My Tech Idol by Santanu Das

Santanu’s areas of expertise include digital brand building and media strategy. A fervent lover of technology and data, he combines these passions in his everyday work. Read about his Tech Idol below.

My Tech Idol is:

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs is known for:

Being one of the co-founders of Apple and the brain behind revolutionary products like the iPod, iPhone, and iPad.

My first memory of Steve Jobs:

From the film Pirates of Silicon Valley, which I watched during my engineering days in 2002. It featured a story about Steve Jobs and Bill Gates and how they revolutionized the computer industry.

Three ways Steve Jobs has inspired me:

Entrepreneurship: His journey of building Apple from a garage startup to one of the most valuable companies in the world is probably the most inspiring story I’ve heard.

Resilience: He faced setbacks in his career, including being ousted from his own company, Apple. His spectacular rebound and starting Pixar and then taking Apple to its greatest heights is astounding.

Combining art and technology: He once said, “It's in Apple's DNA that technology alone is not enough—it's technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the results that make our hearts sing.” This view continues to inspire me daily and I strive to create better outcomes for my clients.

One question I would ask Steve Jobs at a dinner party and why:

You were a master at envisioning future trends and needs, creating products that consumers didn't even know they wanted. Could you explain how you honed this instinct and tell us what we can do to better anticipate and meet the unarticulated needs of consumers in our respective fields?