No, I’m not talking about Steve Wozniak, John Sculley or Mike Markkula – or Roy Disney for that matter. Instead, I’m talking about Jony Ive and Ub Iwerks (whose name I desperately want to spell as iWerks).

You’re most likely familiar with Apple’s Chief Design Officer Jony Ive, the man whose deft touch led the design of the iPod, the original iMac, and the iPhone. It’s said that Ive became Jobs alter-ego. He manifested the same level of design simplicity Jobs favored, but also had the hands-on designer chops to make those designs real.

Walt Disney, too, had a design touch. In fact, he started off with an ability to draw cartoonish pictures, and made his early living as a cartoonist. In one of these first jobs, he met Ub Iwerks, the man who took Disney’s visions into the stratosphere.

Walt Disney came up with the character of Mortimer Mouse (which was Mickey’s original name until Disney’s wife Lillian suggested a friendlier name). But it was Ub who brought Mickey to life, and it was Ub who headed up many of the animations that made Walt Disney into Walt Disney.

Partnering can be a force multiplier. The classic partnership for young innovative entrepreneurs is with folks with business skills, and both Jobs and Disney did that as well.

But don’t forget that innovation takes effort all on its own, and sometimes it’s necessary to bring in a person who can focus solely on the creative side, can go beyond you in your skills and abilities, and take your vision and lift it to a new level. For Disney and Jobs, that was Iwerks and Ive.

And no, your creative partner’s last name doesn’t need to begin with “I,” although that might help.