What are the five products you want to focus on? Get rid of the rest, because they’re dragging you down. They’re turning you into Microsoft. They’re causing you to turn out products that are adequate but not great.
Interpretation
Focus on a few key products to achieve greatness instead of spreading yourself too thin.
Walter Isaacson's quote emphasizes the importance of focusing on a limited number of key products to ensure they reach their highest potential. By attempting to manage too many products, one risks mediocrity and losing sight of what truly matters, akin to how Microsoft historically produced many adequate products rather than striving for greatness in fewer offerings.
In practice
In a startup pitch to investors to highlight the importance of focusing on a few innovative products.
I visited Jobs for the last time in his Palo Alto, Calif., home. He had moved to a downstairs bedroom because he was too weak to go up and down stairs. He was curled up in some pain, but his mind was still sharp and his humor vibrant
I've always had an abundance of material about the subjects of my biographies.
Polite and velvety leaders, who take care to avoid bruising others, are generally not as effective at forcing change.
for Steve, less is always more, simpler is always better. Therefore, if you can build a glass box with fewer elements, it’s better, it’s simpler, and it’s at the forefront of technology. That’s where Steve likes to be, in both his products and his stores.
When there are multiple versions of a story, you really have three ways to go. You can pick the most sensational version. You can try to balance things in your gut to get to what you think is the honest truth. Or you can err on the side of kindness.
The people who invented the twenty-first century were pot-smoking, sandal-wearing hippies from the West Coast like Steve, because they saw differently,” he said. "The hierarchical systems of the East Coast, England, Germany, and Japan do not encourage this different thinking. The sixties produced an anarchic mind-set that is great for imagining a world not yet in existence.
Years ago I wanted to buy an apartment in New York City. I was a single female - I had gone through my divorce - I had three children, I was in show business and black. It was, like, impossible.
Always asked, 'Whats the key to success?' The key is, there is no key. Be humble, hungry and always be the hardest worker in the room.
The fame you earn has a different taste from the fame that is forced upon you
I told you all I was going to be No. 1, and I did just that.
You cannot allow your desire to be a winner to be diminished by achieving success before and I believe there is room for improvement in every sportsman.
The most important shot in golf is the next one.
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