Apple Alums: ‘Steve Jobs is the conscience sitting on your shoulder’

The San Francisco Chronicle has a Sunday feature with some A-list former Apple employees turned entrepreneurs about what they took from the Cupertino company and working with Steve Jobs to their new endeavors.

Moving past the nagging, obit-like tribute aspect — perhaps inevitable for a story like this pegged to the recent resignation of Steve Jobs? — they all say that working at Apple with Jobs left an indelible mark.

What are some of the common values important at Apple that are still influencing the way they do business?

Simplicity, excellence in design, a willingness to reject ideas and a relentless focus on a small set of goals. It is no accident, they say, that those are also among Jobs’ chief values.

The Chron talked to Marc Benioff of Salesforce.com; Trip Hawkins, who started Electronic Arts; Andy Rubin who founded the Android operating system; Evan Doll of Flipboard; and Reid Hoffman, who co-founded LinkedIn. (Plus one former Apple employee turned entrepreneur who chimes in off the record, probably still smarting from Jobs’ “blistering, expletive-laden verbal assaults.”)

“If you look at all those entrepreneurs, you see people who are intensely focused, intensely competitive, respectful, good people. They put design first, and really are trying to innovate. And that’s all Apple,” says Dave Morin, an Apple alum and now the founder and CEO of startup Path.

A number of start-ups have no doubt lived by a “What Would Jobs Do?” mentality, but if you’ve worked at Apple, it sounds inevitable.

“You almost imagine that Steve is in your office,” says Evan Doll, co-founder of Flipboard. “You say to yourself, what would he say about this? When you’re kicking around an idea for a product, or for a feature, you’ll even say it in discussion – ‘Steve Jobs would love this!’ or, more often, ‘Steve Jobs would say this isn’t good enough.’ He’s like the conscience sitting on your shoulder.’

Beninoff’s memories are probably the most steeped in legend. He spent worked there in 1984, chipping away at code, when there was still a pirate flag on the company roof.

“That summer, I discovered it was possible for an entrepreneur to encourage revolutionary ideas,” Benioff would later write in his book, “Beyond the Cloud.”

Via SF Gate

Nicole Martinelli

Nicole Martinelli is a San Francisco freelance writer who heads up Cult of Mac Magazine, our weekly publication available on iTunes. You can find her on Twitter and Google+. If you’re doing something new, cool and Apple-related, email her.