Who is the best product manager of our lifetime?
Who is the Gol D roger of entrepreneurship?
to the noobs out there, it is a reference for the greatest manga ever “One Piece”.
I will give you a hint 🤓
”The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do”
I recently read Steve Jobs’ biography by Walter Isaacson. It was a great read, you have to give it a try. I cried endlessly.
But I could not help but read the biography from the eyes of a product manager, and I concluded 6 lessons.
Lesson 1 : Cultivate a Strong team
Jobs assembled small, focused teams of the best and the brightest. He often demanded excellence and fostered a culture of innovation and creativity.
When developing the original Macintosh, he created a separate division with handpicked employees, calling them “pirates” as opposed to the “Navy” of Apple. This team developed a close-knit, driven culture that allowed for developing a groundbreaking product despite numerous challenges.
This got me thinking, is Steve Jobs the Gold D roger of entrepreneurship ? hear me out, he is anti-establishment. Assembled the best crew in the world. Had great vision and died prematurely. Inspired a new generation of pirates, I mean entrepreneurs. I might be into something hear.
Lesson 2: Obsession with User Experience
Jobs was known for his relentless focus on creating an intuitive and delightful user experience. He believed that technology should be not only functional but also enjoyable and easy to use. When developing the first iPod, he wanted to ensure it was incredibly user-friendly.
He famously challenged the engineers to make it possible for users to get to their music in just three clicks.
Despite the technical challenges, this insistence led to the creation of the iconic scroll wheel interface, which was a significant factor in the iPod’s success.
Lesson 3: Simplicity is Key
One of Jobs’ core beliefs was that simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. If it is sounds familiar because it was quote by the renaissance man him self, Leonardo Davinci.
Jobs worked to ensure that Apple’s products had clean, simple designs that concealed their complex engineering.
The creation of the first iPhone is a testament to Jobs’ dedication to simplicity. He disliked the cluttered interfaces and the usage of a stylus in smartphones. His vision for a simple, clean interface controlled by fingers led to the revolutionary multi-touch interface that has become the standard for smartphones today.
Lesson 4: Innovation Requires Vision
Jobs was not afraid to bet on the future and invest in technologies that seemed risky or ahead of their time. His vision for what technology could be led to groundbreaking products like the personal computer.
He envisioned a computer for the masses that was user-friendly and had a graphical user interface. This led to the development of the original Macintosh. Despite skepticism, Jobs pushed forward, and the Macintosh ended up defining the future of personal computing with its graphical user interface and mouse control. which Later Microsoft copied, Horribly
Lesson 5: Quality over Quantity
Jobs was a perfectionist, often delaying product launches to get every detail right. He believed in doing a few things exceptionally well rather than many things poorly. No one can rival his attention to detail and quality. When he returned to Apple in 1997, he found a plethora of products that were confusing and of mixed quality.
He slashed the product line from dozens of models to just a few focused products, emphasizing quality and a clear product strategy. This focus helped turn Apple around.
Lesson 6: Tell a story
Steve Jobs was a master storyteller. He understood the power of stories in selling a product, often creating a compelling story around why a product was revolutionary.
The launch of the iPhone in 2007 is a classic example of Jobs’ storytelling prowess. He didn’t just talk about the features; he told a story of how Apple was going to reinvent the phone. He described the iPhone as a combination of three revolutionary products – an iPod, a phone, and an internet communicator – creating a compelling narrative that captured the world’s imagination.
Jobs spearheaded the creation of many innovative products like the Macintosh, iPod, iPhone, Apple store, and iPad … but he always wanted to build a long-lasting company.
Apple is the most valuable company in the world; it has a 2.7 trillion dollar market cap in the end of 2023.
Now It is only appropriate to let to Steve jobs end this video himself.
