Re: Lesson #3. And where is Woz now? I would be reluctant to put forward that Woz was more important to Apple’s overall success than Jobs or vice versa. Truth is, they were both important and (assuming the author is suggesting Jobs was the 'business' guy and Woz was the 'programmer') Apple would not be what it is today if one or the other didn’t play a role.

One of the most important lessons I learned at my startup as a programmer is the value that commercial business people bring. Yes, we programmers are important at the beginning when the product is being developed, but once the business of the product gets going, the business people become very important.

Check out some of Steve Blank's posts on customer development vs. product development. In a recent slide presentation I flipped through, he states that most startups fail because of a lack of customer development (typically what 'business' people do), and not because of a lack of product development (which is typically what developers do). (And yes I realize that the programmer can possibly do both, but not as fast as two people who work well together can).

At the end of the day, both skill sets are required to make the startup successful, and for one to say he or she is more important than the other is like the fable I once heard about the eyes saying they were more important than the ears who thought they were more important than the hands who thought they were more important than the feet, etc. etc.

I know I will likely get seriously down voted for this type of comment on a programmer centric board, but the programmer 'divas' who think that the world would stop if it were not for their brilliance annoy the hell out of me. To those people I would say that you will get a lot further in the long run if you pool your skills with someone who brings to the table what you lack.