The movie entitled “Pirates of Silicon Valley” is based on the book of “Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer “by Paul Freiberger and Michael Swaine. It was originally published back in 1984. The said book is not a computer book but rather a fascinating history of the personal computer that we are using today. The history of the personal computer comprises a series of with eccentric well-planned errors, the person behind our today’s technology that we are enjoying, for the efforts and for their amazing skills in making themselves a billionaire as well as in making the world’s industry more progressive.
1.What are the factors that contributed to the success and failure of Steve Jobs as a technopreneur?
The factors that contributed to the success of Steve Jobs as a technopreneur are the following:
· As a Technopreneur. Be Different.
Steve Jobs is a quite unique person. He is a cool guy with a great mind. He has a saying that “It’s better to pirate than joining a navy” means that we must have our own idea and we must sets in our mind that we are born not to become an employee but an employer or own a company someday. Our mind should think about the useful things that people needed or having a new invention, discovery etc. I love the way that Steve Jobs thinks. He always wanted to own and control the primary technology in everything we do. Fortunately, we can thank him for all of his achievements, contributions to our world industry and everything that he had done.
· Find your true Passion.
“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work,” says Jobs. Steve jobs was very devoted to his works and to his interests. He keeps going or shall I say he is a kind of person that is a risk taker. He does whatever he wanted and of course he did his all desire plan well. Steve Jobs knew that his future lay in the creation of things until he met Wozniak in 1968. He also knew that his invention which is personal computer will be useful to every people in this world. Despite failures such as Apple III and being fired from the company he helped found, Jobs managed to come back out on top because he knew that he didn’t want to dedicate his life to anything but his passion.
· Faith.
Though Steve Jobs was a very creative man, he did not always know what he was doing in his life. Many persons gave up on him or had a little faith on his abilities but Steve Jobs did not give up on himself. Later, he found himself pursuing avenues that he found interesting. He has a faith of believing himself that he can do whatever he wanted to have like having invention that would be more meaningful and even perhaps useful to others. He learned from his failures and he believed that everything that is happening in his life even the worse things come for a reason.
· Innovation.
“It's not about money. It's about the people you have, how you're led, and how much you get it” - Fortune, Nov. 9, 1998.
Innovation plays important role in terms of business, enterpreneurship or even technopreneurship. It distinguishes a leader from a follower. Steve Jobs as a CEO focusing not also on sales and financing but also concern with the next big thing.
So he hired people who was the brightest or who can make the best things in the world. And because of his high standards in hiring his employees, he continues to work towards ensuring Apple a place at the top of the market for years to come.
The factors that contributed to the failure of Steve Jobs as a technopreneur are the following:
· Nitpicker
Steve jobs was a conformist person who established high- standard in selecting or hiring an employee on his own company. He has a good standards but he’s too perfectionist. As what I have seen in the film “Pirates of Silicon Valley”, I laughed at the scene which is Steve Jobs(played by Noah Wyle) interviewed an applicant where he asked if he is virgin or not? It sounds so arrogant as an CEO talking like that but then I realized that the words between the lines is “if that applicant is better as what he had expected or if he had lots of experiences”. He wanted everything to be perfect. Being a nitpicker is good but too much is bad. Nobody is perfect! Right? And because of his attitude, he became effective technopreneur but the relationships between his employees are not intimate or they are not comfortable to work with Steve Jobs.
· Low Emotional Quotient and Attitude Quotient.
He was very a intelligent person which leads him to become rich and successful technopreneur. He is wise enough to have everything he have now. But when it comes to his attitude especially when he already established the Apple, he became so arrogant, demanding, hot headed and he always keep shouting to his employees even to his close friend (or maybe the things that comes on his mind is “business is business, friends are friends”) . It is good to act like that in a way that he is the boss but unconsciously, he lose his connection and weaken the relationship between his people on his own company and forget to socialize with other people.
· Self-Centered
I was very disappointed when he doubted that he was the father of his own child. His girlfriend was always there for him to support. But when Steve Jobs became successful, he denied and forgets his responsibility to his girlfriend. He prioritized his growing career rather than to start a new family. Even though, you can manage those things at the same time. He became so selfish because of being popular in the field of technology and of course he earned lots of money.
