Chapter 4 2 The company is born
At that time, I understood a truth of e-commerce: you can't judge a person's business ability based on his age and external influence.The best engineers are eclectic.
— Dick Olson, 1976 on Jobs
Steve's inner conflict—wanting to be an entrepreneur while also wanting to be a devout religious believer—was especially strong in 1975.Steve is a vegetarian who sometimes eats some fast food, like a rebel out of place in the flower-wearing hippie era.
When Jobs was still working at Atari, he thought about leaving.At that time, the Zen Center in Los Altos, which was close to him, attracted his attention, where he could sit in meditation and understand Zen.While studying theology of religion at Reed College, Jobs was drawn to it because of its emphasis on experience, inspiration, and an inner sense of self-realization that Jobs recognized.For Jobs, Zen is not a religious body, but something that can satisfy his inner needs.Many questions about his parents are also mysteries that have not been solved in his heart, so he is always in a state of spiritual confusion, which drives him to find the true meaning of spirit.Buddhism pays attention to no desire and no pursuit, and warns people to be content and happy. "Kris Ann Brennan (Jobs' high school girlfriend) was living in a tent at the same place," Dan Kottke said, "and there was a Zen monk at the Zen center called Chino Kobin Chino. Steve and I often visit him, and he usually meets us in his room next to the meditation room. After we go, we sit together, drink tea and talk.'
For a person who is unwilling to be restrained and difficult to accept supervision and scrutiny, for a person who is trying to figure out the true face of this almost crazy world, and at the same time wants to solve the questions that he has been unable to solve for a long time, Buddhism has a huge appeal.It can guide people to consciously believe in religious ideas, which is very crucial for a young man who is always blindly arrogant.With this belief, Jobs didn't need other ideas, which was important for a young man with little formal college education.Buddhism is still mysterious, and often has an enlightening and guiding effect on major events in life. Zen koan, such as "experience is wealth", also profoundly influenced Jobs' exploration of the true meaning of life.Since then, Jobs has cherished Buddhism even more, and Ganye has become his "spiritual mentor".
Yet at the time, Steve also wanted to be an entrepreneur, an entrepreneur with his own business.
Too young and too inexperienced, Jobs didn't know what he could and couldn't do, he just had enthusiasm and didn't understand why some things didn't work.Therefore, he is willing to try things that smart people think can't be done.He has a strong personality, so he can easily exceed the goals he sets, and his lack of social experience makes him sometimes unaware of the hidden dangers in front of him.
One of the traits that both Jobs and Wozniak shared was their willingness to try the impossible, or the impossible.Woz likes to make one thing better, and many people find it hard to believe that he can use so few components and such superb technology to design work.Woz usually goes to the Homebrew Computer Club's biweekly gatherings, where he pitches his own ideas, or is inspired by different opinions, to come up with new ideas, and then he excitedly sketches out new ones. Schematic so that at the next day's meeting he can stand up and make his point.
In the fall of 1975 Woz proudly showed off a few blueprints of a new circuit board, and by the end of the following year he had a second circuit board designed, both of which were Used to drive the color display.Steve was very happy when he found out.Maybe this is what he has always wanted, or maybe he can make a name for himself in the business world with the help of this product.Of course, in the innovative atmosphere of the Homebrew Club, Woz is also a very energetic doer. When other club members started to create the personal computer industry, Woz's bulky "panel" rarely attracted attention. the attention of others.
Steve knew all about the situation, and he believed in his friend Woz's real knack for electronics.He told Woz that he wanted to turn this technology into an electronics business. Woz agreed to design circuit board drawings, and let computer enthusiasts buy the drawings, and then assemble them into computers with various electronic components according to the drawings.Meanwhile, Woz was still working at Hewlett-Packard, and Jobs was still working at Atari.
When Jobs and Woz sold the "blue box", others named them "blue box", but at that time, some computer enthusiasts were already one step ahead of them and started selling circuit boards.Jobs and Woz also wanted to change their image and accept a more exciting challenge.Wozniak had circuit design on his mind, while Jobs, the electronics market leader, wanted to give his brand of computer a name they both liked.Because Jobs likes pop songs very much, he often goes to the apple farm in Oregon with his best friends. Jobs also likes to eat apples. In addition, "Apple" is also located in front of "Atari" in the order of the phone book. So he came up with the idea of "apple".In the end, when they submitted the cooperation letter to the newspaper and published it, they gave their brand a name that was both gentle and not aggressive or serious and dull-Apple Computer. (But they still fought the Beatles for a long time because of the name, and the battle intensified after the Apple iPod brand came out, and the Apple Music brand took over half of the music industry.)
Wozniak liked the name Apple, but he remained skeptical about the partnership with Jobs.Steve Jobs was very determined, and he had to cheer up and cheer up his partners a lot.Woz didn't want to give up his day job, and his parents were skeptical that their son would be able to work well with Jobs, let alone start a company together.Woz's father, Jerry Wozniak, couldn't understand why his son would have a "50/50 split" with a guy who "didn't do anything."Wozniak's wife, Ellis, who had been married to Woz before she was 25, was also fed up with Woz turning their room into a warehouse for spare electronics.
On April Fool's Day, April 1, 1976, Wozniak finally agreed to cooperate. He signed a 10-page cooperation letter and handed it to Jobs.The cooperation letter stated that Jobs and Woz had equal shares, and 10% of the shares belonged to Ron Wayne. Wayne was Jobs' good friend in Atari, and he promised to help Jobs and Woz.But none of the three of them, even Jobs, thought it was the beginning of a grand venture.They didn't have a global vision at the time, and they just hoped to build a circuit board production line, each circuit board was produced at a cost of $25, and then sold for $50.Their industrial model is only to develop Woz's circuit design model, and then produce circuit boards and put them on the market. In this industrial operation chain, they hope not to lose money.
However, Jobs and Woz did not fail to envision their business prospects.They called their first product the "Apple I," and it was clear that Jobs and Woz wanted their "apples" to keep "falling off the tree."
Funding is the biggest challenge for most startups at any given time, and Jobs and Woz's companies were no exception.Together, the two of them raised $1,000.Woz sold his beloved HP 65 programmable calculator and raised $500, Jobs sold his Volkswagen for $1,000, but the buyer only gave him $500 because the car was The engine broke down.Therefore, the sum of the two funds is pitifully small.Nor did their bleak prospects show any signs of improving when they took their circuit design drawings to the Homebrew Club on a Thursday in April.At the time, Woz stood up and showed off his board, explaining its features, but it didn't attract much attention.
Later, however, the situation suddenly turned around, which laid a solid foundation for future career development.As Steve Jobs later said, "One of the earliest computer shop owners told us that as long as we could make circuit boards and ship them to him, he could sell us. He told us that , what customers like to buy are assembled circuit boards, which also shows that the market prospect of this kind of circuit boards will be very huge.” Afterwards, the business was even better than expected, because it was Paul who negotiated business with Jobs. Terrell, who ran the store that later became the first computer retail chain in the United States, the Byte Shops, who Jobs met at the Homebrew Computer Club, always avoided Jobs, and later said: "Anyone would say that Jobs was an aggressive collaborator."
