Why It Ranks #37
The most important CEO biography of the 21st century. Isaacson captured Jobs at the height of his powers and produced a book that is simultaneously an inspiration and a warning about the costs of obsessive genius.
The Review
Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs is the definitive account of the most consequential technology CEO in history. Based on more than forty interviews with Jobs himself — as well as interviews with family, friends, adversaries, and colleagues — the book covers everything from Jobs's adoption and early obsession with electronics to his exile from Apple, his return, and the extraordinary run of products that followed: iMac, iPod, iTunes, iPhone, iPad.
Isaacson does not hagiographize Jobs. The book is unflinching about his cruelty, his reality distortion field, his abandonment of his first daughter, and his bizarre dietary habits. But it also captures his genuine genius for product design and his obsession with the intersection of technology and liberal arts. The result is a portrait of a deeply flawed human being who nevertheless changed the world more than almost anyone else in business history.
Key Takeaways
- 1The intersection of technology and liberal arts is where the most valuable products are created
- 2Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication — Jobs's design philosophy drove everything
- 3A-players want to work with A-players — hiring mediocrity is an organizational death spiral
- 4Reality distortion can inspire impossible achievement but also blind you to genuine problems
Fun Facts
- •Jobs personally asked Isaacson to write the biography, initially in 2004 after his cancer diagnosis
- •The book was released just 19 days after Jobs's death on October 5, 2011
- •It became the bestselling book of 2011 within hours of release
- •Isaacson said Jobs never asked for editorial control and never previewed the book
Book Details
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
Pages
656
Goodreads Rating
4.18/5
Copies Sold
10M+
First Published
2011
Get Glen’s Updates
Investing insights, new tools, and whatever I’m building this week. Free. No spam.
Unsubscribe anytime. I respect your inbox more than Congress respects property rights.
Keep Exploring
Top 25 Business Books
See the full ranked list of the best business books ever written.
Read moreTop 25 Stock Market Books
The 25 best books about investing in the stock market, ranked.
Read moreTop 25 Personal Finance Books
The 25 best personal finance books ever written.
Read moreBillionaires
Profiles, strategies, and humor from the world's richest people.
Read moreConsulting
Salesforce development, technical strategy, and systems architecture.
Read moreBooks
Full book recommendations and reviews from Glen Bradford.
Read more