Win like Steve Jobs

a Tribute by Peter/CXO Wiz4biz, Organizer / Entrepreneur Meetups (compiled from USA Today, SJ Mercury News & Fast Company) 11 Oct 11

Steve Job’s success flowed from his intense focus on making products that were easy & intuitive to use for the average non-technical user. In fact, the latest products are so intuitive, they don’t come with any instructions. However, now you can go to an Apple Store and try the product itself and get advise from an expert.

Products were breakthrough design – creative & daring – stylish, along with advanced technical usefulness – which made them the object of intense desire worldwide.

How to succeed like Steve Job? Know what your Customers want – before they know it. With each new product, Jobs seemed to do this better. His later products are all run-away best sellers – iMac, iPod, iTunes, iPhone, iPad. He always strove to create a delightful, easy-to-use product that was cool-looking & stylish. Jobs was the most influential innovator of our time – who brought us the original PC with GUI & mouse and into the Mobile Computer age with iPhone & iPad. His products were more expensive than comparable products, but users felt they had the functionality to make it worth it.

History: Jobs co-founded Apple with Steve Wozniak (as the technical genus) and built it up for 10 years. He was ousted by the CEO he brought in to run operations. After this, Jobs ran two other highly successful companies – Next (high-end computers) & Pixar (computer-animated movies) – both of which he sold, before returning to Apple. Apple had been going downhill for 12 years when Jobs came back and resurrected it from self-destruction and made it the industry leader with innovative products. In fact, Apple – at one time – had a valuation 2nd only to Exxon Oil Co.

It isn’t education that gave Jobs his background. Both Jobs & Wozniak dropped out of college, to follow their original dream – bringing a Personal Computer to the Techies. They learned everything from hands-on experience.

When he found out he had Cancer, Jobs said: “Our time is limited. Don’t waste it living someone else’s idea of you. Find your passion and follow your dream to fulfillment”. 1955-2011

How does Apple stay sweet? Apple’s more than a brand, it’s a way of life. Users are a proud lot and extremely loyal. Apple must continue to give them functionality – they cant live without or get anywhere’s else (ie, phone, text, schedule, maps, nav, camera, video, books + wide range of apps in one device) Job’s impact can be compared to Henry Ford, Walt Disney, Thomas Edison or Bill Gates.

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