The Importance of Being Articulate

In the documentary "Triumph of the Nerds" there's a famous quote from a San Francisco venture capitalist who invested early on in Apple; He described Steve Jobs as a "hippy looking kid" wearing sandals to the meeting, during a period where he only ate fruit, but those were not the most memorable things about him.

What struck the investor most about Steve was his articulation. He had an uncommon ability to break down the subject of Apple, its foundation, its purpose and objectives, without slides or notes, just speaking, and to the investment firm, he made perfect sense.

Steve Jobs later became famous for his annual September Apple conference staged events for the announcements of new products, anticipated by the world and emulated across industries ever since. But as an unknown startup entrepreneur, indistinguishable from any other, and lagging behind Atari, Microsoft and many more at the time, it was his ability to articulate Apple's mission that got him the money.