Apple: This Advice Steve Jobs Gave Tim Cook Changed His Career Forever

© Apple

Apple is one of the most successful companies on the planet today. But it wasn’t always like this. On the contrary, when Tim Cook joined the Cupertino firm in 1998, the company was in dire financial straits. But this adventure was above all an opportunity for him to rub shoulders with the man who would become his mentor: Steve Jobs.

Opening up to debate and changing your mind

During a conference given in 2022, the leader recalled a particularly important lesson taught to him by the co-founder of the Apple brand: never have too preconceived or fixed ideas and open up to debate in order to move forward:

You could always change his mind if you had the best idea. We changed course. That’s why it worked so well. Jobs would often play devil’s advocate and take a position he didn’t believe in in order to spark a lively discussion. He thought that was the best way to learn.

Among the most prolific discussions between the two men, the iPhone and how it should be marketed figure prominently. For example, Jobs envisioned a revenue-sharing arrangement with the phone companies. Tim Cook, on the other hand, thought that a subsidy model where the phone company would pay part of the cost of the iPhone up front and then recoup it through subscriptions was the best way to go.

Apple started by using Steve Jobs' idea. Later, Tim Cook took the reins and applied his method, which resulted in an explosion of sales. We know the rest, this smartphone is now a real golden goose for the Cupertino company.

Let's also highlight how successful Tim Cook's presidency has been. The company's market capitalization has thus increased from $365 billion in 2011 to $3,550 billion at the time of writing.

This other major lesson from Steve Jobs

Let's remember that Steve Jobs used to give another piece of advice to young people: be bold. He also specified in 1994:

I have always found one thing to be very true, which is that most people don’t have these experiences because they never ask for them. I have never found someone who wouldn’t help me if I asked for help.

And the entrepreneur adds: “You have to be willing to fail and burn out whether it’s with people on the phone, building a business or anything else. If you are afraid of failing, you will not go far”.

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