Steve Jobs explains the difference between a great idea and a great product

Steve recounts: “One of the things that really hurt Apple was, after I left, John Sculley got a very serious disease. And that disease—I’ve seen other people get it too—is the disease of thinking that a really great idea is 90% of the work.” But that’s never the case. As Steve explains, a product idea never turns out as originally conceived because you learn a lot from the details of building it, and there are always tradeoffs you have to make. “There’s a tremendous amount of craftsmanship between a great idea and a great product… and it’s that process that is the magic.” He compares a team working hard on something they’re passionate about to a rock tumbler: “It’s through the team--through a group of incredibly talented people--bumping up against each other, having arguments, having fights sometimes, making some noise, and working together... they polish each other and polish the ideas. And what comes out are these really beautiful stones.” --- We curate the top 1% of startup advice from the world’s best founders and investors. Join 8,000 founders who read the free newsletter at