Some Lessons from 'Steve Jobs' by Walter Isaacson

Reading Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson motivates you to follow your passion. When you read Jobs views like - intuitive understanding over logical analysis, it makes you question conventional wisdom, but the check point is everyone can't have intuitive thinking like Steve Jobs.

I have put down notes on some key things from book. They are not detailed but very short pointers which will serve as a quick reference:

Products:

• Care about details of the parts you don't see, something Steve learnt from his father. He ensured even the circuitry you don't see is a beauty.
  
• Make products so simple that they don't need manuals. This was his takeaway from Atari games, since the did not come with any manuals.
• Art/ design and engineering can go hand-in-hand and it is when they do, that great products are made. Follow this with terrific marketing and you have a runaway success.
  
• Simplicity is the ultimate perfection. God is in the details

Companies:

• Apple started with this marketing philosophy - Empathy, Focus, Impute
• A very important thing for lasting companies is to know when to 'Reinvent'
• Deciding what not to do is an important as deciding what to do
• If you don't cannibalize yourself, someone else will
  
• Figure out what customers want, before they themselves do.

Personal Growth:

• Pursue your passions. The fact that death is inevitable makes you realize that there is no reason not to pursue your passion. You don't have anything to lose.
  
• Pretend to be completely in control and people will assure you are
• Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish
• The early Zen influence made him to do things for passion rather than materialism. His personal drives and ego needs made him build innovative products and lasting companies. This is something which is professed in many eastern philsophies.
  

His commencement speech at Stanford is a not-to-miss. Even if you don't read the book, the speech is a must watch.