Steve Jobs' Fundraising Marathon

Hey everybody welcome back to the Product Market Fit Newsletter 🚀

My name is Guillermo Flor and I write this weekly newsletter to help founders, growth professionals and product people to grow & fund their companies.

For today, I’m going to keep it brief and share with you one of the stories that I’ve recently learned that I found most interesting and valuable.

How Steve Jobs raised his first funding

Alright, buckle up, because here’s a story that’s going to flip your perspective on rejection.

Back in 1976, a scrappy kid named Steve Jobs was out there hustling, trying to get his little company off the ground. You might have heard of it—Apple? Yeah, that Apple.

But before Apple was a trillion-dollar giant, Jobs was getting doors slammed in his face left and right by some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley.

Let me walk you through this, and pay attention, because the lessons here are just as relevant today as they were back then.

1. First up, Tom Perkins and Eugene Kleiner from Kleiner Perkins

These guys are legends in VC, but guess what? They wouldn’t even take a meeting with Jobs. Didn’t see the potential, didn’t want to waste their time.

Lesson? Not everyone’s going to see your vision, and that’s okay. Keep moving.

2.Then there’s Tim Draper

He took one look at Jobs and Wozniak and dismissed them as arrogant. Let that sink in.

He couldn’t get past the personalities to see the potential of the product. Arrogance might rub people the wrong way, but confidence? That’s what pushes boundaries.

3. Pitch Johnson

He was another heavy hitter who passed. He couldn’t wrap his head around the idea of a home computer.

He’s quoted saying, “Are you going to put recipes on it?” Classic case of not understanding where the world is headed.

The takeaway? Just because people don’t get it now, doesn’t mean it won’t be huge later.

4. Stan Veit

He rejected Jobs’ offer to sell 10% of Apple for $10,000. Why?

He didn’t trust Jobs because of how he looked.

Imagine missing out on billions because someone wasn’t wearing a suit. Look past appearances and focus on substance.

5. Nolan Bushnell

And then there’s Nolan Bushnell. He had the chance to buy a third of Apple for $50,000. He passed, but introduced Jobs to Don Valentine, the founder of Sequoia Capital. This is where the story starts to turn.

6.Don Valentine

See, Valentine wasn’t sold on Jobs either, but he saw something in him. Maybe not enough to fund Apple on his own, but enough to guide him.

And here’s where the magic happens—Valentine introduced Jobs to Mike Markkula.

7. Mike Markkula

Markkula didn’t just see potential; he saw the future. He invested $91,000 for 26% of Apple, becoming the first angel investor. That’s when the dominoes started to fall.

Markkula convinced Regis McKenna, who had initially refused to help with Apple’s marketing, to jump on board. He’s the guy who helped create the iconic Apple logo.

8. Regis Mckenna

Markkula also brought in Venrock’s Hank Smith, who invested $300,000 for 10% of Apple. And eventually, even Valentine chipped in a small investment to secure his spot on the board.

9. Hank Smith

So, what’s the big takeaway here?

No one funded Steve Jobs—his network did. Jobs didn’t just walk into VC offices and walk out with checks. He hustled, he networked, he connected the dots. And when one door closed, he found another one to knock on.

Perseverance and connections are everything. You don’t need everyone to believe in you—you just need the right people. Jobs kept knocking until he found his Markkula, his Valentine. And when that happened? The rest is history.

So the next time you’re facing rejection, remember Steve Jobs. Keep pushing, keep networking, and eventually, you’ll find the people who see what you see.

Shoutout to Angelos Georgakis for the story that keeps us all inspired. If you liked this, please share it with your entrepreneur friends!

See you next week!