Commencement Exercise of Steve Jobs

“The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet keep looking.”

One of the most notable lines that Steve Jobs said in his commencement address. He is a noble person. Indeed, he is an icon. A role model not only in his generation but until today and for the next years.

He classified his address in three stories. The first one is about connecting the dots. In this part of his story, he showed how he was able to give a break in his career because of dropping out from his classes. The second one is about love and loss. It regards about searching on what you love to do. His story in connection with starting a company which became very successful and being fired from it best describes love and loss. He found what he loves and is able to create great things out of it and afterwards losses everything. However, Jobs is just a kind of person who is brave enough and just simply amazing. I was amazed on how he strives and survive. Being fired doesn’t continually bring him down instead it somehow serves as one of the reason of rising up. The last story talks about death. He emphasizes in here his personal experience with which he was most likely to die. As he said “This was the closest I’ve been to facing death”.

Generally, I can say that Steve Jobs is a real technopreneur. He possesses the quality of being a good one. I observed that he is knowledgeable on seeing opportunity in every crisis that came into his life. He is able to extend his patience in every downfall. Being innovative helps him a lot to pursue his achievements. Also, I assume that he is emotionally and intellectually balance because despite of the struggles, he can make a new way out of this dark period in his life. These are jobs characteristics that should serve as a model to all of us most especially to those who are aspiring to be a successful technopreneur in the near future. We should seek for what we love. Learn to value every second of our time and be courageous enough to go after what you really want to do. Do not let trials pull you down. In our l\journey towards life struggles are already part of it. As a saying goes . . .

“A smooth see cannot make a good sailor”    

my purpose in life

My purpose in life is to live. Not just by simply living but to live in a healthy and satisfying life with spiritual, intellectual and emotional balance. I live to study. I study be an entrepreneur/technopreneur someday. I believe that i am here in this world to love and be loved. Furthermore, I live to serve God and seek his kingdom. I do believe within myself that one of my greatest purpose is to find the path that God has chosen for me.    Those are my purpose as of today however I affirm that I have so many goals in life but I still have to go through life's process of discovering those goals.

Assignment no. 2

Personality traits

Personality traits describe or identify one’s characteristics that made up himself as a person. It is a unique set of characteristics and/or qualities that one possesses. It is unique because each and every one of us has different personality that makes us as an individual. So with an entrepreneur, one should also hold certain personality in order for him to attain the height of success which I think the major goal of a businessperson.

So, how can one be a good entrepreneur? What are the traits that he/she should possess?

In order to be a successful entrepreneur one must have the following personality: sensible outlook towards his/her career, self-confidence, a computed risk-taker and should be emotionally stable. To understand further, every trait is enumerated as follows:

Sensible outlook towards his/her career. In doing things it is necessary to know its status. An entrepreneur is the one who envision life as full of opportunities even in the midst of crisis. In every predicament there is an opening to a new beginning. He looks at himself being in the peak of success yet he is also realistic.

Self-confidence. Believing in your own self and capability helps a lot to be an excellent entrepreneur. As long as he is in control with himself, he is persistent on attaining success in his quest. If one fails to control himself there will be a great possibility that he will lost his interest in his responsibility in developing his business. In the world of business where competition is irrevocable, an entrepreneur must have the confidence on exploring things. He should not limit himself. Discover new things, be innovative and be confident on exposing what you have created.

Computed risk-taker. One of the most important personality of an entrepreneur. When running a business, risks must be taken every day. However, the challenging part in here is making a decision on what risk you are going to take. Such risk includes leaving a comfortable life. It is essential to take this first pace and also it is one of the most hard to make. But there is no such thing as impossible if and only if one believes in himself and on what he can do on different situation.

Emotionally stable. It is also vital to be emotionally stable as one cannot work well if he is not in a good disposition. It is necessary for a reason that, if a person is lack of emotional stability he cannot coordinate well nor manage his undertakings. He cannot assure by himself to attain his goal as an entrepreneur. If he himself is already destructed how can he handle the complications in his career? Thus, on handling any type of business there is a need for the owner to be emotionally upright.

