logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2023
2 h

#299 Steve Jobs (Make Something Wonderfu...

David Senra
About this episode

What I learned from reading Make Something Wonderful: Steve Jobs in his own words.

----

Get access to the World’s Most Valuable Notebook for Founders at Founders Notes.com

You can read, reread, and search all my notes and highlights from every book I've ever read for the podcast. 

You can also ask SAGE any question and SAGE will read all my notes, highlights, and every transcript from every episode for you.

 A few questions I've asked SAGE recently: 

What are the most important leadership lessons from history's greatest entrepreneurs?

Can you give me a summary of Warren Buffett's best ideas? (Substitute any founder covered on the podcast and you'll get a comprehensive and easy to read summary of their ideas) 

How did Edwin Land find new employees to hire? Any unusual sources to find talent?

What are some strategies that Cornelius Vanderbilt used against his competitors?

Get access to Founders Notes here

----

Follow one of my favorite podcasts Invest Like The Best and listen to episode 293 David Senra: Passion and Pain 

----

(3:48) He gave an extraordinary amount of thought to how best to use our fleeting time.

(4:24) He imagined what reality lacked and set out to remedy it.

(7:27) Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview Video and My Notes.

(10:02) Edwin Land episodes:

Instant: The Story of Polaroid by Christopher Bonanos. (Founders #264)

Land's Polaroid: A Company and the Man Who Invented It by Peter C. Wensberg (Founders #263)

A Triumph of Genius: Edwin Land, Polaroid, and the Kodak Patent War by Ronald Fierstein (Founders #134)

Land's Polaroid: A Company and the Man Who Invented It by Peter C. Wensberg (Founders #133)

The Instant Image: Edwin Land and the Polaroid Experienceby Mark Olshaker (Founders #132)

Insisting On The Impossible: The Life of Edwin Land and Instant: The Story of Polaroid(Founders #40)

(13:23) Think of your life as a rainbow arcing across the horizon of this world. You appear, have a chance to blaze in the sky, then you disappear.

(14:10) One from Many: VISA and the Rise of Chaordic Organization by Dee Hock. (Founders #260)

(15:42) Read Jeff Bezos's shareholder letters in book form: Invent and Wander: The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos or for free online: Amazon Investor Relations(Founders #282)

(19:45) If you want to understand the entrepreneur, study the juvenile delinquent. — Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by Yvon Chouinard. (Founders #297)

(30:47) How important product is based on how much time you spend with it: People are going to be spending two, three hours a day interacting with these machines—longer than they spend in the car.

(39:02) Return to the Little Kingdom: Steve Jobs and the Creation of Appleby Michael Moritz. (Founders #76)

(40:32) The real big thing is: if you’re going to make something, it doesn’t take any more energy—and rarely does it take more money—to make it really great. All it takes is a little more time. And a willingness to do so, a willingness to persevere until it’s really great.

(45:07) Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration by Ed Catmull 

(45:31) Steve’s enthusiasm kept him writing check after check to Pixar, ultimately investing some $60 million.

(47:47) It is better to have fewer people even if it means doing less. Let's build our company slowly and carefully.

(53:36) I’m not so dominant that I can’t listen to creative ideas coming from other people. Successful people listen. Those who don’t listen, don’t survive long. — Driven From Within by Michael Jordan (Founders #213)

(54:40) You never achieve what you want without falling on your face a few times in the process of getting there.

(1:00:11) There wasn’t a hierarchy of ideas that mapped onto the hierarchy of the organization.

(1:03:33) Don’t be a career. The enemy of most dreams and intuitions, and one of the most dangerous and stifling concepts ever invented by humans, is the “Career.” A career is a concept for how one is supposed to progress through stages during the training for and practicing of your working life. There are some big problems here. First and foremost is the notion that your work is different and separate from the rest of your life. If you are passionate about your life and your work, this can’t be so. They will become more or less one. This is a much better way to live one’s life.

(1:05:11) Make your avocation your vocation. Make what you love your work.

(1:05:58) Think of your life as a rainbow arcing across the horizon of this world. You appear, have a chance to blaze in the sky, then you disappear.

(1:09:27) In the Company of Giants: Candid Conversations With the Visionaries of the Digital World by Rama Dev Jager and Rafael Ortiz. (Founders #208)

(1:10:52) Much of it is also drive and passion—hard work makes up for a lot.

(1:13:28) A risk-taking creative environment on the product side required a fiscally conservative environment on the business side.

(1:13:57) You've got to choose what you put your love into really carefully.

(1:14:38) A remarkably consistent set of values that Steve held dear: Life is short; don’t waste it. Tell the truth. Technology should enhance human creativity. Process matters. Beauty matters. Details matter. The world we know is a human creation—and we can push it forward.

(1:19:24) Steve Jobs speaking to Apple employees (Video) 

(1:29:48) Apple is the world’s premier bridge builder between mere mortals and the exploding world of high technology.

(1:30:14) Steve’s favorite quote: We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. – Aristotle

(1:32:29) The Man Behind the Microchip: Robert Noyce and the Invention of Silicon Valley by Leslie Berlin. (Founders #166)

(1:42:27) That’s been the most important lesson I’ve learned in business: that the dynamic range of people dramatically exceeds things you encounter in the rest of our normal lives—and to try to find those really great people who really love what they do. 

