Sublime

This push for simplicity had a purpose. Even though he was a high-tech CEO, Steve could put himself in the shoes of customers, people who cared nothing for the ins and outs of the software industry. He never wanted Apple software to overload people, especially when they might already be stretched by the bustle of their everyday lives.

Steve used demo reviews to judge for himself whether features met this basic usability standard. When he gave me the specific feedback to remove one of the two keyboards from my iPad demo, it had a cascade effect toward greater simplicity.

Then in grand Steve style he’d whip out something fun and exciting to surprise the board—a new prototype or a never-before-seen demo.

1. Innovative; it must have creativity


2. Useful


3. Beautiful


4. Easy to use


5. Unobtrusive, modest


6. Honest


7. Timeless ; it won’t become outdated


8. Doesn’t skip over any small details


9. Environmentally friendly and doesn’t waste resources


10. Not overly designed, “less is more”

If they had been on the job, I would have gone and done something else because the opportunity wouldn't have been there. But I saw a gap in the marketplace and I said, "We should do something that lets you do bigger spreadsheets, that's faster, that takes full advantage of the IBM PC, that integrates the graphing, so you could hit one button t

Over the next two weeks, he met with Omidyar outside of Benchmark’s office and discovered that he was an anomalous kind of engineer, one who was consumed by the idea of community—every other sentence, he spoke about the eBay community, building the community, learning from the community, protecting the community. It was a passion similar to what, i

I understand talking to the press as an essential part of marketing. At the same time, I understand that the consumers are the best marketers. If they love your product and you give them the tools to market it, they will.

The Setup