Legends of Steve Jobs - Tributes
Apple Inc opening their first retail store in Mumbai today triggers some fond memories of Steve, and I thought of recapitulating some of that here, to refresh my own memories about the wizard, the czar, and share the same with my friends. That’s my way of paying my tributes to the visionary Steve Jobs.
I know there are many iconic speeches Steve delivered at Stanford and other elite institutions, and many of his life inspiring quotes, which are close to people's hearts, but here I quote some instances on his style of functioning from what I gathered from my reading material, which all people may not be aware of.
So, here you go:-
1. Back in 2001, when those cute white-colored iPod were to be first unveiled by Apple Inc in US on 23rd Oct 2001, that unfortunate incident of 9/11 happened just a few days before the launch on 11th September 2001.
With devastation all around ill fated twin towers in WTC, people losing their precious lives, and US treating this incident as war against them, the consensus among the wise counsels in Apple Inc suggested Steve to defer the launch and wait for dust to settle down. But Steve said, “ people can not be allowed to stay in grief mode for a long time and the launch of iPod is all the more necessitated as it shall bring in some fresh air in this period of gloom and people need to get back into their rhythm as early as possible.” That was a very bold step, unimaginable given the magnitude of tragedy that struck US, and against the general consensus, but then that differentiates Steve from a commoner entrepreneur. The iPod was launched on the scheduled launch date, on 23rd October 2001, and yes that helped grief transcending to joy and happiness rather swiftly. That also marked beginning of i products from the stable of Apple.
2. Apple also used to market their printers, and there was a huge market for the same. At some point of time, with technological revolution happening all around, Apple came up with a new generation printer, which was far superior to their earlier printer. Before introducing their new printer in the market, their Sales department suggested Steve to offer discounts on existing printers available in the market, get as much stocks cleared as possible before introducing new printer. But Steve was Steve. He said, “ No. People do not deserve that old printer. “ He was asked what to do with old printers still in stocks with retailers and wholesalers. To this, he said, "recall all the old printers and dump them in sea and introduce the new printer straightaway.” That was the level of integrity he used to operate on, which is not at all easy to come.
3. Steve always believed that one should always hire the best people. He also believed that market always knows where from the best come, and for that reason he shall frequently visit top universities and mingle with students, and take direct feedback about their aspirations and the marketing strategies that may finally establish the brand; sales shall automatically follow.
One of the most critical aspects of any organization is getting it structured right to meet the needs of the business and those of ultimate consumers. While Steve had the bigger picture in mind, but he wasn't able to devote more time on positioning of the product. So, he was on a look out for a right person to be CEO of the company, and his search used to take him to places.
At Stanford business school, he got to know that John Sculley, then President of PepsiCo could be the right person to become CEO of Apple. However, at that time in 1983, Apple was just a miniscule company as compared to giant PepsiCo, and when Steve started talking to John about his vision, the instant reaction of John used to be ‘No’. Around that time John was already short listed to become Chairman of board of PepsiCo., and thus prevailing over John was becoming a lot difficult task for Steve.
Then Steve fired the last salvo, which had since become business legend: He asked John “ Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugar water, or do you want a chance to change the world?” And of course, John got on board.
John remembered much later, "I just gulped because I knew I would wonder for the rest of my life what I would have missed.”
The duo of Steve and John, as they used to say, joined at hips, created magic and Apple was strongly registered as the best brand ever.
4. While the world acknowledged that Steve was one of the best technocrat, yet he was always on a look out for opportunities to interact with the other best in the industry and pick the brain of more seasoned corporate leaders, and invite them to their office and just talk with them over dinner. In this context, an invite was once sent to Chrysler's Lee Iacocca and Fred Smith of Federal Express. Lee accepted the invite but wanted Apple to first lease four Dodge vans, which they did honourably, and this was followed by a one-to-one between two historic entrepreneurs. This also shows shrewdness of Lee Iacocca , who sensing the need of other side, didn’t mind becoming a salesman himself.
5. At one point in his life with Apple, Steve was exited and he remained in ‘ Isle of exile’ for almost a decade. He was definitely frustrated with the turn of events, but he didn’t allowed himself to be consumed by the circumstances. He kept trying new things by associating himself with NeXT Computers, and then with Pixar and remained relevant in the industry. He also maintained good repo with some board people, and as he entered right zodiac, he made come back to Apple and very soon he became the CEO of company he founded after staying in exile for almost 10 years. Most of all that visible progress Apple made came during the second stint of Steve with the company.
The lesson here is when the time hits you, do not succumb to circumstances, stay in the game, continue with your network, remain relevant, and wait for the right time when circumstances might catapult you back in the driving seat.
6. Steve used to believe that every opportunity starts with an unmet need. If you can build a product to meet that need, it becomes a “ must-have.” So when he saw Woz working on building computers, he saw an opportunity and he hanged on that project Woz was working on. Steve also believed that when you want something passionately, you have a vastly improved power for convincing others as well.
7. Steve was known to be people’s man, and was quite lavish in heaping praise with gift/cheque to employees on various occasions. Just to let everyone has a glimpse of his generosity, when the iPhone was introduced in 2007, every employee received one free, and so did every part-timer and consultants who had been with the company for more than a year.
8. Steve was an artist, and encouraged all employees to find their own sweet spot and bring that artistry in the work assigned to each one of them. He was, though a tough task master, but was a great team leader as well and adopted crazy follow-up measures to ensure that end result is achieved. He used to ensure that every small achievement is celebrated by the team.
9. Steve was the greatest cheerleader any team could have, continually boosting their morale and enthusiasm with lines like, " What we are doing here will send a giant ripple through the universe."
10. Steve believed in consistent improvements in existing product line, and in introducing new products starting from iPod, iPhone, iPad, MacBook, Apple tv, AirPods, iMusic to name the few versatile products Apple introduced to public.
11. Steve Jobs was like a dream come true for employees, for vendors, for consultants, for retailers, wholesalers and for consumers. it is said, Apple has more cash on hand ($76.2 billion) than the US govt ($73.8 billion). Apple'e market cap is bigger than the GDP of as many as 25 countries in the world, including Ecuador, Libya and Iraq.
12. Apple has 1,40,000 employees, has sold 2.2 billion iPhones since the first model was released in 2007, and is set to have projected net worth of #3.3 trillion in 2023.
Steve Jobs is like once in a century phenomenon and deserves to be celebrated on and on.