Steve Jobs, Entrepreneur

I am sure everyone reading this has heard that Steve Jobs passed away Wednesday at the age of 56.  All we see of Apple today is the retail stores, the keynote addresses, the media hype surrounding product launches and the long lines to be the first to get a new product at release.  But also, Steve Jobs was the epitome of an entrepreneur.  He had a vision, that computing was accessible for everyone, which very few people shared.  He and Steve Wozniak bootstrapped the company.  Most importantly, he never gave up on that vision.  This quote, from his 2005 commencement address to Stanford University transcends high-tech and even entrepreneurs:

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Also, I have read that Tim Cook and the Apple executives knew of Jobs condition when they went on stage Tuesday for the iPhone 4S launch.  This is why the presentation didn't have the usually Apple flair that we come to expect so we only notice it when it's not there.  But, they did it anyway.  That is another trait of an entrepreneur, to be able to inspire people to believe in your vision.  While hindsight is always 20/20, knowing what they did, the presentation was wonderful.

Steve Jobs definitely had his own vision of computing but he also listened to the customers.  For example, when the iPhone was originally released, Apple was the only developer for it.  There may have been works for a few 3rd party developers but Apple expected that new technologies such as HTML5 would enable web developers to create products accessible via the web through Safari on the phone.  Many such products have been created but the customers wanted more.  They wanted to be able to access the distinct features of the phone to create amazing products.  So, they got it.

Finally, Steve Jobs also created a whole new type of entrepreneur.  I personally have been inspired by this one.  That is the concept of the App Store.  An App Store lets anyone create a software product and distribute it to millions of people and outside of a small $99 fee, there is no other financial risk.  People are able to concentrate on their own unique idea and not have to worry about billing or distribution.  The App Store empowers the developer which is what technology should do.  There have been many new businesses from the App Store.

Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

Cross-posted at http://blog.douglasstarnes.com/2011/10/06/steve-jobs-entrepreneur/