In addition to the specified personality traits above, Bill Bither also cited some of the personality trait that makes up an entrepreneur on his blog. He is the president and founder of Atalasoft, Inc., a software company that provides document and photographic imaging technology to companies worldwide. These personalities he had specified are the desire to build a better mousetrap, supportive family and friends, motivated to a point of being obsessive, jack of all trades master of none.

According to him the desire to build a better mousetrap is the most obvious of all traits. He also mentioned that “the desire to improve a process, a product, or revolutionize an industry is usually what gets us excited about the idea in the first place. That doesn't mean you have to have an idea to be an entrepreneur, but you must have the desire to discover that idea.” Bither elaborated. On the other hand, for him establishing a company can really take an emotional tool on you and your family and consume nearly all your time and thus he said that probably it’s best to start a business first before a spouse and kids, however don’t let that stop you. For the other trait which is motivated to a point of being obsessive, he emphasizes here that motivation is the main element for a person to be a successful entrepreneur. What it takes to be a good businessman is that one should be motivated and obsessive about a difficult goal and making sure that you preoccupy the right thing. The last thing he stated is being a jack of all trades master of none. With this, he explained that one must have a little knowledge of everything and should be good at it. It does not necessitate for you to be a master of everything because for him if one specializes only on a certain thing, then building and/or managing a business might not be for that person. For this trait he cited his own experience as an example. He detailed his story as follows:

“In my case, I'm a jack of all trades. I can design software, write software in a few languages, I'm pretty good in math, can get by in differential calculus even though it took a lot of work. I'm a pretty good engineer, a decent businessperson, I can get away with speaking and presenting, and I'm a fairly effective at writing. I'm not a master of any of these things, but each of these abilities is crucial when running a company. If you need a master at something, you can eventually hire that person. I do my best to hire people that are smarter than me.”

I personally agree with this idea of him. It is true that an effective entrepreneur must have awareness and understanding of every little thing that surrounds him. He must be versatile on doing things for him to be able stand on his feet and survive in the industry where he is in. This entrepreneurial personality trait is very beneficial because it helps them to “go with the flow”. Even though all business owners have what they call ‘business plan’, they cannot assure that things will happen exactly according to what they expected or what they have planned. Being adaptable will give them an edge to prevail over different issues and/or problems that come into their way and often challenge them. In business you will never know if your competitors will come out with something new, something better that may make your creation outdated. That is why it is necessary that an entrepreneur must possess this character trait or personality trait. Most of the time being versatile and creative goes hand in hand.

The above mentioned are the personality traits of an entrepreneur. This will help to ensure that anybody who desired to engage in entrepreneurship will achieve the height of success in whatever business venture he would like to prefer. In relation with this, our facilitator gave us an examination it is called the personality traits test. It is conducted in order for us to be aware of our capability or shall I say our competence of being an entrepreneur. As I took the exam, I am not that confident with the result knowing myself who is not that business oriented person. However after getting the score I am happy and contented with what I’ve got. It is not that low yet not too high. The analysis of my score shows that I am SOMEWHAT ENTREPRENEUR. As a sort of self assessment somehow I can be a good and successful businesswoman someday and hopefully with strong sense of courage, motivation and hard work I can be a business tycoon in the near future just like Lucio Tan and the Lopez’s in today’s generation.