(1:43:00) Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple's Greatest Productsby Leander Kahney. (Founders #178)

(1:47:27) It’s a circus world, and you never know what’s around the next corner.

(1:53:40) Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography by Laurie Woolever. (Founders #219)

(2:01:00) All glory is fleeting.

----

Join my free email newsletter to get my top 10 highlights from every book

----

I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — Gareth

Be like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast

Up next
Oct 5
#402 Thomas Peterffy: The $80 Billion Founder Who Automates Everything
I didn’t know who Thomas Peterffy was. I was shocked to learn that he is 81 years old, worth $80 billion dollars, and has built his $120 billion company, Interactive Brokers, into one of the most efficient companies in the world. I discovered Peterffy by reading this incredible p ... Show More
31m 57s
Sep 28
My conversation with Daniel Ek: Founder of Spotify
I started a new show so I can have long-form conversations with the greatest living founders. You can watch on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, X, or the web. The new show is on a separate feed so don't forget to follow David Senra so you don't miss future episodes. Nothing is c ... Show More
2h 9m
Sep 24
#401 How Bill Gates Works
This episode is about Bill Gates' obsessive drive and hardcore work ethic. Bill Gates had the rarest entrepreneurial talent—the ability to see the leverage point in a new industry, seize it with relentless intensity, and *will* Microsoft into one of the most successful companies ... Show More
1h 8m
Recommended Episodes
Jan 2024
Taking control of your career | Ethan Evans (Amazon)
Ethan Evans is a writer, career coach, course instructor, and retired VP at Amazon. During his 15 years at Amazon, he helped invent Prime Video, Amazon Video, the Amazon Appstore, Prime Gaming (formerly Twitch Prime), and Twitch Commerce. Prior to Amazon, Ethan spent 12 years in ... Show More
1h 21m
Oct 2023
Reflections on a movement | Eric Ries (creator of the Lean Startup methodology)
Eric Ries is the creator of the Lean Startup methodology, author of the New York Times bestseller The Lean Startup, and founder of the Long-Term Stock Exchange (LTSE). He’s also a multi-time founder and currently advises startups, VC firms, and larger companies on business and pr ... Show More
2h 14m
Jun 2023
Steve Jobs' Most Valuable Talent?
I once watched a fascinating interview of Jony Ive, the former design leader at Apple who is also known as Steve Jobs' closest working partner. As I observed the conversation, I discovered a leadership insight that I'd never heard before...  While Steve was clearly inte ... Show More
2m 7s
Feb 2023
#305 - Paul Mouginot - Stabler - Repousser les limites de l’imagination grâce à l’IA : chronique d’un entrepreneur visionnaire
“On m’a toujours dit, un jour, tu devras choisir entre entrepreneur et artiste”  Paul Mouginot a choisi les deux, et plus encore.  Rien ne l'effraye.  À 15 ans, il envoie 35 lettres à tous les laboratoires français de physique quantique, dans le but d’obtenir un stage auprès de c ... Show More
3h 3m
Jun 2021
Steve Jobs @ Stanford - 16 Years Later
Steve Jobs delivered the commencement speech at Stanford University on June 12, 2005. 16 years later, its wisdom remains. Lessons from Steve Jobs (on careers, startups, and life): Develop Independent Views To carve your own path - in your career or life - you have to develop your ... Show More
5m 38s
Jan 2024
106: Building Blocks of Civilization: How the World Really Works
“Modern economies will always be tied to massive material flows, whether those of ammonia-based fertilizers to feed the still-growing global population; plastics, steel, and cement needed for new tools, machines, structures, and infrastructures; or new inputs required to produce ... Show More
1h 18m
Feb 2024
TIP609: Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Taleb
On today’s episode, Clay reviews Nassim Taleb’s book – Fooled by Randomness.Nassim Taleb is a Lebanon-born American mathematician and statistician whose work concerns problems of randomness, probability, and uncertainty. He’s very well known for his popular books, including The B ... Show More
1 h
Feb 2024
#723: In Case You Missed It: January 2024 Recap of "The Tim Ferriss Show"
This episode is brought to you by 5-Bullet Friday, my very own email newsletter.Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, where it is my job to deconstruct world-class performers to tease out the routines, habits, et cetera that you can apply to your own life. This is a ... Show More
48m 19s
Jun 2023
More Than You Ever Really Wanted to Know About Sewers (Encore)
Sometimes the most important things are things we don’t even want to think about let alone talk about. The issue of handling and removing human waste and dirty water is one such problem that has confronted humans since the dawn of time. The elimination of waste and excess water w ... Show More
11m 15s
Feb 2024
The Single Hardest Entrepreneurial Habit | Ep 677
“You can't have any kind of habitual habits or output if the one thing that starts or ends your day is variable.” Today, Alex (@AlexHormozi) emphasizes the importance of maintaining a stable sleep routine for entrepreneurs to optimize their energy levels, make better judgments, a ... Show More
13m 47s