Who they are
Co-founder of Apple, Pixar, and NeXT. The defining product leader of the modern technology era. Jobs's contribution was not engineering — it was taste, focus, and the willingness to say no to 99% of what a company could do in order to make 1% of it perfect. The iPhone, iPod, Mac, and iPad weren't just products; they were arguments about what computing could feel like. Died in 2011, but his operating principles — obsession with craft, end-to-end ownership of the experience, brutal product prioritization — remain the gold standard Karthik measures against.
Core Ideas
- Focus — saying no to a thousand things
- Craft as Strategy — obsessing over details nobody asked for
- End-to-End Experience — owning hardware, software, retail, brand
- Reality Distortion Field — the power of conviction to bend teams toward impossible standards