Tag Archives: Steve Jobs

You’re Not A Perfectionist, You’re Just Scared

Posted on January 16, 2012 by AJ Kessler

Why was Steve Jobs so good at what he did?  Not because he was a perfectionist. For all the talk of Steve Job’s perfectionism in the weeks and months after his death, most people tended to gloss over the cornucopia of shit products … Continue reading →

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Steve Jobs on Failure

Posted on January 6, 2012 by AJ Kessler

I’ve never found anyone who didn’t want to help me if I asked them for help.  Most people never pick up the phone and call; most people never ask.  And that’s what separates, sometimes, the people who do things and … Continue reading →

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The Best The World Has To Offer?

Posted on December 4, 2011 by AJ Kessler

Most people are satisfied with the best the world has to offer. There’s actually quite a bit of social pressure to be satisfied by the best.  I’ve eaten with people at some of the world’s best restaurants who refuse to … Continue reading →

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The World Was Built By People No Smarter Than You

Posted on November 30, 2011 by AJ Kessler

When you grow up, you tend to get told that the world is the way it is, and your life is just to live your life inside the world; try not to bash into the walls too much, try to … Continue reading →

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You CAN Argue With Success

Posted on November 10, 2011 by AJ Kessler

Arguing with failure is pretty tough.  By definition, there’s nothing left to argue with.  It’s dead.  You can argue about failure, who’s to blame, or what caused this or that to happen, but there’s usually not a whole lot to … Continue reading →

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The Necessity of No

Posted on October 9, 2011 by AJ Kessler

Most people saw the iPad as a revolutionary, unexpected device.  Some people thought it would never sell, or that it was a useless, stupid device. But, journalists and people on tech blogs and forums had been clamoring for Apple to … Continue reading →

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Why We Really Loved Steve Jobs (It Wasn’t The Toys)

Posted on October 6, 2011 by AJ Kessler

Steve Jobs was, by all accounts, an asshole.  He was an ego maniacal, contemptuous, perfectionist who screamed at and even humiliated his employees when things weren’t to his liking.  He was petty, held grudges, and went out of his way … Continue reading →

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Embracing Death

Posted on October 5, 2011 by AJ Kessler

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these … Continue reading →

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Selling Technology Sucks: Start With The Goal Instead

Posted on September 4, 2011 by AJ Kessler

How do you sell $10 Billion worth of product a year? One of the things I’ve always found is that you’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backwards for the technology”. You can’t start with the technology and … Continue reading →

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Inherent Problems With Effective Philanthropy

Posted on September 3, 2011 by AJ Kessler

One is that in order to learn how to do something well, you have to fail sometimes. In order to fail, there has to be a measurement system. And that’s the problem with most philanthropy–there’s no measurement system. You give … Continue reading →

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Why Creativity is Scary

Posted on May 21, 2011 by AJ Kessler

What is creativity?  Is it spawning new ideas from whole cloth?  Is it wild discovery and clear innovation?  Where does creativity come from? Is it that Eureka moment, that flash of inspiration that comes out of the ether?  Is it, … Continue reading →

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Most of Your Work Sucks

Posted on May 20, 2011 by AJ Kessler

In the ten or so years I’ve been shooting photos, I cannot tell you how many I’ve taken.  Not because the number is so staggeringly large (it’s probably under 100,000) but because I’ve deleted so many I have no way … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Business, Creativity, Food For Thought, Inspiration, Photography, Quotes | Tagged , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Overwhelm

Posted on April 21, 2011 by AJ Kessler

In Vienna this week, I’ve had the opportunity to check out quite a few churches.  In the middle of the old city there are maybe a dozen spectacular churches, sporting everything from Gothic to super modern architecture.  The biggest and … Continue reading →

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