Steve Jobs rallies the troops. Redwood City, California, 1988. Menuez: "Steve gives a rousing pep talk to his employees shortly before the launch of NeXT Computer, while also indulging in a short rant about revenge on Apple and John Sculley." Photo: Doug Menuez/Contour by Getty Images/Stanford University Libraries

The day Ross Perot gave Steve Jobs twenty million dollars. Fremont, California, 1986. Menuez: "Ross Perot invested over $20 million in NeXT after this lunch pitch on the site of the future NeXT Factory with the NeXT Board of Directors. Even then, Steve was a consummate showman who understood the power of compelling settings. Ross was blown away. But he later said it was the worst mistake he ever made." Photo: Doug Menuez/Contour by Getty Images/Stanford University Libraries

Preparations for the demonstration are not going well. Las Vegas, 1992. Menuez: "Unfortunately, while preparing a demonstration of the Newton for the national press in Las Vegas, the device crashed, causing event organizer Michael Witlin to hit the floor and Tricia Chan to call engineers for help." Photo: Doug Menuez/Contour by Getty Images/Stanford University Libraries

Steve Jobs explaining ten year technology development cycles. Sonoma, California, 1986. Menuez: "Steve Jobs shares with his team what he believes about how technology evolves in ten-year wave cycles. Steve hoped to ride the next wave by putting the power of a refrigerator-sized mainframe computer into a one-foot cube at a price affordable to Universities. Thus NeXT Computer began as Steve’s quest for redemption after being forced out of Apple." Photo: Doug Menuez/Contour by Getty Images/Stanford University Libraries

The list. Sonoma, California, 1987. Menuez: "A Steve Jobs “to-do” list made at a company brainstorming session, with a set of very difficult technical challenges remaining for his team to solve in order to complete the NeXT Computer." Photo: Doug Menuez/Contour by Getty Images/Stanford University Libraries

Sunlight, NeXT. Sonoma, California, circa 1987. Menuez: "At tech startups it was rare to get outside or even see the sun for days at a time." (This caption was changed after a commenter pointed out an inaccuracy. Please see comment below.) Photo: Doug Menuez/Contour by Getty Images/Stanford University Libraries

Frustration. Sun Microsystems. Santa Clara, California, 1992. Menuez: "Sun was the fastest tech company to reach a billion dollars in revenue. With the massive success came increasing competitive pressure and growing pains. The company grew to over 15,000 employees worldwide in a few short years, forcing whole divisions to quickly move offices. This engineer is trying to grab a few moments of work during a move of a group of cubicles." Photo: Doug Menuez/Contour by Getty Images/Stanford University Libraries

Geek sex. Adobe Systems, Mountain View, California, 1991. Menuez: "Real-life boyfriend and girlfriend act out a rudimentary electrical metaphor for sex at an Adobe Halloween party." Photo: Doug Menuez/Contour by Getty Images/Stanford University Libraries

Howl. San Francisco, California, 1988. Menuez: "An Adobe Systems employee howls with joyful release during a toast to their spectacular year. Their year-end party was staged in a massive pier in San Francisco and reportedly cost a million dollars." Photo: Doug Menuez/Contour by Getty Images/Stanford University Libraries

Steve Capps playing the Jaminator. San Carlos, California, 1993. Menuez: "Steve Capps, a modest, unsung hero in the Valley and co-designer of the Macintosh Finder plays The Jaminator, a digital guitar he invented that lets you play your favorite guitar solos to various hit rock songs, while working at home on the Newton software." Photo: Doug Menuez/Contour by Getty Images/Stanford University Libraries

The kiss. San Francisco, California, 1988. Menuez: "A couple of co-workers who were falling in love celebrating with abandon at the Adobe annual holiday party of 1988. They were married shortly after the party but divorced a few years later." Photo: Doug Menuez/Contour by Getty Images/Stanford University Libraries

Steve Jobs is thinking. Santa Cruz, California, 1987. Menuez: "Steve had an artist’s intuitive mind with the ability to dream up new ways to combine existing technology to create something completely new. Here he is pondering a solution to a technical problem being discussed at a company offsite meeting." Photo: Doug Menuez/Contour by Getty Images/Stanford University Libraries

Portrait of Russell Brown in costume. Mountain View, California, 1989. Menuez: "In a public defense of the early Photoshop, Russell Brown pointedly said that software is just a simple tool, like a hammer. You can use it to build a house or tear one down. Many photographers and graphic designers resisted digital technology as people normally resist change. Photoshop was a truly disruptive digital technology that hastened the death of film. But it was not a sure thing. More than anyone, Russell Brown deserves credit for winning over the creative community with his Photoshop classes and lectures." Photo: Doug Menuez/Contour by Getty Images/Stanford University Libraries

Loose lips sink ships. Redwood City, California, 1988. Menuez: "Shortly before the official launch of the NeXT Computer, Steve had the completed prototype computer, screen, printer, and peripherals covered in black velvet. Tech companies were extremely competitive and secretive, to the point where precautions were taken even inside closed doors." Photo: Doug Menuez/Contour by Getty Images/Stanford University Libraries

On vacation. Adobe Systems, Mountain View, California, 1994. Menuez: "An amusing scene carries a subtle subtext: don’t go on vacation. As Silicon Valley companies evolved from kids in garages to global technology behemoths, they began to adopt standard corporate practices like granting health insurance and paid vacations. Adobe Systems was very well managed as judged by their balance sheet and the apparent happiness of their employees. Still, the hours were long and competition fierce, so vacations were often deferred or delayed. And when someone did go ahead and actually take the vacation days they earned, they might return to find their office had been redecorated." Photo: Doug Menuez/Contour by Getty Images/Stanford University Libraries

Evidence of an all night programming session. NetObjects, Redwood City, California, 1997. Menuez: "Morning finds empty Chinese food cartons left by engineers working all night to finish an important version of the software at the headquarters of NetObjects." Photo: Doug Menuez/Contour by Getty Images/Stanford University Libraries

The painter David Hockney rests during a photoshop class. Mountain View, California, 1990. Menuez: "As digital technology grew more powerful, Silicon Valley resembled what Paris in the twenties must have been like. Artists arrived from all over the world, eager to experiment. Musicians like Peter Gabriel and Herbie Hancock were early adopters. George Lucas was a pioneer, as was Francis Coppola, and there were many others. The cultural ground was shifting, with the avant-garde gathering to push new ideas into the culture. Here, British painter David Hockney, holding one of his beloved dachshunds, attends Russell Brown’s 1990 Adobe Photoshop Invitational, where he learned how to use the first release version of Photoshop." Photo: Doug Menuez/Contour by Getty Images/Stanford University Libraries

Exercise break at Intel Fab 11X. Rio Rancho, New Mexico, 1998. Menuez: "Workers inside Intel’s largest chip fabrication plant exercise and stretch as part of their normal workday break time. They produce 5 chips a second, 24 hours a day." Photo: Doug Menuez/Contour by Getty Images/Stanford University Libraries