Steve Jobs on Pixar and the Beatles

60 Minutes overtime interview about Pixar and business · 2003
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What Jobs talks about

Jobs explains how Pixar grew out of George Lucas’s effort to clean up film by digitizing it, then says he bought the group and founded Pixar with Ed Catmull in 1986. He frames that origin as a belief in a dream, both spiritually and financially.

He says his model of business is the Beatles: talented people balancing one another so the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. For him, the biggest work in business is always a team effort, at Pixar and at Apple.

Jobs also reflects on himself, saying his biggest strength was being around incredibly talented people, and that success can bring arrogance. He talks about being fired from Apple, says it may have been the best thing that happened to him, and calls life mysterious and surprising.

Jobs speaks throughout, with brief interviewer prompts and a 60 Minutes host introducing the segment.

In his words

“My business model is the Beatles.”
“The big things in business are never done by one person.”
“I have been very lucky to meet incredibly talented people.”
“There would be no Pixar if it hadn't happened.”
“Life is always mysterious and surprising”

Key points

  • Pixar began from a technical problem: cleaning up film digitally.
  • Jobs says he believed in Ed Catmull’s dream of making the first computer-animated feature.
  • His business model is the Beatles: great people balancing each other.
  • Big things in business are done by teams, not by one person.
  • His greatest strength is spending time with incredibly talented people.
  • Success can feed arrogance, and setbacks can be transformative.
  • Being fired from Apple ultimately led to Pixar and a different path.

Full transcript

60 minutes, overtime. You get something that you don't look at. And in this case, the problems are obvious. You get a dirty picture. Well, when George was making the first Star Wars, he had to combine many pieces of film to create a single picture. Some with the models, some with the painted backgrounds, some with the human characters, some with the special effects.

And when he finished combining all those pieces of film to make just one picture of his movie, it was dirty. And he, being the genius he was, thought, who knows if, combining them digitally, they could be totally clean. Because when you make a digital copy of an analog recording, it's perfect. And it turns out that if you make a digital copy of a film, it's perfect. Sharper, clearer. Sharper, clearer, without disturbances. So George hired this guy named Ed Catmull, who was at the New York Institute of Technology, to come and build a computer group for him and figure out how to solve this problem. And they succeeded. And George was the first to do it. And after the problem was solved, George decided that he had solved the issue and decided that he would sell that computer group.

And I ended up buying it. I met Ed and he told me that his dream was to make the first animated film on the computer in the world. And I believed in that dream, both spiritually and financially. And together we founded Pixar in 1986. 60 minutes overtime. My business model is the Beatles. They were four very talented guys who kept the negative trends of each other under control. They balanced each other and the total was higher than the sum of the parts. And that's how I see business. The big things in business are never done by one person. They are done by a team of people.

And we at Pixar have just that. And we also have it in Apple. And this is what allows me to do all this. Well, you know, when the Beatles were together they did a really brilliant and innovative job. And when they broke up they did a good job. But it was never the same thing. And I see business in the same way. It's always and really a team effort. 60 minutes overtime. Well, as a person, what is your biggest strength? I have been very lucky to meet incredibly talented people. And to spend time with them. So this has been my biggest strength. And what is your biggest weakness?

You know, I think we all have to look at ourselves with arrogance. What knocks on the door every time you succeed? Have you lived it in the first person? Oh, sure, for sure. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you had an incredible moment of glory with the initial success of Apple. And then other competitors arrived and well, it brings you back to the ground. Well, as you may know, I was practically fired from Apple when I was 30. And I was invited back 12 years later. So it was a difficult moment when it happened. But maybe it was the best thing that ever happened to me. There would be no Pixar if it hadn't happened.

And so, you know, you just have to move on. Life goes on and you learn from it. We'll be here, but you were fired from Apple when you were 30. They asked you to come back when you were how old? 40, 42, M, H, M. Did you think at that moment how sweet it was? No, I thought at that moment, you know. What a strange turn life takes. You know, life is always mysterious and surprising and you never know what awaits you behind the corner, so... 60 minutes overtime. Thank you.

Thank you for coming today. Let's talk about Steve Jobs as a person. Thank you. What drives you? Steve Jobs. I like working with people who create products that will be used or experienced by many people. Where you have the possibility to influence, even in a small part, how things go. Influence the way people look at a product or maybe even the world, in our little E.U.M. I'm very lucky, I can do it in Apple. Here's how it looks. Very thin. You know, I still believe that the IT industry is still at its peak and that there is a huge, an incredible amount of innovation yet to come. M, I am very optimistic about the future of the IT industry.

www.microsoft.com www.microsoft.com

Transcribed from the audio with OpenAI Whisper. Timestamps link to the video above. Errors are possible.