Bringing In An Outside Expert Can Be Costly:

Steve Jobs was too rough-edged to be Apple CEO so Markkula and Jobs went shopping for an alternative. They focused away from the tech sector to find a marketing genius. John Scully was an outsider who was an expert in management, and a consumer marketer who had a corporate polish. He invented the Pepsi Challenge campaign at Pepsi, and he was good at marketing, and advertising. Scully was struck by how poorly marketed computers were in the mid-1980s. Scully did not actually like computers because they seemed to be too much trouble, however Scully was enthusiastic about selling something more interesting than Pepsi Co.

Scully decided that Apple should work on the idea of ‘enriching their users lives’. Scully was good at generating PR, and excitement around Pepsi. The ability to generate a buzz about Pepsi would be replicated by Steve Jobs in the unveiling of new Apple products subsequently. Initially the two hit it off very well in their meetings about Scully joining Apple. They both admitted to be smitten with each-other over the big ideas surrounding computer technology. Jobs knew how to manipulate Scully’s insecurities to his advantage. Jobs and Scully seemed to understand each-other, and they had become friends, and emotional confidants. The problem was that most marketing people are paid posers, according to a former Apple manager. Scully actually did not care about computers but cared largely about marketing, and selling an idea to the public.

When Jobs showed Scully the Macintosh, he was more interested in Steve Jobs presentation skills than the computer itself. Scully claimed to share with Jobs goals but he was not 100% enamored with the product. Steve Jobs knew that Scully would be able to teach him the most, and Scully successfully sold Jobs the idea of his being appropriate for Apple. Jobs asked him famously: “do you want to go on the rest of your life selling sugar water, or do you want a chance to change the world.” Scully received $1,000,000 in salary, and a $1,000,000 signing bonus as the new CEO of Apple in April 1983.

This is an analysis based on Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson and other sources of research. Enjoy.

More from Steve Job’s Life	by Walter Isaacson
Location Really Does Matter for Entrepeurship	Childhood Shapes Your Thinking
Go Get What You Want, If You Have the Courage	Education Is For Conformists
Assume That You Will Die Young	Go To India
Pranking People Requires Creative Thinking	Starting A Company Is Very Difficult
Meet a Brilliant & Nobel Engineer	Meetups Bring Insanely Great Ideas Together
Knowing What You Wanted to Do	Exclude Relevant Information Where Necessary
Have Discipline Over Body and Mind	Picking A Name is as Simple As Picking Apples
Crime Does Pay!!??	Sharing Ideas Is Fine Up To A Point
Most Good Ideas Have to Be Force Down Peoples Throats	Xerox Parc
Run Your Company Our Of Your Parents House	Mike Markkula’s Marketing Theory Is Built Around Three Areas
MacKenna’s Advertising Style Worked	Don’t Worry About A Business Plan Until You Need Investment in a Serious Venture
Create A Simple Product For Households	Your Product Needs to be a Full Simple Package
Jobs’ Management Style Was “Shit” from ’77 to ’85	A Startup Will Become Impersonal With Success
Apple III was a bastard child	Being Abandoned = Ignoring Reality
Good Artists Borrow, Great Artists Steal	Surround Yourself With “A Players”
Reality Distortion Field	Be At The Nexus of Humanities and Technology
Believe In A Closed System & Product Control	Market Research Is For Idiots
Motivate With The Big Picture	Unhealthy Competition Within A Company Can be Corrosive
The Best & Most Innovative Products Don’t Always Win	Eras Are Defined by Partnerships & Rivalry – Gates Versus Jobs Round 1
Genius Versus Shit-Head	The Boardroom Showdown & Emotionality
Advertising Does Matter	A Messy Company Can Still Work
A Clean Factory Is Insanely Great But The Product Has To Sell	Being Right Isn’t As Important As Winning
Imperfection Is A Moral Wrong	Bringing In An Outside Expert Can Be Costly
The Original Macintosh Had Bad Sales	Fall From Grace Through Management Incompetence
Finding Similarities Between Yourself & Your Business Partner May Not Be Good	Eras Are Defined By Partnerships & Rivalry – Gates Versus Jobs Round 2
Force An Ultimatum To Get Control of a Company	Never Tell The Allies of Your Opposition That You’re Planning a Coup
Brilliant Failures Help You Grow	Design Should Not Trump Processing
Do Not Disrespect Your Potential Business Partners	Get Real On Your Lean Startup
Get A VC Who Missed Out On A Previous Winning Opportunity	Avoid The Problem of Focusing on the Small
Gain Financial Control Against Your Business Partners	Rivalry of the Ants & Breaking With Disney
Build A Board That Cannot Operate Independently of the CEO	Do Not Chase Profits, Chase Value
Do Not Force Other Businesses Into Your Closed System	How To Save A Dying Tech Company – Fire the Board Or Resign
Merge Your Venture With A Giant That You Can Take Over	Targeting the Education Market Is Not Lucrative
How to Save Dying Tech Company – Return To Your Successful Roots	How to Save a Dying Tech Company – Make Products Not Profit, Fundamentally
Skate Where the Puck’s Going, Not Where It’s Been	The Loser Now Will Be Soon To Win
The Internet Is Made For Music	Brand Yourself Differently
Don’t Be Afraid to Cannibalize	Create Complimentary Product Offerings Without a Lead Loss Generator
Focus On What People Really Want…1,000 Songs	Google’s “Don’t Be Evil Mantra” is Bullshit
Get Yourself Into the Cloud & A Castle	Don’t Fear Change In Industry, Anticipate It
Create An Inventory Management System & Build a Store That Works	Converge Old Devices Into 1 New Device
Do Not Ignore Medical Diagnoses	Make Peace With Your Old Enemies