Reading Reflection No. 3

Steve Jobs, by: Walter Isaacson

1) You read about an entrepreneur:

• What surprised you the most?

I was surprised right from the start that Steve Jobs was adopted. We have all heard about Steve Jobs and his dealings with Apple but I had never really known anything about his early life as a child and being given up for adoption.

• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?

I admire the fact the Jobs always stuck to his guns and believed in his own ideas. He was forced out from Apple and went on to start another company called NeXT, Inc. that had minimal success. Apple struggled and asked Jobs to come back as CEO and he continued to do it his way.

• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?

I least admire the way he treated his daughter in her younger life. Jobs claimed to be sterile and denied his paternity. That is a bizarre and weird decision that is hard for me to grasp.

• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?

Yes he encountered failure and adversity on multiple occasions. He dropped out of College, was kicked out of the company he started, and faced pancreatic cancer. Each time Jobs looked for solutions and continued to explore and find new options to keep moving forward by learning without formal education, starting a new company, and fighting cancer.

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 

Innovative: He came up with the Apple I, Mac, iPhone, etc. He was the leader of a movement to implement new and exciting technology. He continued to come up with new ways to sell the personal computer and make it user friendly.

Confident: He stuck to his guns even no one else believed in his idea. He came up with crazy marketing campaigns and new and innovative technology that no one thought would work but he saw the need.

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

The most confusing was the mass Exodus of employees during the Mac development. Co-founder Wozniak left along with other top engineers. It appeared that Jobs was not listening to any of his former friends and good employees and did not heed their complaints or advice. This shows a large fault in Jobs. Unfortunately this spelled the end for Jobs as well, at least temporarily.  

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

What is your favorite Apple product? 

Would you agree that IBM as a competitor drove Apple to better than it ever could have been?

I just want to see which product Jobs like best and then determine what he thinks of competition with others and not just bettering himself.

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

I think Jobs think hard work is very important, but more than likely appreciates the ability to relax and find yourself. He worked hard to start his own company in a garage and grow it into a multi million dollar business. I agree that hard work is very important.