First published 2026
In 1985, Apple Computer's volatile co-founder Steve Jobs exits the company that made him famous, forced out by the very corporation he helped build. Geoffrey Cain chronicles the twelve years Jobs spent in corporate exile, founding NeXT and enduring spectacular business failures, near-bankruptcy, and public humiliation. The author draws on unbroadcast meeting footage, private company documents, and interviews with Jobs's closest colleagues to reveal how these wilderness years transformed a brash young entrepreneur into the disciplined leader who would later create the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. Cain shows how Jobs learned to manage teams, discovered the value of focused execution, and turned his greatest professional defeat into the foundation for Apple's historic comeback. This account fills the gap in our understanding of how failure shaped the man who built the world's most valuable company.
Genres: biography, business, technology, 21st-century, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: rags-to-riches, redemption-arc
Period: 2035
400 pages · Hardcover · Portfolio