Odyssey: Pepsi to Apple...a Journey of Adventure, Ideas & the Future [Paperback]

John Sculley (Author), John A. Byrne (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Diane Pub Co (March 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0788169491
• ISBN-13: 978-0788169496
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,863,347 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Somewhere in between alright!, February 9, 2004

By 

Ashwin (Bangalore, India) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Odyssey: Pepsi to Apple...a Journey of Adventure, Ideas & the Future (Paperback)

It is hard to not want to read a book about how the founder of Apple was sacked by the guy he brought in himself, to lead the company. And that is precisely what the first part of the book is about. In a tale of roaring passion and excitement, we walk through pages in almost quivering excitement as we read about the stony-mahagony culture of Pepsi, the young irreverent west coast start-ups, the passion and idealism of youth, the quest for making a difference to the world, the heady mix of million dollar stock options and unruly aesthetic genius... and how it all culminated at the altar of capitalistic zeal and resulted in Steve Jobs being sacked by John Sculley and the board.

The second half of the book though, takes a downspin. From the exciting tale of the first half, where John Sculley's fleshing out his character is seen as contributing to the intrigue of the story, the second part of the book is more of trumpet-blowing. It deals with how Sculley and his team 'rescued' Apple and converted it to the company it is today. As such, the book is also made a little vexatious with Sculley's sermons of management that are intervowen between chapters.

Reco : Read the first half, skim through second half... But definitely worth reading if you're interested in the human side of business dealings!

4.0 out of 5 stars Great narration but partly self-serving, October 7, 2011

By 

Patrick Hess (Waterford) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Odyssey: Pepsi to Apple... a Journey of Adventure, Ideas and the Future (Paperback)

At the dawn of what we now know as the information revolution, Sculley was torn between keeping a safe, extremely well respected job with one of the all-time great American corporates with a bright future ahead. Enter Steve Jobs who rocks his boat and Sculley is torn between being another cog in the wheel and starting something that would change the world (i.e. Apple). His dilemma and the sequence of events that lead him to eventually join Apple are very well narrated and he brings his internal conflict across well. The second leg to the book is more about the internal workings of Apple and their revolutionary Superbowl commercial. Excitement in the air, all pieces of the puzzle seem to be falling into place. The third and final leg address the typical struggle at any rapidly growing company. Steve Jobs is a product idealist, not a capitalist, and this contradiction has him sacked by Sculley himself. The remainder of the book, a good half of it, is more about the accomplishments of Sculley at Apple. Quite honestly, the extent of self-promotion seems to indicate that deep down, Sculley is trying to justify to himself that letting Steve Jobs go was the right decision. I'm sure it was no easy task for him and he is looking for closure through this book. Well, where this book ends is where Apple's fairytale had actually just begun!

5.0 out of 5 stars Pepsi vs. Apple Computer: Leading Change, May 9, 2007

By 

J. Gresham "Jon, the CivilSociety and MultiSm... (Montgomery, AL usa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Odyssey: Pepsi to Apple...a Journey of Adventure, Ideas & the Future (Paperback)

'Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?' So began John Sculley's engagement with Apple Computer. He went from managing a huge global and very traditional beverage company to leading a bleeding-edge of technology innovation center. This fantastic book describes his personal journey into high-speed product development and constant change in at Apple Computer. "Reorganizations,in fact, are looked at positively. In many corporations, they're viewed with anxiety. People wonder, 'Where do I go, what will I do? That's especially true in companies that have had no lay-off or have cradle-to-grave employment policies. In Apple, it's constant change. People expect buildings, structures, offices, and people to change. Organizations shouldn't have permanence....The beauty of a network is that is has no centre. It is a process more than a structure, composed of modular groups that establish themselves to take on specific tasks-- not to build fiefdoms and traditional 'departments' do." He compares the "organization man" who had job security in return for his loyalty, with the self-directed man who deals with "third-wave companies" in a different type of relationship: one of creativity and trust and co-maturation. Sculley's description of Steve Jobs, who replaced him as CEO, "Steve Jobs was less a manager and more an impresario. He knew that the role of managment wasn't to stifle creativity through structure and process, but to foster it through unusually innovative means and thinking."