I have encountered various examinations with regards to this topic particularly talking about being an entrepreneur and as I have noticed the outcomes are almost just the same. At present I can hardly say that I am a good entrepreneur nor I will be a successful one but I can bravely say that I can be one and it is not possible for me to be such sooner or later. Considering my capabilities nowadays it is quite hard to say a thing that is impractical. But even though I am not yet competent to be an entrepreneur I can exert much effort and work hard to conquer these things. If ever there will be an opportunity I will no longer just sit beside and watch over, not anymore. This time I am more conscious pertaining to this matter. I have wasted enough opportunities, right at this moment I will do my part. I’ll get back what I have just thrown way back how many years ago. I could still remember when one of the speakers in the seminars that I once attended said that “Now is the time for you to start your own business. Do not be contented of being just a worker, be a business. Take control of your own path. Enter the world of business. Not tomorrow nor the next month but TODAY!” Joining entrepreneurial activities without thinking of the possible benefits that I could get from it and knowing some of the business strategies and techniques from the people who already have proven their skills are just few of the learning that I have wasted. I regret those times when opportunity already came in me yet I have just taken it for granted. I should have started motivating myself in engaging this kind of activity a few years ago. This could be very valuable not only for today but also for the future. Then again it is not too late yet. I still have enough time to start over again and regret no more, for now is the new beginning. It is not just a coincidence that this subject Technopreneurship is part of the curriculum. I believe and I strongly do that I am meant to be engage in business. All I need is to gain more knowledge from my facilitators, learn from my experiences, enhance my capabilities and most importantly have the courage to take the responsibilities ahead.

Thus, taking into a consideration of the result that I obtain it is not quite ambitious for me to consider myself as a future businesswoman. In a way I possess some of the personality traits that an entrepreneur or a technopreneur must have. In the field of Technopreneurship, it is just a matter of knowing myself better to identify what are those things that I am capable of doing. Distinguishing my strength and weakness and/or limitations and be able to make it to the point of changing these poor attitude for the better. Next is setting up my goal towards my career for me to be guided on the path that I will take and finally being determined to reach this goal.

In general, it is absolutely important to know one’s personality traits as it directs you into your purpose. It is vital for a reason that if one is not aware of his traits he will not also be able to identify on where his competence really fits. I can say that this step I am taking right now is just a starting ground towards achieving my own goal. On the other hand, I suppose that having this kind of activity I’m referring to the examination that our facilitator had given us will help each and every one of us to be more aware or familiar with the factors and/or any other things relating to Technopreneurship. This is just the beginning; there must be more exams or test and even actual activities that we will be encountering as we go along towards our discussion in this subject. Being on the starting point of this step by step process, it will gradually open our interest into business matters. With continual motivation in this subject sooner than later we will be fully equipped with knowledge and with further training every student in this campus taking up this course will be very much prepared in making our way towards our journey in entering the real world of business.


Reference:
http://www.learnmyself.com/personality.asp?p=Quick_Test&i=COPE&sh=y

Assignment no. 1

   1. What are the factors that contributed to the success and failure of Steve Jobs as a technopreneur?

Success has nothing to do with prestige symbols, but with creative accomplishment. As stated by Maxwell Maltz in his book “A new way to get more living out of life.”


“Rightly speaking no man should attempt to be "a success," but every man can and should attempt to be "successful." Trying to be "a success" in terms of acquiring prestige symbols and wearing certain badges leads to neuroticism, and frustration and unhappiness. Striving to be "successful" brings not only material success, but satisfaction, fulfillment and happiness.”



What are the factors that contribute to the success and failure of Steve Jobs as a technopreneur in the film Pirates of the Silicon Valley? Before anything I will give a short elaboration or a plot of the said movie.

It talks about the making of the first personal computer as well as the other creations of the companies Apple and Microsoft. It is also being shown in here the ambiguous origins of the said companies and their public battle for corporate supremacy. The succeeding development of the IBM-PC through the help of Bill Gates, the then unknown CEO of the Microsoft and the development of the Apple company is also being specified in the film.

