Steve Jobs: One Last Thing Page #3

---

the grand vision,

and the nerd is able

to realize the vision.

The nerd knows everything

about women

but doesn't know any women.

You know,

Steve knew women.

So there's that distinction.

So they really

needed each other.

He knew how to beat it

out of Woz,

and he would do that,

and his contributions

at that time were saying,

"gosh. We could

sell these things."

I mean, which doesn't

sound like much,

but it's huge when you're

dealing with a guy in Woz

who never thought

about selling anything.

I wanted it to happen

so badly,

I gave this computer away.

I gave away the listings,

no copyright notices,

no nothing,

and then Steve Jobs came

and saw the interest,

and he said

"why don't we start

a company to make some money?"

And I said, "fine."

They did want

to start a business.

They raised money to

start a business.

They knew that they couldn't

do it on their own.

They sought out

older people to help,

and Steve Jobs in particular

was quite persuasive.

In Apple's earliest

days, the two Steves,

Jobs and Woz, took on an older

and more experienced partner.

Ronald Wayne now lives

and works near Las Vegas,

a fitting location for

a man who walked away

with nothing from

a $37 billion no-lose bet.

Wayne was invited to discuss

a business proposal

with Jobs and Woz.

That was the first time

I had met Steve Wozniak,

a fascinating guy

a fun guy to be with,

very... not only a fun guy

to be with,

the most gracious man

I've ever met in my life.

As far as Wozniak

was concerned,

the world was

a great big sand box

with a lot of toys

to play with.

But Ron's opinion

of Steve Jobs was not so hot.

I wouldn't put gracious

in his description.

He had the kind of manner,

the kind of approach to people

and environments that

were business directed, ok?

He was extremely serious.

Wayne acted as referee

in a minor difference of opinion

between the two equal partners.

Well, Steve Jobs was

so impressed

with my diplomacy

in that particular situation

that he immediately

came back and said,

"ok. What we're going

to do is form a company,"

with Woz and Jobs

getting 45% each,

and I would get 10%

as a tiebreaker

in the event

of any philosophical disputes

that might occur

in the future.

10% of Apple

today would be worth

$37,631,420,312.42,

but despite his share

in the company,

Ron was worried

that working with Jobs and Woz

might prove to be

too stressful.

At 40, I thought I was getting

a little old for that.

They were absolute whirlwinds.

It was like having

a tiger by the tail.

So Ron decided

to hand back his share

for nothing and walk

away with no regrets.

A lot of people

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes