MBA Profile: Scott Cook

Many small business owners see the budget as an obstacle. This MBA graduate saw it as an opportunity.

Scott Cook took the checkbook to the next level. What’s next?
By Amelia Gray

One afternoon, Scott Cook noticed his wife was having trouble balancing her checkbook. Most husbands might offer a little empathy, but Scott, an MBA graduate from Harvard University, wanted to do more. The year was 1983, the personal computer was on the rise, and Scott Cook had an idea.

Scott Cook came from modest roots. His father worked with heavy equipment, and Scott went to public school before going to college locally in L.A. to become an economist. When running a club on campus proved more interesting than his economics schoolwork, Scott knew the entrepreneurial possibilities of an MBA education could change his life.

Like many MBA graduates, Scott tried a number of jobs before finding his true calling. He worked at Proctor & Gamble, managing their Crisco line. “I was a twenty-eight-year-old former fat salesman,” he said in an interview with the Harvard Business School. From there, he went into consulting, before his wife’s budget frustrations inspired him to create the software company Intuit. With his MBA-derived entrepreneurial knowledge, and a staff of software experts, Scott Cook and Intuit changed the frontier of financial software.

The Little Book-Balancer That Could

Scott Cook’s idea to simplify the home checkbook resulted in Quicken, a software package that has since become a household name. Scott needed to combine his specialized knowledge of economics with the practical business knowledge of an MBA graduate. His business strategy was brilliant: Take a product that everyone could use, implement smart design to make it easy to use, and add on smart marketing to make it easy to find.

”My biggest surprise was discovering how customers will invent your business for you,” Scott said in an interview with Inc.com. Intuit grew rapidly as more and more small-business owners used Quicken to manage their finances. Scott used a natural empathy with customers, and his MBA training in client relations, to evolve the company and give customers what they wanted.

The Network Effect

Scott, who currently serves on eBay’s Board of Directors, has used his MBA throughout his successful career. He retains his passion for creation, and Intuit has spread its product base to include real estate, construction, retail, and professional accounting software. Small business acquisitions have increased the company’s network effect, which Scott Cook hopes will mean more knowledge and power to serve every aspect of the consumer’s financial management needs.

Through all the success, Scott keeps an optimistic eye on the future. “The initial products and executives go away,” he says. “The only things that endure are the culture and values of the company. Creating something that’s valuable and enduring is really wonderful.”

Sources

America’s 25 Most Fascinating Entrepreneurs: Scott Cook
Harvard Business School Interview: Scott Cook

About the Author

Amelia Gray is a teacher and freelance writer in San Marcos, TX. Amelia earned a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature from Arizona State University.

Posted on December 28, 2006 at 11:07 AM

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