Pete's store needs electronics.Terrell wanted to make a business connection with Steve after seeing a demo of Jobs' company at a Homebrew Club meeting.The next day, Jobs came to Peter's store disheveled to see how interested the store was in their products.Jobs was so shocked by their reaction that Terrell agreed to buy 50 of their computers at $500 each, for a total of $25,000!
"That was the biggest event in the history of our company's growth," Wozniak said. "In the subsequent development, the company has never had such a major and unexpected event." This is business!
Before computers could be built, components had to be bought, and before components could be bought, sufficient capital, or at least bank loans, had to be raised.With product orders in his pocket, Jobs traveled tirelessly all over Silicon Valley to seek financial support.After many rejections, Jobs went to a larger product company, Kiemlff Electronics.Bob Newton, the manager of Kiruf, recalled: "Jobs was an adventurous young man, but he still seemed fledgling." But Jobs' aggressive spirit left a deep impression on him. , he said he would check with Terrell to confirm the authenticity of the order.
For those who are far less determined to do things than Jobs, they may say "well, I will call you in a few days" and then leave, but Jobs did not do this, he did not leave, but waited until Newton gave Te Rael called.Terrell was at an electronics industry conference at the time, but Newton finally got him through, and he got confirmation that the tiny young man sitting at his desk did have a $25,000 order.After the phone call, Newton was relieved, and then he gave Jobs a loan of the maximum amount, which can buy Kiruf's $20,000 electronic products, but the repayment period of the loan is only 30 days.Obviously, Steve has to face two choices, one is to deliver the finished computer to Peter’s store, and then use the transaction money to repay the cost of purchasing components from Kiruf; the other is to find other ways to repay the loan within one month .Either because Jobs was too reckless to realize the risks at the time, or because he was indifferent to not being able to repay the loan raised on time, Steve accepted the terms of the loan.
Perhaps the person with the most high-tech savvy in computing at the time was Dick Olson, whose company assembled circuit boards using the "camming" method, which refers to putting electronic components together.One day, Steve Jobs came to Olson in his battered jeans and offered to ask Olson's company to assemble the circuit boards for him on credit.Olson rebuffed his request, and later commented, "That's when I understood a truth about electronic business operations: You can't judge a man's business ability by his age or appearance. The best engineers are one-of-a-kind."
Shortly after that, Steve arrives at Pete's store in Palo Alto with 12 circuit boards—a quarter of Terrell's order: Terrell sees The boards were upset because he thought he was ordering a computer and not just a circuit board.The circuit board delivered by Steve is just a pure circuit board, without a chassis, power supply, keyboard, and monitor port. Because Steve and Woz believe that a fully assembled circuit board is a "computer".
Despite the misunderstanding between the two parties, these circuit boards can still be sold to customers as commodities.Terrell accepted the boards and wrote a check for $6,000.In other words, this cooperation made Jobs and the others $3,000.
By the end of the year, Jobs and Woz's computer company had produced about 150 Apple Is, which means they had a combined revenue of nearly $100,000: Wozniak's income at Apple and his day job at Hewlett-Packard The income is almost there.However, Woz still did not want to leave Hewlett-Packard because he could get a relatively stable salary there.
In the fall of 1976, Steve Jobs was always looking for ways to make a computer hardware business and attract retail owners.He also looks for investors and trusted people to help them scale the company.Chris Ann, Jobs' high school girlfriend, also came here.She and Jobs were still Zen believers, and they occasionally bumped into California Governor Jerry Brown, who was also a Buddhist, in the meditation room of the Buddhist temple.
By then, the Apple I was not selling very well at Peter's, and Paul Terrell no longer wanted to buy from Jobs.But that didn't stop Steve, because other competitors in the computer industry were growing rapidly, and Jobs decided to catch up with them.Although Woz's wife was still full of complaints, Woz managed to find a design space in his kitchen, and eventually designed the Apple II in the kitchen.During the design process, Woz thought of a good way, which is to transmit the color signal to the display, so that it can provide sufficient space for expansion slots.Obviously, using the expansion slot, the user can increase the function of the machine by inserting a card.This is an extremely subtle innovation, but it was not something that ordinary people could think of at the time.Applying plug-in cards to computers can increase the practical value of computers, and can also save a lot of money for many companies. Therefore, it can be said that after the successful development of Apple II, the application of expansion slots and plug-in cards in computers has brought great benefits to computers. R&D institutes offer significant opportunities to develop new products.
Woz and Jobs also made major improvements in the computer's operating system.Competitor Atari's computers used the BASIC programming language, developed by Harvard University dropout Bill Gates and his partner Paul Allen.Bill Gates sold computers loaded with the BASIC programming language to computer manufacturers at a price of $500 each, a price that manufacturers had to accept.Jobs and Woz decided to develop their own programming language system, which could be freely provided to users and applied to chips on circuit boards.Their idea is to prevent users from loading the operating system first after each boot, because it will waste time. Apple II can automatically load the operating system when booting, which is easier for users with low levels of operation. This design more humane.This made the Apple computer the new darling of a new generation of computer programmers who could write programs just by turning on the computer.Later, Microsoft also developed an automatically loaded BASIC language operating system, but before the emergence of IBM's personal computer, Apple II has always been the most profitable computer operating platform for computer companies in Seattle.
Another major innovation that Jobs decided to include in the new generation of computers was the absence of fans in the computers.But this innovation didn't create much fanfare, because the formulation is quite radical.Others might think the idea was ludicrous, but Jobs didn't.
Because Jobs studied Zen all day long and was good at meditating, he was very confident in his ideas.He found that fans in computers tended to make people uneasy, so his instinct told him that users would definitely not buy computers that made annoying noises on their desks.
Most of the heat in a computer is generated by the power supply.This means that without a different kind of power supply, it is impossible not to install a fan.But here's the crux of the matter: You can't find this alternative power source anywhere.This didn't hold Steve back.He is still looking for someone who can design such a power supply for him.The man Jobs finally found was Rod Holt, a 40-something, day-to-day smoker who quit Atari because he wanted to make $200 a day.Even though they had no money at all at the time, Steve assured him: "We can give you $200 a day, absolutely no problem." In this way, Steve was not intimidated by the failure of reality. Courage and drive have been working hard to push the Apple II to glory.
"He always guided my work," Holt said.Holt has been working hard, day, night, and weekend.He also gave up racing motorcycles as a hobby, and now all he has to do is design new power supplies for Steve Jobs, week after week.Holt pioneered a new direction in power supply design, changing the original linear design, because the original power supply design was bulky and prone to heat, and the technology used was more than fifty years old.Holt devised a very complex switching power supply, but it was relatively light, small, and easy to cool.This design greatly reduces the size of the computer case, which is more in line with the goal of not installing a fan required by Steve Jobs, and also makes a breakthrough in the input method of computer power supply.
