“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary” – Steve Jobs (1955-2011)He started Apple at age twenty. A company that matched Exxon Mobil and is one that has evangelists while everyone else has sales people. He was my hero in the business world despite his flaws. Yes, the famous Jobs temper has been much written about. He died a day after the launch of iPhone4S. He died on Vijaya Dashami – a day celebrated to mark the victory of good over evil according to mythology.Here are five things I want to thank you for:
- For the 317 patents that tell me that you got to keep inventing stuff and keep re-inventing yourself (see this link http://nyti.ms/n5Nr5y)
- For telling me that technology and liberal arts have to intersect at all times. Without “insanely great design” great technology can never connect to emotions.
- For creating Pixar that teaches me how to draw and tell stories like — Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Wall*E, Up and Toy Story 3 — all Oscar winners. The last two are two of the three only animated movies ever to be nominated for Best Picture.
- For teaching me how to love your work passionately. Watch him unveil iPad2 even when he was on medical leave.
- For giving us a view of how to chase dreams by staying hungry and staying foolish. He had said in the commencement speech at Stanford in 2005, “Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.” (Read the transcript of that speech here)
And one last thing …Life is short. But you will always have enough time to make a dent in the universe. Good bye Steve. Now time to make a dent “out there”.