To Pixar and Beyond is Lawrence Levy's account of how he and Steve Jobs transformed Pixar from a struggling graphics company into a global entertainment giant. The book provides insights into Pixar's creative and business strategies, as well as Levy's personal journey working closely with Jobs. It offers lessons applicable to both professional and personal life.
The Instant Image provides a detailed account of Edwin Land's life and his contributions to photography, including the development of the SX-70 camera and his theories on color vision. The book also examines the growth of Polaroid as a company and its influence on the art and business of photography.
This book is a detailed exposé of Bill Gates' life and the early days of Microsoft. The authors follow Gates from his childhood as an unkempt thirteen-year-old computer hacker to his present-day status as the most powerful and feared player in the computer industry. The book provides a balanced analysis of Gates' business triumphs and his driven personality, including his singular accomplishments, brattiness, arrogance, and hostility. It also delves into the intense atmosphere at Microsoft, the company's strategic positioning, and key events such as the partnership with IBM and the development of MS-DOS and Windows[1][3][5].
This book tells the fascinating story of Samuel Zemurray, who started as a roadside banana peddler and eventually built a sprawling empire involving banana cowboys, mercenary soldiers, Honduran peasants, CIA agents, and American statesmen. Rich Cohen's narrative explores Zemurray's rise to power, his involvement in overthrowing Central American governments, and his complex role in American history. The book delves into Zemurray's personal life, his business exploits, and the moral implications of his actions, painting a nuanced portrait of a man driven by an indomitable will to succeed.
In 'Creative Selection,' Ken Kocienda offers a detailed look at Apple's software development process during his 15-year tenure at the company. The book focuses on the 'creative selection' process, a method of iterative development through continuous demos and feedback. Kocienda shares stories of his work on key products like the iPhone, iPad, and Safari web browser, and discusses the essential elements of innovation at Apple, including inspiration, collaboration, craft, diligence, decisiveness, taste, and empathy. The book provides insights into the working culture and decision-making processes under Steve Jobs' leadership.
This biography explores the life of Edwin Land, a pioneering scientist and entrepreneur who revolutionized photography with instant film. It delves into his inventions, entrepreneurial spirit, and contributions to science and technology. Land's relentless curiosity and innovative spirit are highlighted throughout the book.
This book offers a detailed account of Edwin Land's life and his role in founding Polaroid, highlighting his innovative approach to science and technology. It provides insights into the development of instant photography and the company's history from its inception to the 1980s.
This book is an autobiography by Estée Lauder, the founder of the Estée Lauder Companies. It recounts her early life, her encounter with her uncle who taught her how to make skin products, and her subsequent journey in building a cosmetics business. The book covers her business triumphs, high society interactions, and the challenges she faced in expanding her company both domestically and internationally. It also highlights her innovative marketing techniques, such as intentionally spilling perfume at Harrods to gain customer attention. The autobiography is a mix of personal reminiscence, business insights, and the tension between her career and family life.
This book tells the remarkable story of Polaroid, from its origins during World War II to its rise as a technological and cultural icon. Written by Christopher Bonanos, it chronicles the life and work of Edwin Land, the inventor of instant photography, and the company's evolution through its innovative products, including the SX-70 camera. The book also explores Polaroid's interactions with famous artists like Ansel Adams and Andy Warhol, and its eventual decline in the face of digital photography. Bonanos' narrative is engaging and well-illustrated, capturing the essence of Polaroid's influence on photography and popular culture[2][4][5].
This biography, written by Roland Lazenby, delves into the life of Michael Jordan, from his early days in North Carolina to his rise as a global ambassador for basketball. It covers his growth from a skinny rookie to a legendary player and business icon, highlighting his ruthless competitiveness and insatiable drive. The book draws on Lazenby's personal relationships with Jordan's coaches, friends, teammates, and family members, as well as interviews with Jordan himself, to provide a detailed and compelling portrait of the man behind the myth.
In 'Personal History', Katharine Graham recounts her extraordinary life, from her childhood in a wealthy but emotionally isolated family to her marriage to the charismatic Philip Graham, who struggled with manic-depression and eventually committed suicide. The book chronicles her transformation from a housewife to the chairman of The Washington Post, detailing her involvement in significant historical events such as the Pentagon Papers and the Watergate scandal. Graham's memoir is praised for its frankness, candor, and historical significance, offering insights into her personal struggles, her professional growth, and the evolution of the women's movement and the media industry.
This riveting biography visits the spectacular life of Edwin Land, perhaps the most important yet least known inventor and technology entrepreneur in American history. Land’s most famous achievement was the creation of a revolutionary film and camera system that could produce a photographic print moments after the picture was taken. The book takes you behind the scenes of his discoveries, triumphs, and defeats, including his involvement over four decades with top-secret U.S. military intelligence efforts during World War II and the Cold War. It also details the epic legal battle between Polaroid and Kodak, one of the most significant patent litigations of the 20th century. The book is a biographical legal thriller that offers many lessons for 21st-century entrepreneurs.
In this book, Ed Catmull shares insights on how to build and maintain a creative culture within an organization. Drawing from his experiences at Pixar, Catmull discusses the importance of open communication, risk-taking, and protecting the creative process. The book includes candid discussions, anecdotes about Pixar's film development, and lessons on managing innovation and creativity. It emphasizes the need for a nurturing work environment and the importance of storytelling in business.
