What Steve Jobs Taught Me at 19
On April 2nd, 2010, I was seated with my colleague and friend Ryan at Caffè Macs in 4 Infinite Loop Cupertino, California. I was 19 years old, an Apple Employee, and this was the eve of the original iPad release.
The two-seater table across from us against the large glass windows opening to the west coast sun held host to Steve Jobs and Jony Ive.
I had been around both Steve and Jony before, but today, on the brink of a new product launch, something felt different. Ryan was talking to me about a spec regarding the release while all I was trying to do was eat my yellowtail sushi and not think about how I was easily the littlest fish in this sea.
Sipping on the sparkling water Apple keeps on tap, I kept seeing Steve out of my periphery. He and Jony were relaxed yet radiating energy as they traded stories. I went for another bite of fish, seaweed, and rice, as Steve Jobs and Jony Ive got up from the sun soaked table. Continuing to converse, they began to walk.
For anyone who has not stepped on the paths among the grass and trees that make up the courtyard of Apple’s Infinity, it is humbling. Those paths have been worn by the feet of thousands of remarkable women and men as they converse through the world sized challenges and decimal small details required to create something worth celebrating. From the iMac to the iPod and now the iPhone and iPad, the stone serpentines and loops through those lawns will always be a part of history.
Fully uninterested in the Japanese fare before my face, I did my best not to stare as our CEO and SVP of Industrial Design arrived at the end of their saunter. The west facing windows of the cafe framed the scene where I could see they were parting for the day. Then I witnessed them share a brief embrace.
All of this happened in a matter of minutes but over the years this memory has replayed in my mind what must be a million times. Steve was one of the most successful humans ever. Fortune had named him CEO of the decade; The Beethoven of Business. The Billionaire who resurrected the company he began building around my age.
But for me at 19, I didn’t get it.
It wouldn’t be until the following year when Steve passed away that I began to learn about what I saw that day. Something as simple as a hug between friends was the statement of a lifetime and the greatest lesson I would learn from him.
In one moment, Steve showed me life is about making something wonderful with your friends.
Or in Steve’s own words:
I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.
-The final sentence of Steve’s resignation letter. August, 2011
That will always be what success looks like to me.
Until Friday,
-Steven
PS. If you haven’t yet, go read Make Something Wonderful compiled by the Steve Jobs Archive. It is free, but it may just change what you do for a living.
Steven, the reverence you so eloquently expressed for the interior courtyard at Apple HQ is akin to what we used to feel when visiting the Bandley Drive building in Cupertino when I was working with Apple in the early years — it was the building where Steve and his team of pirates developed the first Mac. Magical spaces for a talented and visionary team, making things that would make a dent in the universe. Thanks for sharing this indelible memory of yours.
So beautiful Steven. I’m grateful we are friends.
“In one moment, Steve showed me life is about making something wonderful with your friends.”