← NewsAll
Career tips from five of Steve Jobs' friends on his 71st birthday
Summary
The Steve Jobs Archive released two volumes called "Letters to a Young Creator," compiling letters given to 2023 and 2024 SJA fellows from figures including Tim Cook, Jony Ive, Bob Iger, Pete Docter and Arthur Rock to mark what would have been Jobs' 71st birthday.
Content
The Steve Jobs Archive published two volumes titled "Letters to a Young Creator" to coincide with what would have been Steve Jobs' 71st birthday. The collections gather letters that were originally distributed to 2023 and 2024 fellows of the SJA program for young creators. Contributors include Tim Cook, Jony Ive, Bob Iger, Pete Docter, Arthur Rock and filmmaker Jon Chu. Several entries pair personal memories of Jobs with practical lists and reflections on creative work and leadership.
Key points:
- The two volumes compile letters sent to SJA fellows in 2023 and 2024 under the title "Letters to a Young Creator."
- Volume one closes with a 2010 email Jobs sent to himself that says, "I love and admire my species, living and dead, and am totally dependent on them for my life and well being."
- Volume two includes a 1984 remark from Jobs that concludes, "Don't take it all too seriously."
- Tim Cook's 2024 letter recalled a pivotal 1998 meeting with Jobs and advised creators to ask, "Who will I be when it does?"
- Jony Ive described Jobs' "insatiable curiosity," noting that ideas are fragile and require effort to protect them from being consumed by problems.
- Other contributors emphasized related themes: Bob Iger wrote about "magic and wonder" and warned that being risk-averse is the "death of creativity," Pete Docter outlined nine tips he uses in his creative process and has spoken about the limits of AI in filmmaking, and Arthur Rock wrote that "a good leader chooses good people" and emphasized execution.
Summary:
The collections gather perspectives from business leaders, designers and creatives who knew or worked with Jobs, highlighting recurring themes such as curiosity, the care of ideas, leadership and the balance between risk and execution. Undetermined at this time.
