John Sculley talks relentless business

Marketing innovator. Successful entrepreneur. Business icon. These all describe John Sculley, former President of PepsiCo and CEO of Apple, who addressed an enthusiastic audience at Fairfield on Feb. 26.

During his discussion, “Globalization: The Future of American Brands,” Sculley gave insights into his personal experience in the marketing industry. He emphasized that failures can lead to success and even the most successful leaders encounter shortcomings.

Sculley has worked with world-renowned leaders and shared the qualities he believes are necessary for a successful visionary leader. Sculley recalled visiting Silicon Valley in 1982 and being inspired by innovators working there.

“They were talking passionately about changing the world. And they had the courage to make mistakes,” said Sculley.

Sculley also spoke about the importance of taking risks and described his own experience with picking himself up after failure.

As CEO of Apple, Sculley knew that licensing Microsoft software would be far too expensive for Apple, but this opposition cost him his job. He described his embarrassment, but carried on.

“You can become a victim of your successes, but it’s the failures that knock the wind out of you where you really learn,” said Sculley.

During his time at Apple, when Sculley increased sales from $800 million to $8 billion, he worked with Steve Jobs to launch and promote the Macintosh computer.

Sculley praised Jobs’ dedication to make computers personal and approachable at a time where the computer wasn’t designed for the average person. Sculley told The Mirror, “It was a privilege to work with someone who was a true genius.”

He has made a variety of innovative moves himself since he left Apple in 1993. He has founded, invested in and been a mentor to several businesses in a variety of industries.

One project is MDLIVE, a digital healthcare service that enables people to quickly access a doctor via phone, rather than waiting for an in-office appointment.

Sculley poses with the Fairfield University Marketing Club.

Sculley said that by using MDLIVE, customers are receiving fast, inexpensive service and eliminating the long wait for an appointment they may not even need.

Sculley received high praise from many in the nearly filled Quick Center for the Arts.

“His emphasis on learning from your failures was important because in a world when we’re so into instant gratification, it’s hard to fail. Being told that you have permission to do that, and that’s okay, was pretty cool,” said Marilyn Peizer ‘15.

Dr. Donald Gibson, dean of the Dolan School of Business, said many of the points were relevant to the student audience.

“He dealt with a lot of issues that are going to confront students next year, and especially in their work career, so I thought his ideas were very interesting and especially applicable to students,” said Gibson.

Sculley said, “You will learn how to recover, but you never, ever, ever give up.”