Mathew Paisner

over 2 years ago

Love #2 and #3. Fantastic lessons from one of the most innovative minds.

David Senra

@FoundersPodcast

over 2 years ago

Lessons Steve Jobs wanted to pass on. Written right before he died. In his own words: 1. ON BUILDING A REAL COMPANY: I hate it when people call themselves “entrepreneurs” when what they’re really trying to do is launch a startup and then sell or go public, so they can cash in and move on. They’re unwilling to do the work it takes to build a real company, which is the hardest work in business. That’s how you really make a contribution and add to the legacy of those who went before. You build a company that will still stand for something a generation or two from now. That’s what Walt Disney did, and Hewlett and Packard, and the people who built Intel. They created a company to last, not just to make money. That’s what I want Apple to be. 2. ON TASTE OVER MARKET RESEARCH: Some people say, “Give the customers what they want.” But that’s not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they’re going to want before they do. Henry Ford once said, “If I’d asked customers what they wanted, they would have told me, ‘A faster horse!'" People don’t know what they want until you show it to them. That’s why I never rely on market research. Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page. 3. ON COMBINING IDEAS FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS: Edwin Land of Polaroid talked about the intersection of the humanities and science. I like that intersection. There’s something magical about that place. There are a lot of people innovating, and that’s not the main distinction of my career. The reason Apple resonates with people is that there’s a deep current of humanity in our innovation. I think great artists and great engineers are similar, in that they both have a desire to express themselves. In fact some of the best people working on the original Mac were poets and musicians on the side. In the seventies computers became a way for people to express their creativity. Great artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo were also great at science. Michelangelo knew a lot about how to quarry stone, not just how to be a sculptor. 4. ON KNOWING WHY YOUR CUSTOMERS PAY YOU: People pay us to integrate things for them, because they don’t have the time to think about this stuff 24/7. If you have an extreme passion for producing great products, it pushes you to be integrated, to connect your hardware and your software and content management. You want to break new ground, so you have to do it yourself. 5. ON WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU SHIFT THE FOCUS FROM GREAT PRODUCTS TO MORE SALES: I have my own theory about why decline happens at companies like IBM or Microsoft. The company does a great job, innovates and becomes a monopoly or close to it in some field, and then the quality of the product becomes less important. The company starts valuing the great salesmen, because they’re the ones who can move the needle on revenues, not the product engineers and designers. So the salespeople end up running the company. John Akers at IBM was a smart, eloquent, fantastic salesperson, but he didn’t know anything about product. The same thing happened at Xerox. When the sales guys run the company, the product guys don’t matter so much, and a lot of them just turn off. 6. ON GREAT PRODUCTS BEING THE FOUNDATION OF AN ENDURING COMPANY: My passion has been to build an enduring company where people were motivated to make great products. Everything else was secondary. Sure, it was great to make a profit, because that was what allowed you to make great products. But the products, not the profits, were the motivation. Sculley flipped these priorities to where the goal was to make money. It’s a subtle difference, but it ends up meaning everything: the people you hire, who gets promoted, what you discuss in meetings. 7. ON BEING HONEST AND DIRECT WITH YOUR TEAM: I don’t think I run roughshod over people, but if something sucks, I tell people to their face. It’s my job to be honest. I know what I’m talking about, and I usually turn out to be right. That’s the culture I tried to create. We are brutally honest with each other, and anyone can tell me they think I am full of shit and I can tell them the same. And we’ve had some rip-roaring arguments, where we are yelling at each other, and it’s some of the best times I’ve ever had. I feel totally comfortable saying “Ron, that store looks like shit” in front of everyone else. Or I might say “God, we really fucked up the engineering on this” in front of the person that’s responsible. That’s the ante for being in the room: You’ve got to be able to be super honest. 8. ON KEEPING THE TEAM EXCELLENT I was hard on people sometimes, probably harder than I needed to be. I remember the time when Reed (his son) was six years old, coming home, and I had just fired somebody that day, and I imagined what it was like for that person to tell his family and his young son that he had lost his job. It was hard. But somebody’s got to do it. I figured that it was always my job to make sure that the team was excellent, and if I didn’t do it, nobody was going to do it. 9. ON TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE GREAT WORK THAT WAS CREATED BEFORE YOU: What drove me? I think most creative people want to express appreciation for being able to take advantage of the work that’s been done by others before us. I didn’t invent the language or mathematics I use. I make little of my own food, none of my own clothes. Everything I do depends on other members of our species and the shoulders that we stand on. And a lot of us want to contribute something back to our species and to add something to the flow. It’s about trying to express something in the only way that most of us know how. We try to use the talents we do have to express our deep feelings, to show our appreciation of all the contributions that came before us, and to add something to that flow. That’s what has driven me. 10. ON CONSTANT REFINEMENT AND PERPETUAL MOTION: You always have to keep pushing to innovate. Dylan could have sung protest songs forever and probably made a lot of money, but he didn’t. He had to move on, and when he did, by going electric in 1965, he alienated a lot of people. His 1966 Europe tour was his greatest. He would come on and do a set of acoustic guitar, and the audiences loved him. Then he brought out what became The Band, and they would all do an electric set, and the audience sometimes booed. There was one point where he was about to sing “Like a Rolling Stone” and someone from the audience yells “Judas!” And Dylan then says, “Play it fucking loud!” And they did. The Beatles were the same way. They kept evolving, moving, refining their art. That’s what I’ve always tried to do—keep moving. Otherwise, as Dylan says, if you’re not busy being born, you’re busy dying.