Steve Jobs (played by Noah Wyle) is the leading character in the movie. He who started the company named Apple, created first computer named Lisa and a machine called Macintosh succeeded and afterwards failed in his chosen career. It is made possible to Steve Jobs with the help of his friend Steve Wozniak. It started when the two Steve’s put up a business in a garage but unfortunately did not succeeded as their competitor which known to be the IBM produce new PC’s. Then it was followed by their new creation the Lisa a computer with a modern graphical user interface which later happens to be another failure. However, there came a great break in their career as they worked on a new machine which they called the Macintosh. . During the time of reorganization of the Apple Company, the division called the SuperMicro was being formed by the merged teams of the Macintosh and Lisa. It is said that they borrowed the key concept of their creation from a Xerox computer laboratory. It leads Steve Jobs and the company into the height of its line of business. Unluckily, Steve Jobs’ unwanted character pulls him down as he loses a bitter battle over the control with the Apple’s CEO John Sculley.

It can be said that Steve Jobs is one of the most successful technopreneur of his generation. The story of how he succeeded is very well-known to everybody especially to those people whose business is in line with computers. He’s enthusiasm and love in his work enables him to achieve what he had attained. Jobs once said in the movie:

 “The only way to do great work is to love what you do,” and “If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.” Loving what you do is one of the key that Steve Jobs used.

- http://www.bukisa.com

His will towards his works was incredibly amazing.  He is far more dedicated in his work with regards to computers rather than making money out of it. Everything that Jobs has ever done in his career has suggested that he loves great products more than market share. Another factor which contributed a lot to his triumph is being innovative. He is able to conceive new things out of what he had observed in his environment. He’s passion in discovering new gadget directs him to the midst of success in his preferred career. It is also an edge for him to have a friend like Steve Wozniak considering that this friend of him is blessed with knowledge when it comes to computers. Steve Jobs being a sharp-eyed person seized an opportunity after seeing Wozniak’s computer works. One more thing is that being an optimistic person, it plays a great part for him to dig up victory in business competition.

Unfortunately his fate is not as good to him because his property and everything he invested had vanished with just a blink of an eye. What’s worse in this is that he was being fired by someone whom he employed in his own company. All of these are merely because of his repulsive attitude. One this is being mischievous. Steve Jobs made things much more badly during the time of their first meeting of the new division which is mentioned earlier by making an announcement that the Lisa team “really fucked up”. Another aspect that gives way to his downfall is being too self-centered which came to a point that he roughly ignored the work of his team. He had straight away alienated few of the best assets on the company, those talented engineers, brilliant programmers and artistic designers. He also had stunned members of his own team. Every output of each of his employee seemed to be very dreadful for him. This manner of Jobs that is being a perfectionist and tactlessness rule over him throughout his leadership in the company that is why he did not able to keep his position. By that time John Sculley, who had been the CEO for almost a year permitted him to stay for the reason that Jobs is still the chairman and has possess the largest share. Moreover, he is a kind of person who simply gives his trust to anybody that surrounds him which causes him to fail. He directly invests his reliance to a business partner without further investigation just like what happened when Bill Gates offers to be his business associate.

To summarize it all, Steve Jobs’ technopreneurial skills brings him to the peak of success. It enables him to make a history in the field of modern technology. When it comes into the world of computers I can really say that Steve Jobs is an icon, he is legendary in his accomplishment. However, the vile attitude of Jobs pulls him down and worse, he who starts building the company with his knowledge and skills later on become only an employee and being fired at the end.



2. How do you see yourself as a technopreneur?

Technopreneurship, a thought that directly comes into my mind when I heard this word is having a business with the use of technology and a technopreneur is the one or a person who is involved in it. In order to make things clear let us define technopreneurship.

“Technopreneurship is not a product but a process of synthesis in engineering the future of a person, an organization, a nation and the world. A technoprenuer is an entrepreneur who is technology savvy, creative, innovative, dynamic, dares to be different and take the unexplored path, and very passionate about their work. They take challenges and strive to lead their life with greater success. They don't fear to fail. They take failure as a learning experience, a stimulator to look things differently and stride for next challenge. Technoprenuers continuously go through an organic process of continual improvement and always try to redefine the dynamic digital economy.”

