Steve Jobs on Apple and Value, in 1997

In 1997, when Apple was close to bankruptcy, Steve Jobs returned and gave a talk to the company. It’s one of the most instructive pieces of business thinking I’ve encountered.

The core of what he said: Apple had lost sight of what it stood for. It had become a company that competed on features and specs and market share. And it was losing.

The shift Jobs made was back to values. Apple doesn’t exist to make computers. It exists to help people who believe they can change the world do just that.

From that value position, everything else follows: the products, the marketing, the design, the pricing, the culture.

Two things I take from this:

1. Value precedes product. You don’t start with what you make. You start with what you believe. The product is an expression of that belief, not the belief itself.

2. Clarity of value creates coherence. When you know what you stand for, every decision becomes easier. You know what to say yes to and what to say no to. You know what your work is for.

What do you stand for? Not what do you make. What do you believe?