Reading Reflection, No. 1

I chose to read Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson.

1) You read about an entrepreneur:

• What surprised you the most?
• The way that Steve Jobs' success came about surprised me. I have never really learned a lot about Steve Jobs before, even though there were many opportunities in my past where I should have. I have always heard that he came about in a strange way. The only fun fact that I knew about Steve Jobs was that he started his ideas and company in his garage. I was very surprised to find out that Steve Jobs did not become a billionaire from Apple alone. Jobs made most of his money from his investments in Pixar. Jobs had purchased 80% of the company for $5 million and with that investment.  Jobs became a millionaire, basically overnight, as Pixar reached a worth of about $50 million. I was initially very interested in and surprised by this because I knew Steve Jobs primarily from Apple, and knowing that he was so successful even before Apple really changed my mindset on him.
• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?
• I mainly admire Steve Job’s drive and passion. Jobs was depicted as a little boy who knew that he was destined to be something great. From a young age, Jobs had the drive to change the world. Honestly, because of the companies that he was a part of and his positions within them, I would say he helped change the world, or at least how we live in it. Despite all of his setbacks, Jobs persevered and fought for his ideas and his company. Even with all of the failures that he encountered, he found success, and I admire that.
• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?
• I don’t particularly admire any part of Job’s personality. From all of what I have read, I don’t enjoy hearing that he treated the people around him poorly. There were multiple times where Jobs disagreed with the people around him, and it not only caused problems, but changed a few paths along his way. Jobs can be described as irritable and I do not think that it was beneficial for anyone working with him. Although Jobs would justify his actions with the fact that he is persistent, it is not a good character trait to have in this case.
• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?
• Steve Jobs encountered a lot of failure throughout his journey as an entrepreneur. One of the most notable adversities in Job’s career was him being fired from Apple in 1985. He was fired because of his attitude, which went along with him being a hard-headed man. The man who used to be the co-founder of Apple was then a man at the lowest point in his career. Jobs was later hired back by Apple and he saved the company from going under in respects to their money. Jobs continued innovating throughout his life and did not let these setbacks change his goals. They may have been bumps in the road along his entrepreneurial journey, but he definitely kept going and only tried to better his inventions and ideas. He took his failures and used them as power to persevere.

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

• Job’s greatest competency was his ability to create and perfect. He had a mindset that brought out-of-the-box concepts into the real world and are now used frequently. He saw so many opportunities throughout his life and I think that his main skill was being able to make them reality. He would not let his ideas just be ideas, just as he would not let his products be imperfect. He put so much time and effort into making his products perfect and his eyes, and it shows how true his passion to create greatness really was.

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

• I was confused by the fact that Steve Jobs was not the best student in school. This confuses me because he is so intelligent that I would assume he would be the best student at his school. The only explanation for this in my mind was that he was so smart that he knew he would one day be great even without being a super studious school student. 

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

• Why did you initially not agree with the idea of third party apps?
• I would ask this because I find it very interesting that Jobs was amazing at identifying opportunities but couldn’t quite identify this one. Apple makes so much money through apps and without them, I can’t even picture the iPhone. Without third party apps, there would just be a clock, calculator, calendar and a few others. That seems crazy to me that he did not see all of the opportunity with third parties!
• If you could change any part of your entrepreneurial career, what would it be?
• I would ask this because it would ultimately tell me if Jobs has any regrets. Although he was so successful, people always have regret. I would love to know if he thought that his career could have been better without one specific event or aspect. 

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

• I think Job’s opinion of hard work was perseverance. I think that hard work was what he was banking on to create his empire. If he had workers within his company that were not putting in hard work, he wouldn’t keep them. He also realized that without hard work and dedication to the company, it will never prosper. I think his dedication, and overall perseverance, led him to run a successful ship. I think that perseverance is a key aspect in hard work, but I do not think it is everything. People can keep trying and trying to succeed, but that does not solidify that they are putting in the work. If each attempt is not well worked for, it is obvious that although the person is continuously trying something, they are not working hard.