3 Key Take-A-Ways From Apple’s Trillion Dollar Milestone

If you live in Silicon Valley you were bound to be at least a little curious about which tech company was going to reach the four-comma club first! After a bit if debate about when they reached it… it’s confirmed that Apple hit the $1 trillion milestone in market capitalization first, based on the most recent share count (July 20^th) as shares briefly traded for $207.05 last week.

So yes, it’s exciting but what does it really mean for you ~ a tech company went from rich to richer, and others are about to follow suit? That’s not really anything new in Silicon Valley, right? Before you drink from that glass half-empty, here are three key take-a-ways we can acknowledge and maybe even appreciate from Apple’s big achievement.

#1: Success really can start anywhere.

As the Atlantic so eloquently described it, “Four decades ago, a geek and the adopted son of immigrants tinkering in a garage made the personal computer viable (the Apple II), and then friendly (the Macintosh). The company rose fast and fell hard… its ousted founder returned and reinvented the business, issuing product after product—iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPad—that changed the way humankind lives.”* The moral of the story – your beginnings are NOT your endings, and up and downs do NOT mean you aren’t on the right path.

#2: There are some achievements no one can take away.

It’s no secret that stocks teeter up and down and that Apple’s $1 trillion mark is a measure that will most certainly drop before it stabilizes above the milestone figure. But no matter who reaches the trillion-dollar club next… “Apple forever will be the first company to reach $1 trillion. That is something no one can take away from it, like no one can take away Babe Ruth’s 1927 home-run record, even if it was topped 34 years later.”* We are a society obsessed with stats, data and measurable wins ~ in business, baseball and life. So, if you break a record or hit a goal – celebrate it long after it’s gone. You earned it.

#3: THIS is what transformation looks like…

… and you are witnessing it. We always hear about the ways that tech changes lives (could you live without your iPhone?!), but it is actually a bigger impact with larger implications than we realize. Tech Crunch reminds us that “Apple (and Tim Cook) are more powerful than many countries and political leaders. Let’s hope they use this power for good.”** The Atlantic refers to the history of big business as transformative, “It’s what railroads did once, and steel too, and oil, and automobiles as well. Nothing grows so large without transforming the world it leaves behind utterly, and forever.” Since big businesses drive personal and professional revolutions, think about which you want to support and in turn, which you are prepared to watch change the world.

So we may not be Apple - but we'd love to help change your world! Please let us know if we can assist with any of your buying, selling or investing goals here in Silicon Valley!

All our best,

Mark & Jason

*Apple Is Worth One Trillion Dollars (The Atlantic)

**Apple is worth over $1,000,000,000,000 (Tech Crunch)