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Steve Jobs Refused to Do Market Research. Bill Campbell Explains Why.

By Steve Jobs · Startup Growth · 1 min read

Jobs did not ask customers what they wanted. He told them what they needed. Campbell watched it work.

Key Points

Jobs believed customers cannot tell you what they want if it does not exist yet
Market research optimizes the present. Vision creates the future.
Campbell saw this firsthand as Jobs rebuilt Apple

You cannot ask people what they want if they have never seen anything like it.

No Focus Groups

Steve Jobs never ran a focus group. Never did market research. Never asked customers what they wanted.

Bill Campbell — coach to Jobs, Page, and Bezos — saw why this worked.

Customers can only tell you about what exists. Jobs was building what did not exist yet.

Research vs. Vision

Market research optimizes the present. It tells you what people like about what already exists.

Vision creates the future. It shows people something they did not know they needed.

The iPod. The iPhone. The iPad. None came from a survey.

The Risk

This only works if you are right. Jobs was right more than he was wrong.

For everyone else, Campbell says talk to customers. But never let them design your product.