Ibrahim H - Investigation 2A

I have very diverse interests, and hence have role models in various fields. The thing that unites them, however, is the common struggle they had to go through to be where they are/were. In a series of posts, I am going to talk about the three people I admire the most.

Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs was the co-founder of Apple Inc., which is now the most valuable brand in the world (“Most Valuable Brands”). He is also widely regarded as one of the greatest innovators of our time. I first learned about Jobs’ story by reading his biography, authored by Walter Isaacson, and I was completely blown away!

Steve Jobs never had an easy life. His biological parents put him up for adoption, and he was raised by an Armenian couple (“Steve Jobs”). While he was always an intelligent kid, he was directionless throughout his youth, which led to him dropping out of college and experimenting with various pursuits. (ibid.).

During his time in high school, Steve Jobs had met Steve Wozniak; Wozniak was a computer genius, whereas Jobs was a visionary (Staff). In 1976, the two of them started Apple Computers, in Jobs' parents' garage (ibid.). Jobs' even sold his Volkswagen microbus to raise some of the capital required (“Steve Jobs”). This was the start of a revolutionary change in the computer industry.

What makes me admire Steve Jobs, however, is not only the fact that he co-founded one of the most successful companies in the world but rather the way in which he did so. The road to success is never easy. Despite early success for Apple Computers, by 1980 the company was struggling to compete with IBM (Staff). Steve Jobs was accused of being the reason behind this downturn. Eventually, in 1985, Jobs was ousted from the company he created (“Steve Jobs”). But, failure did not break him. Within a year, he founded NeXT Computer Co., with the "goal of building a breakthrough computer that would revolutionize research and higher education” (Staff). He also purchased an animation company in 1986, which would eventually become Pixar Animation Studio — under Jobs’ tutelage, Pixar Studios created the first ever computer animated feature film, Toy Story, which was a huge success (idib.). NeXT Computer Co, however, struggled to sell computers because of its high price point, and in 1996 it was bought by Apple; Jobs returned to Apple as the CEO of the company, and eventually helped revive the company (“Steve Jobs”).

While Jobs’ unwillingness to give up is widely known and admired, what is equally admirable is his self-confidence. Jobs was known to eschew market research and rely on his intuition (Mui). He did not listen to what his customers wanted, rather he once famously said: “A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them” (ibid.). This level of self-confidence is quintessential for success; only when you have confidence in yourself would you be willing to take the risks required for success.

Steve Jobs, truly was a fighter. Even after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer he tried to continue to lead Apple as long as he could. Eventually, cancer got the better of him and in August 2011, he resigned as CEO of Apple (“Steve Jobs”). In October, he sadly passed away. I am going to end this with a quote from a 1997 Apple TV advert, which perfectly sums up Jobs’ personality:

“Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes... the ones who see things differently -- they're not fond of rules... You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things... they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do” (“Steve Jobs - Top 10 Quotes.”)