4 ms·

"and someone who can manage a company selling beverages can sell computers just as well. We know how that worked out." In case some people need context, this i

by acchow 9y ago

"and someone who can manage a company selling beverages can sell computers just as well. We know how that worked out." In case some people need context, this is referring to John Scully (previously president of Pepsi-Cola) then CEO of Apple during Steve Jobs' ousting in 1985. Edit: updated to clarify that John Scully was previously president of Pepsi.

rst 9y ago
Someone ought to write a comparative study of Scully's time at Apple with the successful turnaround of IBM led by Lou Gerstner, whose prior experience was at RJR Nabisco.
- xapata 9y ago
  Conveniently, a comparison of two companies such as that can ignore all counter-examples. After all, it's a case study, not a boring statistical survey.
  - guiambros 9y ago
    Speaking of case study, Louis Gerstner's account of the turn-around is a great read [1]. I read when it was published, so not sure it has aged well; need to check it again someday. [1] https://www.amazon.com/Who-Says-Elephants-Cant-Dance/dp/0060523808 https://www.amazon.com/Who-Says-Elephants-Cant-Dance/dp/0060...
- YZF 9y ago
  What people have studied is how much difference CEOs make. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10441713 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10441713 Lou had 1993 until 2002. Scully had 1983–1993. I think Lou had the .com boom on his side. Scully not so much. There's definitely a deflection point around 1994 where everyone did a lot better. I guess the question is how did IBM and Apple perform relative to some benchmark under those leaders and even that could be just luck. Microsoft certainly outperformed both thees companies by a huge amount of this time period: https://www.google.com/finance?chdnp=1&chdd=1&chds=1&chdv=1&chvs=logarithmic&chdeh=0&chfdeh=0&chdet=1495171493864&chddm=3270&chls=IntervalBasedLine&cmpto=NASDAQ:AAPL;NASDAQ:MSFT&cmptdms=0;0&q=NYSE:IBM&&fct=big&ei=o4EeWfvdJ4q3jAHE4regDQ https://www.google.com/finance?chdnp=1&chdd=1&chds=1&chdv=1&... So compared to MSFT both were huge failures. [EDIT: it's interesting that at least during some Scully's tenure APPL tracks MSFT fairly closely... So at least during those years he was as good as Bill Gates? :) ]
spatulon 9y ago
And, prior to that, president of Pepsi-Cola. Jobs is said to have lured Sculley to Apple by asking, “Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to come with me and change the world?”
- pm90 9y ago
  Heh, how much world-changing did Sculley end up doing after all? One always need to keep one's wits when making decisions influenced by charismatic personalities.
flukus 9y ago
Not just apple, running computer companies seems to have been somewhat of a hobby for pepsi executives. I forget the names but the pop up a few times in the history of amiga/atari and the other competitors of the era.

by acchow 9y ago

rst 9y ago

Someone ought to write a comparative study of Scully's time at Apple with the successful turnaround of IBM led by Lou Gerstner, whose prior experience was at RJR Nabisco.

xapata 9y ago
Conveniently, a comparison of two companies such as that can ignore all counter-examples. After all, it's a case study, not a boring statistical survey.
- guiambros 9y ago
  Speaking of case study, Louis Gerstner's account of the turn-around is a great read [1]. I read when it was published, so not sure it has aged well; need to check it again someday. [1] https://www.amazon.com/Who-Says-Elephants-Cant-Dance/dp/0060523808 https://www.amazon.com/Who-Says-Elephants-Cant-Dance/dp/0060...
YZF 9y ago
What people have studied is how much difference CEOs make. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10441713 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10441713 Lou had 1993 until 2002. Scully had 1983–1993. I think Lou had the .com boom on his side. Scully not so much. There's definitely a deflection point around 1994 where everyone did a lot better. I guess the question is how did IBM and Apple perform relative to some benchmark under those leaders and even that could be just luck. Microsoft certainly outperformed both thees companies by a huge amount of this time period: https://www.google.com/finance?chdnp=1&chdd=1&chds=1&chdv=1&chvs=logarithmic&chdeh=0&chfdeh=0&chdet=1495171493864&chddm=3270&chls=IntervalBasedLine&cmpto=NASDAQ:AAPL;NASDAQ:MSFT&cmptdms=0;0&q=NYSE:IBM&&fct=big&ei=o4EeWfvdJ4q3jAHE4regDQ https://www.google.com/finance?chdnp=1&chdd=1&chds=1&chdv=1&... So compared to MSFT both were huge failures. [EDIT: it's interesting that at least during some Scully's tenure APPL tracks MSFT fairly closely... So at least during those years he was as good as Bill Gates? :) ]

spatulon 9y ago

And, prior to that, president of Pepsi-Cola. Jobs is said to have lured Sculley to Apple by asking, “Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to come with me and change the world?”

pm90 9y ago
Heh, how much world-changing did Sculley end up doing after all? One always need to keep one's wits when making decisions influenced by charismatic personalities.

flukus 9y ago

Not just apple, running computer companies seems to have been somewhat of a hobby for pepsi executives. I forget the names but the pop up a few times in the history of amiga/atari and the other competitors of the era.