There are a million ways to make a million dollars. But this is how to get rich the Steve Jobs way.
If Steve Jobs were alive today, he would be among the top 10 richest people on the planet.
He was known as a non-conformist, a man focused on building a legacy that would outlive him. The fact that he succeded should be enough to look into how Steve Jobs got rich and start learning.
This is how to get rich, according to Steve Jobs.
Don’t worry if you don’t feel like reading, you can enjoy the video below or watch it on YouTube:
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First lesson from Steve Jobs – If you do the right things at the top line, the bottom line will follow
- Steve Jobs understood perfectly that an empire needs a bedrock foundation.
You can’t build a great product that will generate billions in revenue unless you do the first steps right.
If you have the right strategy, the right people, and the right culture, you will build the right products, and naturally, the right marketing and the right logistics will come as a result.
Therefore, focusing on the top line and having the right foundation in place is key to building something great.
The bottom line is not an end in itself, it’s the result of doing everything else right.
In other words, Jobs looked at the environment in which he worked with great importance.
You see, sometimes it’s not about what you are doing, but with whom, where, and in what form.
You can have the greatest idea of all time. Moreover, you can have a product in your mind that could literally change the lives of millions of people.
But if you disregard the way in which you operate, who you work with, what motivates them, and what brings everything together, you won’t take off.
We experienced this firsthand when building the courses and the Alux app.
To recap, without the right team and the right framework that makes things possible, you have little to no chance to release anything in the world.
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Second lesson from Steve Jobs – Even a great brand needs investments and caring if it’s going to retain its relevance and vitality
A brand is not just a logo or a name. It’s a promise, a business makes to its customers.
But promises need to be renewed and commitments reinforced. Never take your brand for granted.
What you will find out is that even behemoths like Apple, Microsoft, or even Meta require constant nurturing and investments to stay relevant.
That way, a business continues to stay relevant to its customers and keep up with the disruptive advancements in the industry.
Steve Jobs made this mistake with Apple, and there were multiple instances when he needed to step in and take things back to the drawing board.
You see, we learned a very valuable lesson a couple of years ago about branding.
The logo, the font, the typography rules, the design language, and all that stuff, are for other brands to know who you are. It’s corporate.
But the real brand is for other humans to know who you are. It’s about expectations: What do people expect when they hear about you?
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Third lesson from Steve Jobs – Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you
Steve Jobs was not only a visionary; he was also a non-conformist.
He believed that in order to leave behind a lasting legacy, you have to walk your own path. YOU have the power to shape the world and change it.
The key to getting Steve Jobs rich is not to accept the status quo but to challenge it and dare to envision something different, something better.
If you do what everyone else is doing and think like everyone else is thinking, you are never going to stand out.
Don’t be intimidated by the world around you.
Everything you see, every invention, and every system were all created by people who are no smarter than you.
Don’t hide your potential from the world, or you will never know how high you can reach.
There’s no rule that decides when you’re good enough.
Only you can decide that. And when you decide you are good enough, your worldview changes.
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You gotta act and you gotta be willing to fail, you gotta be willing to crash and burn
Failure is the best teacher when you learn from it. You should know by now that you can’t create the future by playing it safe.
You need to act, take risks, and be willing to fail. Yes, you may crash and burn, but it’s in the ashes that innovation is born.
Without taking risks and experiencing failure, you’ll never truly know what you’re capable of.
The point is that the world belongs to those who act.
You can write this down and put it on your desk: It all starts with a move.
It doesn’t start with a decision; it doesn’t start with a plan; that’s just pre-work stuff.
When you start actually moving and doing the things you keep saying you will, that’s when you start taking control of your future. You won’t ever get Steve Jobs rich if you lack control.
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Focus is about saying no, and the result of that focus is gonna be some really great products where the total is much greater than the sum of the parts
Focus is about decluttering; it’s about simplifying. It’s not about doing a hundred things decently but doing a select few exceptionally well.
When you say ‘no’ to the distractions, the surplus, and the irrelevant stuff, you’re making a conscious decision to pour your energy, time, and resources into what truly matters.
Remember, you can be a jack of all trades, or you can excel in a chosen few. The choice is yours.
Creating great products isn’t about stuffing them with countless features; it’s about crafting a handful of functionalities so well that they integrate seamlessly and offer an intuitive experience for the customer.
When you focus on quality over quantity, you’re saying ‘yes’ to excellence and committing to delivering the best to your customers.
It’s not just about the individual elements; it’s about how they come together, and how they interact in the final version of the product.
This is why Apple sells more than 600,000 iPhones every single day. It’s all about the customer experience that keeps users loyal to a brand.
Ultimately, the focus is on making a trade. A bet with your future self, if you will. You bet that the single thing you are focusing on right now will make it all worth it in the end.
Moreover, you commit to the idea that saying ‘yes’ to something now will be worth more than saying a lot of “no’s” in the process.
And most of the time, this is a requirement.
- If you say yes to investing your extra cash at the end of the month, you say no to an extra vacation this year.
- If you say yes to eating healthy, you say no to the fast food rush after a night with the boys.
- If you say yes to starting a business, you say no to financial stability for the next couple of years.
Only when you get comfortable saying no to these types of things will your focus skyrocket.
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You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backward to the technology.
You can’t start with the product and then figure out where you are going to try and sell it.
