The Problem with the Startup Craze… by Steve Jobs

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Below is a quote from an essay by Steve Jobs

When I got started I was 20 or 21, and my role models were the semiconductor guys like Robert Noyce and Andy Grove of Intel, and of course Bill Hewlett and David Packard. They were out not so much to make money as to change the world and to build companies that could keep growing and changing. They left incredible legacies…

But then, the rewarding thing isn’t merely to start a company or to take it public. It’s like when you’re a parent. Although the birth experience is a miracle, what’s truly rewarding is living with your child and helping him grow up.

The problem with the Internet startup craze isn’t that too many people are starting companies; it’s that too many people aren’t sticking with it. That’s somewhat understandable, because there are many moments that are filled with despair and agony, when you have to fire people and cancel things and deal with very difficult situations. That’s when you find out who you are and what your values are.

So when these people sell out, even though they get fabulously rich, they’re gypping themselves out of one of the potentially most rewarding experiences of their unfolding lives. Without it, they may never know their values or how to keep their newfound wealth in perspective.

— Steve Jobs, Fortune, Jan. 24, 2000

I have been a devoted Apple customer since the bad old days. I watched, as a fan, when Steve came back and rebooted everything and Apple rose like a phoenix from the ashes, becoming better than it ever was, and making better products than it ever had. Nobody has inspired me as much as Steve has. I wish him only the very best.

It was only a few days ago that I found this essay. While I hadn’t known Steve’s opinion on “the internet startup craze” until just now, I learned his position just as surely from watching him as reading his exact words.

You might also enjoy this essay I wrote in April, 2010: The iPad, and the Staggering Work of Obviousness.

Related posts:

  1. Dear Startup World: Chill the Fuck Out
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  3. Why I Pass Up $1,450 – & Turn Away Prospective Students
  4. Don’t bite the shit sandwich
  5. 21 Lessons Learned from 16 Years of Hustling
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This entry was posted on Thursday, August 25th, 2011 at 5:53 pm and is filed under Ideology. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a comment. Pinging is currently not allowed.

3 comments

  1. spacer Pete
    August 25, 2011 at 6:13 pm

    With the industry being so new and dynamic, its a really amazing time to be alive with titans like Jobs who have contributed so much.

    Reply
  2. spacer Glenn Meeks
    August 27, 2011 at 8:11 am

    So, the bouquets spring forth in slow motion from the smiles of adoring fans of his highness Steve Jobs. There is no doubt he put his hand in the stream of popular culture and changed the course of our experience. But then again, that’s what he set out to do. To make a dent in the universe.

    For all those that choose to find, there is something about Mr. Jobs that will lead you to change your life. This is what he wanted, now go out and do it.

    “Creativity is more than just being different. Anybody can plan weird; that’s easy. What’s hard is to be as simple as Bach. Making the simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.”-Charlie Mingus

    Reply
  3. spacer wordpress
    December 29, 2011 at 1:07 pm

    A very clean website with some very useful information. I am sold! You really know what you are talking about, its evident in your writing. Cannot wait to check out more of your articles in the coming weeks!

    Reply

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