This book provides a rich and revealing account of Steve Jobs' life, drawing on exclusive access to his family, former inner circle executives, and top people at Apple, Pixar, and Disney. It humanizes Jobs by explaining his behavior and highlighting his growth from a brash founder to a mature and effective leader. The narrative includes stories never told before and offers a fresh perspective on Jobs' career, particularly his time at NeXT and Pixar, and his return to Apple. The authors, who had close relationships with Jobs, detail how he learned to trust his inner circle, became more patient, and developed a more mature management style, ultimately transforming the daily life of billions of people.
What I learned from rereading Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader by Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli
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[3:11] His mind was never a captive of reality.
[5:16] A complete list of every Founders episode on Steve Jobs and the founders Steve studied: Steve Jobs’s Heroes
[7:15] Steve Jobs and The Next Big Thing by Randall Stross (Founders #77)
[9:05] Steve Job’s Commencement Address
[9:40] Driven and curious, even when things were tough, he was a learning machine.
[10:20] He learned how to manage himself.
[12:45] Anything could be figured out and since anything could be figured out anything could be built.
[14:10] It was a calculation based on arrogance. — The Fish That Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King by Rich Cohen (Founders #255)
[18:00] We were no longer aiming for the handful of hobbyists who liked to assemble their own computers. For every one of them there were a thousand people who would want the machine to be ready to run.
[17:40] He was a free thinker whose ideas would often run against the conventional wisdom of any community in which he operated.
[19:55] He had no qualms about calling anyone up in search of information or help.
[20:40] I've never found anybody who didn't want to help me when I've asked them for help.
I've never found anyone who's said no or hung up the phone when I called. I just asked.
Most people never pick up the phone and call. Most people never ask.
[21:50] First you believe. Then you work on getting other people to share your belief.
[24:55] All the podcasts on Edwin Land:
Land's Polaroid: A Company and the Man Who Invented It by Peter C. Wensberg (Founders #263)
A Triumph of Genius: Edwin Land, Polaroid, and the Kodak Patent War by Ronald Fierstein (Founders #134)
Land's Polaroid: A Company and the Man Who Invented It by Peter C. Wensberg (Founders #133)
The Instant Image: Edwin Land and the Polaroid Experienceby Mark Olshaker (Founders #132)
Insisting On The Impossible: The Life of Edwin Land and Instant: The Story of Polaroid (Founders #40)
[25:00] My friend Frederick’s newsletter I was interviewed for
[30:20] He was an extraordinary speaker and he wielded that tool to great effect.
[31:00] Never underestimate the value of an ally. — Estée Lauder: A Success Story by Estée Lauder. (Founders #217)
[32:50] If you go to sleep on a win you’re going to wake up with a loss.
[33:00] Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire by James Wallace and Jim Erickson (Founders #140)
[34:20] Software development requires very little capital investment. It is basically intellectual capital. The main cost is the labor required to design and test it. There's no need for expensive factories. It can be replicated endlessly for practically nothing.
[38:10] He cared passionately and he never dialed it in.
[39:45] To Pixar And Beyond: My Unlikely Journey with Steve Jobs to Make Entertainment History by Lawrence Levy (Founders #235)
[42:58] Time carries most of the weight.
[43:30] People that are learning machines and then refuse to quit are incredibly hard to beat. Steve jobs was a learning machine who refused to quit.
[44:17] Steve Jobs and The Next Big Thing by Randall Stross (Founders #77)
[49:40] Creativity Inc by Ed Catmull
[50:30] There were times when the reactions against Steve baffled Steve.
I remember him sometimes saying to me: Why are they upset?
What that said to me was that he didn't intend to get that outcome. It was a lack of skill as opposed to meanness. A lack of skill of dealing with other people.
[55:50] Creative thinking, at its best, is chalk full of failures and dead ends.
[56:40] Successful people listen. Those that don’t listen don’t last long. —Michael Jordan: The Life by Roland Lazenby. (Founders #212)
[58:40] You can't go to the library and find a book titled The Business Model for Animation. The reason you can't is because there's only been one company Disney that's ever done it well, and they were not interested in telling the world how lucrative it was.
[1:01:20] The company is one of the most amazing inventions of humans.
[1:02:25] The only purpose for me in building a company is so that the company can make products. One is a means to the other.
[1:04:00] Personal History by Katherine Graham (Founders #152)
[1:10:11] Creative Selection: Inside Apple's Design Process During the Golden Age of Steve Jobs by Ken Kocienda
[1:11:12] What am I focusing on that sets me apart from my competitors?
[1:13:00] The channel? We lost $2 billion last year. Who gives a fuck about the channel?
[1:15:21] Time carries most of the weight. Stay in the game as long as possible.
[1:16:41] The information he'd glean would go into the learning machine that was his brain. Sometimes that's where it would sit, and nothing would happen. Sometimes he'd concoct a way to combine it with something else he'd seen, or perhaps to twist it in a way to benefit an entirely different project altogether. This was one of his great talents, the ability to synthesize separate developments and technologies into something previously unimaginable.
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“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — Gareth
Be like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast
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“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — Gareth
Be like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast
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