Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Steve Jobs RIP - Founder of Apple - Quotes

So it seems Steve Jobs has passed away.  Like him or hate him, he was a brilliant business man and a visionary like no other.  He didn't rely on market research but rather his gut on what the customer wanted.  However, he was extremely harsh on his employees and is known for going off on them.  Maybe not the best management style to learn from.  But he has plenty of other things we can all learn from.  Like being forward thinking and anticipating the future.  Yes, not every product was a raving success, but there were plenty of home runs in his time.  He took a failing Apple company and took it to one of the largest companies in the world, and oh by the way in the process changed the landscape of America and the world with his technology.  No matter the success or money you can't take it with you in the end.  As tribute to Steve Jobs, I have included several quotes for your reading pleasure as well as a link to his graduation speech to Stanford University. http://www.ted.com/talks/steve_jobs_how_to_live_before_you_die.html


I'm the only person I know that's lost a quarter of a billion dollars in one year.... It's very character-building.
    Steve Jobs, Apple Confidential 2.0

You can't just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they'll want something new.
    Steve Jobs

For something this complicated, it’s really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.
    Steve Jobs

I'm as proud of what we don't do as I am of what we do.
    Steve Jobs, Business Week

The cure for Apple is not cost-cutting. The cure for Apple is to innovate its way out of its current predicament.
    Steve Jobs - Apple Confidential: The Real Story of Apple Computer Inc., May 1999

Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R&D. It's not about money. It's about the people you have, how you're led, and how much you get it.
    Steve Jobs, Fortune, Nov. 9, 1998

Sometimes life is going to hit you in the head with a brick.
Don't lose faith.
    Steve Jobs, Stanford Commencement Address, 2005

I'm convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.
    Steve Jobs, Interview, 1995

Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.
    Steve Jobs

Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.
    Steve Jobs

The people who are doing the work are the moving force behind the Macintosh. My job is to create a space for them, to clear out the rest of the organization and keep it at bay.
    Steve Jobs
 

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet, death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it, and that is how it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It's life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.
    Steve Jobs, 2005 Stanford Commencement address

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.
    Steve Jobs, 2005 Stanford Commencement address

Almost everything: all external expectations, all pride all fear of embarrassment or failure. These tings just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.
    Steve Jobs, 2005 Stanford Commencement address

Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.
    Steve Jobs The Wall Street Journal, May 25, 1993


Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.  Steve Jobs
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.  Steve Jobs