THINKDROP 25: NO! I won't quote Steve!
- Pierre Stanghellini
- Nov 24, 2025
- 4 min read
Updated: Nov 25, 2025
Think. Don't repeat.
🎤 From Me to You
Because a legacy turned into a slogan isn't inspiration. It's advertising.
Let’s get this out of the way first: I love Steve Jobs. His vision. His instinct. His refusal to settle. A man who made a dent in the universe — and invited the rest of us to try.
But today, invoking his name has become lazy. Quote him, slap on a sleek font, maybe add a black-and-white photo… and boom — instant thought leadership.
Somewhere between the launch of the iPhone and the latest keynote, Steve Jobs became a brand asset. Packaged. Repackaged. Mass-distributed.
Just like a product from Procter & Gamble.
And that’s the problem: we’ve stopped thinking for ourselves. We cling to recycled genius instead of generating new thought.
It’s about letting go of borrowed brilliance — and doing the hard work of building your own.
Pierre Stanghellini -
HARi.wtf founder
Think for Yourself
Originality is your unfair advantage in a sea of recycled thinking.
It’s not a gift — it’s a discipline that requires discomfort and self-trust.
Try This: Audit your last 3 pitches or decks. How many borrowed phrases or references do you use? Rewrite them in your own voice.
2. Find Real, Personal Inspiration
We don’t need more shrines to celebrity founders.
We need role models that actually speak to us.
Today, I feel closer to people like Vauban, Bougainville, Jules Verne, Marie Curie, Gustave Eiffel, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, or the pioneers behind Hermès and Michelin — individuals who built systems, stories, inventions, and companies that shaped the real world.
The danger of worshipping icons like Jobs, Musk, or Bezos is that it can distance you from your own potential. Legacy doesn’t only live in Silicon Valley.
It can start wherever you are — if the source of your inspiration truly resonates.
Try This: Make a list of 5 individuals who inspire you personally — not because they’re famous, but because their values align with yours. Let them guide how you work, not just what you want to achieve. List three business leaders you admire today — not the ones everyone else quotes. What makes them relevant now?
3.Use a New Playbook
Every era rewrites the rules — the mistake is copying the old playbook.
We need new strategies for new constraints — not nostalgia-fueled business theatre. Context matters more than legacy.
Try This: Instead of asking “What would Steve do?”, ask: “What would I do with the tools I have today?”
4.Kill the Nostalgia
Comfort kills momentum faster than failure ever will.
We admire Jobs for what he risked, not what he quoted.
True innovation often feels uncomfortable, even ridiculous — until it works. Stop looking backward to move forward.
Try This: Ship something ugly this week. Imperfect. But yours.
5.Earn Your Legacy
Make your work so real it doesn’t need a quote to be remembered.
Legacy isn't made in hindsight — it's forged in messy, unglamorous persistence.
You're not late. You're just early to your own story.
Try This: Instead of sharing a quote today, write your own.
🔁 Quick Recap
Referencing legends isn’t strategy. Thinking is.
Stop building mythologies. Start building things.
You’re in a different game now. Play it your way.
Nostalgia doesn’t ship. Action does.
Legacy isn’t quoted. It’s earned.
🔥 FINAL DROP
Steve Jobs didn’t quote Steve Jobs.
He wasn’t trying to be viral. He was trying to be useful.
Today, usefulness looks different. It’s messy, unsexy, sometimes invisible.
But that’s where legacy starts: not in the quote, but in the quiet work.
And if I’m being honest, today, when I hear a speaker, a consultant, or a CEO casually dropping one of those overused Steve Jobs quotes, it’s a red flag.
Not because the words are wrong, but because they signal mimicry over depth.
A 'me too' gesture, not a source of original conviction.
Better to ask yourself: where are the real problems? The struggles? The customer pain points? Where is your market drifting in the wrong direction?
What are you personally wrestling with?
Because insight starts there — not in a quote, but in the friction of reality.
So no, I will not quote Steve Jobs.
Because he wouldn’t quote you, either — until you’ve made something worth remembering.
Let’s get to work.
Pierre Stanghellini
→ Let’s connect, drop me a line directly at pierre@hari.wtf .
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About the Creator
Pierre Stanghellini is a creative strategist, systems thinker, and curator of mental rabbit holes. He created Thinkdrop Weekly to feed the brains that don’t want the same old Business advice. If you’re building something bold, beautiful, or strange—this is your corner of the internet.
About HARi.wtf
HARi.wtf is a creative strategy studio for businesses that hate business-as-usual.
Born in Hong Kong, in 2017, we work with restless founders, operators, and teams who’d rather break things thoughtfully than grow them blandly. We don’t do generic decks or bloated strategies—we build clarity, guts, and traction.
From street-level restaurants to global brands, from Asia to Europe, we help shape ideas that move fast when it matters, and slow when it counts.
→ Explore more at hari.wtf
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