SCOTT COOK

Even as a kid, Scott Cook was interested in figuring out how computers could help ordinary people. In high school, he sketched a tablet-style computer that could read handwriting and calculate math problems. “Of course I had no idea how to build such a machine,” admits Cook, the cofounder of Intuit, the world leader in software for personal and small business finance. After studying economics and math at the University of Southern California and earning his MBA, he learned the ropes of product marketing at Procter & Gamble. Cook came up with the idea for Quicken, Intuit’s best-selling software package, while watching his wife do their finances by hand twenty years ago. “Computers — especially the ones we were working with in 1982 — are crummy at a lot of things, but they happen to be very good at calculation and data manipulation, which is what running your checkbook is all about,” he notes. A proud father of three, Cook now serves as Intuit’s chairman of the executive committee of the board, having handed over the role of CEO in 1994 “to someone who is actually good at it,” he says with a laugh.

First job
Selling Christmas cards door-to door in sixth grade.

Learned at HBS
Most important were the people I met. They had and continue to have a huge influence on me — they’ve opened doors and given me guidance that changed my life.

Best business advice
In my final day in Ben Shapiro’s class at HBS, he made the point that, unlike those who lacked our credentials, we could choose what type of company we would work for. He encouraged us to pick a company whose values we’d be proud of.

Where the new economy is going
I don’t think there is a new economy — it’s the same economy, the same consumers, the same stock market, the same kind of employees. As with any living or adaptive organism, there are changes. Karl Marx, while he was wrong about almost everything, was actually right on at least one thing — the labor theory of value. What matters most is the people in your company, more than the capital, the technologies, or the manufacturing capabilities.

Key elements in evaluating a business proposal
First, how much of a home run is it — how big is the problem it solves and how great is the solution? Life’s too short to work on things that aren’t home runs. Second, is there a realistic strategy to enter and succeed? Third, can we build durable competitive advantage? That’s what drives profitability and, frankly, what makes it fun.

Advice for current MBAs
Choose your first job carefully. Pick a place that will maximize your learning. Find an organization that is so good at what it does that it has a lot to teach and where teaching is part of the corporate culture.

Pro bono work
At Intuit, we give free tax preparation software to any American with an adjusted gross income of $25,000 or less — about 45 percent of the population. The tax system is so mind-bendingly complex that it’s neat to be able to take that burden off people’s shoulders. We’re also working on ways to help nonprofits.

Currently reading
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Nonzero, a book about applying game theory to the advancement of society.

Hope for your kids
That they grow up to fulfill their own expectations.

Biggest disappointment
My failure to be the best I could be. I see shortcomings in what I do or didn’t do, and that’s the thing that disappoints me the most.

Proud moments
Years ago my mom and dad came to one of our company meetings. I told the story of how Intuit wouldn’t be here without my parents, who had perfect faith in me when no one else did. They had once sold holdings in their retirement accounts to lend me money to keep the doors open. All seven hundred employees at the meeting rose to give my parents a standing ovation.