Such an incredibly inspiring read - Lawrence was recruited by Steve Jobs when Pixar was on the brink of bankruptcy, living off credit lines from Jobs. He joined as CFO and helped turn around Pixar, ultimately leading to a highly successful $1bn+ IPO, which then led to an eventual sale to Disney to over $5bn.
The book reads like a novel, charting the journey of Pixar from HIGHLY unpredictable, super creative small studio, to a market leader at the forefront of animation.
Ultimately Pixar was a runaway success, and Lawrence spends a brief few pages at the end of the book talking about what he did after Pixar - it seems he went down the road of spiritual enlightenment, throwing himself into meditation/spirituality - I would have loved to have read more of this. My favourite quote of the book is below:
- “The life of sensation is the life of greed - it requires more + more. The life of the spirit requires less + less - time is ample and its passage sweet.
- Positional negotiating - knowing your position is not a final position - this forces you to think about backup positions, and it weakens your conviction in your original position. Steve had religious conviction in his positions.