Steve Jobs reflects on his biggest weakness

November 01, 2024

“I think all of us need to be on guard against arrogance, which knocks at the door whenever you’re successful.”

Steve reflects on what many have called his “wilderness years” — the 12 year period between when he was fired at Apple and eventually came back to save it from the verge of bankruptcy:

“I was basically fired from Apple when I was 30 and invited to come back 12 years later. That was difficult when it happened but maybe the best thing that ever happened to me.”

If Steve wasn’t fired, there would be no Pixar. And as Brent Schlender (author of Becoming Steve Jobs) argues, there might not have been an Apple either — or at least not the Apple we know today:

“This middle period was the most pivotal of his life. And perhaps the happiest… He finally settled down, married, and had a family. He learned the value of patience and the ability to feign it when he lost it. Most important, his work with the two companies he led during that time, NeXT and Pixar, turned him into the kind of man, and leader, who would spur Apple to unimaginable heights upon his return.”

Steve Jobs: “My model of business is The Beatles” “[The Beatles] were four very talented guys who kept each other’s negative tendencies in check. They balanced each other, and the total was greater than the sum of the parts. And that’s how I see business. Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people.” (full article).

Steve Jobs on how to build a great brand “To me, marketing is about values. This is a very complicated and noisy world. We’re not going to get a chance to get people to remember much about us. No company is. So we have to be really clear on what we want them to know about us.” (full article).

Steve Jobs shares his strategy for saving Apple from bankruptcy “Somebody taught me a long time ago a very valuable lesson which is if you do the right things on the top line, the bottom line will follow. And what they meant by that was: if you get the right strategy, if you have the right people, and if you have the right culture at your company, you’ll do the right products. You’ll do the right marketing. You’ll do the right things logistically and in manufacturing and distribution. And if you do all those things right, the bottom line will follow.” (full article).