Jobs: It's equally important to decide what not to do and decide what to do

It is equally important to decide what not to do and decide what to do. --Jobs, 1997

Tren Griffin, in his own post, begins with Steve Jobs to tell readers that the discussion in this article will be limited to what Steve Jobs gave him about business, not his personality, and so on. Meanwhile, the time jobs said these words was also important to understand his words.

1. In computer hardware, if the boss is lucky, the best employees and the average employee may be 2 and 1. In the auto industry, it's probably the difference between 2 and 1. But in the software world, good programmers are at least 25 and 1 different. The secret of my success is that we only hire the best people in the world. Especially when you're in a field where the difference can reach 25 to 1, young people, that's definitely worth it. "1995"

The problem is, on the hardware, you can't create a computer that's a lot better than the others, and too many people know what to do. If you're lucky you can do twice or one-second times as much hardware as anyone else, but in six months everyone will be on the run. But the software is different, and the fact is, I think we've achieved a leap in software for at least five years. "1994"

The phenomenon described by Mr. Jobs, in particular, combined with supply-side economies of scale and economies of demand, created myths. This shows that the electronic product industry is non-linear in terms of output. Once the product is digitized, a small advantage tends to result in a winner-all.

The power law distribution in business is also related to this "winner-all" phenomenon. The great wealth of the founders of a handful of technology companies is one of the results of this phenomenon. Another example is that the power-law distributions in VCs ' bonds and the financial returns between venture capitalists are part of the Black Swan theory (unpredictable, important rare events, unexpected but changing everything). Fiscal results tend to create unequal income distribution is not a new phenomenon, just as the rich are richer, similar to historical records. The newer part is that the digital system is the accelerator for the Matthew effect (richer people are richer) phenomenon.

It's not an article about technology, but it's worth noting that the second piece of hardware is what Jobs said in 1994. NeXT, a computer company founded by Apple when he was sacked in 1985, just pulled out of the hardware industry in 1993, so Mr. Jobs has narrowed the original pattern to a software company. The IPhone was released in 2007, and did jobs contradict himself? Another wise friend pointed out:

"Ironically, the only thing that makes the IPhone stand out is its hardware." In particular, larger screens and more sensitive touches than any previous phone. Without innovative hardware, multi-touch and IOS systems are meaningless. ”

Mr Jobs may have meant that software was another factor that kept Apple's barriers longer. Hardware does offer some considerable advantage, but the advantage is not as great as software, so hardware innovation must be durable. In other words, jobs may have meant that the barriers created by the hardware were more precarious and therefore needed constant innovation. Hardware "twice times or one-second times stronger than opponents" is also an advantage. If we could ask him in person, how good would he be?

2. If we do not eat ourselves, we will be eaten by others. "From the Isaacson version of Steve Jobs, 2013"

In an environment that conforms to the Black Swan theory, a powerful non-linear phenomenon can help you and instantly destroy everything. A mistake that may have been made many years ago will eventually lead to serious financial losses. Bill Gates said to me many years ago, "the things that make me work and worry about" are things that can make the power of the network effect drop.

3. If you are hungry, if you are ignorant. "2005"

Nassim Taleb wrote in his book, "Anti-fragility," that the words of Steve Jobs in his famous California speech might be that when you see the upper limit of a thing, you should stay sane while you are getting crazy. Any attempt or error can be seen as an expression of choice, a time when one can identify the best outcome and keep working towards it. I have recently written that in the VC industry, you can generate economic returns by reaping the benefits of choice. "Thirst for knowledge" is to keep an eye on the opportunity, to wait patiently, but to strike quickly when the time is right. "Modesty" refers to the challenge of traditional wisdom when there is a great potential for ascent and a relatively small landslide.

4. In everything we do, I always want to have and control the most basic technology. "2004"

Because Woz and I started the company when the two people do everything, we are not particularly good at working with others. I think Apple will do better if it can have more cooperative parts in its genes. "2005"

We have to give up Apple to win, the idea that Microsoft must lose. The idea we need is for Apple to win, and Apple has to do a great job. It would be great if other companies could help us. "1997"

People like Steve Jobs, Malone and Ellen Mouske, like anyone in the tech community, understand the business issues associated with wholesale transfer pricing. In short, wholesale transfer pricing is a company's low-cost offering unique products XYZ to B Company, so that a company can increase the wholesale price to profit from B Company. Before the IPhone, Mr Jobs had the power to reject the wholesale transfer pricing power of music holders in a ipod/itunes business model.

5. Apple's core is not cost cutting. Apple's core is to break through the embarrassing dilemma. "2004"

Many companies choose to streamline their institutions, which may be the right thing for them. But we chose another path. "2010"

In the technology industry, stopping investment in research and development means inevitable, and often non-linear, recessions. Many companies pay for their own stock buybacks rather than for investment research and development, which is tantamount to eating the seeds they've worked for a long time, and is an almost suicidal act with a huge negative effect.