In October, two people from Commodore came to Jobs' Apple Computer manufacturing garage (the Apple Computer manufacturing workshop had moved here at the time) to buy their computer company.At that time, Commodore had already purchased a computer company. The chip used by this company was the same as the MOS 6502 chip of Apple II, and Commodore wanted to continue to expand its scale.Steve thought the deal was worth considering, so he made an offer: sell the company for $100,000; own a portion of Commodore; pay him and Woz $36,000 a year.The deal never went through, but you're all probably wondering what Jobs and Woz would have done in their later days if the Commodore had agreed to Jobs' terms and made him and Woz their employees ?
By the summer of 1976, Woz had broken through with the Apple II.Because they were inspired by the Apple I at the time, and because their fledgling company already had some funding, they were eager to show their products to the world.That day happened to be Labor Day, and it was also the weekend that Jobs and Woz flew to Atlanta to attend the inaugural PC Festival held there.They carried around a mock-up of the Apple II design and a cartridge interface card (the original form of a magnetic disk) for data storage, but it didn't work out very well.For Jobs and Woz, the Computer Festival was a shame.
They flew to Philadelphia with a sense of loss.On the plane, in addition to Jobs and Woz, there were also some computer developers from companies on the west coast of the United States.The most notable of these people, those from the Berkeley Processor Technology Center, all carried the "Solomon" (S01,) computer, which has a sleek metal case with a built-in keyboard. The "Solomon" computer is the first generation of new personal computers. Its components are complete and perfectly assembled, and the operation of connecting the power supply and the display is also quite simple. Compatible with previous models of computer programs.In comparison, the Apple II model that Jobs and Woz brought from Cupertino was crude in shape, a bit like a "cigarette box", which seemed a bit nondescript.
The computer fair was held in this city on the Atlantic coast. At that time, there were no villas dotted along the Atlantic coast.In the halls of the trade show, all the talk was about Edward Roberts and his company MITS.The Altai Computer founder was looking around for a major company to buy his business, and rumors swirled about it.Roberts thought about getting out of the computer industry because he was worried that there would be fierce competition in the computer industry, but he was quite shrewd. He knew that the computer industry he created could be sold for a lot of money.Several of the better-known computer retailers at the time were targeting the personal computer market, such as Tandy Corporation and its chain, Radio Shack, and Commodore Corporation, which took advantage of inexpensive PCs in the early 1970s. Texas Instruments chips are known for aggressively pioneering the calculator market.Roberts wanted to find such a big buyer.
Roberts wanted to make a fortune by selling his computer business, and many computer enthusiasts and engineers also wanted to take over the business.Altair PCs were still the leader in the field at the time, but in the fall of 1976, the rise of computer sales predicted that the computer market would be a big one, and competition would be fiercer.
There were quite a few new types of computers on display at the trade show, so it was unclear who would win the "jackpot".But for Jobs, when he was in the halls of the trade show, he also understood something.First of all, the new Apple computer must have complete and perfect components to meet the needs of more and more computer users.This is the advice given to Jobs by Terrell, the owner of Peter's Store, but only when he saw the second-generation computer in person did he understand the true meaning of these advices, and he had to believe them.For example, the keyboard is essential for computer information input and program design. Several new types of computers have keyboards. Therefore, Jobs realized that in order to make the new Macintosh more competitive, it must also be equipped with keyboard.
At the trade show, for Jobs and the others, there was also a problem of improving the image of Apple Computer.Apple Computer only set up a simple display stand at the exhibition. A small light table was placed at the front of the display stand, covered with yellow curtains, and a smaller table was set on the side.On the countertops are thin leaflets with fanzine articles about Apple computers, and simple business cards.Such a layout does not arouse the interest of visitors at all.Then there's Jobs, Wozniak, and Kottke (he's here to help) in his open-collared shirts, his shaggy hair, and his beard.All this makes their display stand less attractive.Looking at other companies, Mrrs and the newly established IMSAI (a computer company with the same name as Altair in the 1970s) and the Processor Technology Center have set up large-scale demonstration stands.They have these shiny, dazzling displays, and they have a lot of publicity—they have teenage girls who occasionally show up on stage in "mini" miniskirts, 3 professional marketers, and well-groomed, suave electronics. engineer.In this way, the Apple computer was left on the sidelines, and the few people who were interested in Apple computers also wanted to leave, because on the other side, the large computer companies of this exhibition had become the highlights in the exhibition hall.None of the financially powerful middlemen patronized Apple Computers.This most unusual computer company, a company that had grown up in the "heart" of Silicon Valley, was unknown at this electronics fair, and people turned a blind eye to it.
The original circuit boards Jobs and Wozniak designed (which they dubbed the "Apple I") didn't even have a case, power supply, monitor, and keyboard, and they cost around $250 each when assembled.In this case, Jobs and Woz, two fledgling novices, have a lot of difficulties in order to achieve anything.Still, Jobs had been creating the right conditions for his development with great ambition, and he knew he had to develop another source of funding.He clearly knows that in order to develop a broad market for Apple II, it is necessary to have strong funds, and also need to have professionals in customer relationship maintenance and advertising. Jobs and Wozniak have never Get no such professional help.
When Jobs left the PC expo, he knew that if Wozniak's computer was to succeed, he would have to develop a new avenue for the computer business.
When Steve Jobs later said of his return from the trade show and asked Woz to design the Apple II computer, he said, "The real leap forward with the Apple II was that it became a synthetic computer, not a computer. The combination of simple parts. The Apple II is fully assembled, with its own case and keyboard. After you buy it, you can sit down and use it. This is really a breakthrough for the Apple II, because it looks like a product. You also don't have to collect Apple II hardware, because it's already a perfect product.¨
At the end of 1976, Steve Jobs not only wanted to bring the Apple II to the market, but also had to continue to expand his company, and the pressure increased significantly.He knew that his ability in some areas was limited, so he had to go to various places to recruit elites to join his company.Jobs has the passion of a businessman for his own products, the passion of an evangelist to preach the gospel, the perseverance of a fanatic to achieve his goal, and the determination and will of a poor kid to succeed.It is precisely because of Jobs' mixed personality traits that on the one hand, Apple Computer has achieved great success, and on the other hand, he has established many opponents and enemies.
An unanswerable question is, where does people's desire to buy come from?This is the answer Jobs was eager to find.In the autumn of 1976, Intel Semiconductor Corporation adopted an eye-catching advertising strategy: In terms of advertising, Intel gave up the previous way of direct product promotion, but relied on alternative images of computers to achieve publicity effects, such as playing cards, hamburgers, etc. , racing car.Steve Jobs was immediately attracted by this graphic and simple way of publicity.This advertising method had a great influence on Jobs's computer advertising concept in the future.Jobs called Intel's marketing department to get in touch with Regis McKinna, the company that had created the ad concept.
