Steve Jobs

There has been lots of conversation and reminiscing about Steve Jobs on the tenth anniversary of his passing. One of those with a story is Michael Dell. He recalled how Mr. Jobs wanted macOS on every Dell machine, and to be paid a license fee for it. As CNET noted, such a deal would have had a profound impact on the future of computing.

“He said, look at this — we’ve got this Dell desktop and it’s running Mac OS,” Dell tells me. “Why don’t you license the Mac OS?” Dell thought it was a great idea and told Jobs he’d pay a licensing fee for every PC sold with the Mac OS. But Jobs had a counteroffer: He was worried that licensing scheme might undermine Apple’s own Mac sales because Dell computers were less costly. Instead, Dell says, Jobs suggested he just load the Mac OS alongside Windows on every Dell PC and let customers decide which software to use — and then pay Apple for every Dell PC sold. “It could have changed the trajectory for Windows and Mac OS on PCs. But obviously they went in a different direction.”

Naz Beheshti worked as Steve Jobs’s executive assistant. In a CNBC interview, she explained how working with the Apple co-founder inspired her into her current life as a wellness coach, speaker, and author. She also broke down some misconceptions about him.

“There has been a big misconception about him that he was a workaholic and that he was really tough to work with,” Beheshti tells CNBC Make It. “Yes, in some cases he was.” But, in the midst of being a tough boss, Beheshti says Jobs, who died in 2011, made it a point to “prioritize his wellbeing,” which gave him the “energy and the clarity and the vision to sustain his success and build Apple.” For example, Beheshti says not only did Jobs “eat really healthy,” but he also “meditated daily, he had regular physical activity like exercise several times a week and he maintained strong relationships… [Jobs] taught me by example that you need to really work on all,” when it comes to your health and wellness, “rather than just working on one aspect of your life,” Beheshti says.

Before Tim Cook there was Del Yocam. He was Apple’s first Chief Operating Officer, the role held by Mr. Cook prior to becoming CEO.  In a fascinating interview with Cult of Mac, he discussed mentoring Steve Jobs and Apple’s early days.

He also served as an early mentor to Steve Jobs, the young Apple co-founder who sometimes seemed out of his depth in 1979. “When I first got to know him, he was lost,” Yocam told Cult of Mac. “He was no longer involved in the Apple II and no one wanted him around, especially management. He didn’t care about money at that time. He was like an orphan, living away from home.” In many ways, Yocam was the proto-Tim Cook, a manufacturing and operations specialist who helped transform a dysfunctional startup into a massive, moneymaking leader of the early PC industry. He also helped take the rapidly growing company international.