13-A Reading Reflection No. 1

13-A Reading Reflection No. 1

I read “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson

What surprised you the most?  Steve Jobs was an asshole.  I had no idea.  I guess I did not become aware of him until the iPhone came out and he was all in my face, because my son, who was 10 at the time, watched everything he could about the iPhone.  I thought he was such a wonderful person, but he was really a cruel, ruthless asshole

What about the entrepreneur did you most admire? His attention to detail and insane desire to make sure it was perfect.  I think, and Walter implies it frequently in the book, Jobs’ attention to detail is what made him successful. 

What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?  What he did to people who he felt were inferior to him.  He was a ruthless man.  Even people who helped him in times of great need, who gave him money when he needed, support when he needed it, he would cut them out of stock options, bonuses.  He was just a man that seemed to not care how he hurt anyone in his way.

Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure?  Oh yes, he did.  He was essentially voted out of his first company, Apple, because of his horrible people skills, his constant berating of people and his inability to lead properly.  He was so angry that he went out and created a new company, NeXT, which 11 years later Apple bought NeXT because the failed at a software system upgrade and needed something quickly and Steve Jobs made them think he had it.

What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? Jobs was really good at being able to see the value of something and then be able to market it to people.  When he marketed Woz’s Blue Box free long-distance phone call product, I was amazed.

Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you:  I did not understand why Job’s left Kottle out of stock shares.  Daniel Kottle was there with him from the get-go and helped him out in so many ways.  It was confusing and I felt like something was missing on why he denied Kottle those shares.

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

1.  You want to leave a legacy where people are motivated to make great products, everything else being secondary, including profits.  I want to know if you feel after your death the company will continue with this legacy or if they will lose it quickly?

2.  Are you are of your reality distortion field?  If so did you intentionally use it to be hurtful or set someone up for failure? 

For Fun: What do you think the entrepreneur’s opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion? Jobs truly believed in hard work.  He was never afraid to get in and work hard to get things done.  In fact, in the book, he talks about to build a company you had to do the hardest work ever.  I share his opinion.  IF you want something to succeed you have to work your butt off for it.