In 2009, when I was 15, an Apple Premium Reseller opened in my hometown. Before that, I didn’t really know much about Apple. I had heard of it a few times, but nobody in my circle owned an Apple product. The main reason for that was the high price of their products. At that time, Apple was mostly known for Macs, not iPhones, since Apple wasn’t selling iPhones in Turkey yet. That’s when my fascination with Apple began.

When I first visited the store and tried out the MacBook, I was amazed. It was the first time I saw a laptop made of aluminum. There were also features I had never seen before, like the glowing Apple logo when you used it, battery indicator lights visible without opening the laptop by pressing a small button, a blinking light on the front that pulsed like breathing to show the MacBook was in sleep mode, and the green light next to the camera. All of these features were new to me, and I became curious to learn more about Apple and the person behind these innovations.

Idol

I started reading everything I could find online about Apple, even though there wasn’t much available in Turkish at the time. Apple wasn’t very popular in Turkey back then, and it was mostly known within industry circles. The brand didn’t really gain widespread attention until the iPhone became a hit. Eventually, I moved on to books, and that’s when I discovered Inside Steve’s Brain by Leander Kahney. My obsession shifted from Apple to Steve Jobs, especially after reading stories like how Apple bought its own CNC machines and created custom solutions to make those tiny holes in the aluminum that displayed the battery level. The level of detail and the millions spent on such small yet beautiful features was something I had never imagined.

As any teenager would, my admiration for Steve quickly turned into an obsession, and he became my idol. I bought my first pair of New Balance 990 sneakers, the exact same stonewashed Levi’s 501 jeans, and a black turtleneck sweater. I didn’t wear this outfit all the time, but whenever I did, I felt like Steve. But I didn’t stop there. I began listening to The Beatles and Bob Dylan, and read Steve Jobs’ favorite books, like Autobiography of a Yogi and The Innovator’s Dilemma. With my teenage mindset, I thought that by mimicking his style, music, and reading choices, I could become like him—the greatest innovator of our time.

Mentor

As I grew older and started university, improving my English, I continued to learn more about Steve Jobs. I read more about him and watched his interviews with Walt Mossberg. With the rise of the iPhone and his death from cancer, there were more resources available. That was when he transitioned from being my idol to becoming a mentor. I no longer wanted to be like him; I simply wanted to learn how to create great products. After all, there could only be one Steve Jobs. So, I focused more on the things he did and said, rather than on who he was.

I stopped wearing Levi’s because I wasn’t happy with the quality, and I didn’t really like blue jeans anymore. I switched to black jeans. I’ve continued wearing New Balance 990 sneakers because they are the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever worn, especially with my flat feet. I also realized that, while I liked some of his music, Bob Dylan wasn’t quite to my taste. However, I kept listening to The Beatles because their energy matched mine perfectly.

At the same time, it became harder to understand who Steve Jobs truly was. The media mostly focused on his negative side, especially after he co-founded Apple—things like how he fired people in elevators or abandoned his daughter. They ignored his work with Pixar and NeXT, and how he returned to Apple to save it from bankruptcy. Instead, they focused on his drama-filled moments because that was what attracted views and clicks, while his innovative work seemed like the “boring” part. Luckily, if you really wanted to understand the real Steve Jobs, there were still resources like folklore.org, written by Andy Hertzfeld, someone who worked directly with him on the Macintosh. Unfortunately, most people only knew him through the media’s portrayal of his flaws, which didn’t reflect the transformed person who made Apple the biggest company on the planet. Every time I brought him up in conversation, people would cut me off, dismissing him as an asshole.

Steve Jobs Syndrome

Despite everything, my passion for learning how to create great products by studying Steve Jobs never stopped. At the same time, as I closely followed the tech industry and especially the startup world, I began to notice a common pattern: many people seemed to be imitating Steve Jobs. Because I had read and watched so much about him, it became easy for me to identify these individuals and their behaviors. Especially after the hit TV series Silicon Valley aired on HBO, I realized I wasn’t alone in noticing this trend. The show addressed what I now call Steve Jobs Syndrome perfectly.

