California

Cunningham Recalls Steve Jobs and Early Tech Marketing

Andrea "Andy" Cunningham remembered helping Steve Jobs launch the Macintosh in 1984 and pacing around the room hoping no one was going steal or vandalize the prototype.

"There was no security back then," she told Press:Here. "I was very worried about that and I was keeping my eyes peeled for any kind of problem."

Cunningham was working for legendary Silicon Valley marketing consultant Regis McKenna, but came back to work with Steve Jobs after he left Apple despite his somewhat notorious temper.

"He screamed at me a lot, threw things at me, and insulted me and other kinds of things," she said.

Cunningham was known for not agreeing with Jobs, which led to conflict, she said. Just as he was leaving Apple, he wanted to hold a quickie press conference about his leaving.

"I told him, 'You can't do that," she said. "I said he hadn't negotiated his exit package from Apple yet."

Cunningham worked with Jobs for about six years and said she learned a lot from him. She's now the founder of SeriesC, a firm that provides marketing to small and large companies including the Santa Clara, Calif.-based networking company Avaya. Avaya recently became the sponsor of Avaya Stadium -- home of the Major League Soccer team, the San Jose Earthquakes. 

Cunningham said that a tech company's name on a sports stadium is a great idea.

"I'm hoping [people] will have at least hear of Avaya, so when an Avaya salesperson calls they said, 'I know you. You have the stadium,'" she said. "Sports touches the emotional side of the fan base, and then they have an emotional connection to Avaya."

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