The late Apple founder Steve Paul Jobs was an American entrepreneur and business magnate best known for his innovative ventures of the Apple Inc., the NeXT computer, Pixar, and Disney. From learning electronics tinkering from his father to becoming a leader of the world’s technology empire; the life of Steve Jobs is an incredible example of success and inspiration. Here’s is a brief of his journey:
Early Stage
(How he started?)
From 1955 – 1973
- Born on February 24, 1955 in San Francisco, CA
- Biological parents – Abdulfattah Jandali and Joanne Schieble
- Adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs
- Learned to read as a toddler from mother
- Learned electronic tinkering from father
- Played pranks at school
- At age 13 – got a summer job at Hewlett-Packard
- Met Steve Wozniak and became best friends
- Went to Reed college, dropped out soon
The journey that took him to build business empires
(From the search for ‘enlightenment’ to the idea of ‘beating large companies’)
From 1973 – 1975
- 1973 – started working as technician at Atari, Inc.
- 1974 – visited India for spiritual enlightenment
- Returned to US after 7 months
- Practiced Zen Buddhism
- Got back to old job at Atari, Inc.
- Sale of Wozniak’s illegal “Blue Boxes” went well
- Struck with idea “take on large companies”
- 1975 – went to the Homebrew Computer Club with Woz
Apple Inc. – The rise and resignation
(Innovations, inventions, and achievements)
- 1976 – founded Apple Inc. with Wozniak and Ronald Wayne
- 1977 – introduced Apple II at the West Coast Computer Faire
- 1978 – birth of daughter Lisa Brennan
- Denies paternity
- Created Apple Lisa – a computer after daughter’s name
- At age 25 – net worth $100 m
- Listed in Forbes as one of the youngest richest people
- 1978 – recruited Mike Scott as CEO
- 1980 – l.aunched Apple III, discontinued in 1984
- 1983 – hired John Sculley as Apple’s CEO
- Fired from Apple by the CEO (Sculley) he hired
| “Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith.” |
New business ventures and return to Apple
(NeXT computer, Pixar, & Disney)
- 1985 – founded NeXT Inc. with $7 million
- Got huge investment from billionaire Ross Perot
- Struggled to find the right market for NeXT computer
- 1986 – funded Pixar, sold it to Disney
- 1997 – Sold NeXT to Apple Inc. for $427 million
- Became the CEO of Apple
- Introduced iMac, iPod, iTunes Store, & iPhone
Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2003
Resisted medical intervention for nine months
August 24, 2011 – resigned
Worked until the last day
Died at the age of 56 – October 5, 2011
Steve Paul Jobs is the man who revolutionized the entire tech industry. Even the time he failed harder, he taught us not to stop trying.
Some of the awe-inspiring quotes of Steve Jobs:
- “If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.”
- “Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people.”
- “Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me. Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful, that’s what matters to me.”
- “I want to put a ding in the universe.”