article, “the difference with Apple was the man who wrote the company’s first business plan, Mike Markkula.”

Long before Apple became synonymous with Steve Jobs’ product launches and minimalist design philosophy, the company’s survival depended on a quieter figure operating behind the scenes.

An InfoWorld article published on July 18 1983 described Mike Markkula as the person who turned Apple from a clever engineering experiment into a real business — the man who wrote its first proper business plan, secured crucial funding, and helped build the company that would later dominate consumer technology.

The article opens with blunt praise from people inside the industry. “Markkula is what made Apple real,” said Chuck Peddle, president of Victor Technologies.