Steve called McKinna and asked to speak to McKinna, but McKinna didn't answer his call. Instead, Frank Birch, who was in charge of new customer business, took Jobs' call.Frank listened politely to Jobs' description of his company, and then he tried to explain why McKinna & Co. were reluctant to represent Jobs' company.
Although Birch was not convinced, Jobs called him every day for the next few weeks and asked Birch to come to their company to see Apple products for himself.In the end, Jobs adopted a soft and hard strategy.Birch described Jobs in this way at the time:
"I was driving to the garage thinking, 'Oh my God, what the hell is this crazy guy thinking? Is it true that like he said, I had a brief meeting with this nasty guy, and when we got back our Will the company do business with him and make a lot of money for it?'”
"Two minutes into the conversation with him I wanted to get up and walk away. About the third minute into the conversation, it dawned on me that this guy was a very smart young man, and he said most of what I was talking about. Can understand."
However, Jobs' "very shrewd" role was not enough, and McKinna Company still refused to cooperate with him, but Jobs' determination was great.He called McKinna's office three or four times a day.McKinna's secretary may have been tired of answering Jobs' phone calls. She really didn't want to let this "annoying" young man bother her, so she forced her boss to answer the phone.McKinna answered Jobs' call, and he was persuaded by Jobs to let Jobs come to see him.
Both Jobs and Wozniak came.During the conversation, Jobs mentioned an article Woz had written in a computer enthusiast magazine, so McKinna offered to read a draft of the article instead of technical material.Wozniak, however, blurted out angrily, "I can't let anyone in customer relations touch my stuff!" This made McKinna so upset that he kicked Jobs and Woz out.Jobs eased the tense situation at the time. He wanted McKinna to believe that their company was indeed a promising company, and the electronic products produced were also top-notch. He hoped that McKinna could cooperate with them.McKinna still disagreed, so Jobs resorted to his usual "stalking" tactics and stayed in McKinna's office until finally McKinna agreed to cooperate with their company.
Steve tried his best to persuade Regis McKinna to cooperate with him. In fact, the cooperation between McKinna and Jobs benefited both parties a lot.
Regis McKinna understood from the very beginning that Apple wanted to promote its products in an all-round way, not just limited to the market of computer enthusiasts.And to do this, you need to advertise in a fairly broad field.McKinna had to advertise in the media if it wanted to get the attention of the entire United States on this computer company in a garage.So where to advertise to achieve such an effect?Regis had a plan in mind.He found that the customers who buy computers are generally male, so the advertisement should choose a magazine with male readers, so he chose the magazine.
