My name is Evan Carmichael and I believe that the fastest and most effective way to build a company is to model the strategies of people who have already successfully accomplished what you’re trying to do. As part of a what will hopefully become a regular series on the TELUS Talks Business blog I’m going to be sharing the stories of famous entrepreneurs along with their wisdom to help you transform your business. Today I’m going to focus on Apple founder Steve Jobs.
Steven Paul "Steve" Jobs (born February 24, 1955) is an American business tycoon, and the co-founder and chief executive officer of Apple. His current net worth is $5.5 billion.
Must Watch Video
One of my favourite YouTube videos of all time is of Steve Jobs giving advice to Stanford University graduates. It’s 14:34 minutes long and is a must see for every entrepreneur:
#1) Don’t Lose Faith
“You have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future,” says Jobs. “You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”
When Steve Jobs was 17 years old he dropped out of university and began taking classes like calligraphy that were more closely tied to his interests. “I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out ok,” he recalls. “It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made.”
A decade later, when Jobs was designing the first Apple Macintosh computer he put his calligraphy lessons to use by incorporating the fonts he learned about. “It was the first computer with beautiful typography,” says Jobs. “If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do… Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith.”
#2) Don’t Settle
“The only way to do great work is to love what you do,” says Jobs. “If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle… As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it.”
When Jobs was 17 years old, he read a quote that would stay with him forever: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right.” Since then, he has looked himself in the mirror every morning and asked himself whether or not he would do the same thing that day if it were his last day alive. “Whenever the answer has been ‘No’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something,” he says.
“Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you want to become. Everything else is secondary,” he advises. “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.”
#3) Innovate
“Innovation is the distinction between a leader and a follower,” says Jobs.
Throughout his career Steve Jobs has been an innovator. From the Macintosh to the iPod to the iPhone and now the iPad, he is constantly pushing the envelope to put his company on the forefront of innovation. “When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R&D,” he recalls. “It's not about money. It's about the people you have, how you're led, and how much you get it."
“Innovation comes from people meeting in the hallways or calling each other at 10:30 at night with a new idea, or because they realized something that shoots holes in how we’ve been thinking about a problem,” says Jobs. “It’s ad hoc meetings of six people called by someone who thinks he has figured out the coolest new thing ever and who wants to know what other people think of his idea.”
True Story
When Steve Jobs was in high school he called Hewlett-Packard co-founder William Hewlett to ask for parts for a school project. Hewlett gave him the parts and a summer job where he met Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.
Win a Steve Jobs Limited Edition Entrepreneur Heroes Trading Card
To kick off my new role as a contributor for this blog I’m going to raffle off a limited edition hologram trading card of Steve Jobs! It comes in a screw-down case and is a beautiful collector’s item for any business owner. To win the card all you have to do is post a comment below. I’ll pull a comment out at random and that person will receive the card! Enter the contest today by posting below!
About the Author: Evan Carmichael, EvanCarmichael.com
Evan is an entrepreneur and international speaker. At the age of 19, he became an owner and Chief Operating Officer in Redasoft, a biotechnology software company. The company quickly grew to over 300 organizations as clients, including NASA and Johnson & Johnson, in 30 countries. He started Evan Carmichael Communications Group and created www.EvanCarmichael.com with the goal to give entrepreneurs the motivation to follow their passion and the strategies they need to succeed. Evan has also delivered over 100 keynote presentations to entrepreneurs in North America, Europe, and Asia, and has been featured as an entrepreneurial expert for magazines, newspapers, radio, and television and is a recognized small business authority.
To learn more about Evan Carmichael and Steve Jobs visit: http://www.evancarmichael.com/Famous-Entrepreneurs/568/summary.php
), and I thought that was wonderful enough. But now this!
Moti
This is a really good article. When he said "The only way to do great work is to love what you do," he was not joking. I love software. I like to learn all there is to know about different applications and use it to it's potential. I have a job where I use that talent somewhat, but it is not exactly what I want to do forever. It helped to read “If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle… As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it.” I am going to keep on trying to find my dream job!! Thanks for this blog!