Rare Steve Jobs’s Rare Interview
Steve Jobs' 1985 interview reveals why hiring only A players, pursuing insane product simplicity, and seeing computers as revolutionary agents created Apple's explosive early success.
Key takeaways
5 points- 1Hire only A players; small elite teams outperform large average ones.
- 2Design for invisible excellence to maintain personal integrity.
- 3Simplify until the product feels instantly usable.
- 4Frame the work as a mission that attracts missionaries.
- 5Ask for help directly; most people will say yes.
Summary
Steve Jobs' rare 1985 Playboy interview distills the principles behind Apple's rapid rise and the personal computer's transformative power.
Hiring A Players
- Jobs and Bezos both insist on hiring only top talent because the performance gap between average and elite can reach 50-100x (0:00-10:02).
- A small team of A+ players beats a large team of B and C players; Apple reached the Fortune 500 in five years by following this rule.
Product Philosophy
- Great products demand simplicity so users simply "turn it on and it works," moving from telegraph-stage complexity to telephone-stage intuition (10:02-20:03).
- Marketing is education, not hype; the product itself must speak, and every detail—even unseen—must meet the creator's own standard of excellence.
Computing's Mission
- Computers deliver "free intellectual energy" and will evolve from servants executing commands into proactive guides that notice patterns and act (20:04-40:46).
- Apple attracts missionaries who want to dent the universe rather than mercenaries chasing numbers.
Deep read
Executive Summary
The episode distills Steve Jobs' 1985 Playboy interview into core operating principles: hire only A players, demand radical simplicity, build with internal pride, and treat computing as a civilizational mission. These ideas powered Apple's ascent from $200k to $1.5B in seven years and still explain how small elite teams create outsized value.
0:00The Information Revolution and A-Player Teams
Steve Jobs argues the personal computer will dwarf prior revolutions by giving individuals free intellectual energy. He and Jeff Bezos both treat hiring as the highest-leverage activity: the output gap between average and elite performers reaches 50-100x in creative fields. Apple joined the Fortune 500 faster than any prior company because a handful of A players produced more value than large mediocre teams.
Missionary vs Mercenary Mindset
Jobs contrasts missionaries who believe computers will change the world with number-crunchers at IBM who lack passion. He accepts that top talent arrives as "package deals" containing difficult traits and chooses to manage the friction.
10:02Simplicity as the Ultimate Sophistication
Jobs uses the telegraph-to-telephone analogy to show why computers must become instantly usable. Early software like WordStar required 400-page manuals; the goal is "turn it on and it just works." Marketing succeeds only as education; conning customers is impossible when the product itself must deliver.
Integrity in the Unseen
The carpenter analogy illustrates the internal standard: even the back of a drawer, never seen, receives beautiful wood because the maker must sleep well. This pride drives every detail at Apple.
20:04Mission, Trouble Makers, and IBM Strategy
Apple targets the "Fortune 5 million" small businesses by treating them as collections of people, not abstractions. Jobs rejects a single industry standard, comparing it to freezing automobile design in 1920. He recruits people who want to make a dent in the universe.
30:07From Servant to Guide
Jobs recounts the Homebrew Computer Club moment that birthed Apple and predicts computers will shift from executing explicit tasks to acting as proactive agents that notice patterns and anticipate needs. He stresses that asking for help is a superpower most people never use.
"We are a team of missionaries. We love what we're doing."
Action Items
- Hire only A players even if the process is slow and expensive.
- Build every component to a standard you would accept if it were visible.
- Treat marketing as education, never as persuasion.
- Ask directly for help; most people will say yes.
- Frame work as a mission larger than any individual.
- Design products that move from servant to proactive guide.
- Reject industry standards that stifle alternatives.
Mental Models
Glossary
- A Player
- Top-decile talent whose output is 50-100x that of average performers in creative or technical roles.
- Free Intellectual Energy
- Jobs' phrase for the computer's ability to multiply individual thinking power without physical or financial constraints.
Notable Quotes
“When you're a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you're not going to use a piece of plywood on the back.”
“We are a team of missionaries. We love what we're doing.”
“I've never found anybody that didn't want to help me if I asked him for help.”
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