan also spoke about his six-month stint working in 38 Starbucks cafés after being named CEO, an experience he said reshaped his understanding of frontline labor.
“The first day was terrible because my lattes were horrible, and they told me, ‘By the way, this sucks. Go make it again!’” he recalled, adding that he spent evenings listening to employees’ stories and earning their trust.
“If you can find a way to be human-centered, if you can find a way to connect with people at scale, you can actually transform and do what you need to do by winning their hearts and their minds, and, therefore, their hands,” he said.
Throughout the session, he urged students to avoid comparison and focus instead on personal growth. “The path to happiness is not to compare. The path to success is to compete with yourself,” he said.
Before leading Starbucks and Reckitt, he was the global chief commercial officer of PepsiCo. He joined Starbucks as interim CEO in October 2022, became CEO in April 2023 and was removed by the board in August 2024.
He holds a degree in mechanical engineering from the College of Engineering, Pune, a master's in arts in international studies from the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania and a master's in business administration in finance from the Wharton School.
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