            @ http://technopreneurship.wordpress.com


Before, I did not consider my self as a technopreneur not even an entrepreneur in any ways. It is because when I once attended a seminar about entrepreneurship one of the speakers there said that in order to become a successful entrepreneur you have to be a risk taker and I cannot regard myself as one. I have many fears in many things that surround me. Just as I have thought that if I will engage myself in business I will fail. Every time I think of myself entering the world of business there will always emerged so many questions in my mind. How would I start? What if I will not succeed what will happen to my investments? What if I can’t follow the latest trend? These are only few of all the questions I have formulated in mind when talking about entrepreneurship. I really don’t have the guts of being a business woman considering that I have already many experiences about this, I have attended seminars in our school or even in national seminars with some of the successful business personalities in our country as the speakers. To site some examples are Mr. Rey Gapus the owner of R.A. Review Center which has a number of branches all over the Philippines and the owner or the manufacturer of the Kettle Corn but suddenly I forgot who was that person. I formerly became a president in one of our organization way back high school. This club deals with entrepreneurship. It serves as a starting ground for those students who wanted to be a businessman or woman in the near future. We are even being exposed to actual entrepreneurial activities. But then again I have already graduated yet I was not fully convinced to be one. It is such that I don’t think I have enough knowledge, skills and ability to run certain business.


As I watched the movie Pirates of the Silicon Valley which talks about the two people making their names as a successful technopreneur in their generation. The character of Steve Jobs inspires me and made me think if I will be like him someday. Not like him as a failure but Steve Jobs as a successful technopreneur. I admire him because of his love and determination in his works and on how he uses his knowledge to develop something, something that makes a great impact in our modern technology.


 I was not that completely motivated and I’ve never been interested in entrepreneurship not until this subject TECHNOPRENERSHIP is being introduced to me. During the first meeting of this class I feel like being stuck up again in a situation where I have been during my years in high school but then as our facilitator discusses about Technopreneurship the involvement of technology in entrepreneurship I feel like being enlightened. I thought I can’t find myself in this field but what I thought was wrong. Everything changes and one thing did change for me; that is my vision about myself in a business. Realization came into my mind that I can be a technopreneur someday. Just like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates I will make my own way of building a business not only a simple one but a kind of industry that will be remarkable to anybody.



Even if as of now I still don’t have enough knowledge and skills but I know within me that I have the potential. I believe that it is a step by step process and I still have lot things to learn and discover. As we have discussed in our lesson to be a good technopreneur one should possess the following characteristics willing to listen, sets-own standards, hard-working, risk-taker, goal-oriented, self consistent , profit-oriented and persistent. A technopreneur is the one who listens and is aware to the comings and goings in his environment; he is wise enough to set his own principles and will not just depend on the others he must learn to stand on his own. He must be diligent enough because he who sets up his own business will be the one who will work for it. Being a risk taker is also one of the most important factors to be learned but he must not just be a risk taker it is important to note that he must be a “computed risk-taker” as what our facilitator explained which is awfully right. It is also essential that you are aware of your goal which is to succeed. Remember that in this world where competition is everywhere there is no place for second, always aim for the best. Finally, a real technopreneur is the one who sees that in every crisis there is an opportunity.


At present, I can see myself as the next Steve Jobs of Apple, Bill Gates of Microsoft, Sergey Brin and Larry Page of Google and all other technopreneur who make their owns names in the world of business.

With a strong sense of determination and a continual encouragement I am certain that I can and I will be a good technopreneur someday.




3. Would you take the same career path that Steve Jobs took? Why or why not?

A kind of career that Steve Jobs took is not as simple as we think. Taking into a consideration that he has the knowledge, skills and the ability to become successful in a line of business where he is in. He is wise enough to choose a certain kind of profession. To understand it further we must first answer this question: what kind of career path did Steve Jobs took?

