Michael Dell Was a Kid in Houston Watching Steve Jobs Talk to a Room of Hobbyists

You know, I was thinking… Steve Jobs stood in a room in Houston in 1980 and told a few dozen hobbyists that personal computers would change the world. One of them was Michael Dell.

1980. Apple barely existed. Disco was still echoing. Steve Jobs was still just a plucky 25-year-old guy in jeans who believed something so completely, so irrationally, that he flew to Houston to share it with a room of enthusiasts and a few pimply-faced kids who had to weigh the benefits of hearing some 25-year-old geezer talk about ‘puters against getting crunk on their state of the art Atari 2600.

Dell was 15. He went home, started taking computers apart in his bedroom, and built Dell when he was at UT. The end.

Not really. Jobs had no idea the future Dell founder was in the room. He didn’t adjust his pitch for the audience and he damn sure wasn’t counting reach or ROI. He just shared the Apple II story with a small collection of enthusiasts with the same fervor he’d bring years later to thousands at Macworld.

Vision doesn’t scale with the size of the audience. Jobs believed personal computers would change the world when he was talking to a couple dozen people in Houston. He didn’t believe it more when millions were watching. He just had better AV equipment.

I like to think I channel Jobs when Heritage Films work feels small. One family in a living room. A blog post few people read. A dinner party where somebody asks what I do and I’ve got 90 seconds to explain why family documentaries matter.

Those are my Houston classrooms.

And ya know, I have no idea who’s in the room. I don’t know which conversation becomes the one that matters, which pitch turns into the story somebody tells ten years later when they explain why they finally filmed their dad.

So speak your vision like it’s the biggest room in the world, every time. You believe it, and belief is contagious. Just ask David Koresh.

Michael Dell didn’t become Michael Dell because Steve Jobs gave a great presentation. He became Michael Dell because he was in a room with somebody on fire, and the fire jumped.

Heritage Films produces personal documentary films for families across the United States and the world. We believe every family’s story matters. If you’re ready to tell yours, we’re the people to call.