FoundersPodcast's tweet photo. Lessons Steve Jobs wanted to pass on.

Written right before he died.

In his own words:

1. ON BUILDING A REAL COMPANY:

I hate it when people call themselves “entrepreneurs” when what they’re really trying to do is launch a startup and then sell or go public, so they can cash in and move on.

They’re unwilling to do the work it takes to build a real company, which is the hardest work in business.

That’s how you really make a contribution and add to the legacy of those who went before.

You build a company that will still stand for something a generation or two from now.

That’s what Walt Disney did, and Hewlett and Packard, and the people who built Intel.

They created a company to last, not just to make money.

That’s what I want Apple to be.

2. ON TASTE OVER MARKET RESEARCH:

Some people say, “Give the customers what they want.” But that’s not my approach.

Our job is to figure out what they’re going to want before they do.

Henry Ford once said, “If I’d asked customers what they wanted, they would have told me, ‘A faster horse!'"

People don’t know what they want until you show it to them.

That’s why I never rely on market research.

Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page.

3. ON COMBINING IDEAS FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS:

Edwin Land of Polaroid talked about the intersection of the humanities and science.

I like that intersection.

There’s something magical about that place.

There are a lot of people innovating, and that’s not the main distinction of my career.

The reason Apple resonates with people is that there’s a deep current of humanity in our innovation.

I think great artists and great engineers are similar, in that they both have a desire to express themselves.

In fact some of the best people working on the original Mac were poets and musicians on the side.

In the seventies computers became a way for people to express their creativity.

Great artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo were also great at science.

Michelangelo knew a lot about how to quarry stone, not just how to be a sculptor.

4. ON KNOWING WHY YOUR CUSTOMERS PAY YOU:

People pay us to integrate things for them, because they don’t have the time to think about this stuff 24/7.

If you have an extreme passion for producing great products, it pushes you to be integrated, to connect your hardware and your software and content management.

You want to break new ground, so you have to do it yourself.

5. ON WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU SHIFT THE FOCUS FROM GREAT PRODUCTS TO MORE SALES:

I have my own theory about why decline happens at companies like IBM or Microsoft.

The company does a great job, innovates and becomes a monopoly or close to it in some field, and then the quality of the product becomes less important.

The company starts valuing the great salesmen, because they’re the ones who can move the needle on revenues, not the product engineers and designers.

So the salespeople end up running the company.

John Akers at IBM was a smart, eloquent, fantastic salesperson, but he didn’t know anything about product.

The same thing happened at Xerox.