Apple Computer had a very good ad agency and picked a pretty decent magazine to place the ad in, and now there was just one problem: the company didn't have enough money to advertise on the Internet.
Money means a lot to a company trying to grow in Silicon Valley.There may be many examples in the "success book" of Silicon Valley's development because of the right opportunity and location, but working capital is indispensable for the company's development.In Silicon Valley, you may come into contact with some self-made people, but they are a unique minority after all. They use venture capital and may encounter great difficulties in the process of starting a business.McKinna suggested that Steve talk to Mr. Don Valentine, a member of their company's board of directors, who was also a director of Atari.
So Jobs called Valentine and asked him to take a field trip to Apple Computer.Valentine, the son of a truck driver, was a former Navy self-made man who successfully led the marketing departments of two companies, first at Fairchild and later at National Semiconductor Corporation (National Semiconductor).In the early 1970s, he quit his job and stopped working for others to start an investment firm himself.Valentine is well-known in Silicon Valley circles. He is a very practical person and has a good understanding of the operations of the electronics industry. Any deceitful behavior cannot be hidden from him.He also clearly recognizes that some fledgling electronics companies are rewriting the history of the electronic world.
Don drove a Mercedes-Benz to Apple.Others appear to be quite neat, dignified, and well-dressed.When Tang came to Jobs' house, he saw Jobs and Wozniak, the two "computer experts" in disheveled appearance, and felt that they were not like business elites.Jobs invited him to see the latest computer products they designed, and talked with him about their company's plan to sell thousands of computers a year. After that, Don told them: "Neither of you understands marketing.的市场规模也没有一个明确的概念，这样就无法开拓更广阔的市场。”瓦伦丁答应和乔布斯协商投资事宜，不过苹果公司必须得雇用一个开发市场方面的专家。由于乔布斯性格直率，当时就让瓦伦丁推荐这方面的人才，然而，瓦伦丁没有说。在这之后，乔布斯就坚持不懈地每天给瓦伦丁打三四遍电话，后来这个投资专家“啪”的一声打开了他的旋转式名片架。瓦伦丁给乔布斯推荐了3个人：其中一个是麦克·马库拉。 （从乔布斯那里瓦伦丁吸取了不要轻易答应某个公司要求的教训，但后来他遇到同样奇怪的两个人时，也就是思科系统公司的创始人，他也答应了为他们筹集资金创办公司。）
乔布斯马上打电话给马库拉，当时他正过着悠闲的生活。在20世纪70年代初期，当英特尔公司还是个小公司的时侯，马库拉就从英特尔其他雇员那里获取了优先购股权，另外还有不少他自己赚得的股权。后来英特尔上市后，那些股票使马库拉“一夜暴富”。他现在正在寻找着这样的投机机会，但由于他现在已经有两个孩子了，家也安在了库比提诺和塔霍湖附近，他的钱也够用了，所以生活过得优哉游哉。尽管如此，他还是答应了去乔布斯的位于库比提诺车库。
当马库拉来到时，乔布斯和沃兹发现他是一个身材矮小、非常瘦弱的人——他在中学时代是体操运动员。他性格静默，做事精确，喜欢弹吉他。他鼻梁上架着金丝眼镜，手上戴着一块价值昂贵的金表，从外表看，他很像一个缺乏自信心的人。像乔布斯和沃兹一样，他也是个孤寂的人。
但马库拉和乔布斯、沃兹有一个很大的不同：马库拉知道微型处理器可能会给全世界的计算机带来革命性的变化。马库拉知道，新一代的计算机使用的是微型处理器，它和那些只能够显示时间或者存储少量信息的老一代计算机相比更让人“激动不已”，他预计人们研发出这种新型计算机只不过是时间问题。另外，马库拉曾经在一家电子产品销往世界各地的公司工作过，因此，他知道一种新产品的出现会给世界带来什么样的轰动效应。当乔布斯和沃兹向他展示他们新设计的电脑产品，并向他做演示时，马库拉忘记了乔布斯是多么的不起眼，忘记了苹果公司的“总部”是多么的寒酸，也忘记了不想与他们合作的种种理由。马库拉决定留下来帮助他们，给他们起草商业发展规划，指导他们从一个新的起点开始创业。沃兹尼亚克对雇用这么一个人来苹果公司颇为警惕，但乔布斯则认为他需要这个人的帮助，马库拉能实现他在个人电脑展销会上想要达成的目标。而马库拉认为，他能够和这个静默、从容、不装腔作势的伙伴合作。
史蒂夫·乔布斯向马库拉描绘了他们公司的发展前景，使他相信他们公司通过出售计算机就能改变全世界的家庭和办公室。马库拉认为，他们的目标能够实现。在那以后，他经常到车库这边来。经过一段时间的培训，马库拉开始对开发软件感兴趣了，很快他就成了一个高水平的业余电脑程序迷。对于苹果公司的很多事情，马库拉都与乔布斯、沃兹详尽地商议，另外还有罗德·霍尔特，他是电力工程师，他觉得苹果公司是个值得留下来发展的公司。（罗恩·韦恩是乔布斯以前的合作伙伴，他离开已经很长时间了。“史蒂夫·乔布斯绝对是一个工作狂人，”他说，“我和他合作感觉筋疲力尽。”他从来没有后悔离开苹果公司。“我根据当时的情况做出了最恰当的选择。”到1999年的时候，罗恩·韦恩还住在亚利桑那州的图森市，从事技术方面的工作。)很快，马库拉就请他们相信，苹果公司会在不到5年的时间内跻身财富500强，并说，时间将会证明他是正确的。
