Success Story of Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, was born in San Francisco on February 24, 1955. Paul and Clara Jobs later adopted him. His name will always be associated with the tech industry transformation. Let us learn more about Steve Jobs’ success story.
Success Story of Steve Jobs
As a child, Steve faced difficulty focusing in classrooms, where he would disregard authority; he was often punished due to his misbehavior at Monta Loma Elementary School in Mountain View. Due to his brilliance, he later on skipped fifth grade and directly transferred to Crittenden Middle School for sixth grade. Here, he would often be bullied because of him being socially awkward. Eventually, his parents shifted to Christ Drive in California. He attended Homestead High School. It was at Homestead High where he befriended Steve Wozniak. When Steve Wozniak was at the University of California, Jobs would often catch up with him. Both of them had a strong passion for technology. When Wozniak developed the blue box, which was a gadget that could be used to make free long-distance calls, Steve Jobs helped him with selling this blue box, and they split the profits earned. Steve went on to join Reed College in Portland, Oregon, in 1972, where he studied calligraphy and philosophy. Eventually, he dropped out after six months of attending college. During this time out of poverty, he would sleep in his friend’s room and would survive on free meals. After leaving Reed College, he returned to his parents home and soon started working at Atari as a computer technician. During that time, he developed a video game, Pong, in his own version.
Before Apple
Later in 1974, Steve Jobs went on a trip to India with his friend to seek enlightenment from Neem Karoli Baba, but he was disappointed when the ashram was almost deserted due to the death of the sage in September 1973. After a few months, he returned to the US and spent his time on the All One Farm, practicing Zen Buddhism. He eventually was rehired at Atari, where his role was to create a chip for the circuit board by 1975. He started attending the Home Computer Club.
Apple’s innovation journey
Steve Jobs’ success story started with Apple’s innovation journey, which began when the 21-year-old co-founded Apple in his parents garage. Due to his entrepreneurial mindset, they decided to sell the Apple I, which was a fully assembled computer. This attracted an investment of $250,000 from a venture capitalist in 1977. Steve and his team went on to release the Apple II, which transformed the mass market for personal computers, as it had a colored display and used a friendly interface, due to which it became a major hit. Under his visionary leadership. Steve developed the Macintosh, which was a computer with a mouse that anyone could use. By 1984, Macintosh was the tech industry’s transformation device. Due to his entrepreneurial mindset and difference of opinion, Steve resigned from Apple and went on to found NeXT, which was focused on high-end computers for businesses and educational purposes. During this period, he also acquired Pixar, and under his visionary leadership, Toy Story was created. It was the first-ever computer-animated film that revolutionized the tech industry’s transformation for animation. This was another mark of pride for Steve Jobs’ success story.
He eventually returned to Apple when his NeXT was acquired by Apple. Again under his visionary leadership, he took various steps where he eliminated various product lines, launched the campaign “Think Different,” and was able to acquire a $150 million investment from Microsoft. In 1998, under his visionary leadership, Apple’s innovation journey became a commercial success by introducing the iMac and an all-in-one sleek computer. By the early 2000s, due to the entrepreneurial mindset of Steve Jobs, he focused on the digital aspect of Apple and developed the iPod in 2001. This device was a music tech industry’s transformation that was allowing the users to download music legally and store it. In 2007, Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone, a revolutionary phone that had internet communication. This phone was multi-touchscreen and had no physical key. This was a remarkable point in Apple’s innovation journey. His entrepreneurial mindset pushed him towards introducing the iPad, which was a tablet that was portable like a smartphone with the power of a computer. On October 5, 2011, Steve Jobs passed away due to pancreatic cancer, but this visionary leadership had created a legacy, which was constantly innovative: mobile phones, computers, etc. In Steve Jobs’ success story, it is highly important to note that he holds over 450 patents. His entrepreneurial mindset is the reason behind Apple’s immense success.
