Steve Jobs told Dropbox it was 'a feature, not a product' in 2009
Drew Houston · Dropbox CEO Drew Houston: How to Pick a Co-Founder; Steve Jobs' Attempt to Buy Dropbox | 20VC #938 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings · Oct 18, 2022 · at 49:04
Drew Houston is the co-founder and CEO of Dropbox. He recounts a 2009 meeting with Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who attempted to acquire Dropbox before warning that Apple would compete with them.
0:00 / 0:06exact quote · 6.6s
▶ Watch the full episode on YouTube → 720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“He was like, well, you guys are a feature, not a product. And now we're gonna have to like compete with you and kill you and you don't have distribution and dah, dah, dah, dah, dah.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →
More from Drew Houston
Drew Houston: Enneagram is like Myers-Briggs, but actually useful
“And then I'd say the best exercise I've done on this dimension is learning about the Enneagram. Which are for those not familiar is it's kind of, you probably heard of Myers-Briggs or different personality typing systems. I think of the Enneagram is like it's …”
Drew Houston: Scaling a business rewards you with stronger competitors
“In, as you move up in the big leagues and you make the playoffs, like your reward every time is a bigger or like a bigger and stronger opponent, you know?”
Drew Houston: Tech media inevitably builds startups up to tear them down
“You know, it's not personal. They just, they need something that's like the little engine that could, and then at some point they need to tear it down. Like this is how it always has been and always will be.”
Houston: Party rounds diffuse responsibility and leave founders without committed supporters
“Party rounds are very popular, but then they kind of diffuse responsibility or you end up with, you think you have a lot of people supporting you, but I really, no one's invested in your success.”
Paul Graham required Drew Houston to find a co-founder for YC
“I got an email from Paul saying, Hey, like your idea, but you need a co-founder. If you're going to get into YC.”
Houston: Partnering with a long-time acquaintance as a co-founder is safer
“On average is probably better to a lot of the founder co-founder stories start with like, Oh, we played tee ball together as little kids and have known each other since forever. I think if you have that, that Is a bit of a safer bet.”