OBSERVANT - SCOTT DAVID COOK 

Scott David Cook ( born 1952, 63 years old ) is a founder of Intuit Inc., a director since March 1983 and currently he serves as the Chairman of the Executive Committee. Intuit Inc. is an American software corporation with almost 10,000 employees working together. Intuit develops financial and tax preparation software and related services for small businesses, accountants and individuals. Scott is a person that possessed the characteristics of  a successful entrepreneur mainly in the trait called observant in contributing to Intuit.

In his early life, Cook started his career at Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he learned new things about market researching, marketing and product development. He then took a job in strategic consulting at Bain and Company in Menlo Park, California. Having observance, Cook soon began using the insights he learnt there to look for an idea for his own company. That idea came to him when his wife was complaining about paying the bills one day. With personal computers just coming out at the time, Scott realized that there might be a better way to manage their household finances and automate the hassle of bill paying. He then thought of the possibility for a basic software market that would help people pay their bills to ease their daily chores. This shows that Scoot was good at noticing what is going on around him and planning to establish a financial software firm.

Inspired to start his own software company, Scott had to find a programmer and he ended up running into Standard University.  Tom Proulx turned out to be the partner of Scott and they created the first Quicken program ( check balancing program ), which he and Scott used to launch Intuit in 1983 with the goal of making it easy for individuals to balance their check books and for small businesses to pay their taxes.. Scott's idea for a check-balancing program was unique, but he was only one of many people trying to break into the burgeoning personal computer software market at that time. This could be concluded that it was his background, intellect, observance and enthusiasm that separated him from the rest of the pack.

During the next few years, Cook gained important experience related to banking and technology while his wife ( Signe Ostby ) learned something about marketing software. Meanwhile, Tom Proulx laboured in his dorm room creating the very first version of Quicken after polishing up the program they launched Intuit in 1983. Once, while visiting the office of a software association, Scott walked by a clerk entering data on one of his programs. He immediately stopped to interview her about the application and seek for her view and later incorporated one of her suggestions into a version of the program. This vividly shows that Scott was being observant in his field to ensure that his product would meet a real need in the market place.

In 1992, Scott  launches QuickBooks, a payroll-processing program for small businesses. The company's QuickBooks and TurboTax programs are widely used by more than 37 million small businesses and individuals around the world. In order to enhance and improve the company’s finance software, Scott continued to make strategic acquisitions. This is done by purchasing Nihon Micom Co. Ltd. In 1997 and Lacerte Software Corporation and Lacerte Educational Services Corporation in 1998.  Lacerte developed professional tax preparation software.

In 1999, Intuit introduced its QuickBooks Online Payroll service, which allowed all QuickBooks users to connect with banks and tax agencies to facilitate payroll processing. By the end of the year, more than 6,000 businesses had signed up for the advanced service. The company also offered WebTurboTax, which combined the TurboTax features with the electronic tax filing capabilities and allowed the users to complete their tax returns as well as file them online.

Later time, QuickBooks small business finance, Intuit's Quicken personal finance and TurboTax income tax filing offerings continued to lead their markets but the growth rate had seemed slowed. Scott was looking toward single-digit growth as it approached the mid-2000s. On the other hand, the QuickBooks Point-of Sale system for small retailers experienced strong growth. Revenue growth fell to 12 percent in the fiscal 2004, down from 26 percent the prior year. But with the return to its roots in 2005, the company had produced positive results and expected better than anticipated numbers.

In recent years, Scott gives lectures around the globe on entrepreneurship and what they can do to organize business so that ideas conceived by the employees are not lost to hierarchical business models in this context. In May 2015, Scott gave the commencement address at his alma mater which is Harvard Business School, urging graduates to seek more feedbacks and being observant in grabbing opportunities, get a mentor and savour the surprises of entrepreneurship.