Reading Reflection No. 3

You read about an entrepreneur:

I enjoyed reading this book about Steve Jobs. He’s arguably among the most notable entrepreneurs of our time, and some would argue in history overall. He is the co-founder of Apple Co., a technology company that produces electronics, software, and online services. The company also revolutionized technology and has a cult-like following for its product.

What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited?

I think Steve Jobs exhibited a lot of the core competencies that are seen in many of the great entrepreneurs. He had a very strong vision and passion for what he wanted to achieve with Apple, which gave him the ability to stay determined and have the grit required to succeed. He was also able to take risks when necessary and had a way of pushing his team to the limits.

Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you. 

The part of the book that confused me is when Jobs refused to give his early employees shares of Apple stock. I would think that this would be a good way to really make them stakeholders in the company and get better productivity from them. Even Apple’s co-founder, Steve Wozniak, disagreed with this decision and later gave some of the employee's shares of the company stock.

If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

1) If you could go back and do one thing differently, what would that be and why?

2) Would you agree with the way the company is being run now? If yes, why? If no, what about it is wrong?

I would ask these questions because I think they would make him think of what he did or what he could’ve done and given some insightful answers about the decisions he made.

For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

I think that Steve Jobs's opinion of hard work is that it is completely necessary, and I doubt he would think anyone would get very far without it. I would agree with this sentiment as well. I think that hard work is absolutely necessary for success. I do however think that “hard work” is going to look different for everyone. I don’t believe that the traditional idea of working long hours and doing all of the “heavy liftings” yourself is the only way to work hard. I think depending on your situation and what you want to achieve, there are many other ways to “work hard”.