Marc’s gift to Steve Jobs

Key Concepts:

• Apple Internship (1984): Initial experience writing Assembly Language on Macintosh.
• Relationship with Steve Jobs: Developing a personal connection over time.
• Salesforce Block: A period of stagnation requiring external guidance.
• Steve Jobs' Advice: Three key directives for Salesforce's growth.
• 10x Growth in 24 Months: A mandate for rapid expansion.
• Avon Deal: Securing a major client for Salesforce automation.
• Application Economy: Building a platform for third-party applications.
• AppExchange (2005): Salesforce's initial application marketplace.
• App Store Launch: Apple's unveiling of its App Store.
• Appstore.com Gift: Offering the domain and trademark to Apple.

Summary:

In 1984, the speaker had an internship at Apple, where he wrote the first Native Assembly Language on the Macintosh. This experience led to a relationship with Steve Jobs. Later, while at Salesforce, the speaker faced a period of stagnation and sought advice from Jobs.

Steve Jobs' Three Directives:

Jobs provided three crucial pieces of advice to overcome this block:

1. 10x Growth: "Your company it better get 10 times larger than it is now in 24 months or it's over." This emphasized the need for rapid and significant expansion within a short timeframe.
2. Major Customer Acquisition: "You better sign a huge customer for the Salesforce automation product like Avon." This highlighted the importance of securing a large, reputable client to validate and scale the Salesforce automation offering.
3. Application Economy: "You must do you better go build an application economy." This directive encouraged the creation of a platform where third-party developers could build and offer applications, expanding the Salesforce ecosystem.

Action Taken and AppExchange:

Following Jobs' advice, the speaker acquired the domain appstore.com and launched AppExchange in 2005. AppExchange was Salesforce's initial attempt at creating an application marketplace, predating Apple's App Store.

The App Store Story:

When Apple launched the iPhone and its App Store, Steve Jobs invited the speaker to see it. The speaker then offered Jobs the appstore.com URL and the trademark for "App Store" as a gift. Jobs acknowledged the gesture but downplayed the potential significance of the App Store, stating, "this app store thing isn't going to be very big but thank you very much."