Steve Jobs famously convinced John Sculley to leave his high-profile role as the CEO of PepsiCo and join Apple as its CEO in 1983 with a single, now-legendary question:
“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?”
The Background: Why Apple Wanted Sculley
By the early 1980s, Apple was growing rapidly, but Steve Jobs and other executives recognized the need for an experienced business leader to help scale the company. At the time, John Sculley was a highly respected executive, having successfully marketed Pepsi against Coca-Cola with the famous “Pepsi Challenge” campaign.
Apple needed someone with marketing and operational expertise to help transition the company from a startup to a global powerhouse. Jobs saw Sculley as the perfect candidate due to his branding skills and corporate leadership experience.
The Pitch: Jobs’ Persuasion Tactics
Sculley was initially hesitant to le
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