If you follow the tech industry and the people leading major tech companies, you’ll quickly realize that many of them try to imitate Steve Jobs, hoping to replicate his success. For example, the reason Mark Zuckerberg wore the same simple outfit for so long—until his recent style change—was that he was mimicking Steve Jobs. I often wished he had focused on imitating other aspects of Steve’s approach, rather than just the outfit. But Mark Zuckerberg isn’t alone. In Hatching Twitter by Nick Bilton, you’ll read that Jack Dorsey, when he was at Twitter, changed his outfit to match Steve Jobs’, listened to The Beatles, and even used the same phrases Jobs used in interviews. They were like my teenage self, but they were fully grown adults doing this.

Of course, the outfit wasn’t the only part of Steve Jobs that people in the tech industry were imitating. They were also copying his presentation style, some even traveled to India to replicate Steve’s experience. They would often claim their startups were going to change the world, acting and speaking like visionaries, even if their companies weren’t yet profitable. The media played along, constantly searching for the next Steve Jobs. Was Jack Dorsey the next Steve Jobs? Or Elon Musk? Or Elizabeth Holmes?

Luckily, the media stopped searching after Jack Dorsey failed to make Twitter profitable, Elizabeth Holmes was sentenced to 11 years for fraud, and Elon Musk went through his own controversies. But despite all that, CEOs in the tech industry never stopped suffering from Steve Jobs Syndrome.

How to Identify It

If you’ve worked at a big tech company or a startup, there’s a good chance your CEO might be exhibiting signs of Steve Jobs Syndrome, similar to the people I mentioned earlier. If you’re still not sure, here’s a quick checklist to help you identify it. If your CEO:

• Micromanages you, forcing you to do things exactly as they say, even though they don’t fully understand what they’re talking about
• Acts like a visionary who always knows the right thing to do, despite not having a proven track record of successfully predicting the future
• Follows every hype cycle in the tech industry, jumping on trends like blockchain, NFTs, AI, etc.
• Talks about topics outside their expertise, such as politics, science, and offers suggestions about them
• Constantly uses social media, tweeting and giving interviews, in an effort to remain constantly visible
• Tries to create a cult-like following, a group of people who support them no matter what, regardless of the products the company produces

Then, there’s a high chance your CEO is suffering from Steve Jobs Syndrome.

What’s interesting is that none of these behaviors are directly related to Steve Jobs himself. Yet, the media somehow associated these things with him. Take micromanaging, for example. If you truly understand Steve Jobs, you’d know he was obsessed with every detail of a product. He didn’t micromanage people; he paid attention to details. He didn’t tell people exactly what to do—he shared his opinions on how the product should work. Sometimes he was wrong, but he admitted it. Jobs himself said this in interviews, and people who worked with him have shared similar accounts. But the media often portrayed him as a dictator. Then, tech CEOs see this portrayal and think, “If Steve was like that and created great products, I should do the same.” This mindset can still be seen in the startup ecosystem today, as reflected in essays like Founder Mode by Paul Graham, one of the most prominent figures in the startup world.

Steve Jobs didn’t even want to allow developers to create apps for the iPhone initially. He didn’t follow trends—he simply focused on where the industry was heading, like the rise of graphical user interfaces and touchscreens. If you listened to Steve’s diet recommendations, you’d probably end up malnourished today. Jobs didn’t jump from one interview to the next—most of his interviews were with Walt Mossberg or Kara Swisher. He didn’t use social media, and he even told President Obama’s secretary that Obama should call him directly if he wanted to meet. Politically, Jobs wasn’t focused on tax credits or Apple contracts. His main concern was advocating for policies that would allow international students in the U.S. to stay and work after graduation by getting a green card, rather than being bogged down by visa issues.

Steve Jobs didn’t aim to create a cult around himself, but around Apple and its products. After all, does anyone even know where he’s buried?

These are just a few insights that come from deeply understanding Steve Jobs. Unfortunately, many people prefer to rely on the easy-to-access, media-fed version of him. I’m not writing this post to glorify Steve Jobs, but to raise awareness about tech CEOs who exhibit what I call Steve Jobs Syndrome. While it’s natural to be inspired by someone so influential, it’s crucial to remember that imitating his persona or approach without understanding the deeper principles behind his success can lead to missteps. Steve Jobs wasn’t a blueprint for success; he was a unique individual with a vision and a relentless drive to create great products. Instead of trying to copy his every move, we should focus on the values that made him successful. By doing so, we can learn from his legacy without falling into the trap of “Steve Jobs Syndrome.” There’s much to be learned from his approach to product creation—but that’s a topic for another blog post.