Chapter 2: The Birth of Apple - The Rise of Steve Jobs

Before diving into today's chapter, make sure to read Chapter 1: The Journey Begins - The Life of Steve Jobs to follow Elon Musk's journey from the beginning.

Apple I

Wozniak and Jobs had been involved in various small business ventures, but while Wozniak was content to give away his designs, Jobs wanted to create a unique, independent product and make good money from it. First, they had to come up with a name. They considered techy terms like Matrix and boring ones like Personal Computers Inc., but it was Apple that stood out. Jobs had just visited a farm, and the name Apple Computers felt fun, unique, and non-intimidating.

At the time, Woz was working for HP. He tried to pitch his circuit board there first. After being rejected for rawness, Woz committed his designs 100% to Apple. Jobs believed their partnership worked because they were opposites. While Woz was very talented but socially awkward, Jobs was good with people. He was known for his ability to communicate with anyone and manipulate them to get what he wanted.

Their first client was a computer store owner named Paul Terell. He ordered 50 circuit boards for $500 per piece. After convincing the manager of Cramer Electronics to lend them $25,000, Jobs, along with Woz, his sister Patty, ex-girlfriend Elizabeth Holmes, and friend Daniel Kottke, began to work. Thus, the birth of Apple happened in the garage of the Jobs residence in Los Altos.

Lisa

For five years, Jobs was in an on-and-off relationship with Chrisann Brennan. With the successful run of Apple, Jobs moved out of his parents' house and rented a $600 ranch house in Cupertino. Soon, Brennan reunited with Jobs, moved in, and got pregnant. They were both 23 years old. Jobs was detached and focused on the company. He and Brennan would often argue. Marriage was never discussed, and Jobs denied that he was the father. Nevertheless, with the help of friends, Brennan gave birth to Lisa Nicole in Oregon on May 17, 1978.

Mother and child moved to a tiny home in Menlo Park and lived on welfare. When Lisa was one year old, Jobs underwent the fairly new DNA testing, which resulted in a 94.41% probability of paternity. The California court ordered him to give monthly child support and sign admission of his paternity. Jobs was granted visitation rights, though he didn't use them.

1981

From selling 2,500 units in 1977, Apple's sales rose to 210,000 by 1981. However, Jobs knew that this success wouldn't last forever. He thought of a new product that was much better than Apple II. He also wanted a design that he could completely call his own. Though he denied the connection at the time, Jobs named the new computer Lisa. The engineers had to come up with an acronym to go with his daughter's name. Lisa stands for Local Integrated Systems Architecture.

In exchange for 100,000 shares in Apple, Xerox PARC agreed to share its latest technology with Jobs and his programmers. After several visits, the Apple engineers were able to replicate the mouse design and interface of Xerox computers. The Lisa was released with better graphics and smooth-scrolling mouse features.

IPO

Apple finally went public on December 12, 1980. One of the banks that handled its IPO was Morgan Stanley. Overnight, the price of Apple shares increased from $22 to $29. At age 25, the hippie college dropout Steve Jobs became a multi-millionaire. Yet, he chose not to live an ostentatious lifestyle.

Jobs gave his parents $750,000 worth of Apple stocks, which freed them from their mortgage. He also began to appear on magazine covers. His first cover story was for Inc. in October 1981. Time magazine soon followed in February 1982, highlighting the story of a 26-year-old millionaire who started a company six years ago in his parents' garage.