Steve Jobs on Failure
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Published 2011-10-31
Steve Jobs 1994 Interview
Interview date: November 11, 1994
Interviewer: John McLaughlin, Historian and President of the Santa Clara Valley Historical Association
Interviewer's question:
"Correct me if I'm wrong. When you were starting Apple, or maybe beforehand, the rumor that I heard was that you went to talk to like Gordon Moore and Bob Noyce, and at Xerox PARC. And actually, these doors were open to you, which is unusual. I believe it's unusual compared to other places in the world where you can call the CEO of a company and say . . ."
Transcript:
"I've actually always found something to be very true, which is most people don't get those experiences because they never ask. I've never found anybody that didn't want to help me if I asked them for help. I always call them up. I called up, this will date me, but I called up Bill Hewlett when I was 12 years old, and he lived in Palo Alto. His number was in the phone book. And he answered the phone himself and said, "Yes?" And I said, "Hi, I'm Steve Jobs. I'm 12 years old. I'm a student in high school, and I want to build a frequency counter. And I was wondering if you had any spare parts I could have." And he laughed and he gave me the spare parts to build this frequency counter, and he gave me a job that summer in Hewlett-Packard working on the assembly line putting nuts and bolts together on frequency counters. He got me a job in the place that built them. And I was in heaven. And I've never found anyone who said no or hung up the phone when I called. I just asked. And when people ask me, I try to be as responsive. You know, to pay that debt of gratitude back. Most people never pick up the phone and call. Most people never ask. And that's what separates sometimes people who do things from people who just dream about them. You've got to act, and you've got to be willing to fail. You've got to be willing to crash and burn, you know, with people on the phone, with starting a company, with whatever. If you're afraid of failing, you won't get very far."
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All Comments (21)
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Genius as always. One tiny correction. He said, "if you are afraid of failing you will not get very far." You can be afraid, but you have to be willing to act regardless. It is not the fear, it is the lack of action.
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There ARE people who would refuse to help if you asked for it. Those who refuse to help are sometimes the closest friends that you think you have. I've asked a "close friend" before on how to switch careers to a field that I knew his wife was good at. It was like pulling teeth to get any kind of information at all. I figured out later on that he didn't want me to change for the better. He wanted me to stay the same (who he thought I was), and stay at my socioeconomic level (which was much lower than his level). At one point, I told him that I hated being poor, and his response to me was "Being poor isn't that bad." And by the way, he's never been poor a day in his life. He liked the status quo as it was.
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"if you're afraid of failing then you won't get very far" such a powerful statement, and very, very true. R.I.P Steve Jobs
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This is amazing. Love the nostalgia in the video itself but also in his story. What a small world it once was in the tech world.
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To anyone watching this for some motivation: You got this, don't worry. Just take a deep breath and one step at a time.
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This is one of the channels that gave me the courage to start my YouTube channel 2 months ago about self development. Now I have 189 subs and almost 82 hours of watch time. I know it’s not comparable with others but I’m still proud I started because I’ve been learning so many lessons that I couldn’t have learned without getting started in the 1st place.
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Idk how I discovered this on my feed this morning but man I’m so thankful to have found it
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Whenever I feel fear I come back here, and his soul always leading me to the special experience, yes it is very true that we tend do feel fear and lose beautiful chances that is 'just there'. The thing you need is, a little, little more courage to go to explore the uncertain, I always feel grace from your ingenious mind, and I just would love to say thank you to Steve always- you are truly inspiring. You are such an entrepreneur but you are amazing artist at the same time :)
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This is something I am fascinated by. Whenever I build up the courage and ask for help, there wasn't even a single time when someone hung up on me; I still wonder why many people have this resistance to not build up that courage. Thanks @SCVHA!
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Really good advice. There are some people who refuse giving help, but it's still worth asking.
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stumbled upon this video 12 years after its date of upload and at the right time when i needed to hear this
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Thanks! Brilliant, profound, and very timely for anyone
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This is unbelievably accurate. I have gotten so many opportunities (most of them in fact) but literally asking. If I come across someone that can help me, I literally just ask for their help in a polite way and they have pretty much all said yes. Most people just don't ask.
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after 11 years i found this masterpiece 🔥🔥
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Thanks for the video..needed it
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A man who changed the whole dynamics of operating systems of cell phones and computers.
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Huge inspiration, I look up to him so much. May he rest in peace.
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The Evolution of Apple: Rare Vintage Photos from the Company's Early Days - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Asq03z5bX04
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Thank you Santa Clara Valley Historical Association!
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The best part of this video is, 'Hello, I'm Steve Jobs. I'm 12 years old and and I'm in high school."