When the sales guys run the company, the product guys don’t matter so much, and a lot of them just turn off.

6. ON GREAT PRODUCTS BEING THE FOUNDATION OF AN ENDURING COMPANY:

My passion has been to build an enduring company where people were motivated to make great products.

Everything else was secondary.

Sure, it was great to make a profit, because that was what allowed you to make great products.

But the products, not the profits, were the motivation.

Sculley flipped these priorities to where the goal was to make money.

It’s a subtle difference, but it ends up meaning everything: the people you hire, who gets promoted, what you discuss in meetings.

7. ON BEING HONEST AND DIRECT WITH YOUR TEAM:

I don’t think I run roughshod over people, but if something sucks, I tell people to their face.

It’s my job to be honest.

I know what I’m talking about, and I usually turn out to be right.

That’s the culture I tried to create.

We are brutally honest with each other, and anyone can tell me they think I am full of shit and I can tell them the same.

And we’ve had some rip-roaring arguments, where we are yelling at each other, and it’s some of the best times I’ve ever had.

I feel totally comfortable saying “Ron, that store looks like shit” in front of everyone else.

Or I might say “God, we really fucked up the engineering on this” in front of the person that’s responsible.

That’s the ante for being in the room: You’ve got to be able to be super honest.

8. ON KEEPING THE TEAM EXCELLENT

I was hard on people sometimes, probably harder than I needed to be.

I remember the time when Reed (his son) was six years old, coming home, and I had just fired somebody that day, and I imagined what it was like for that person to tell his family and his young son that he had lost his job.

It was hard.

But somebody’s got to do it.

I figured that it was always my job to make sure that the team was excellent, and if I didn’t do it, nobody was going to do it.

9. ON TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE GREAT WORK THAT WAS CREATED BEFORE YOU:

What drove me?

I think most creative people want to express appreciation for being able to take advantage of the work that’s been done by others before us.

I didn’t invent the language or mathematics I use.

I make little of my own food, none of my own clothes.

Everything I do depends on other members of our species and the shoulders that we stand on.

And a lot of us want to contribute something back to our species and to add something to the flow.

It’s about trying to express something in the only way that most of us know how.

We try to use the talents we do have to express our deep feelings, to show our appreciation of all the contributions that came before us, and to add something to that flow.

That’s what has driven me.

10. ON CONSTANT REFINEMENT AND PERPETUAL MOTION:

You always have to keep pushing to innovate.

Dylan could have sung protest songs forever and probably made a lot of money, but he didn’t.

He had to move on, and when he did, by going electric in 1965, he alienated a lot of people.

His 1966 Europe tour was his greatest. He would come on and do a set of acoustic guitar, and the audiences loved him.

Then he brought out what became The Band, and they would all do an electric set, and the audience sometimes booed.

There was one point where he was about to sing “Like a Rolling Stone” and someone from the audience yells “Judas!”

And Dylan then says, “Play it fucking loud!”

And they did. The Beatles were the same way.

They kept evolving, moving, refining their art.

That’s what I’ve always tried to do—keep moving. Otherwise, as Dylan says, if you’re not busy being born, you’re busy dying.

125

over 2 years ago

Intriguing article by Bill Ackman https://t.co/T43VBibrWI

MattyP910 retweeted

Healthy Chocolate & Humor = Best Planet.

almost 3 years ago

Help provide a week’s worth of medically tailored meals to critically ill neighbors in need! Buy a Thanksgiving pie for yourself or donate one to a @CommunityServ client via https://t.co/IenS6GaZO9, and get a free car wash! #CommunityServings #ScrubaDub #Give #Charity #Help

ScrubaDubCarWsh's tweet photo. Help provide a week’s worth of medically tailored meals to critically ill neighbors in need! Buy a Thanksgiving pie for yourself or donate one to a @CommunityServ client via https://t.co/IenS6GaZO9, and get a free car wash!

