The Day Steve Gave Craig a Porsche

By  |  Thursday, October 6, 2011 at 8:34 pm


Craig Elliott, who shared the Steve Jobs thirtieth birthday video with us, also sent along this delightful photo of him with Jobs. Here’s why Steve is presenting Craig with a new Porsche:

In 1985 Apple had a promotion called “Test Drive” where you could borrow a Mac for the weekend from your local computer reseller.  At the same time they had a sales contest for reseller sales people.  I had just finished my undergraduate degree (Animal Science/Microbiology) and needed to make some money for grad school, so I went to work for a local computer reseller in Ames, Iowa (I was always the computer guy in the lab).  At the end of the sales contest I got a letter from Apple (I knew it was legit because it was done on a yet to be shipped LaserWriter) saying that I’d won and was invited to Cupertino (my first trip to California).  There were other winners from other regions (but I sold the most 🙂 ) and I got to have dinner with Steve and Mike Murray (VP of Marketing). As a guy that had been playing with Apple II’s since 1978, it was more than a dream come true.  I was 24 years old,  having dinner with Steve Jobs.  I personally understand the term “reality distortion field”.  I also spent the week with other sales and marketing execs at Apple in interviews, a tour of the factory and meetings. at headquarters.  Steve gave me the keys to a Porsche 944 and then about 3 months later, Apple called back to see if I would consider moving to California and work at headquarters.  I stayed for 10 years.  After my second sabbatical, I helped found a new networking and communications company called Packeteer as CEO, took it public in 1999 and retired in 2002 at 41.

Lots of people can rightfully say that Steve Jobs changed their life.

Me, too.

 
6 Comments


Read more: ,

6 Comments For This Post

  1. Biff Martin Says:
    October 6th, 2011 at 7:57 pm

    Those 944's were poor man's Porsches. It only had a 150HP 4 cyclinder engine. It was a nice commutter car, but not a real sports car. That was a nice Porsche, but nothing beats a 911,

  2. Sarah Says:
    October 6th, 2011 at 10:54 pm

    That may be true depending on your perspective, but heck, Steve Jobs gave him a Porsche, a job, and the experience to build his own well-known Silicon Valley company. He's not a poor man now.

    And I have no clue why I bothered replying to such a strange, off-topic comment.

  3. Muay Thai Says:
    January 4th, 2012 at 7:03 am

    Hehe, I agree, loved the look on that car. Muay Thai Combinations | Muay Thai Kick | Martial Arts for Children

  4. amy bonett price Says:
    October 6th, 2011 at 9:13 pm

    Craig – this just made my day. I love this story – hope you're well.
    Amy

  5. Ann Says:
    October 7th, 2011 at 6:09 am

    Of course it was a white Porsche. Love this story.

  6. Andrew Craig Says:
    October 8th, 2011 at 9:09 pm

    If I recall correctly, Steve Jobs drove the same model Porsche at the time. This wasn't a "cheap" gift, but a gift from the heart. Steve loved the way the Porsche's were designed and found inspiration for Apple's own design work.