I chose to read a biography on Steve Jobs written by Walter Isaacson
1. You read about an entrepreneur
What I found surprising about Steve Jobs was his ability to come up with a vision for Apple Computer at such a young age with his partner Steve Wozniak. At a time when IBM and Comcast dominated the computing industry, I imagine that it was more than frightening going up against the two dominant tech giants. I most admired Steve Jobs's absolute dedication to the vision for Apple Computer. He always acted with the company's best interest in mind, even if it rubbed investors or partners the wrong way. He was controversial, but always to protect what he thought was right in driving the company forward. Throughout the biography, its made apparent that Jobs faced adversity and failure all throughout his journey. For example, one of the biggest hardships that Jobs had to face was being removed from his own company at its early stages. Jobs also had to face the painful challenge of pancreatic cancer, a battle that he ultimately did not win.
2. What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited?
What made Steve Jobs so great was his stubbornness and absolute drive in pursuing his vision of Apple Computer. Jobs was always able to think ahead of his time, a skill that enabled him to recreate the home computer into what it is today. As a result, Apple has always stayed ahead of the curve, and for this reason, Apple today is a dominant tech giant within the computing and home appliance industry.
3. Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
Why would Steve Jobs go back to his job at Apple despite feelings of betrayal after getting booted out of his own company by Board members/Investors?
4. If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?
Does the innovation within the iPhone 8,8+, and X align with your vision of the company and its impact on consumers around the world?
What made you press on even when others told you no?
5. For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?
I think that Steve Jobs would say that hard work is necessary to reach your goals, but that its talent and creativity that sets you above the rest of the curve.
29A – Venture Concept
Venture Opportunity Opportunity Every year there are a few hundred thousand students that take standardized tests such as the GRE/GMAT/...
Your question to Steve Jobs regarding the latest Apple technology is a great question. I think it would interesting to ask late entrepreneurs if the product their company has developed after their death is something they would approve of! That’s an interesting thought. Stubbornness doesn’t always seem like a great quality, but it worked for Steve Jobs! I think that without his assertiveness, the company may have gone a separate direction early on.
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I really like that Steve Jobs would fight to keep his vision in line. I think that sometimes it is important to do that in order to avoid losing yourself. Board members most of the time only see green, this causes them to go blind and forget what the company was founded on. Steve Job’s however stayed focus on the track that he felt was best. I think it is amazing to think that they would even fire this man. Makes me wonder what the company would have been like had he not gone back.
ReplyDeleteI thought Steve Job's dedication to his craft was what really set him above everyone else in competition. Although some of the things he did were controversial, you stated he always had his companies vision in mind and I find that very respectful. I think it takes controversial decisions to truly succeed and I admire Jobs for taking those chances, even if they did not turn out in his favor. I do, however, agree with your opinion that Jobs shouldn't have been so quick to go back to the company that betrayed him. What if Jobs started another company to compete with Apple when he was fired? The world may have been very different.
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