马库拉对苹果公司的发展非常自信。他开始给史蒂夫·乔布斯提供一些商业运营建议，自己起草大部分的项目经营规划，他成了苹果公司初期最主要的投资者。他一开始提供的赞助资金是9，1万美元的现金，然后又以自己的名义向银行贷了25万美元，这样马库拉、乔布斯、沃兹三人拥有了相等的对苹果公司的所有权，另外lO%的公司所有权归霍尔特，因为他是苹果公司的工程师。
1977年1月3日，他们三个苹果公司的创始人聚集在马库拉家的游泳池旁边，在那里马库拉和乔布斯、沃兹一起讨论了公司发展的一些事情，最后他们签署了一份文件，这份文件规定要把苹果计算机公司转变成一家股份公司。马库拉还坚持在文件中写明要乔布斯和沃兹成为苹果公司全职的雇员，于是沃兹不得不忍痛离开惠普公司，失去了稳定的工资保障。他们没有讨论更改他们公司的计算机名称，因为“苹果”已经相当有名气了，用不着改用其他的名字。
马库拉把苹果公司介绍给美国国家半导体公司的行政主管麦克·斯科特，希望他能成为苹果公司的总裁。和给人以相当亲切感的马库拉不同，斯科特性格刚硬，是一个很精明的人，他凭着自己的勇气和决心获得了事业上的成功，他和乔布斯是截然不同的两种人。乔布斯并不喜欢斯科特，他认为斯科特也就是有几年的管理方面的经验而已。
虽然这样，斯科特还是被苹果公司聘为总裁，但因为公司已经有了一个“麦克”（麦克·马库拉），所以他给自己起了一个昵称——斯科蒂，他和比尔·费尔南德斯、兰迪·威金顿、克里斯·斯皮诺莎和罗德·霍尔特一起成为苹果公司“同一战壕里”的“战友”。总裁的薪水是每年20 001美元。这比其他三个合伙入的年薪要多l美元，但公司的决策权还是归沃兹、乔布斯和马库拉，斯科特对此很明白。 在苹果公司里，乔布斯和斯科特经常为一些事情争吵，有些是大事，有些则是鸡毛蒜皮的小事，比如进货合同应该由谁来签字，员工的办公室应该怎样安排，甚至工作台应该涂什么样的颜色等等。他们俩有时还为公司成员的排名顺序发生争执。乔布斯害怕自己在公司中被排在沃兹之后，也就是说他不想让沃兹排在第一位，而他排在第二位。他非常希望坐公司的“第一把交椅“。（最终乔布斯赢了，但那也是在他做了一笔大买卖，并且斯科特被解雇了以后。）
有一次，斯科蒂邀请乔布斯到一个停车场散步，这里也是公司做出重大决定的地方。但这次谈话不是关于公司的重大决定，而是斯科蒂向乔布斯提出了一个很敏感的问题，那就是关于乔布斯的身体散发出的异味。因为乔布斯比较喜欢吃水果，他认为自己常吃水果，所以用不着经常洗澡，这就导致了公司办公室的员工在工作时都不愿意和乔布斯靠得很近。
当苹果公司作为一家股份公司开始呈现出勃勃生机的时候，乔布斯和沃兹却在公司的发展问题上出现了意见分歧。沃兹希望他们的电脑应该设计得更加完美，而乔布斯则显得有点不耐烦了。他不明白为什么他想要达成的目标总要花费那么长的时间。尤其在开发软件上，乔布斯更着急，他对软件开发了解得很少，甚至不知道如何搜索计算机程序中的代码或例行程序上的瑕疵。更糟糕的是，苹果公司全部的程序员是两个甚至比乔布斯还年轻的小伙子。
兰迪·威金顿在上中学时就为苹果公司编写程序，他清楚地记得：“我只不过是乔布斯公司里的小职员。我的报酬是每小时2.5美元。而我在早上3点半就得起床，一直工作到我去学校上学，从学校回来后，我就一直工作到晚上7点或7点半。 ”但兰迪对乔布斯和沃兹的关系发展却看得非常仔细。“沃兹和乔布斯两入之间的友谊出现了裂痕。在沃兹开发出苹果Ⅱ后，他们两人不和谐的关系就表现了出来。史蒂夫·乔布斯的工作精力主要放在了计算机终端用户那里，比如，计算机显示器的屏幕如何设计，机箱如何设计等等。他对我们说话的时候总显得很盛气凌人，所以我们很不喜欢他。”
虽然他们在一些小事上意见不能达成一致，但至少乔布斯、沃兹、马库拉和斯科蒂对于苹果公司应该参加西海岸计算机展销会还是一致同意的，这是第一次在美国西海岸举行如此大规模的计算机展销会，他们都希望苹果电脑能在展销会上一举成名。乔布斯想很快就签署展销合同，因为这样就可以争取到靠近展销会门口的展位，人们进来时第一眼就会看见苹果电脑。
马库拉仅设计展位就花费了5 000美元，这在1977年对于一个小公司来说，数额是比较大的了。展位上安放了一块烟雾状的背光树脂玻璃板，上面印有公司的名称以及苹果电脑的商标。黑色天鹅绒的帷幕悬垂在展台四周，展台上摆放3台新型的苹果Ⅱ电脑（他们总共就有3台这样的电脑）和1台宽屏幕的显示器，显示器上展示的是滑稽的游戏和供演示的程序，这些程序是由威金顿，沃兹尼亚克和另一名程序员克里斯·斯皮诺莎共同编写的。而其他公司所用的展台是折叠式的，上面是手写的各种标识语，这和苹果公司布置的展台相比反差巨大。这次展示和半年前乔布斯、沃兹带着苹果I第一次参加计算机展销会时的情况也不可同日而语，那次他们准备得很仓促，安排草率，根本没有什么效果。
等到展销会快开幕的时候，为苹果Ⅱ设计的新机箱终于运到了。在史蒂夫看来，苹果Ⅱ的机箱应该看上去像KLH音响公司的立体声音箱——具有完整、一体化的造型，样式流行，外形设计也吸引人。而当他看见运来的机箱时大为恼火：这些机箱非常难看。他马上命令苹果公司的几个忠实员工对机箱进行打磨、刮擦，然后喷漆。
第二天上午lO点，展销会正式开幕了：展销会的门打开以后，第一批参观者蜂拥而入，首先映入他们眼帘的就是光彩夺目的苹果电脑，这么漂亮、这么专业的个人电脑他们还是第一次看到。当苹果公司参展员工把机箱打开时，展现在电脑爱好者、普通参观者和媒体人面前的是设计先进的计算机主板，这种主板是他们以前从来没见过的。沃兹使出浑身解数展示着他设计的产品——由62块芯片组成的电路板和集成电路，这是人们以前闻所未闻的。乔布斯极力要求计算机的每一个接口都必须做得巧妙，完全采用流线型设计，这样参观者就会感到极为赏心悦目。
参观者蜂拥围到苹果公司的展台周围，他们真不敢相信这些盒子里的电子元件能在如此大的屏幕上变幻出这么栩栩如生、丰富多彩的形象。史蒂夫·乔布斯也第一次穿得这么整齐，他不断地把帷幕扯在一边，想向参观者证实，后面没有藏着别的大型计算机：
“参加完展销会，我们对自己的表现非常满意，也非常兴奋，这不仅仅是为了苹果电脑，还为了整个计算机行业的发展前景。”苹果公司的程序员斯皮诺莎如是说，她当时还是一名高中三年级的学生。
在数月之间，苹果Ⅱ电脑就收到了300份订单，这一数量是苹果I销售量的3倍。在苹果Ⅱ电脑的销售过程中，史蒂夫注意到，人们以前买的苹果电脑还可以进行升级，对此史蒂夫比较赞成。在他的人生哲学中，他信奉“正义的东西”，即使有时可能会给公司带来很大的损失。这种给已售电脑升级的做法在史蒂夫离开苹果公司以前一直实行：
那年夏天，史蒂夫·乔布斯和他的好朋友丹·科特克一直住在库比提诺。与史蒂夫合合分分的女朋友克里斯·安在那时成了苹果电脑的装配工，她和乔布斯—起搬到了这里。但他们之间也摆脱不了一个“老问题¨的困扰，这个“老问题”困扰着很多的企业界人士，并且还将困扰成千上万名从事高科技产业的人员，这个问题就是这些人的女朋友或者妻子要同这些高级人员的“情人”——工作展开竞争。同样，克里斯·安在史蒂夫的心目中也不占什么重要地位，因此，当那年夏末克里斯怀孕的时候，他们之间的麻烦就越来越大了。