Steve Jobs chooses to be a technopreneur. With great determination and better vision for the future he started his own company together with his friend Steve Wozniak in his garage. The combination of their abilities Jobs’ obsession to computers and Wozniak’s engineering creates a revolutionizing force in the world of computers.They started with a successive failure but later on, with a positive outlook they continue to pursue their goal and finally became the CEO of Apple computers and CEO and Chairman of Pixar in which the product of these company. He was only 21 years old when he established the company. Jobs turned out to be a leader and an innovator in the global computer, electronics and software industry.

If I were to be asked either to take the same career path that Steve Jobs took or not, I think I would say somehow yes. In one way or another and taking into a consideration the path I have chosen I am already taking the path as what Steve Jobs took.  I can compare myself to him on his insight about technopreneurship. He has a positive view about his business and so do I. It is such that he is already a technopreneur yet I am still a student who is trying to be a good entrepreneur or a technopreneur someday. Just like him I optimistically envision myself managing my own business which is of course in line with the modern technologies. It took him so much time and effort in order to reach the top of success. He is exceptionally strong-minded with his works and he always makes the best out of what he had observed in his environment. Jobs elaborated few lines that are very remarkable for me because these are the lessons or the philosophy he uses to become successful. These are as follows:


“You have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future, 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. The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.”

@ http://www.evancarmichael.com/Famous-Entrepreneurs/568/summary.php

The most notable among those lines is this: “Innovation is the distinction between a leader and a follower.”

I can say that somehow I wanted to take the same path because I also regard my capabilities of doing things. There are still many things that I didn’t know and still have to learn more. Examples of these are how to be a good technopreneur and the characteristics that one should possess to become a successful. I am not that innovative and creative as Steve Jobs which plays an important role form him to reach his triumph. As we all know in today’s knowledge-based economy, in order to survive as a technopreneur one must be knowledgeable and skillful especially when it comes to the modern technology. Nowadays, when talking about business the product of technologies such as computers, internet and other more has become a need. The more you are updated with the latest developments and/or applications, the faster you will obtain success. Technology and business are about to be interconnected with each other. The one who knows how to use technological trends in the right way and he who spots it directly is the one that standout over his rivals in the industry he is in.

However, there is one side in his journey towards his career which I don’t want take in the future. This is when Steve Jobs came to a point of ruining his life and career. He sunk from prosperity because of his attitude that he even forgot how to deal with other people in his surroundings. He became insensitive of his words and actions which I think one of the reasons why it is said that the idea being used in developing the Macintosh was stolen by Bill Gates that he also used in creating windows.

Thus, with this fact I can say that in some ways I would love to choose the same career path with Steve Jobs. However, each and every one of us has different wants and unique passion in life it’s just how we handle it. It depends on us whether to choose between success and failure. Achieving success is not that simple. It requires different things this means struggling different kinds of difficulties and of course surpassing it. We have to manage to visualize our success, planning the road to this achievement is a must. We must go beyond our imagination. Do not just think, reflect on it. Think different. Be able to do things exceptionally. Don’t be afraid to fail make it a motivation to go on with your work. Just like Steve Jobs even though failure strikes him at first still he keep on with his works and look what he become. Now, he is one of the most successful technopreneur in this generation.

We can associate a technopreneur to an entrepreur. An article shows the characteristic that makes up today’s entrepreneur. These are:

Entrepreneurs have passion for what they do in life.

Entrepreneurs express a great amount of enthusiasm in their line of work.

Entrepreneurs are goal-oriented in their quest to reach their desired outcomes.

Entrepreneurs have a creative imagination when it comes to their ideas in business.

Entrepreneurs have a positive attitude when it comes to building their business and business relationships.

Entrepreneurs are very quick decision-makers in their business endeavors and ideas.

From: http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com/460/how-to-become-a-successful-entrepreneur/

We must possess these characteristics in order to attain success. Failure may come into our way but consider this as an encouragement.