'My model for business is The Beatles: They were four guys that kept each others' negative tendencies in check; they balanced each other. And the total was greater than the sum of the parts.'

Lessons learned from Steve Jobs

From predicting our screen-filled future in 1983 to slashing Apple's product line in 1997, Steve Jobs believed in focus, simplicity, and the fusion of technology and art. His philosophies still influence how products are built and marketed today.

'No big challenge has ever been solved, and no lasting improvement has ever been achieved, unless people dare to try something different.'

- Apple CEO Tim Cook (1960 - present)

'In my experience, each failure contains the seeds of your next success—if you are willing to learn from it.'

- Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen (1953–2018)

Apple’s third cofounder was its angel investor

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak are well-known for cofounding Apple, but the company had a third founder who acted as an angel investor: Mike Markkula, who invested $250K in 1977.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos emphasizes worrying about customers rather than competition

In a 1999 shareholder letter, Bezos wrote, "I constantly remind our employees to be afraid, to wake up every morning terrified. Our customers have made our business what it is, and we consider them to be loyal to us – right up until the second that someone else offers them a better service." Motivated by fear, the entrepreneur advocates consistent innovation, experimentation, and improvement to create a better customer experience.

Steve Jobs mandated that a legendary book on yoga be distributed at his memorial service

The iconic entrepreneur died in 2011, but before he did, he planned the details for his memorial service. One of the instructions was to leave attendees with a parting gift: a brown box that contained Paramahansa Yogananda’s book “Autobiography of a Yogi,” a book he read as a teenager and then returned to annually.

The Beatles sued Apple in 1978 to defend naming rights to their record label

The band created their own record label, Apple Corps, after their manager died in 1967, while the technology company chose the name "Apple" to appear before the video game company Atari in directories. Subsequent lawsuits were not settled until 2007.

'You will never feel proud of your work if you find no joy within it; your best work is always joyful work.'

- Stevie Wonder (1950-present)

'Mutual ignorance breeds mutual distrust.'

- Businessman Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919)

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

Apple's first logo was a portrait of Isaac Newton sitting under a tree

Before the minimalist image of an apple with a bite taken out of it, Apple's logo depicted the fruit dangling above the physicist, likely a nod to the anecdote about his epiphany regarding gravity.

'The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.'

- Former President Theodore Roosevelt's (1858–1919)

'All the world is birthday cake, so take a piece, but not too much.'

- Musician George Harrison (1943–2001)

The original 'four horsemen' of tech were Intel, Dell, Microsoft, and Cisco

These companies became known as the "four horsemen of tech" for the influence the companies had both on other businesses and investors in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The expansion of internet infrastructure throughout the 1990s and the dot-com bubble lifted these companies to incredible heights.

'Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell, and advertise.'

- Ted Turner, on his secret to success (1938-2026)

Ray Dalio credits much of his success to his transcendental meditation practice

Dalio took up transcendental meditation after learning that The Beatles practiced it on a trip to India in 1968. He says the practice allows him to clear his mind, be more creative, and unlock his subconscious.

'Profits made out of the distress of the people are always much smaller than profits made out of the most lavish service of the people at the lowest prices that competent management can make possible.'

- Henry Ford

Andy Warhol, explained

Andy Warhol wasn't just an artist—he was a cultural force. From his early days working as a New York illustrator to managing The Velvet Underground and creating experimental films, Warhol blurred the line between art and commerce, leaving a legacy that changed pop culture forever.

'A good friend is like a four-leaf clover, hard to find and lucky to have.'

- Irish Proverb

The case for optimism

Author, editor, and thinker Kevin Kelly makes an argument for optimism. Not only as a personal philosophy, but as a moral obligation, focusing on the need for optimism in overcoming challenges. Drawing examples ranging back to the Wright brothers,...

CEO Gary Tan explains Y Combinators guiding philosophy

Hear YC President and CEO Garry Tan talk about why he values earnesty and excellent communication skills in YC founders, his thoughts on AI, and more in this unexpectedly deep and in-depth interview.

John Steinbeck's philosophical ideas, which he often explored in his novels, wrestled with the role of the individual and the power of community.

X's quirky culture clashed hard with Elon Musk's extreme leadership style

Investigative journalists have written that social platform X's open, sometimes chaotic workplace stopped when control shifted irreversibly from Jack Dorsey to Elon Musk. They claim the stark contrast in personalities left little protection for existing employees, culture, or users.

'Because of phones, we always have the ability to jump out of ourselves. But unless you learn how to be in your head, you’ll never learn how to create.'

- Songwriter and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda (1980-present)

Understanding TikTok-owner ByteDance's business model

ByteDance has ridden TikTok's major success to become the world's most valuable startup. This deep dive showcases some of the company's smartest moves and tactics, and where it's headed next.

Warren Buffett once referred to David Ogilvy as a genius

Buffett also owned stock in Ogilvy & Mather, David Ogilvy's advertising agency. This podcast episode dives into an overview of one of Ogilvy's best-selling books, "Confessions of an Advertising Man," which he wrote in part to grow his agency business.

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

Watch this video that uses Lego bricks to explain how venture capital works.

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

Existentialist writer Jean-Paul Sartre coined the famous phrase 'Hell is—other people' in his play 'No Exit'

The Beatles' US label rejected the band's first two singles, 'Please Please Me' and 'From Me to You,' with one executive calling the band 'dead in the water.'

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

See the most iconic photos from four decades of LIFE magazine

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

English mathematician Ada Lovelace wrote the first computer algorithm a century before computers existed and hypothesized that computing devices would one day be able to compose music—foreseeing the generative AI systems of today.

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.

Mark Twain spent decades feuding with the US Postal Service, convinced its costs and regulations were bureaucratic overreach.

Salvador Dalí believed he was his own dead brother, who had died nine months before he was born

Budweiser stores yeast derived from the original 1800s strain in a secret bunker, which only the Head of Yeast Management can access—not even the CEO

The animatronic shark from Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws,' the first modern blockbuster, was a complex underwater apparatus called 'Bruce.'

Sony set the standard for cylinder-shaped batteries when it repurposed manufacturing equipment used to make rolls of magnetic recording tape.

Use this calculator to find the dollar value of your mental load, from meal planning to coordinating after-school care for your children.

A small portion of The Winstons' 'Amen, Brother,' an obscure '60s gospel record, is the basis for thousands of hip-hop tracks, making it one of the most sampled records ever that's informally known as 'the Amen break.'

Studies suggest when you sleep is as important as how much you get, and syncing with your circadian rhythms may lead to less fatigue and improved long-term health outcomes

Explore chaos in this simulation of two double pendulums, where small differences in the release angles produce wildly different outcomes.

See a ranking of the best (and worst) Federal Reserve Chairs since 1914 out of the 16 men and women who have held the office since.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

Many legends about George Washington, including his supposed wooden teeth and the story of cutting down the cherry tree, lack evidence.