Shane Parrish(@shaneparrish):The Bill Gates-Steve Jobs rivalry. "These two guys, they would, they would take a crap on each other at any chance they could." They were polar opposites. The core of the debate was open vs closed systems. "If you were sitting around in 1995 ... You would have thought that the open system makes more sense. Bill Gates and Microsoft are the future. But if you're sitting around in 2026 and looking at all this, it looks more like the closed ecosystem, the Apple ecosystem, is actually the success."

2026.09.09 14:25

The Bill Gates-Steve Jobs rivalry. "These two guys, they would, they would take a crap on each other at any chance they could." They were polar opposites. The core of the debate was open vs closed systems. "If you were sitting around in 1995 ... You would have thought that the open system makes more sense. Bill Gates and Microsoft are the future. But if you're sitting around in 2026 and looking at all this, it looks more like the closed ecosystem, the Apple ecosystem, is actually the success."

Shane Parrish@shaneparrish

2026.09.01 12:05

Steve Jobs almost disappeared from history. After being ousted from Apple, he spent 12 years struggling. He: • Alienated the people closest to him • Blew up deals that could have saved his company • Refused to compromise • Drove away his co-founders and investors • Burned through hundreds of millions of dollars Fortune wondered if he was a “snake oil salesman.” But those 12 years of failure taught him the lessons that would eventually save Apple and turn him into the Steve Jobs we remember. I sat down with biographer @geoffrey_cain to unpack the lost decade and the lessons Jobs learned the hard way. Enjoy! (Includes paid partnerships.)