也不知什么原因，多年以来，史蒂夫·乔布斯一直不想做一个父亲，等克里斯怀孕后，他也拒绝做这个孩子的父亲。一怒之下，克里斯·安打碎了家里的碗碟，在墙上乱涂一气，最后还打破了门和窗户。史蒂夫默默忍受着克里斯那虽然情有可原却相当歇斯底里的做法，直到最后，克里斯断然拒绝了乔布斯的堕胎的提议。在这种情况下，史蒂夫就终止了他和克里斯之间的关系，克里斯也从苹果公司辞了职，回到了俄勒冈州的苹果农场。
丹·科特克对眼前发生的这一切真是不敢相信。这么多年来，科特克一直听着乔布斯诉说他被抛弃的不幸遭遇，也对乔布斯的凄苦深有感触。然而现在，乔布斯竟然不愿做他的即将出生在这个世界上的孩子的父亲。科特克实在不理解乔布斯是怎么想的，他们之间的友谊也因为这件事冷淡了不少。
乔布斯与克里斯·安发生激烈矛盾的期间，他在工作上也与斯科蒂发生了争执。在那时，一般电子产品的保修期都是90天，但乔布斯却坚持要把苹果Ⅱ的保修期延长到1年，他的直觉认为，这样做可以赢得一批对苹果电脑忠实的顾客。斯科蒂则对乔布斯的这种提议拒不接受，史蒂夫也发了脾气。斯科蒂又邀请乔布斯到外面的停车场转了一圈，回来后，他们俩都冷静了下来。但还是乔布斯赢了——苹果电脑的保修期延长到了1年。
史蒂夫有时会让他的员工恼怒不已，但同时他也是苹果公司未来梦想的开拓者和苹果公司企业文化的缔造者，在他的带领下，苹果公司的员工才能上下一心共同创造苹果电脑的辉煌。
他可能是一个小镇上坏女人的儿子。性格刚硬，因为他甚至能胜过比他年龄大l倍，精明而富有经验的人。有一天，程序员威金顿正在使用的BASIC语言系统突然出了问题，他6个星期的工作成果转眼之间就从呼叫计算机公司（Call Computer）的分时电脑系统（一种使许多使用者通过遥远的终端同时享用同一台计算机资源的技术服务）上消失了。由于苹果公司自己不能承担大型计算机内部储存器的费用，因此，乔布斯就在呼叫计算机公司开了个账户，共同使用这一服务。威金顿想尽—切办法想恢复他的系统数据，但还是徒劳无功。他知道呼叫计算机公司的分时系统中心会随时备份相关的数据，但却不知为什么，他这么多的编码数据突然就消失了。威金顿马上打电话给呼叫计算机公司，要他们提供一下备份的数据，虽然他们提供的数据不一定是最新的，但最起码威金顿不用再从零开始做起。但该公司的负责人亚历克斯·凯姆拉蒂却拒绝了，因为他对乔布斯和沃兹以前对他的行事方式大为不满。更糟糕的是，苹果公司当时正处于资金周转不灵的时候，它已经好几个月没向呼叫计算机公司交纳服务费了。
史蒂夫·乔布斯不得不亲自处理这件事，他打电话给凯姆拉蒂，先想法让他平静下来，并提出假如他能拿着账单过来，苹果公司马上付给他服务费。凯姆拉蒂答应了。就在凯姆拉蒂想要挂断电话打算出门的时侯，乔布斯却说，希望他一定要把他们公司备份的数据恢复一遍，这样威金顿就能继续工作了。
当凯姆拉蒂开车赶过来的时侯，威金顿马上下载了他们备份的数据，并关闭了分时系统，然后就离开了，而其他人都不知道究竟发生了什么事。当凯姆拉蒂来到后，史蒂夫告诉他，苹果公司没有什么账单，他也不打算付费，因为他的电脑已经好几个月没开机了，他正愁得要命。
对乔布斯来说，同像凯姆拉蒂这样的人如此说话，需要很大的勇气。凯姆拉蒂以前是拳击运动员，有着花菜般大的耳朵，硕大的鼻子，身材短小精悍。而乔布斯由于整天食素，所以身材瘦弱，显得弱不禁风，他平时练习的是参禅，而不是体育运动项目。要是他以前有过这种害怕的体验，那天他断然不会那样做了。凯姆拉蒂也没有办法，只好气冲冲地走了，虽然怒不可遏但却两手空空。
在决定苹果Ⅱ的机箱生产规模时，史蒂夫预计苹果Ⅱ的销售数量应和苹果I不差上下，因此他做出了一个大胆决定，即按照苹果I的机箱生产规模来确定苹果Ⅱ的机箱生产量，这样可以节省大量资金，但现在这一决定却困住了他：由于苹果Ⅱ的销售规模超出了苹果I很多，导致苹果Ⅱ的机箱生产线严重不足，而这时订购苹果Ⅱ的用户又在催货，机箱供应商也在索要货款，苹果公司的资金周转几乎失灵。斯科蒂尽最大努力应对这种紧张局面，他采用赊账的办法购买机箱，要求机箱供应商给苹果公司45天或60天的赊欠期，这样可以延缓资金流出；而销售给订购用户的计算机则拖延30天发货。但有一点很明确，没有机箱就不能生产出计算机，那也就意味着没有钱可赚。
这时乔布斯发挥了他以前那种精明的商业才能，提出了解决这一危机的方案。他提供给机箱生产商一定的奖励，也就是说如若机箱生产商能提前交货，那么每提前1个星期会从苹果公司那里得到l 000美元的奖励。果然，这一招起到了作用。新的机箱生产线很快组建完成，苹果公司又有机箱了，并能重新发货了，濒临绝境的资金问题很快峰回路转。苹果公司当时真是濒临破产，差几天他们就得“关门大吉”了。
困境化解后，马库拉意识到苹果公司要想规避资金风险，就应该在产品生产计划实施之前融入风险资金。他和斯科特已经为公司贷款20万美元作为临时资金，而马库拉也是想尽办法筹集风险资金。
在那时，史蒂夫·乔布斯已经发生了不小的变化——至少在外表上。虽然当时他只有23岁，但从他拥有的有价证券来说，他也算是有钱人了。他的头发还是那么长，不过已经梳理得很时髦。乔布斯当时已被媒体称为“神奇小子”( wonder boy)，再加上里言斯·麦金纳对他的“包装”，使他更显成熟了。
早期的计算机电路板——也就是沃兹和乔布斯在家酿俱乐部上展示的那种，除了计算机爱好者喜欢外，并不吸引其他人。而到了1977年，虽然苹果电脑的销量猛增，但苹果公司还是面临着一个很大的挑战：计算机到底能用来做什么？这个挑战从他们一开始创业就困扰着苹果公司和其他一些计算机公司。一些个人和组织一直在努力开发计算机软件程序以解决这个同题，但直到那些有实用价值的软件程序问世之前，消费者仍然只把计算机看做是一种玩具。
另一个问题的解决更具有根本性的意义。在计算机操作过程中，计算机必须顺次执行一系列的操作指令，然后对输入的繁杂数据加以处理，这样才能最终完成一项指令任务。而在计算机时代刚开始的时候，指令和数据是通过转换器或者插入接插线来输入的。随着技术的进步出现了穿孔卡（一种用于将数据输入计算机的媒介，主要是一张上面穿有代表字母或数字或表示相关信息的小孔组成的卡片），然后又出现了磁盘。沃兹最早的设计方案是用手把指令和数据输进电脑，然后用磁盘存储数据。对个人电脑来说，磁盘驱动器正逐渐被看做是解决数据存储的一个不错选择，它使用的是一张用磁性材料制作的软盘，用这张软盘来存储数据。
1977年12月，在一次具有划时代意义的苹果公司员工会议上，麦克·马库拉告诉沃兹尼亚克，苹果公司必须马上开发出自己的磁盘驱动器，去参加在拉斯韦加斯召开的消费类电子产品展览会。而当时离展览会开幕只有1个月的时间。
除了沃兹尼亚克之外，没有任何人敢于接受这一挑战。如果按照时间表的话，那肯定不可能完成任务，但在沃兹的字典里还没有“不可能”这个词。他让兰迪·威金顿做他的助手，然后他凭着自己对电子学的兴趣和强烈的开发激情，全身心地扑在了磁盘驱动器的开发上。
“在1977年的圣诞节前夕，”兰迪说，“沃兹和我最终能让磁盘驱动器读写指令和数据了。为了庆贺成功，我们还出去买了一杯奶昔。”
“在消费类电子产品展览会开幕的前一个晚上，我们到了拉斯韦加斯，但我们的任务还是没有完成。硬件工作正常，软件却不行。沃兹和我只得又摆弄了1个小时，然后我们就出去赌了一场。我当时只有17岁，就和沃兹一起去掷色于，一直掷了一个晚上，我也没睡觉。第二天早上大约7点，我竟然发现磁盘驱动器又工作了，沃兹让我把相关文件备份一下，但我备份时操作失误，把我们最后一个小时的劳动成果全给毁了，沃兹和我只好重做。”
