Books — Jay Elliot

The books

Written from inside the room.

Most books about Steve Jobs were assembled afterward, from interviews with people who were in the building. These two were written by the man who sat next to him for six years — and who kept getting called back for two decades after that.

The Steve Jobs Way

iLeadership for a New Generation. Ten principles for building products people love — vision, the user, simplicity, the total experience, and the people you keep around you to tell you the truth.

Vanguard Press, 2011

Leading Apple With Steve Jobs

Management Lessons From a Controversial Genius. How Steve hired, how he protected innovation, and what “no more crap products” meant on a Tuesday with a shipping deadline.

Wiley, 2012

One of them was written as a correction.

When Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve appeared, Jay found it unfairly negative — and wrong about events he had witnessed firsthand. He wasn’t the only one. Bill Campbell, a former Apple vice president, longtime board member and personal friend of Steve’s, called it “that damn book.”

These are the account from someone who was actually present.

Free companion worksheet

The Product Review

Four questions from the books, with ruled lines under every one. Fifteen minutes and a pen, and you’ll know whether you have a marketing problem or a product problem.

Get the worksheet