Steve Jobs on Hiring A Players: Great Teams Win
What Jobs talks about
Jobs says his business model is "The Beatles": talented people balancing each other so the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts. He argues that great things in business are never done by one person, but by a team.
He explains why Apple attracts talented people: the chance to make products that matter to millions, to influence how people experience technology, and to work in a company that is focused on a few things very well.
Jobs also describes Apple's operating style: a small, collaborative leadership team, strong debate, and a flat organization where the best ideas win. He sees hiring, trust, and focus as the foundation of Apple’s success.
Jobs speaks throughout, with a brief interviewer prompt near the end.
In his words
“My business model is The Beatles.”
“Great things in business are never done by one person.”
“Focus doesn't mean saying yes, but saying no.”
“We are the biggest startup on this planet.”
“The best idea has to win.”
Key points
- Great business results come from teams, not lone geniuses.
- Apple attracts talented people because they can shape products used by millions.
- Hiring well means evaluating people quickly and sharpening intuition.
- Focus means saying no to many things so the company can do a few things extremely well.
- Apple runs like a startup: small leadership team, high collaboration, and broad trust.
- The best idea should win, not hierarchy.
- Great people stay when they are empowered to make decisions and do their best work.
Full transcript
My business model is The Beatles. You know, they are four very talented people who take care of each other's negative tendencies. Oh, they balance each other and the overall amount is greater than the number of parts. And that's how I look at business. You know, great things in business are never done by one person. It's done by a team that consists of many people. Well, with The Beatles, when they were together, they did a very brilliant and innovative job. And when they were apart, they did a good job, but it was never the same again. And that's how I look at business. It's always about a team. I like to work with people who make products that will be used or felt by many people.
Where you have the opportunity to, in a very small way, influence their way, various things. Influence how people see the product. Or maybe even the world on a small scale. And I'm very lucky to be able to do that at Apple. That's how I look at business. I'm very lucky to be able to meet people who are very talented. And, oh, spend time with them. And that's my greatest strength. You have to be a very good talent seeker. No matter how smart you are, you need a great team. And you have to find a way to evaluate people quickly enough.
Make decisions without knowing them too much. And recruit them. Then see what the results are. Sharpen your intuition. And be able to build an organization that can eventually grow on its own. Because you need great people around you. We try to recruit people who are very smart. But we have a very simple organization. And we focus on doing a few things very well. And focus is difficult. Because focus doesn't mean saying yes, but saying no. So, we decided not to do a lot of things. So that we can focus on a few things. And do it well. And I think everyone who works in a company wants to do something great. They want to feel motivated with what they do.
And they want to be appreciated for that. When they do an amazing job. So, we just try to facilitate people to do the best job in their lives at Apple. And deliver it to 25 million of our customers. And that's very exciting. And when you're doing something and you know, if this succeeds, 25 million people will use it. That's very motivating. And not only 25 million of our customers. But other companies tend to follow us. You know how many years it takes. For them, but other companies tend to wonder what we do if it succeeds. And so, we can influence the whole industry. One of the keys to Apple, is that Apple is a very collaborative company. So...
So... Do you know how much we have in Apple? None. We don't have a lot. We are an organization like a startup. One person is responsible for an iPhone. One person is responsible for a Mac. One person is responsible for an iPhone. One person is responsible for global marketing. One person is responsible for operational. We are an organization like a startup. We are the biggest startup on this planet. And we... We all meet for three hours a week, and discuss everything we do in this business. And there is an amazing teamwork at the top of the company.
Which tends to become the amazing teamwork in the whole company. And teamwork depends on the belief that other people will finish their part without having to be monitored. But believe that they will finish their part. And that's what we do very well. And we are great at finding ways to share various things to the great team that we have. And everyone does the same thing. Often coordinating. And uniting everything into a product. We do that very well. So what I do all day is... Meet with the team. And work on ideas and solve problems. To make new products, new marketing programs, whatever it is.
And does anyone tell you you're wrong? Yes. I mean, other than cynical journalists. I mean, do people work for you? No, we have an amazing debate. And do you win everything? Oh, no. I hope so. Oh, look, you can't. If you want to recruit great people and make them keep working for you, you have to let them make a lot of decisions, and you have to run it with an idea, not a hierarchy. The best idea has to win. If not, great people won't last. But you're definitely more than just a facilitator running a meeting. You're clearly giving your own ideas. I give ideas, of course. What am I doing wrong if I don't?
Transcribed from the audio with OpenAI Whisper. Timestamps link to the video above. Errors are possible.