我们最终让磁盘驱动器正常工作了，在展览会上它引起了巨大的轰动。和沃兹以前设计的电子产品一样，磁盘驱动器用的元件比市场上其他驱动器用的元件少得多。家酿俱乐部会议的主持人李·费尔森斯坦回忆了看到这个磁盘驱动器的那一刻。“我吃惊地差点掉了裤子。”他说，“这样的设计真是太精妙了，我们实在想不到这些家伙能设计出这样完美的产品o"
在1 978年5月17日，在俄勒冈州的All，One农场，这个史蒂夫·乔布斯非常喜欢和他的佛教伙伴待在一起的地方，这个长满苹果树的地方，克里斯·安生下了一个孩子，可乔布斯竭力不认这个孩子，孩子出生后没几天，乔布斯来到了农场，他在那里待了很长时间，想给这个小女孩起个名字（他们决定管她叫丽莎·尼科尔），名字起完后乔布斯就离开了。在随后的几个月里，乔布斯自愿地承担了这个女孩的抚养费，但后来却停止了。克里斯·安要求如果给她两万美元，这件事就算解决了。马库拉知道这件事后，就让乔布斯给她8万美元。乔布斯却又坚持说他不是这个孩子的父亲，拒绝给克里斯·安任何钱。
史蒂夫·乔布斯在年龄很小的时侯就已经形成了自己的处事原则。他拒绝去读高中，并强迫他父母搬了家。他说服父母让他去一个收费高得让他家无法承担的大学读书，然后却辍学了。在生意场上，他迫使一个又一个的商业精英为他工作，然而他又我行我素，目中无人，有时还要求别人完全听从他的指挥。而现在，他却必须面对别人指挥他的现实。克里斯·安拒绝打掉孩子，拒绝承认别人是这个孩子的父亲，拒绝从乔布斯的眼前消失。这真是让乔布斯难以适应。在这个孩子出生后，克里斯·安一直紧跟着乔布斯，让他承担对孩子的抚养责任。无论乔布斯“跑”得有多远， “爬”得有多高，这个孩子总能提醒他与克里斯度过的那一段时光。乔布斯第一次无计可施了。
为了让克里斯·安相信他们的关系已经彻底破裂了，乔布斯必须找到另一个女人来代替她，这件事成了乔布斯的当务之急。不过，史蒂夫从来就不是一个喜欢玩弄女性的人。他发现约会让他不舒服，闲聊对他来说也很困难，总之约会很不吸引他。因此，他没有约会，而是简单地选择了一个在他麻烦不断时能够联系得上的女人。
对乔布斯来说，他的客户关系顾问里吉斯·麦金纳的办公室是他比较乐意去的地方，因为任何优秀的客服人员都知道要使他们顾客高兴的道理。但里吉斯却不是这样的人，他是那种很了不起的、不断给客户提出发展策略、善于开拓创新的人。
里吉斯经营公司的理念是让客户从心底里满意，这从他的用人选择上就可以看出来。里吉斯属于那种个性张扬的人，从不隐瞒什么，如果是雅致端庄并且能让客户感觉满意的年轻女性来他公司应聘，他肯定会雇用这样的女性，因此，麦金纳公司员工的个人素质都是非常高的。里吉斯·麦金纳要求他公司员工穿的工作服有一种是开士米织物的运动夹克，别人一进公司就能感觉到公司的豪华、气派、与众不同。
有一天史蒂夫·乔布斯就碰到一位麦金纳公司的魅力女性，她叫巴巴拉·亚辛斯基，她有着波利尼西亚人和东欧人的血统，长得非常漂亮。乔布斯对她非常满意，于是，很快就和巴巴拉建立了联系，之后大多数晚上他就去巴巴拉位于山上的小平房里过夜。
在那时，虽然乔布斯还是认为毒品是人获得灵感的一种好方法，但他差不多已经戒掉了，虽然乔布斯对毒品的态度发生了根本性的变化，但他与苹果公司总裁斯科特之间的关系仍然很僵。有时，事情会变得非常糟糕，致使苹果公司上下都把他们两人这种激烈而无情的冲突叫做“斯科蒂战争”。其中有一个典型的例子：在1977年，苹果公司第一次举办圣诞节聚会，由于斯科蒂拒绝告诉筹办宴会方要准备一份素食菜谱，乔布斯气得简直发疯了，当时就大发雷霆。
斯科特也想着报复一下乔布斯。当他知道乔布斯为了放松一下一天的紧张工作，而喜欢把他的脚放在厕所的抽水马桶里冲洗的时候，他就把这件事偷偷地透露了出去。马上乔布斯的这一隐私就在苹果公司传开了，成为了很多人的笑柄。
到1978年的时候，苹果公司已经成长为一家有60名员工的计算机公司了，购货订单纷纷而来，资金周转问题也成为了历史。史蒂夫·乔布斯和麦克·马库拉对前景充满了期望。他们认为，苹果Ⅱ的市场已经基本饱和，现在是开发新一代计算机的时候了。
根据苹果用户的反馈信息，苹果电脑也需要做一些改进，当然要想马上有一个清晰的改进方案还是有一点困难的。苹果Ⅱ的主要缺点是只能显示大写字母，而且每一行也只能显示40个字符。很显然，如果想让苹果电脑转变成正式的商用电脑，就应该纠正这两个缺点。他们计划开发一种临时替代型的电脑，称为苹果Ⅱ加强型电脑，然后，经过一系列技术改进后，他们再推出苹果Ⅲ。
史蒂夫对经营公司颇有一套理论，他后来说，在开始的时候，你的公司可能只有一批员工，但这一批员工会雇用另一批员工。当你的公司雇用了第二批员工时，这些员工还会雇用其他人，过不了多久，你的公司就会有大量的第二批、第三批员工了。负责苹果公司市场部的特里普·霍金斯认为，在苹果公司这种情况已经在发生了。特里普相信，苹果公司现在已经成为一家不可能破产的公司了。“苹果公司已经是生意场上的'卡默洛特'了。基本上，市场需求能够推动公司的成长，虽然有时可能会出现一些问题。公司可能有一些不称职的员工，他们会给公司带来很大的损失，但这都是一些小问题，因为市场对苹果Ⅱ的需求量非常巨大。”一些公司元老把这种不称职员工过多的情况叫做“笨蛋充斥”( Bozo Explosion)。
在苹果公司，一些不称职的员工已经影响了苹果Ⅲ的开发，但这还不是问题的关键所在。“史蒂夫·乔布斯在负责苹果Ⅲ的开发时，事情处理得相当混乱。”特里普解释道。史蒂夫亲自抓计算机的外形设计，但由于他要求的机箱尺寸太小，致使工程师设计的各类部件很难安装在机箱内，而史蒂夫拒绝考虑改进机箱的外形。等到苹果Ⅲ发货后，这些机器总是出现问题。对此乔布斯至少应该承担部分责任，但那时他已经忙其他事情去了，在这种新机器的开发上，他把责任推得一干二净。人们的责备之声全部落在了研发工程师的头上。
在1979年的夏末，苹果公司出售了727. 380 l万美元的私人股份，有16人购买了苹果公司出售的股份，而且购买额都相当大，其中有一些购买者来自于全球最大的风险资金投资公司和商业银行。
其中有一家投资公司是施乐发展公司，它是施乐公司在战略规划、材料购进、风险投资方面的管理部门，该公司的两名员工一直在寻找着投资机会。其中有—位名叫史蒂文·伯恩鲍姆，他回忆说：“乔布斯给人的感觉就是不论有我们还是没有我们，他的公司都能获得成功，所以我们对购买苹果公司的股份很有信心。”伯恩鲍姆总共筹集了105万美元用于购买苹果公司的股份。他们做出这一决定以后也没有后悔过。
由于苹果电脑市场状况良好，因此，史蒂夫·乔布斯仅仅出售了100多万美元的个人持有股，就成了百万富翁。那一年，只有24岁的他，就已经凭着自己的努力，获得了巨大的成功。
随后，乔布斯就在山边小镇洛思加托斯买了一座房子，这个地方紧靠着圣克鲁斯山。他没有对这座房子细加装饰，只是挂了一幅麦克斯菲尔德·派黎思（Maxfield Parrish）的绘画作品，派黎思是一位非常著名的插图画家，他的作品现在被挂在纽约大都会艺术博物馆里，另外在其他地方也有展出。这座没有什么装饰的房子也成了史蒂夫苦行僧生活的见证。这座房子除了在乔布斯的卧室里有坐垫和床垫外，没有任何其他家具。
乔布斯还买了他的第一辆梅塞德斯—奔驰双人小汽车。后又买了一辆宝马摩托车，还在摩托车的车把上系了个橙色的彩带球，有时，他和科特克骑着摩托车顺着山路在斯坦福附近兜风，然后还裸体在水库里游泳。
史蒂夫挣得的钱也并不是就自己挥霍了，他还慷慨地为向尼泊尔和印度的盲人提供帮助的慈善组织捐