Page 262 - The Apple Experience

Just Make It Great

During an interview on Charlie Rose, Pixar chief John Lasseter told a short,

insightful story about Steve Jobs. Steve had purchased Pixar for $10 million
from George Lucas in 1986. Jobs lost money on Pixar every quarter for nine

straight years, pumping $50 million of his own money into the company. But

he believed in the people and their vision to create digitally animated movies

that would enrich the lives of moviegoers of any age.

When Jobs was thinking of returning to Apple in 1997, he sought

Lasseter’s permission. He didn’t need to, of course, but Pixar held a special

place in Jobs’s heart. He told Lasseter, “The reason why I’m going back is

because I think the world is a better place with Apple in it, and they’re not

going to survive.” Jobs believed the world was a better place with Pixar in it,
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as well. Jobs told Lasseter, “The way people feel about our brand [Pixar] is

the way people felt about Apple. It’s like a bank account. We have the

opportunity to put deposits in the bank account by making a great product,

something they really love, or we can do withdrawals, putting something out

there that we know is not good enough but still putting our name on to it.”

To Steve Jobs every single thing Pixar did had to be great. He wanted

Pixar to always aim high. In Lasseter’s first meeting with Jobs, when Lasseter
was just one of four animators in the company that Jobs had purchased from

Lucas, Lasseter wanted to tell Jobs about a short film he was working on.

Jobs’s only piece of advice: just make it great. That short, Tin Toy, became

Pixar’s first animated film to win an Academy Award.

Just make it great. If you are fortunate enough to make a product, offer a

service, or back a cause that brings value to people’s lives, then you owe it to

them and to yourself to make it great. By doing so, you move society forward.

Avoid the mistake of just focusing on the product or service. Instead, create a