#235 Steve Jobs (The Pixar Story)
What I learned from reading To Pixar And Beyond: My Unlikely Journey with Steve Jobs to Make Entertainment History by Lawrence Levy.
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[7:48] Steve jobs had been a Silicon Valley's most visible celebrity but that made it all the more glaring that he had not had a hit in a long time —a very long time.
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[13:35] Why would I join a company that had been struggling for sixteen years and whose payroll was paid every month out of the personal checkbook of its owner? I had not realized how dire Pixar's financial situation was. It had no cash, no reserves, and it depended for its funds on the whim of a person whose reputation for volatility was legendary.
[14:05] There is no a better advertisement than a demo.
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[16:03] There was nothing normal about me. My drive was not normal. My vision of where I wanted to go in life was not normal. The whole idea of a conventional existence was like Kryptonite to me. —Arnold
[16:31] I looked at my start-up clients and to me they were on an adventure. I yearned for the kind of adventure they were on.
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[17:46] I regard myself as guardian of the company's soul.
[19:06] Pixar has this amazing collection of talent doing work that no one has seen before. Now it's time to turn that into a business. —Steve Jobs
[22:01] Steve had an almost permanent intensity about him, like he was always in top gear.
[28:25] Pixar was embarked on a lonely courageous quest through terrain, into which neither it nor anyone else had ever ventured.
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[31:37] Home video was turning animated feature films into big business. Bigger than we had ever imagined.
[32:24] There was no modern precedent for taking an independent animation company public.
[36:54] Look at the value of the major Hollywood studios and you'll see their library of films is really significant.
[39:27] There was no part of Steve that bought into the idea of making products that might not all have a shot at greatness.
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[48:40] Steve once told me that the gestation of great products takes much longer than it appears. What seems to emerge from nowhere belies a long process of development, trials, and missteps.
[53:46] The problem with success, even a little success, is that it changes you. You are no longer walking along the same precipice that drove you to do great work in the first place. Success can take the edge away.
[54:16] Creative vision does not spring forth fully formed.
[59:33] Fear and ego conspire to rein in creativity, and it is easy to allow creative inspiration to take a back seat to safety.
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[1:06:41] Once Steve decided what he wanted in a negotiation, he developed something akin to a religious conviction about it. In his mind, if he didn't get what he wanted, nothing else would take its place, so he'd walk away. This made Steve an incredibly strong negotiator.
[1:10:52] One never knows if an event that appears detrimental is in fact part of a larger pattern that we cannot see.
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