Steve Jobs: what the maverick taught us!

Guest article by Soumitra Sharma, IDG Ventures IndiaAfter spending more than 30 years building the world’s most valuable technology company, Steve Jobs recently stepped down as Apple’s CEO. Steve has indeed changed the way the world views technology, the way businesses view innovation and the way entrepreneurs build businesses. In fact, he has laid the technology foundation that going forward, will alter the very way 6bn+ people on this planet interact with their surroundings. He has been celebrated as an innovator, a disruptor, a visionary; he has also been castigated as an egoist, a tyrant, a non-conformist. However, both his admirers and critics would agree that he is a “true entrepreneur”.

As a “Jobs-less” Apple approaches a potential inflexion point in its lifecycle, it’s only just that we look at the core beliefs that encapsulate the evolution of Steve Jobs from a maverick college-dropout to one of the most respected CEOs of all time.

Technology needs to be “lived and felt” – Apple was the first company that bought technology out of this black box and literally into the hands of a common man. When we sit in airplanes, we don’t know what goes on inside the Boeing engine. Or while watching television, I sure as hell don’t know what happens inside the panel. But the revolutionary ‘click-wheel’ on first-generation iPods made ergonomics of the device come alive; the soft sound it made while revolving, the way music volume actually moved on my fingertips – it was magic. Moving my fingers on the iPhone touchscreen turns even something as trivial as setting up an alarm, into fun. This ‘look’, ‘touch’, ‘feel’ and ‘hear’ makes Apple devices a part of the consumer itself. The iPod becomes an extension of a jogger’s arm, the iPhone an extension of a home-maker’s ear, and the iPad an extension of a kid’s imagination.

Real innovation can only be driven by “diversity” – diversity of opinion, of education, of backgrounds, of thoughts. One of the core principles that Apple has been built on is that homogeneity leads to sub-optimal solutions to problems. And isn’t that intuitive – how can even the best software programmer understand design ergonomics and dexterity? Or how can even the best design engineer understand what constitutes a good Jazz experience? Jobs understood this very early in his life when he took a calligraphy class at college. This early experience would go on to give the world its first set of beautifully proportioned fonts in the Macintosh.

Apple was built by recruiting people from all walks of life and with diverse skillsets; importantly, all were bound by a common characteristic of being creative contrarians.

Make “idiot-proof” products – Jobs started the real “democratization” of technology by first bringing the computer out of universities and research centers into homes. He made them easy to use, and made them look and feel so good than even grandmothers fell in love with them. With Apple’s line of touch-screen devices, he took this user experience to a whole different level, and opened it up for use across age-groups and across countries. Isn’t it now a common sight to see 5 year olds playing with iPads? That rights from kids to grandmas swear by Apple’s products is a testimony to the Company’s contribution in opening up technology to everyone.

Customers don’t necessarily know what they want; give them something you believe will add value to their lives – if Apple had developed products solely based on market research or focus groups, several of its game-changing products would have never seen light of the day. Jobs, and Apple, focused on developing products they believed people WOULD like, products that are technologically clean, tastefully designed, ergonomic, simple and fun to use. The result – iTunes changed the face of global music industry, the iPhone virtually created and launched the smartphone segment, and the iPad has forced technology majors such as Samsung to acknowledge that tablets are indeed the future. I am sure even the best market research wouldn’t have predicted these defining trends. That’s the real bottom-line – Apple creates trends, not follow them!

Create pride in your work, and your company – Apple employees are fiercely proud of the work they do, products they create, and people they lead or are led by. This is the Jobs fabric – he did “in-your-face” product launches, and made public comments that the world’s largest OS maker (read: Microsoft) “has no taste” and “makes third rate products”. And who can forget the famous one-time-aired 1984 Super Bowl ad launching the Mac and openly challenging the incumbent IBM? Some might call it brashness, or arrogance, or complacency – to Jobs, all these maneuvers flowed from intense pride in his products, his company and his beliefs. He thought Apple was the best, and more often than not, it was.

Passion, passion, and some more passion – most importantly, Jobs built Apple only driven by one thing, and the only thing – passion. He has never ever thought about making more money, but only making better products, and giving life to all the creativity he has to offer to the world. The multi-billion dollar top-lines, market caps and adulation are just a by-product. He followed intuitions, worked with people who “just get it”, and continuously challenged the status quo. I am sure his sleepless nights would never have been on Apple’s stock price, but on how to make the next version of iPhone even better.

Experts say that entrepreneurs shouldn’t look up to Steve Jobs as he is a maverick, and an outlier. It’s true – but what’s also true is that he lived and worked by certain ethos that can be easily imbibed. So to all Indian entrepreneurs out there – create products and services that become a part of people themselves, an extension of their minds and hearts. Recruit diverse founders and employees that can enrich the venture through varied backgrounds and life experiences. Focus on delivering clean, simple and intuitive offerings. Take that product or service idea out of the closet. Something that you thought people would never use; maybe they just might! Take pride in what you are trying to achieve, and also create pride among employees who have believed in your venture. And lastly, create a culture of passion in your venture. If you create value, everyone from angels and VCs to vendors and customers will come to you.

To end, this is how Apple looks like as Steve Jobs steps into retirement:

1. Second most valuable public company in the world.
2. As of the recent quarter, Apple exhibited 80% growth in revenue and 125% growth in profits. It has more than $28 billion of cash and cash equivalents sitting on its balance sheet.
3. After taxes and depreciation, the company still makes almost 25 cents for every dollar of sales.
4. On the brick-and-mortar side, Apple’s sales per square foot grew nearly 50 percent y-o-y to reach $5,626. By comparison, Tiffany’s, a luxury premium retailer, generates slightly less than $3,000 per square foot.

In Jobs’ most famous words, Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish!

Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed in this column are strictly personal, and not those of any organization/institution the author is or has been a part of, nor is made in any official capacity of such organization/institution, unless explicitly stated otherwise. None of the information, views and opinions in the column should be construed as business or legal advice.