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trevor99 | 14 years ago | on: Why Founders Should Emulate Wozniak, Not Jobs

Thanks pg.

My intent was not to bash Jobs, quite the opposite as I called him "one of the best CEOs ever to live" in the conclusion.

My goal is to reflect on what skills are really important in an early startup. The Apple II wasn't a success because of Jobs's leadership or because of his design focus like with the iPhone. Founders don't think about Markkula's role in getting the Apple II mainstream. Furthermore, Jobs had to fail over and over, wasting millions of dollars, before he tamed his bad habits and realized what would work. Then again, I only know what I'm talking about from reading Isaacson's biography and doing my own research. Thought this would make an interesting discussion.

trevor99 | 14 years ago | on: Why Founders Should Emulate Wozniak, Not Jobs

Your stretching pretty far here. "Vision" was what led Steve Jobs wrong for 20 years of his life. Markkula knew the industry and knew what would work, Wozniak had the best engineering ability of anyone. This was the magic combination and what founders should try to emulate.

It's not just scale either. Jobs was also famous and perceived as successful. He could be a complete asshole to people and they would still work with him. You should try that in your next startup...

trevor99 | 14 years ago | on: Why Founders Should Emulate Wozniak, Not Jobs

You're right that they both needed each other. You're wrong that Jobs was best at building a company. Markkula and Scott built the company. But I agree Apple would have failed without Jobs.

trevor99 | 14 years ago | on: Why Founders Should Emulate Wozniak, Not Jobs

He was not a visionary entrepreneur, that's the whole point. His vision led him to create product flops for 20 years. Markkula on the other hand got it correct with the Apple II from having the right industry knowledge.

trevor99 | 14 years ago | on: Why Founders Should Emulate Wozniak, Not Jobs

First statement is completely up for debate. Jobs did continue without Wozniak and he failed every product in the next 18 years and spent millions of dollars. Not something founders here can emulate.

trevor99 | 14 years ago | on: Why Founders Should Emulate Wozniak, Not Jobs

You're right it did take a lot of convincing and hustling. It didn't take product vision from Jobs to make the Apple II a success however. Look at all the products Jobs tried to produce through his "vision," they all failed until the iPod.

trevor99 | 14 years ago | on: Why Founders Should Emulate Wozniak, Not Jobs

I noted that Jobs's hustling was important. His product vision, design aesthetic, and RDF were not, which is where most founders go wrong.

Not sure you read the book carefully--many investors laughed in Jobs's face not because it was a bad idea, but because he had BO and they couldn't stand him.

Also--Steve was lucky to be Wozniak's best friend, whom most talented engineers came to Apple because of. Mike Scott (the CEO of Apple since it launched the Apple II) is the person who built the team, not Jobs.

trevor99 | 14 years ago | on: Why Founders Should Emulate Wozniak, Not Jobs

"Founders today will not have the opportunity to learn the lessons Jobs did because they don’t have the resources and klout that Jobs had."

Jobs was a millionaire when he failed a bunch of times and lost all his money. Are you a millionaire?

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