“Kill the Noise”: The Steve Jobs Rule That Built Apple, according to Kevin O’Leary

What set Steve Jobs apart? Was it his brilliance?  His sense of products?  His passion for design?  Kevin O'Leary, a TV personality and Shark Tank Investor, says it was something much more powerful and less talked about: his ability to drown out the noise. O'Leary said something quite honest in a recent appearance on The Diary of a CEO: Steve didn't care what people thought. He did what the signal told him to do.  The rest was only noise. 

“This signal-to-noise ratio to be successful, for Steve Jobs, 80/20—80 signal, 20 noise,” O’Leary said. “If you go back in history, you’re going to find out that the geniuses of their time were close to 100% signal.” 

Jobs' Unshakeable Focus: Noise vs Signal 

Kevin O'Leary discussed Steve Jobs's working style as being brutal and intensely focused on the "signal to noise" ratio, prioritising the top three to five critical tasks within an 18-hour timeframe and cutting out anything that wasn't essential for execution and product shipping. O'Leary admired Jobs's "steal vision" and unwavering determination to achieve his goals, even if it meant being unpopular or harsh.

Jobs thought that "noise" was anything that didn't immediately help the product, such as public opinion, office conversation, critics, trends, and even client requests. He thought that most people didn't really know what they wanted until he showed them.  That wasn't being arrogant; that was having a vision.  And he kept that image safe as if his life depended on it. 

O'Leary remarked, “It didn't matter to him if it didn't help the mission.” He didn't pay attention to it. 

Not everyone liked him, but everyone respected him. Jobs was known for being quite intense.  Some people even said he was hard to deal with. But O'Leary says that was the cost of being great.  "He didn't care if people liked him.  He said, "He cared about being right-about getting it right." 

Why This Lesson Is Still Important in 2025 

Steve Jobs' way of thinking is more important than ever in a world full of opinions, distractions, and noise all the time.  The truth is that everyone has thoughts.  Everyone wants to do something.  But not everyone can focus.  Not everyone is ready to ignore the noise, trust their gut, and keep going. Kevin O'Leary's message is clear:  "Stop the noise if you want to do something huge.  Follow the signal.  Period. 

Steve Jobs didn’t just build Apple; he also changed how people think. One where attention is power, distractions are harmful, and people who listen to their vision more than the world will be successful. 

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