Inc:

Imagine going to work for Steve Jobs as a recent college graduate. That’s what happened to Mark Tacchi, who dropped out of graduate school in 1993 to take a job at NeXT, the computer company Jobs founded after being forced out of Apple.

In time, Apple acquired NeXT in a deal that put Jobs back at Apple’s helm. Tacchi spent a total of four years at NeXT and Apple, and he learned a lot about how to run a business, and how not to.

Jobs had a (deserved) reputation as a tyrant but he also taught many in Silicon Valley how to serve the customer.