What Marc Benioff (Salesforce) learned during an internship at Apple

With its new 326-meter tower in the heart of SoMa, Salesforce is now leaving its indelible mark on the activity of Silicon Valley. The SAAS* publisher has its own investment fund and recently acquired Slack enterprise messaging for $27 billion . A success due in particular to the solid experience of its CEO , Marc Benioff.

The founder, passed by Oracle and previously publisher of video games for Atari, is even today a member of the World Economic Forum. But what is less known is that he also completed an internship for a few weeks at Apple in 1984 . At the time, Steve Jobs was still the leader and a pirate flag flew on the roof of the offices of the manufacturer.

The meeting with Kawasaki

It was at nineteen that the young Benioff, then a university student , chose to call on several occasions one of the most famous marketing managers of the apple brand: Guy Kawasaki. His insistence pays off, so the evangelist behind the PowerPoint 10/20/30 Rule eventually decides to hire him.

Then begins an immersion development session in the heart of the Macintosh division for the future billionaire, who will learn how to manage a technology company brilliantly.

Achievements to share

From his time at Apple, Benioff retains several recommendations. For him, good growth is thus accompanied by energy, “ vitality ” and even a certain “ sense of urgency ”. Obviously, the CEO also mentions the case of “ culture ”, too often left aside when starting a startup. For example, in Cupertino, staff could take advantage of fruit juices and massagers to brighten their days.

The influence of Steve Jobs is also not to be outdone, the very controversial boss having remained Benioff’s mentor for many years.

* service as as software = online software for professionals