If you have read the previous parts of our series about the people who led Applu, then you already know that the company's path to its current position was definitely not as easy as it might seem when looking at its current value. Apple led Michael Scott, Mike Markkula, John Sculley, Michael Spindler or Gil Amelio and each of them somehow made their mark on his history. But then came a person that no fan needs Appto introduce. Steve Jobs.
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The paradox is that Jobs became CEO of the company he co-founded more than twenty years after its inception. Even more interesting is the fact that this happened about twelve years after he had been practically removed from running his own company. When he then AppWhen he returned, the company was in such bad shape that it was seriously questionable whether it would survive. A few years later, it had become one of the most important technology companies in the world. Steve Jobs founded Apple in 1976 with Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. While Wozniak was a technical genius who could actually build products, Jobs had something that would later prove to be perhaps even more important. He could convince people that what was sitting on their desks was something they wanted to have in their homes. And not only that. He could convince investors, employees, andancand later millions of customers around the world.
But Jobs was not a CEO. He was young, inexperienced, and, according to people who worked with him at the time, also an extremely complicated person. Apple therefore, more experienced managers took the lead, and Jobs gradually gained more and more influence over the company's products and direction. One of his biggest projects was the Macintosh, introduced in 1984. But it was the period around the Macintosh thatonec contributed to Jobs losing his influence in Applu came. The head of the company at that time was John Sculley, whom, incidentally, AppJobs brought him in. According to the now legendary story, he convinced him by asking him whether he wanted to sell sweetened water for the rest of his life or get a job.ancand change the world. Sculley accepted the offer and moved from Pepsi to Applu. But the relationship between the two men gradually fell apart.
Jobs wanted to push his vision, Sculley was supposed to run the company, and a power struggle ensued between the two. In 1985, the situation reached such a point that the company's management sided with Sculley and Jobs lost his managerial powers. Although he was not formally simply "fired" as is often said, in practice he lost the opportunity to manage the projects he wanted to manage. Shortly after Apple he left Pro For most people, something like this would be a disaster in their lives. You start a company, make it one of the most watched technology companies in the world in a few years, and thenonec you will be removed from its leadership by the person you brought into it yourself. Jobs was thirty years old.
But instead of retiring and enjoying the money, he started a company NeXT. It produced extremely expensive computers that were definitely not commercially viable. nestor the other Applem. NeXT However, he created technologies that later proved to be crucial. Meanwhile, Jobs bought George Lucas' computer graphics division, which became Pixar. He thenonec brought Toy Story to the world and became one of the most important animation studios in the world.
And while Jobs was building NeXT and Pixar, in Applu things that we described in the previous parts of this series started to happen. The company gradually lost direction, its product offering was confusing, Windows dominated the personal computer market and Apple was getting into more and more trouble. NakoneSomething happened that a few years ago would have sounded like a bad joke. Apple needed a new operating system and in 1996 decided to buy NeXT for approximately 400 million dollars. Together with NeXTSo I returned to the company. Steve Jobs.
And this is where the part of the story that made Steve Jobs a legend begins. Gil Amelio, then CEO Applu was fired in July 1997, and Jobs began to take control of the company. First as interim CEO, which he liked to refer to as “iCEO.” His first task wasn’t to come up with a iPhone, iPod or some other revolutionary product. His first task was to make sure that Apple survived at all. Jobs began doing exactly what he thought the company needed. He canceled projects, simplified the product offering, and eliminated Apple everything that didn't make sense to him. Instead of a huge number of computers and devices, he wanted a few products that the customer would immediately understand who they were intended for.
At that time, one of the most interesting agreements in history also came about Appyou. Microsoft invested $150 million in the company and committed to continuing development Office for Mac. The idea that Microsoft it helps Applu, was so absurd to some fans that when Jobs announced the deal at Macworld and appeared on a giant screen Bill Gates, some of the audience started booing. But Jobs didn't care. Apple he needed to survive.
The iMac followed, introduced in 1998. A computer that looked completely different from the gray boxes of the time and that made it clear that Apple is back. Then came the iPod, iTunes Store, the transition of Macs to Intel processors, iPhone, App Store and thenonec iPad. Within a few years, Apple Under Jobs' leadership, he gradually transformed several industries in which he had either not been involved at all or was definitely not a dominant player. This is where, in my opinion, the biggest difference between Jobs and most other CEOs is. Applu, which we have written about in this series. Jobs was not a person who would simply try to manage the existing Apple better than his predecessor. He essentially created a new AppleWhen he returned to the company, Apple was primarily a computer manufacturer. When he stepped down as CEO fourteen years later, he was selling Apple Macs, iPods, iPhones, and iPads, he ran one of the most important digital content stores in the world and laid the foundation for the ecosystem that the company still makes money on today.
Of course, it would be absurd to claim that Jobs did all this himself. Apple had thousands of employeesancand people like Jony Ive, Tim Cook, Phil Schiller, Scott Forstall and many others played a crucial role in his success. Jobs' ability lay, among other things, in his ability to gather exceptionally capable people around him, squeeze out of them maximum and then decide which products Apple will do and which, on the contrary, will never arise.
And that "no" was perhaps as important to Jobs as all the products he said yes to. Apple Under his leadership, Apple wasn't a company trying to make everything for everyone. It was supposed to make a few products, and according to Jobs, they were supposed to be the best they could make.
Jobs was also a difficult person to work with. He was known for his extreme demands, outbursts of anger, and the ability to dismiss work that someone had spent weeks on as complete nonsense in a matter of seconds. From today's perspective, many historeabout his way of managing employeesancIt's probably over. miniIt was a very interesting visit to the HR department. But Jobs wasn't a hired manager who had Apple keep running. Apple It was a personal matter to him and he treated it accordingly.
However, over time it became clear that there was a problem that even Steve JobsHis health deteriorated and he had to be transferred several times.chat daily management of Timu company CookOn August 24, 2011, Jobs announced that he was stepping down as CEO and recommended that he be replaced by Cook. Jobs remained chairman of the board Applu. He died just a few weeks later, on October 5, 2011. When Jobs resigned, the board of directors Applu said that his vision and leadership saved the company and helped make it one of the most innovative and valuable technology companies in the world.
In the case of such statements, big words are usually used because it is simply appropriate. However, with Jobs, this time they were not too exaggerated. When you look at his whole story, it is quite absurd. He founded Apple. Apple He shut it down. He left and started another computer company. Apple got into trouble, bought his new company, and brought Jobs back. Jobs then took over the company that once didn't want him, and turned it into the company we know today. So whatever you think about his personality and his way of leading people, I don't think he can deny one thing. Of all the CEOs who have ever Apple led, had Steve Jobs by far the greatest influence on the shape of the company. Not only because he co-founded it, but above all because he received the secondancand lead it and used it in a way that changed not only Apple, but to a large extent the entire technological world.
