Hillary

"“You know,” I said, “in all my conversations with Steve these past two months, I’ve never found him defensive. I’ve critiqued and dismantled every aspect of Pixar’s business and he had every reason to justify and defend it. But he didn’t. Not once. It’s as if he’s taking this journey with me, learning it at the same time I am.” “He hasn’t given you a reason to distrust him,” Hillary said. “You two are in this together. You have to work it out together.” That’s how it felt. Whatever mess we were in, we were in it together. What mattered was our next move."

"“Working with Steve can be exasperating,” I complained to Hillary one night. “Some of his ideas are brilliant but others are off the mark. It’s hard to rein him in sometimes.”"

"“We have a chance to make this happen,” I said to Hillary one night toward the end of August. “I’ll be out of commission working on this for the next couple of months. But this is our shot.” “Steve’s ready for it too?” Hillary asked. “Yes, he’s on board. Ready to go. Even excited I would say.” “Good luck,” Hillary said. “This is the chance you’ve been hoping for.” We’d need that luck. Actually pulling off an IPO was going to be a lot harder than finding investment banks. We would now begin endless meetings with the bankers as they pored over every single detail of Pixar’s history, financial information, and business plan. There would be teams of lawyers and accountants checking, double-checking, and triple-checking compliance with every nuance and requirement of the securities laws. There would be continuous discussions and debates over how to value Pixar, how to price its stock, and the exact timing for taking it public."

"Steve called one evening when we were deciding what to do. Hillary answered, and when Steve asked how she was, she just broke down and cried. After she explained the problem, Steve immediately said, “I’ll find you the best doctor in the world and bring them here if you need it.”"