#CommunityServings #ScrubaDub #Give #Charity #Help https://t.co/WLTox4obgM

MattyP910 retweeted

Babson College @babson

almost 3 years ago

Babson College has been ranked the 10th best college in America by @WSJ in its WSJ/College Pulse 2024 Best Colleges in the U.S. rankings. https://t.co/kj8nf456Tm #bestcolleges #rankings

babson's tweet photo. Babson College has been ranked the 10th best college in America by @WSJ in its WSJ/College Pulse 2024 Best Colleges in the U.S. rankings. https://t.co/kj8nf456Tm

#bestcolleges #rankings https://t.co/Ot0W7TJ792

238

62K

Who to follow

Miles Stahmann

@MightyMiles

Greg Gomer

@sliggity

CFO @HqOapp. Previous founder @AmericanInno & @BostInno. Put my pants on one leg at a time, but when they're on I make gold records. #dad

Ninad Gujar

@ninad70

Working in medtech & life sciences industry. Prior scientist @UCBerkeley & @harvardmed. Passionate about technology & healthcare.

over 3 years ago

Every child deserves shoes that fit for school, for play, and for preservation of dignity. If you can't drop off a pair of kids shoes (new or gently used at one of 20 ScrubaDub locations) simply donate $10 online to help local kids and families in need https://t.co/n7sIXcOMgu

over 3 years ago

One week left to help provide shoes to kids in need! Simply donate $5 at any ScrubaDub location and get a FREE UltraShine Hot Wax, OR donate $10 online to receive a FREE Express Wash for your vehicle! https://t.co/cVScFthBTH #scrubadub #cradlestocrayons #cleanforkicks2023

ScrubaDubCarWsh's tweet photo. One week left to help provide shoes to kids in need! Simply donate $5 at any ScrubaDub location and get a FREE UltraShine Hot Wax, OR donate $10 online to receive a FREE Express Wash for your vehicle! https://t.co/cVScFthBTH

#scrubadub #cradlestocrayons #cleanforkicks2023 https://t.co/iYzZIdzrs5

over 3 years ago

Help Cradles to Crayons provide essential items like proper footwear, clothing, and school supplies to over 140,000 local #Massachusetts kids living below the poverty line. Spring cleaning makes it easy to help and donors get a free gift from ScrubaDub!

over 3 years ago

Help us provide kids in need with shoes! Receive FREE UltraShine Hot Wax when you donate shoes or $5 at ScrubaDub! Or receive a FREE Express Wash Coupon when donating $10: https://t.co/cVScFthBTH. #cradlestocrayons #cleanforkicks2023 #supportlocal #charity #boston @c2cboston

ScrubaDubCarWsh's tweet photo. Help us provide kids in need with shoes! Receive FREE UltraShine Hot Wax when you donate shoes or $5 at ScrubaDub! Or receive a FREE Express Wash Coupon when donating $10: https://t.co/cVScFthBTH.

#cradlestocrayons #cleanforkicks2023 #supportlocal #charity #boston @c2cboston https://t.co/kgxeYruEWb

MattyP910 retweeted

@natickcenter @natickcenter

almost 4 years ago

Join us Saturday, 11/19 11-2 while we continue celebrating the opening of the new ScrubaDub Framingham! We have partnered with @RoxysGrilledChz to give away hundreds of FREE grilled cheese sandwiches & FUN giveaways to customers! #customerappreciation #framinghamma

MattyP910 retweeted

over 4 years ago

Do your car a favor and support the Friends of the Morse Institute Library at the same time! @ScrubaDubCarWsh Coupon Fundraiser March 12—April 10. Buy a ScrubaDub Express Wash coupon for $10 (reg. $11) at the @morseinstitute Friends’ table in the lobby or the Circulation Desk.

natickcenter's tweet photo. Do your car a favor and support the Friends of the Morse Institute Library at the same time!

@ScrubaDubCarWsh Coupon Fundraiser March 12—April 10. Buy a ScrubaDub Express Wash coupon for $10 (reg. $11) at the @morseinstitute Friends’ table in the lobby or the Circulation Desk. https://t.co/nGKSO2s35Z

MattyP910 retweeted

Be A King

@BerniceKing

over 4 years ago

As you honor my father today, please remember and honor my mother, as well. She was the architect of the King Legacy and founder of @TheKingCenter, which she founded two months after Daddy was assassinated. Without #CorettaScottKing, there would be no #MLKDay. #MLK

BerniceKing's tweet photo. As you honor my father today, please remember and honor my mother, as well.

