John Scully, former president of Pepsico, took over as Apple CEO in 1983.
He was born in 1939 in a family of a lawyer, was educated in the field of architectural design, and then business administration. His career at Pepsico was truly lightning fast: by the age of 30, he served as vice president.
Presidential Candidate No. 1
When Apple needed a reliable leader, unthinkable advances in marketing made it the most attractive candidate. Scully, like Jobs, was a workaholic and perfectionist. In his youth, he successfully overcame stuttering. But even this was not enough - in order to become a brilliant orator, in his youth he attended the theater and practiced at home, copying the way the actors performed.
One of the most extraordinary projects in the history of marketing and advertising called Pepsi Challenge was also John Scully. Pepsi (an American businessman was confident in the superiority of its products) was compared blindly with Coca-Cola customers. Interestingly, he himself, having taken part in the experiment, was mistaken.
Getting started at Apple
The post of Apple CEO in 1981 was taken by Mike Markkula, the first investor in the company, who at one time invested $ 250,000 in its development. Mike did not plan to stay in this post for long, promising his wife to work there for no more than three years. However, his hopes that by this time Steve Jobs will learn more adult models of behavior, of course, were in vain. Therefore, Markkula was seriously puzzled by the search for the president for Apple.
At that moment when Scully was first invited to Apple, a very unusual atmosphere reigned in her - after all, Jobs, having fun, pitted the company’s divisions among themselves, turning it into a place of endless battles. Despite this, President Pepsico did not hide his admiration for both Jobs himself and his brainchild. From the very beginning, Steve Jobs saw between himself and Scully a lot in common and in 1983 offered him the position of president. The legendary question of whether John Scully was going to sell sparkling water for the rest of his life was raised then.
Subsequently, it turned out that their similarity was completely illusory, but, having met, Scully and Jobs were euphoric from communicating with each other and exchanging creative ideas.
Jobs and Scully: Disagreement
Over time, John Scully and Steve Jobs began to discover more and more contradictions. For Jobs, the differences between the two became apparent. Scully insisted that the cost of the first Macintosh be increased by $ 500, with which Jobs fundamentally disagreed. At the same time, the company entered an era of deep crisis: sales began to fall, and new products were characterized by a number of shortcomings.
Scully's goal, unlike Jobs, was to capitalize on the best use of marketing strategies.
Scully did not possess the passion that Jobs had. After Jobs left the company, if in his interviews he had to touch on the technical features of the products, he made speeches prepared in advance by other specialists.
Of course, at the same time he remained a true marketing maestro. However, a completely different value, underlying the policies of Steve and Scully, was also a critical factor.
Jobs was becoming increasingly rude to his subordinates, and an unequivocal confrontation unfolded between him and Scully over spheres of influence. The board of directors, with whom John Scully held a meeting behind Jobs, decided to remove him.
Jobs leaves Apple
At that time, Jobs was left with the opportunity to engage in leadership of a unit called Apple Labs. Jobs, who a few days later began to beg Scully to return everything to their places, after a while started a conspiracy against him. But these plans were not destined to come true - it was issued by the Executive Director of the company, Jean Gosse, who later took the place of Jobs.
Obviously, for Scully, working with Jobs seemed now impossible. Confidence was undermined, and Jobs was completely removed from work at the company. A talented leader has spent at Apple, on the verge of a complete collapse, many reforms. He literally became the one who saved her from a final defeat. Scully took up her complete restructuring, introduced a new management system. Previously, Apple had only weak branches in European territory, but now these units have become full-fledged structural blocks, profitable.
Apple Care and Life Today
However, John Scully did not escape several critical errors, as a result of which he left the company after ten years of work. The board forced him to leave Apple in 1993.
After many years, he admits: the dismissal of Jobs was one of his biggest mistakes.
John Scully, now 71 years old, lives with his third wife in Palm Beach, Florida, and is involved in venture capital investments.