In May 1997, Apple held its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Jose, California. At that time, Steve Jobs was not CEO of the company. He was speaking as an advisor to the company. In this extract, Steve Jobs answers an challenging and rather agressive question from one the participant. His response elevate the debate and until today remain one of the best advice that businesses could take on product development.
One of the things I’ve always found is that you’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology.
You can’t start with the technology and try to figure out where you’re going to try to sell it.
I’ve made this mistake probably more than anybody else in this room, and I’ve got the scar tissue to prove it. And I know that it’s the case.
As we have tried to come up with a strategy and a vision for Apple, it started with ”What incredible benefits can we give to the customer? Where can we take the customer?” not starting with, “Let’s sit down with the engineers and figure out what awesome technology we have and then how are we going to market that.”.
And I think that’s the right path to take.
A few months later, when Steve Jobs became new CEO, Apple was on the the verge of bankruptcy. Under his leadership, Steve Job reinvented the company to become one the most successful company in the world.
Innovation grow business.
When doing business, you decide what are the fundamental directions you want to take. Remember to answers this question first: What incredible benefits can we give to the customer?