In this episode we discuss the never-before-told story about Steve Jobs and the improbable success of Pixar. The story is revealed by our guest this week Lawerence Levy, author of the brand new book, To Pixar and Beyond: My Unlikely Journey with Steve Jobs to Make Entertainment History. Levy is the former CFO of Pixar and a close friend of Jobs who has never spoken publicly about their relationship.
One day, out of the blue, Jobs called Lawrence Levy, a Harvard-trained lawyer and Silicon Valley executive to whom he had never spoken before, in the hope of persuading Levy to help him get Pixar on the right track.
What Levy found in Pixar was a company on the verge of failure.
In this episode we discuss how Levy, working closely with Jobs and the Pixar team, produced and implemented a highly improbable roadmap that transformed the sleepy graphics art studio into one of Hollywood’s greatest success stories. We get to hear a first-hand account of Pixar’s stunning ascent, how it took risks, Levy’s enduring collaboration and friendship with Jobs, and how Levy came to see in Pixar deeper parallels that apply to all aspects of our lives.ALSO – stick around to the end as we learn how Lawrence has shifted gears entirely and left corporate life to study Eastern philosophy and meditation and cofounded Juniper Foundation to pursue this work.