The Balcony: Return to the Little Kingdom

The Balcony reviews Return to the Little Kingdom, by Michael Moritz. Vera: Apple's first billion, reported from inside in 1984; Markkula's $250,000 bought a third. Augie: forget money, the blue box: $40 in, $150 out. His objection: no company papers, and the author says so himself. They agree on January 1978: the whole company valued at $3 million. Split verdict: keep the financing chapter; keep the blue box, for anyone starting in a garage.

Return to the Little Kingdom, by Michael Moritz, is the story of Apple's first eight years, written in 1984 as the company reached a billion dollars in sales by a reporter who sat in on the Macintosh team; its thread is money and the people who brought it: Markkula's $250,000 bank loan for a third of the company, the first venture round in January 1978 that valued Apple at $3 million, and before any of it the blue box, $40 of parts sold for $150; the author admits he had no access to the company's papers.

On the book: Return to the Little Kingdom by Michael Moritz

Starring

DotVera LindqvistAugie Castellano