2. How do you see yourself as a technopreneur?
When it comes to business, the first thing that comes from my mind is the word entrepreneurship. Now, let me define the word entrepreneurship that found on the wikipedia. Entrepreneurship is the act of being an entrepreneur, which is a French word meaning "one who undertakes innovations, finance and business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods". This may result in new organizations or may be part of revitalizing mature organizations in response to a perceived opportunity. So the entrepreneur is the one who manage his/her business.
As years pass by, as the technology keep growing and improving until the word “technopreneurship” came up. According to Manuel Cereijo, Technopreneurship is not a product but a process of synthesis in engineering the future of a person, an organization, a nation and the world. Strategic directions or decision-making processes are becoming more demanding and complex. This requires universities, and in site professional development programs and training to produce strategic thinkers who will have skills to succeed in a rapidly changing global environment.
For my own understanding, Technopreneurship is a type of business that deals with the technology. A business that all gadgets like personal computers, laptops, cellular phones, ipads, ipods or even the having a call center are involved. Or maybe we merchandise, purchase, rent services or sell technology stuffs as what I have mentioned above. This kind of entrepreneurship helps us to become a successful someday. I said so because as we observe nowadays? Many people are getting attached to the technology in this generation. The more the customer, the more the income earned by the technopreneur.
As a student in University of Southeastern Philippines, taking up Bachelor of Science in Information Technology and now in 3rd year college and this semester I am taking up the subject course which is the IT-Elective (Technopreneurship). Honestly, it was new to me and before I don’t know that there is such thing “technopreneurship” that exists. Our instructor explained to us the importance and it is very helpful for us to build IT parks on our own city. We don’t need to work outside our region or outside the country for us to earn money. I remember that our Professor gave us a quiz about connecting the nine dots in just one stroke only. Those tricks are not just to connect all dots but there is a message behind those drawing. The meaning of it is “to go beyond the limit” or “go outside the box”. After the explanation, I realized that I should change my mindset. I should change it by making myself into an “employer” someday and not an “employee”. If all people have this kind of mindset, for sure that we have a better world that we could never imagined.
I think everybody can be a technopreneur as long as they are willing or they are interested in technopreneurship. In the first place, I really do not like involving myself to a business though my mother is a business lover (I said so because she deals different products from a networking business). Although I am already aware that being a entrepreneur is you don’t need to work hard in order to get a fixed salary. The money will come to you by itself and not just money but huge money that people always wanted to have. But still, I am not impressed. Then I realized that being a technopreneur is not just to earned but helping jobless people or to increase the employment in our country. By knowing all those things? Well, I am starting to love technopreneurship.
For now, I’m on the stage of knowing my skills and the first question that comes from my mind is if I am qualified of becoming a technopreneur? Maybe, I must develop the unknown skills of mine. It sounds so confusing right? What I mean is, I am not sure if I will become a very effective technopreneur someday. Maybe sooner or later, I can discover it while studying the Technopreneurship or by the motivation of our instructor. Anyway, I was convinced by our instructor to become a technopreneur if ever I don’t get any job after graduation. In short, I will become a technopreneur as an option.
Assuming myself as a technopreneur, I can see myself as a technopreneur by having many employees on my large company. I must plan everything on my business and not just for my own sake but for the sake of my employees. I will possess all the good traits of being a good technopreneur like being an optimistic. I must think that possible great things will surely happen on my company. The other factors that I must possess for me to become a technopreneur is to find my true passion. Being a passionate person is you have a determination to do things especially the things that you want to work with. I must inlove or devoted to the business that you are working on so that I can do whatever I want that can help the business to improve and for me to be known as a good technopreneur. Of course, I will be a good leader and be friendly to my employees. I will treat them good so that I can get a loyalty from them or they will stick to me no matter what will happen. Having a High Intelligent Quotient is useless if you have a Low Emotional or Attitude Quotient. To keep the bonding or the relationships become strong between the owner and the employees. Treat each other in a manner way and not insulting or doubting his/her skills. I will give my trust to them but not fully. As a technopreneur, I must be wise enough in handling my company or trusting people. Because in business, we don’t know all our enemies so be careful in trusting someone. Lastly, as a technopreneur... Having Faith is important... I will trust myself that I will become successful technopreneur and nothing is impossible to the person who has faith and determination.
