Steve Jobs’ unmatched passion for Apple is what made him one of the world’s best recruiters, says former Apple CEO John Sculley.
The late Apple co-founder was notorious for his ability to organize a team of A players. According to Sculley, that’s because Jobs never let failure trip him up.
“The best recruiter I ever met was Steve Jobs,” Sculley told Business Insider. “He really set no limits to the talent he would go after. He felt what he was doing was so incredibly important to the world. Why not get the best?”
Jobs recruited Sculley himself when he worked as CEO at Pepsi, even though Sculley didn’t have any experience with tech products. To recruit him, Jobs lured Sculley to Apple from Pepsi with one of the most storied lines in business: “Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugar water or do you want a chance to change the world?”
Jobs’ methods didn’t pan, warned Sculley. He unabashedly pursued the top people in tech and business, even though sometimes it didn’t end up being a good fit.
“It didn’t always work out, but the reality was that he never compromised on trying to go for the best talent he could,” Sculley said.
