When Sam Altman Auditioned in front of Steve Jobs

The Audition for Steve Jobs

• 💡 Sam Altman, founder and CEO of OpenAI, recounted his experience auditioning for Steve Jobs to present his app, Loopt, at the iPhone App Store launch.
• 🚀 This opportunity came after an intense two-week preparation period on the Apple campus, involving feedback from their product design teams.
• 🎯 The final stage of this process was presenting to Steve Jobs himself, who would decide if they got to present in the keynote.

Sam Altman's Anxiety

• 🥶 Altman described the audition as the only time in business he felt such anxiety, freezing on stage for what felt like minutes.
• 👓 He vividly recalled seeing only Steve Jobs' two glowing glasses in the dark theater, which contributed to his intense nervousness.
• ⚠️ Despite being with a demo partner, James Howard, Altman felt his heartbeat pounding and believed he did a "horrible job," stumbling through the presentation.

Unexpected Outcome

• 💬 After the audition, Altman was convinced it was a disaster and apologized to the preparation team for letting them down.
• ✅ However, the next day, they received a call inviting them to final rehearsals at the Moscone Center, indicating they had been selected.
• 🎤 Interestingly, Altman experienced no anxiety at all during the actual public presentation, contrasting sharply with his audition experience.