#61: He Built Apple's First Computers for $3 an Hour. Steve Jobs Never Gave Him Stock
Daniel Kottke met Steve Jobs at Reed College in 1972, traveled with him to India, and spent the summer of 1976 hand-assembling the very first Apple computers in the Jobs family garage in Cupertino, for $3 an hour. He was among Apple's earliest employees, hand-wired the Macintosh prototypes, and left his signature cast inside every original Mac ever made. Apple is now worth $5 trillion.
In this episode with Derek Andersen, Daniel reveals what Steve Jobs was really like before Apple: the India trip, Steve's unexplained three-day disappearance in the Himalayas, and the private spiritual life behind the man. He walks through the Apple IPO stock option situation, why Steve, as head of the compensation committee, refused to discuss it, and how Steve Wozniak later quietly made it right.
The conversation goes deeper than Apple's mythology. Daniel reflects on what it means to be present at the birth of something historic and still leave without the rewards others received, and how a lifetime of curiosity became a richer kind of wealth than any stock certificate. "Luck often shows up wearing overalls, looking like hard work."
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Episode Partners:
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Timestamps:
00:01:58 — How Daniel Kottke First Met Steve Jobs
00:06:33 — Why Steve Jobs Kept Everything Secret
00:10:05 — The India Trip That Shaped Steve Jobs
00:17:07 — Why Steve Jobs Spent $1,000 on Primal Therapy
00:21:36 — Lost in Delhi: Steve Had Shaved His Head
00:23:55 — Steve Left for Three Days and Never Said Where
00:27:18 — Inside the Apple Garage in Summer 1976
00:29:15 — Who Really Worked in the Apple Garage
00:32:25 — How Wozniak Built Two Computers Simultaneously
00:38:10 — The Homebrew Club and Apple's First $25,000 Sale
00:45:28 — Why Steve Jobs Refused to Discuss His Stock
00:49:22 — How Wozniak Gave What Steve Jobs Never Would
00:55:25 — What Daniel Would Tell Every Young Founder
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