Success in Careers

Case Study: How Steve Jobs Became Successful With Apple

In 2007, Steve Jobs was named Fortune Magazine’s Most Powerful Businessman of the year and was inducted into the California Hall of Fame by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. These awards are testaments to Jobs’ colorful success story.

Born in San Francisco, California, Jobs was adopted by Justin and Clara Jobs of Santa Clara County. In his high school years, he frequently attended Hewlett-Packard’s after-school lectures. He was later on hired by the company, where he first met and worked with Steve Wozniak.

Though he went to college at Reed University, Jobs dropped out after only one semester. However, he continued to sit-in on classes that he found interesting, like calligraphy, which later on became essential in conceptualizing Macintosh computers. Jobs survived by returning Coke bottles and using the money for food, and by walking 7 miles weekly to the Hare Krishna temple for a good meal.

Jobs also worked as a technician for video game manufacturer Atari.

In the late 1970s, Jobs worked with Wozniak in his parents’ garage and developed personal computers. This paved the way for the creation of Apple, Inc., of which Wozniak was co-founder. They developed Apple into a company worth $2 billion.

Years later, Jobs was relieved of Apple’s mantle of leadership. Leaving Apple, according to Jobs, was the turning point of his life because he was able to start over by creating a company called NeXT and also the animation giant, Pixar. When Apple bought NeXT, Jobs returned to the company he created and catapulted it to greater heights. He is currently CEO of Apple, Inc.

Apple’s most popular products include the iPod, iTunes, the iPhone, and the MacBook Air. At present, Apple is worth around $108 billion.

Jobs’ recipe for success is simple: trust in something and don’t waste your life by living in someone else’s.