6. A small thing can take years. It takes at least five years, and more likely, 7-8 years to do anything important. "1995"

Too many founders don't know what promises they make when they start a business. It takes years to create something really good. Yes, a few people have tried SaaS (software as a service) over the years, but first, it's not common, and second, there are no Apple, Microsoft or Google-grade companies. The opposite of this view is that not every company has to change the world. It's good to have a small, profitable company. Not every company has to get a VC.

7. My management model is the Beatles style. I say that because every member of their band is preventing others from going astray, there is a similar mechanism for mutual checks. When they were dissolved, they could not make good works at all. This is a small team of chemical reactions, its chemical reaction effect than simple addition and effect much better. So Lennon prevented McCartney from being too trendy, while the latter prevented the former from drifting to nine, a fantastic combination. As for Harrison, I think in the late stage he is a great part of the soul of the band. I don't know what the drummer Starr did. "2003"

This is a very confusing, but he did say so it is still worth our thinking. A friend familiar with Jobs said old Joe was looking for McCartney's "control" and he adored Lennon. The way jobs interact with others is not like the Beatle band. He means more like saying that everyone on earth has strengths and weaknesses, and that different personalities can balance each other to form a very powerful team. By having a diverse team--including a complete set of skills and talents--if you work together well, the team's output will be far more than the simple few work pieces add up. This magical effect may be positive or negative. Venture capitalist Bruce Dunlevie once said that there will be a unique team every once in a while and then something magical will happen. These chemical reactions are never identical, but there are always some similarities.

8. Creativity is about connecting things. When you ask creative people how they do things, they always feel a little guilty because they don't really do anything, they just see something. After a while everything seemed clear. "1996"

Back to the beginning again ... I am also free to enter one of the most creative periods of my life. "2005"

There are a lot of things that inspire my creativity, but sometimes it's hard to see what's right in front of you. For example, Jobs said:

In the last few years of NeXT, I really understood the two things that I saw in 1976 at Xerox Parker Research Center: One of course is plane interaction, the other is the sophisticated personal computer network that I recently realized, the "interpersonal computing" I'm talking about ( Interpersonal computer interaction). In PARC, they have 200 computers connected by email and file servers to form an online cooperative area that they use every day. I didn't realize it because I was so excited just because of the plane interaction.

It cost me, to some extent, that it took the entire industry ten years to finally make a huge breakthrough on the second thing-using computers to help people collaborate rather than just treating it as a word processor or an isolated production tool. "1991"

When I write articles, I find that people especially like and are good at learning from metaphors. Connecting things in different ways is not only a good way to inspire creativity, but also a good way to transfer knowledge. I had to quote Charlie Munger: "Only learn how to learn, you will progress." There is nothing in my long life that benefits me more than continuing to learn. When Jobs said, "Back to the beginning again", I strongly suspect that he is expounding the Buddhist monk Suzuki Shunryu: "There are many possibilities in the minds of beginners, but few in the brains of an expert." ”

9. I think the Apple computer is a little bit better, that the people who work with it happen to be the best computer scientists in the world who might have been musicians, poets, artists, zoologist or historians. "1996"

This idea is still the usual Charlie Munger's "Intellectual model" philosophy: "What is the basis, secular wisdom?" The first rule is that if you just remember a few individual facts and try to recall them, you don't really know anything. This format is not very useful if knowledge cannot be linked together to form a theoretical grid. You have to know the big concepts in some theoretical frameworks, and then use all of them rather than a few concepts. Many people are trained to be a model--for economics, they try to solve all the problems in the same way. "Many professors only consider their own theories and think that they are omnipotent." For example, a nutritionist may think he can cure everything, or a chiropractic thinks he can cure depression. This is the typical feature of "people with hammers" who feel "everything looks like nails", although it may not be a nail. In the words of Philip Tetlock, sometimes becoming a professional is not a good generalist.

10. It is thought that concentration means saying what you are already focusing on. But not necessarily. It is also possible to say no to just 100 good ideas. You must choose carefully. "2004"

The innovative approach would say no to 100 things. For companies and products, it could be. We are always thinking about which new markets are accessible, but only by saying no can you focus on what really matters. "1998"

Concentration is very helpful. Focusing on something that can be done is not so much a task as a manufacturing industry barrier. Bill Gurley also points out: "If everyone is right, the pursuit of the right does not guarantee excellent performance." ”

11. I believe that about half of the factors that distinguish successful entrepreneurs from unsuccessful ones are pure diligence. "1995"

I have discussed missionary and greedy entrepreneurs in previous post. Missionaries are often more diligent and more likely to create a company that has far-reaching influence or that changes the world. Bill Gates once said: "We are naturally more optimistic, suitable for the creation of large companies." Each of our myths about creating products and learning new things has been achieved. Of course, opponents have also achieved. "If I could become a fly on the wall and fly back to a conversation that changed the tech world, I would have chosen the last meeting between Mr. Gates and Steve Jobs." Finally, when Silicon Valley marketing leader Regis McKenna introduced jobs to talk to Gen Don Valentine, the latter asked why you sent the traitor to me. Here, he uses "traitors" to describe jobs as a person who breaks the routine and creates new value for the world.