She was the architect of the King Legacy and founder of @TheKingCenter, which she founded two months after Daddy was assassinated.

Without #CorettaScottKing, there would be no #MLKDay. #MLK https://t.co/UBMCSrEare

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124K

25K

316

MattyP910 retweeted

over 4 years ago

Demolition is complete and construction is officially underway for our new ScrubaDub Framingham, MA location! We bid a kind farewell to the 50+ year old Clean Machine Framingham as we're excited to construct our most modern carwash facility to date. https://t.co/6jHzO4lNHo

ScrubaDubCarWsh's tweet photo. Demolition is complete and construction is officially underway for our new ScrubaDub Framingham, MA location! We bid a kind farewell to the 50+ year old Clean Machine Framingham as we're excited to construct our most modern carwash facility to date. https://t.co/6jHzO4lNHo https://t.co/S9R5nvAGlx

MattyP910 retweeted

Tom Caron @TomCaron

almost 5 years ago

Only 5 (of 20) teams that have trailed the ALCS have ever come back from a 3-2 deficit to win the series. The Sox have done it 3 times: 1986 vs the Angels 2004 vs Yankees 2007 vs Indians #RedSox #Postseason #HOUvsBOS #ALCS2021

453

@ponderware @MichaelRippe

almost 5 years ago

MattyP910 retweeted

ponderware @ponderware

almost 5 years ago

Only 3 other #MoonCats have the official ponderware vial accessory - now’s YOUR chance to WIN the fourth! How to enter: 😸Follow us (@ponderware) 😻Retweet this post 😽Tag a friend so they know to enter too! Contest closes Oct 15 2021 11:59pm ET Rules: https://t.co/rUqDOfzRxE

ponderware's tweet photo. Only 3 other #MoonCats have the official ponderware vial accessory - now’s YOUR chance to WIN the fourth!

How to enter:
😸Follow us (@ponderware)
😻Retweet this post
😽Tag a friend so they know to enter too!

Contest closes Oct 15 2021 11:59pm ET
Rules: https://t.co/rUqDOfzRxE https://t.co/dFwzCGFYGf

561

436

465

almost 5 years ago

@MichaelRippe You are my hero. Thanks for all your knowledge.

MattyP910 retweeted

Babson Alumni @babsonalumni

about 5 years ago

In honor of our new #Quincy, MA location, we’ve partnered with local #nonprofit QSCP to help Quincy food pantries recover from COVID-19. https://t.co/8H1Mnppxfj @QuincyPS @CityofQuincy @quincychamberc @QHSAthletics #Donate #Charity #ScrubaDub #Fundraiser #Food #Free #QuincyMA

ScrubaDubCarWsh's tweet photo. In honor of our new #Quincy, MA location, we’ve partnered with local #nonprofit QSCP to help Quincy food pantries recover from COVID-19. https://t.co/8H1Mnppxfj
@QuincyPS @CityofQuincy @quincychamberc @QHSAthletics
#Donate #Charity #ScrubaDub #Fundraiser #Food #Free #QuincyMA https://t.co/h3KYY9nILm

MattyP910 retweeted

about 5 years ago

This will knock your🧦off – for today only, any new alumni donor who makes a gift of $15 or more, will receive a pair of @BOMBAS socks. Support @babson and a fellow alumni business>> https://t.co/hTaks2Aa1w

babsonalumni's tweet photo. This will knock your🧦off – for today only, any new alumni donor who makes a gift of $15 or more, will receive a pair of @BOMBAS socks. Support @babson and a fellow alumni business>> https://t.co/hTaks2Aa1w https://t.co/CY2m0ghTCC

over 5 years ago

@ScrubaDubCarWsh re r

over 5 years ago

@ScrubaDubCarWsh r.