To create great products that sell to billions of people, you need to keep the end user in mind.
You can’t expect to create a product without any market research and then figure out who to sell it to.
So, before you even start building anything, you should understand what problems your customers have. Only then use technology to solve these problems.
This way, you make something that people actually want to use because it makes their lives better or easier.
When you make something, even if it’s just for yourself, you are still making it for another human being to use.
This is something that seems to evade wannabe entrepreneurs. Most rush to create businesses around things nobody asked for, then invest millions in marketing trying to convince you otherwise.
It’s a “create a problem, then sell the solution” type of business.
Most of the time, these businesses end up being an unrequited middleman between a consumer and the product.
Businesses that sell tickets to events are an example.
You see, when you make something that people really care about, it sells itself. Steve Jobs knew this and it got him filthy rich.
Great marketing can’t sell a bad product, despite what people think.
And speaking of marketing…
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Customers don’t form their opinions on quality from marketing, they form their own opinions on quality from their own experiences with the product or service
Customers don’t just buy a product. They buy into an experience.
It’s their personal interaction with the products and services that shapes their perceptions of quality.
You can’t manufacture this perception with marketing. It comes from delivering exceptional products and services that exceed their expectations time and time again.
If you want to get rich like Steve Jobs did, there are only two types of marketing that work:
- Stupid Money Marketing: Think Hollywood, where they have so much money thrown into marketing that it’s pretty much impossible for you not to know what’s the next blockbuster this summer. And even with that, most movies nowadays fail.
- Stupid Simple Marketing: which is basically word of mouth, where your thing is so good that people talk about it naturally. And this type of marketing doesn’t require millions of dollars on a budget. It requires a good product, and the internet will take care of things by itself.
In Apple’s case, they had both.
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If you don’t love it, you are going to give up
Creating something truly revolutionary is not a walk in the park. It’s hard work.
If you don’t love it or aren’t passionate about it, you’re going to give up.
But if you truly love what you do, you will persevere. Because it’s this passion that keeps you going and pushes you to overcome every obstacle that comes your way.
Here’s the thing, motivation can make you get out of bed in the morning. But it can’t make you send those emails. It can’t make spreadsheets exciting.
It can only get you so far. In the end, you need to find some sort of enjoyment out of this. It’s rare to really love what you do. If you want to get rich the way Steve Jobs did, there’s no way around this.
But to despise it entirely or to do it on autopilot will get you nowhere. And we can’t tell you how to enjoy the process. You need to find your own reason.
Maybe you want a better life for yourself and your family, and that thought gives you energy. Maybe you found something you’re actually good at, and doing it right makes you satisfied.
Or maybe finally something clicked after years of taking L’s, and it confirmed that you are actually capable of great things.
The “why” is up to you to find and is extremely important if you want to keep going.
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There is a tremendous amount of craftsmanship in between a great idea and a great product
A great idea doesn’t always translate into a great product. But great ideas are just the starting point.
Transforming them into great products requires craftsmanship, attention to detail, and a relentless pursuit of excellence.
It’s not about how quickly you can get a product to market. But rather about getting it right.
Because when a great idea is meticulously executed, it becomes something more—a work of art—that people will naturally gravitate towards.
The product essentially becomes an extension of the customer, becoming truly indispensable. That’s what you should aim for.
Could you imagine your life without your phone?
You see, there is a great deal of work behind the scenes. Work that nobody sees. Work that doesn’t get recognized, awarded, or displayed in any fashion.
Those of you who started your own businesses know exactly what we’re talking about.
As you might know, it takes two hours to watch a movie and two years to make one. Even something as simple as a 10-minute YouTube video can take days to get right.
There’s really a lot of work that nobody sees because that’s not the point. The point is the end product. And Steve Jobs knew this very well, and that’s why he got so rich.
But when you are aware of the work involved and prepare for it, it doesn’t take you by surprise.
How many times have you heard people say: “Man, I didn’t think it was this hard,” right after they start doing something?
It’s because they fail to see and recognize the behind-the-scenes work.
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You gotta be a really good talent scout because no matter how smart you are, you need a team of great people
None of us, no matter how smart or talented we are, can change the world alone.
You need a team of great people who share your vision and are willing to go the extra mile to realize it.
It’s not just about spotting talent; it’s about creating a collaborative environment where that talent can truly flourish.
Because the whole is always greater than the sum of its parts. Steve Jobs understood the importance of surrounding himself with people who shared the same dreams and ambitions—true A++ players.
Some stuck around, and some left, but what they built is a legacy that outlived some of them.
For example, everybody wants to play for the Lakers. Or whichever other top team; we’re not trying to start an argument here.
The point is, when you are big, everyone wants to work with you or for you. But what happens when you are not the Lakers?
What happens when you don’t get to choose from a carefully selected pool of top talented people who can’t wait for a chance to work at your company? Well, you need to scout.
To build on top of that, you need to learn how to see the potential in people, how to nourish it, and how to grow them.
In conclusion, if you want a great team, you need to understand what makes people tick and what they’re really good at.
You see, a superstar team can lose to a well-put-together team any day of the week.
And as a bonus here, we’ll give you what we think are the 3 most important things you need to look for in a potential teammate:
- They know they can do great work.
- They know their work has great value.
- They have all the tools required to do great work.
If at least these three things are met, you can build a superstar team on your own.
