Becoming Steve Jobs
The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader
by Brent Schlender, Rick Tetzeli · first published 2015
70% recommend30% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Biography of Jobs' growth and maturing as a leader, with strong coverage of NeXT, Pixar and his return to Apple; often preferred over Isaacson's for insight and authors who knew him for decades.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
"Based on the hugely popular cover story about Steve Jobs in Fast Company in May 2012, this is the behind the scenes account of how Steve Jobs arguably became the most famous and visionary CEO in history. Award-winning journalist Brent Schlender and veteran editor Rick Tetzeli have interviewed friends, industry insiders, and the people who knew Jobs best throughout his evolution as a CEO and leader. In addition Schlender, who knew Jobs personally for 25 years, has over 100 hours of interview tapes with Jobs to draw on, many hours of which have never before been transcribed"--
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I found Becoming Steve Jobs by Schlender & Tetzeli to be a much more informative read than Isaacson's official biography, particularly on the intersection of Jobs/Next/Pixar/Apple.
on “20 years ago, Apple bought NeXT” ↗I enjoyed Becoming Steve Jobs. Covered the period of Jobs' return to Apple and also his growth of Pixar. His more mature phase, where he was able to nurturr organizations and had less of the unhinged asshole side about him. https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Steve-Jobs-Evolution-Visiona...…
on “Stories of Steve Jobs in Safari Design Reviews (2014)” ↗…things he was uniquely good at, but instead built a largely negative narrative around him; squandered an opportunity to show his work ethic, his approach and how he inspired people. I recommend reading "Becoming Steve Jobs" instead by Schendler and Tetzeli. One of the best moments in the book is when Steve wanted the I-beams to be absolutely perfect in the new office building. It would be better if we pick out good things…
on “New MacBook Pro has first ‘DIY-friendly’ battery replacement design since 2012” ↗Becoming Steve Jobs is more focussed on that period: https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Steve-Jobs-Evolution-Visiona...
on “How Steve Jobs Became a Billionaire” ↗> It seemed that he'd learned some very important lessons and had undergone quite the transformation. "Becoming Steve Jobs" by Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli deals with exactly this theme of his personal growth and learning. I got far more out of it than Isaacson's book and would recommend it over Isaacson to anyone interested…
on “Ted Dabney, a Founder of Atari and a Creator of Pong, Has Died” ↗I just finished "Becoming Steve Jobs" by Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli. Not a full bio but has some great stories about Steve Jobs at NeXT, Pixar, and his return to Apple.
on “Ask HN: Why aren't there other biographies of Steve Jobs?” ↗>(btw, if anyone can recommend material on this period of his life, I'd love to know!) I recommend you this book to read. https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Steve-Jobs-Evolution-Visiona...
on “How Steve Jobs Became a Billionaire” ↗Non-fiction: Becoming Steve Jobs / Rick Tetzeli & Brent Schlender Remote: Office Not Required / David Heinemeier Hansson & Jason Fried Fiction: Rum Punch / Elmore Leonard
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?” ↗…Whole Earth Network, and the Rise of Digital Utopianism • Slatalla, Michelle & Quittner, Joshua (1995) Masters of Deception: The Gang That Ruled Cyberspace • Schlender, Brent & Tetzeli, Rick (2015) Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader • Isaacson, Walter (2011) Steve Jobs This one might also be worth lookin in to: Hertzfeld, Andy (2004) Revolution in the Valley: The Insanely…
on “Ask HN: Computer Science/History Books?” ↗…one was luck, but two? One right after the other? and the two were totally different businesses? You've got a lot of 'splaining to do about that. See "The Making of Steve Jobs". https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Steve-Jobs-Evolution-Visiona... In fact, read any history book that focuses on one person or business, and find one that became a billionaire by blundering about. As for them not being self-made, why didn't their…
on “Status, Wealth, & Power: Network Effects Demand a New Social Contract” ↗Second this, Becoming Steve Jobs is the superior book. It helped a lot that the authors had interacted with Jobs over decades and also had an understanding of business and technology that Isaacson was missing. There’s also an old documentary…
on “New MacBook Pro has first ‘DIY-friendly’ battery replacement design since 2012” ↗Try Becoming Steve Jobs by Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli. Gruber's review: * https://daringfireball.net/linked/2015/03/02/becoming-steve-... Gruber's review of Isaacson's book: > Note that my complaints here are not about…
on “Ask HN: Why aren't there other biographies of Steve Jobs?” ↗Becoming Steve Jobs by Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli was a thoroughly enjoyable read for me, and captured the growth trajectory from the 1980s to the 2000s quite well.
on “Steve Wozniak: Steve Jobs wasn’t a natural-born leader” ↗Definitely not true. As a concrete example disproving your fallacious post, I refer to Mr. John Gruber who called Becoming Steve Jobs "the book about Steve Jobs that the world deserves". Johny Ives says of Isaacson's book, "My regard couldn’t be any lower."
on “20 years ago, Apple bought NeXT” ↗…Deutschman is another really good book and a much shorter read and not super-polarizing (leaves out some of the crazy stuff from early life). Other notable Steve Jobs books I have read & highly recommend: Becoming Steve Jobs & The Steve Jobs Way. 4. Elon Musk (Ashlee Vance) -Another polarizing book. I am a Spacex & Tesla Fan-boy. I picked this up in 2015 the day it was launched! I have read this at least half a dozen…
on “Ask HN: Books you wish you had read earlier?” ↗