We recently attended the Goldman Sachs 2010 Technology and Internet conference in San Francisco.
It was a great event that included speakers and sessions from the likes of Google, Yelp, Netflix, SalesForce.com, Cisco and many others.
Many CFO’s and CEO’s were on hand to defend their strategy and paint glowing pictures of what the future held for their likely growth and profit over the next year.
Contrasting Keynotes
The back to back lunch keynotes on the first day were a great study in contrast and culture.
The first was an EVP from an internet search company I’ll just call “Yippie”. Her tone was proud but she had few facts to back up her confident demeanor. Her company has been declining in many measures for quite some time yet she still gloated over relatively minor accomplishments. Her focus was clearly on the numbers, not on what they were doing for the customer. The more I listened the more I wanted someone to hurry her off the stage.
The 2nd was the COO from Apple, Tim Cook. He spoke of their continued efforts to be excellent at the things they did and while he mentioned some VERY impressive numbers he managed to do it almost as a side-note. No gloating, no sense of superiority. In a word, he came across as LIKEABLE.
There we were eating a very forgettable boxed lunch listening to the person from a dying company gloat and act superior while the executive from the company that is printing money acted humble and very human.
And then Tim Cook from Apple said something that stopped the crowd.
We turn away great ideas every day.
“Our goal isn’t to grow for the sake of being larger or more profitable. Apple’s goal is to be excellent at the things we commit to doing.”
My opinion of Apple really soared after hearing this guy speak. In the midst of so much focus on growth and profits it was refreshing to hear a company say that what really mattered was taking the steps to make customers happy. Provide them with an excellent experience and the numbers will take care of themselves.
It’s often tempting to justify opportunistic business decisions that focus more on short term potential than long term value. I’ve not always been a fan of everything that Apple has done but listening to Tim’s talk reminded me of the benefit of keeping a focus on providing customers with experiences they value.
