Society

Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple: “like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on”

Apple’s founder left behind an extraordinary technological legacy and a philosophy of life grounded in patience, innovation, and the value of time.

Lucía Martín Payo Greg Heilman

Update: Apr 9th, 2026 09:00 EDT

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Steven Paul Jobs’s journey began in San Francisco in 1955 and led him to become one of the defining visionaries of the digital age. After co-founding Apple, he rose to the pinnacle of success in the business world, and Forbes recognized him as one of the wealthiest men on the planet.

Yet his impact extends far beyond the devices we use today. His most valuable legacy is a way of understanding the world centered on relentless effort and a capacity for resilience that never left him, even up to his death in 2011.

The value of patience and persistence

Despite living and working in an industry defined by speed and constant change, Jobs understood that the best results come from knowing how to stay calm and committed over time. He believed that “like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on.” That reflection shows that, for him, real success needed time to develop and did not appear overnight.

In fact, Jobs was fully convinced that “half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.” He often reminded his team that even when “life hits you in the head with a brick,” the essential thing is never to lose faith in your ideas and your work.

Innovation and a passion for design

His career stands as the clearest example of that philosophy. Jobs began building his empire in his parents’ garage at just 20 years old, and from that humble beginning he understood that “innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”

He was never motivated by money alone. What drove him was the desire to create products that were thoughtfully made, down to the smallest detail. To him, the design of a computer or a phone was never just about appearance. What mattered most was efficiency, functionality, and the integrity of what was inside the device.

A mindset built to withstand failure

Even in the most difficult moments of his career, Jobs found ways to draw valuable lessons and keep moving forward. When he was pushed out of Apple by its own board of directors, he used that setback as an opportunity to reinvent himself and launch other successful ventures, including Pixar.

Rather than being defeated by the experience, he later admitted that being fired was one of the best things that could have happened to him, because “the heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again.” In his view, work would occupy a large part of life, and the only way to be truly satisfied was to find something you genuinely loved.

Time as his greatest treasure

The passing of time, and his awareness of mortality, became one of the great driving forces behind his extraordinary career until his death in 2011. Jobs told thousands of students that remembering his own mortality was the most useful tool he had ever found for making the biggest decisions of his life.

True to that belief, he constantly encouraged people to find their own path rather than be shaped by outside noise. He also warned younger generations that time is far too limited to waste living someone else’s life.