Generational Run
Steve Jobs
techMarch 28, 2026
grows up adopted in Silicon Valley before it was Silicon Valleybuilds a computer in his garage with his buddy Wozthey call it Appleit worksApple goes public, becomes a millionaire at 25gets kicked out of his own company by a guy he hiredthis is like getting evicted from a house you built with your bare handsstarts a new company called NeXTnobody buys NeXT computersalso buys Pixar from George Lucas for $5 million because why notPixar makes Toy Storythe first fully computer-animated movie in historyPixar IPO makes him a billionairethe side project made more money than the main projectmeanwhile Apple is dying without himthey're making beige boxes nobody wantsApple literally almost goes bankruptthey come crawling back and buy NeXT just to get Steve backthe man who got fired is now CEO againfirst thing he does: kills 70% of Apple's productseveryone panicsintroduces the iMac — a see-through computer in candy colorspeople lose their mindsintroduces the iPod — a thousand songs in your pocketthe music industry will never recoveropens Apple Stores and everyone says retail is deadApple Stores become the highest revenue per square foot of any retailer on earthintroduces the iPhone in 2007"an iPod, a phone, and an internet communicator"the crowd doesn't get it at firstthey willthe iPhone changes everythingliterally everythingevery phone before it becomes a fossil overnightintroduces the iPad and people say "it's just a big iPhone"sells 300 million of themwears the same black turtleneck and jeans every single dayturns it into a power movehis product launches become cultural events bigger than most concerts"one more thing" becomes the most anticipated phrase in techtakes Apple from near-bankruptcy to the most valuable company on earthbattling pancreatic cancer the entire timestill shows up to do keynotesstill obsesses over every pixel, every curve, every detailpasses away in 2011the world genuinely mournsApple keeps running on the playbook he wroteit's now worth $3 trillionhe made you care about fontshe made you care about packaginghe made you pay $1,000 for a phone and feel like you got a dealThe run that made you pay $1,000 for a phone and feel grateful. 📈
The run that made you pay $1,000 for a phone and feel grateful. 📈