Steve Jobs on how The Beatles influenced his approach to business (2003) [video] | Hacker News Reader

Steve Jobs on how The Beatles influenced his approach to business (2003) [video]

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64 pointsDoreenMichele30 comments

I think saying it influenced his approach is overstatement. He’s just using them as an analogy for something he already believed.

It didn't looked that way to me. I think his advice is right on the dot if you were doing startup and finding co-founder. The best co-founder you might find is the one who multiplies your capabilities as opposed to merely adds to yours (or in worst case subtracts from yours). For example, Wozniak alone couldn't have taken Apple to where it is and same goes for Jobs. Without each other, they would be at best some "10x engineer/salesman" in some company and forgotten. It is important to find partner who fills in the gaps (and vice versa) such that entire puzzle unlocks.

>It is important to find partner who fills in the gaps (and vice versa) such that entire puzzle unlocks.

Yes, it is important.

It is also generic Silicon Valley advice, of which there is no evidence that anyone can actually do it successfully ahead of starting a business, nor do we know how valuable it actually is.

Are the SV darlings flailing because the founders were unable to "find good partners", or did the businesses suck?

Finding good partner is as impossible as finding your passion. You may find it or you may not. I don't think there ever was how-to. Keep searching.

Shouldn't this be: Keep looking?

Because searching is looking for something in an algorithmic way?

Um... Finding someone who multiplies rather than merely adds...but then someone who fills in the gaps? Wouldn’t filling in the gaps be adding and not multiplying? Perhaps by multiplying, you mean adding the right pieces in the right way.

this sounds like one of those super arbitrary statements. like theoretically its correct to say "multiply" is better than "add" but in this case, it doesnt translate. i think they both added to each other is a completely reasonable statement and trying to say anything otherwise is just pointless nitpicking

I've also read that Steve admired how the Beatles were willing to experiment and change styles to keep up or even stay ahead of the competition. They refused to settle. Despite rocketing on the charts via "hold-hands" teenage dating tunes, they were also early experimenters in psychedelic rock, perhaps even helping to shape it to what it became. They also pivoted to a more heavy blues-ish style later in the decade as the bass-driven "heavy metal" sound grew in strength.

And I do agree with Job's statement that the Beatles "kept each other in check". Paul was a bit to sun-shiney at times, and John too sarcastic or wondering. When they intermixed and made sure they each glued or included these together in the right amount, their music was better. It was a yin-and-yang balance.

Jobs also admired Bob Dylan's bravery for moving from acoustic to electric guitar despite many fans grumbling, calling him a "sellout". Job's allegedly had a recording of fans booing Dylan's new electric guitar during a performance, and responding to the angry fans by yelling at a stage worker to "turn it up!" on the amplifier. Intentionally ticking off fans is a big risk in a music career. (Jobs didn't attend the concert, but collected bootleg tapes as a hobby.)

That definitely sounds like a Job's-style move, being he was known to remove features on devices that he felt would soon be obsolete despite market ubiquity. Whether those music artist incidences influenced Jobs or merely cemented his tendencies is hard to say. It seems he made an effort to learn from the masters, though. The fast-changing music industry mirrors many aspects of rapid technology change.

“The total was greater than the sum of the parts” -Steve Jobs on The Beatles

Does anyone have a non-Twitter link? I choose to avoid that platform for ethical and mental health reasons. Thanks.

That's where he stole the company name from.

Define "stole".

Borrow, appropriate, copy, create a similar mark somewhere near the boundary of trademark infringement.

Are we still riding the ghost of his dick so hard that parent poster can't use colloquial language?

The poster can use whatever language they want. I just wonder, how does that apply.

I knew about the Apple Corp and the trademark issues with Apple, but somehow I didn't know The Beatles owned Apple Corp (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Corps).

I heard a rumor the other day that the company name "Apple" comes from Alan Turing's method of suicide. Appropriating it from The Beatles seems more likely now.

Alan Turing lived in an era where being murdered was arguably more probable for him than suicide (hard to know what happened). The name Apple being derived from the death of Turing is unlikely nonetheless.

I bet that if you ask Tim Cook he’d say Genesis. Great when led by Peter Gabriel but even better when led by Phil Collins.

This guy was just a person.

Every famous/great man was/is just a person. What’s your point?

I remember when Jobs died every single post on the front page of HN was about him. Yet a week later when Dennis Ritchie died it was hardly mentioned.

Perhaps he is over venerated.

Dennis Ritchies death was not “hardly mentioned” — there were sizeable obits even in the mainstream press and it goes without saying HN discussed his legacy too across multiple days and weeks:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3105526

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3106222

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3107244

https://hn.algolia.com/?q=dennis+ritchie

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/oct/13/dennis-ri...

https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/14/technology/dennis-ritchie...

https://news.ycombinator.com/front?day=2011-10-13 this link probably works better

Do you also remember something Ritchie did in 200x? Jobs was on stage introducing iPhone in 2007 and iPad 2010. If the last thing he did were the introduction of Mac in 2014 there would not be much talk anout him either.

Ah, so that's what makes a man great. Not their accomplishments and failures, but how aggressively they self promote.

That’s the difference between news and history.

You jest, but sadly yes.

Those who are mostly promoted by others tend to be remembered for reasons they might not prefer.

I said nothing about greatness. Just pointed out that being public makes someone more likely to be talked about after death.

Because Jobs was a more influential and captivating figure, in my opinion obviously.

>What’s your point?

That talking about how one of the most successful business men of all-time took advice from the most famous band of all-time is vapid.

That's not true. Some are mixed with fable to an extent such that they aren't people any more.

Jesus. Guan Yu. Siddhartha Gautama. Winston Churchill. Steve Jobs.

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