Whether it's product design question, a go-to-market challenge, or a tough product call, I often find myself asking: "How would Apple under Steve Jobs have approached this?"
This page is a collection of my learnings, reflections, and thoughts on Apple Inc. - and the man who shaped it.
Seeding The Desire
Steve Jobs (left) and Mike Markkula (right) in Apple's early days
Do you remember your first introduction to Apple? If you were born in 90s or before, it was most likely someone telling you about how cool or expensive the brand is, and probably before you even held an Apple product.
To most of us it would seem that Apple created sensational products so the brand has now reached a stage where people wait for its products. But that is not how it happened. Apple right from early years was conscious of their Marketing Philosophy memo. And the man behind it? No, not Jobs, it was Jobs' mentor, Mike Markkula.
Mike had already retired in his early 30s after cashing in on stock options from Intel. He saw potential in both the Steves, so decided to invest in the company and became owner of one-third of Apple and its employee #3.
Mike taught Jobs three core principles of marketing philosophy:
- •Empathy - Truly understand the needs of the customer better than any other company.
- •Focus - Eliminate all the unimportant opportunities.
- •Impute - People form opinions about a company based on the signals it sends. Even if the product is great, it must look great and feel great. Presentation matters.
The idea of "imputing" value - creating desire and emotion around a product is probably what Steve had a natural talent for. Mike and Steve worked on creating a story around the Apple II computer and it became a huge success. The storytelling, the visual appeal, the presentation, from what I have read, it all made you want the product even more.
Seems if you want to build a great consumer product (not just a brand), in your heart you need to be both a product and marketing person. Because a great story is just a story unless you have a product that keeps validating that story. Conversely, a great product might sell well without much marketing (high NPS) but when the time is ripe for disruption, users will give the product with a better story a try- and the quality of competitor's product will decide if you should stay in business or not. But I think you need the same two core skills to be a great product and marketing person- creativity and user empathy.
What I Would Have Done
Tim Cook (left) and Steve Jobs (right) during a presentation
Many of us know that before he passed away, Steve gave the following advice to Tim:
"Don't ever ask what I would have done. Just do what's right."
While the advice is timeless, what 'right' means here has changed over a decade. What Steve probably left was an institution with strong foundations that inspires entrepreneurs till day. What 'right' meant back then was most likely focused around keeping the foundations of the company in place.
But over all these years, Apple's brand capital and product excellence has corroded. Let alone fans, even new users question their design choices.
If we view Apple's org structure or its products from Steve's lens, we will find that the design of both the company and its products is his reflection. For instance, he preferred a controlled environment - which we find in iOS and also siloed teams in Apple which guard their work from each other. If we think about it, Apple is Steve, I won't even say it embodies Steve as it makes this look sacrosanct, which it shouldn't be.
So when Steve said not to think about what he will do, it most likely had an assumption that with the core values of the company in-place, don't think about me because I am already there. But what Apple is losing is the institutionalised Steve in Apple. The company needs soul searching.
The solution now probably is to think what Steve would have done- because it is what is 'right'.
Apple Doesn't Need Another Steve Jobs
David Hansson, the creator of Ruby-on-Rails, has recently been very sharp in his criticism of Apple- and very rightly so. Like many Apple fans he has been advocating for a Jobs-like executive in-charge, or as he likes to put it, 'Apple needs an a**hole in-charge.' I get what he means. But I believe the solution requires further analysis.
Why? Because the corrosion of Apple's magic did not happen just because Steve or the core team around Steve left (Jony Ive) in fact most are still working for Apple. I feel it is because Steve was always around to set the benchmark holistically, as a Product Manager would do. But as he left and the new crop of leaders emerged or new folks joined, the bar to hire was not high. And the bar here is not talent- it is relentless passion for the best, it is taste in the middle management. Many engineers, middle managers at Apple might be equally fine working at Google or Twitter, they are not in for a mission.
Here is what Apple should do:
- •Hire only Apple fans. Make reading biography of Steve compulsory to even get shortlisted for a call.
- •Hunt for future Jobs, Ive and Cook right from the college. Apple would be unimaginable without this trio. And it needs to foster such young talent to create the leaders that value Apple for what it stands and not the market cap.
- •Use the Amazon chair policy: In major meetings, Amazon leaves one chair empty for 'the customer', given that Apple has lost clue of both what customers love and what Steve would have done- they should ideally leave two chairs empty but leaving just one for Jobs should do the job as he understood his customers.
I believe these solutions can guide the company to find itself again.