3. Would you take the same career path that Steve Jobs took? Why or why not?
Before answering the question if I would take the same career path that Steve Jobs took. Let me describe or tell you first of what I have seen on the movie entitled “Pirates of Silicon Valley”. As what I have seen.. Steve Jobs is a college dropout when he joins with Steve Wozniak and they become activists. During that time, he stops studying then he focused himself on making all of his interests like making peculiar stuffs. He started designing, developing and assembling to create of what he called computer. When it was finished, they called it Apple Computers and earned a lot of money after he shows it to the market which leads him to build his own company. Later on, Apple was up and running while Bill Gates builds a company called Microsoft. One day, Bill Gates set a meeting with the IBM. He proposes that the Microsoft has an Operating System to sell to them but apparently they lied to the IBM. After their agreement, the dynasty of Microsoft begins. Meanwhile, Jobs also was among the first to see the potential of the mouse-driven graphical user interface which led to the creation of the Macintosh. On the story, Steve Jobs was fired as an Chief Executive Officer of Apple Computer but after 12 years he returns to Apple after its attainment of NeXT and Bill Gates appeared live via satellite to announce an alliance between Apple and Microsoft. Then that was the time, Bill Gates was the richest man of the world.
As what I observed, I can compare the flow of the life of Steve Jobs to the wheel. I said so because not all the times that he is always experiencing success in his life. He also encountered failures, disappointments and sorrows. He is good when he is on the below but when he is on up because of his creative inventions, he became rude, hot headed, nitpicker and his attitudes in dealing with other people became low. Anyway, I understand him because it is not easy to reach of what he had achieved in his life and he made efforts on it. Gladly, he really learned from all of his mistakes and I can say that Steve Jobs is a kind of person that is risk taker and wise. Speaking of being wise, Steve Jobs is a wise technopreneur but Bill Gates is wiser than him.
Steve Jobs possesses some of the technopreneurship traits. He is insanely great. He has a confident even though he wore informal dress like wearing t-shirts and shorts during office time (he act but does not look like a CEO). Though he is a college dropout, I consider him as prodigy in terms of developing technology and making our world industry more enjoyable and easier. I salute him for being creative and competitive throughout his years. Imagine? He created the apple computers by his own amazing skills and brilliant mind. I cannot imagine Steve Jobs making or assembling computers on his garage and now we can call him a multibillionaire technopreneur.
I really would like to take the same career path that Steve Jobs took. But not all of them. I will avoid the negative factors which lead him to become failure. One of it is becoming a perfectionist. Being a perfectionist is not bad but being too much of it is not healthy. Just like what happen in his story. He doubted the skills of his smart applicants. He wanted all the things to be in order. If you are going to work with him, the applicants were under pressured because Steve Jobs has a high standard in selecting his people to work on his company. The other one is when he denied his own daughter. Maybe he prioritized his works than having a family which he might believed that it will bring him down or maybe he do not know to balance things during that time. But the important thing is he tried to go back to his girlfriend to say sorry for what he had done.
Despite of his unnecessary attitude, he is still good because of his some personalities that made him to become a great and not just great but a multi–billionaire technopreneur. Aside from being unique, I would like to imitate his attitude that he gets what he wants to gets. I would also want to follow his mindset which is he only wanted to become an employer and not to become an employee. He does not also want to become in number 2 but number 1. As what I have remembered on the movie, he related himself into the binary numbers and he wanted to be in 0 (which is the 1st in the binary numbers) and the 1 is Woz. I also amazed of his determination, he worked hard to get the results that he wanted. The place of work wherein he assembles computers to the garage is never the hindrance for him to continue the work and to make his dreams as well as the dreams of his friend Woz came true. Steve Jobs is also passionate of doing all of his interest and he never gave up to reach his goals in life even he stop studying. He was very happy of what he was doing though they experienced a lot of failures because he believed that we should learn from our mistakes and failure was never be the odds in making our dream come true.
It is possible to become a multi-billionaire technopreneur someday but it is hard to become like Steve Jobs. Maybe we can be like him but nothing can replaced and forget all of his achievements and all of his contributions in our world industry that made our computer history become very fruitful. The God is really good by having a genius creation like Steve Jobs. I salute also the contribution of Bill Gates and I realized that he deserved to be called the richest man of the word. Aside from being intelligent, Bill Gates is also a good technopreneur that strategize in order to succeed.
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