TECHNOPRENUER: Assignment 1 (Due: July 16, 2010, before 01:00pm)

After watching the movie "Pirates of the Silicon Valley", 1. What are the factors that contributed to the success and failure of Steve Jobs as a technopreneur? 2. How do you see yourself as a technopreneur? 3. Would you take the same career path that Steve Jobs took? Why or why not? note: at least 1000 words for every question..... 1. What are the factors that contributed to the success and failure of Steve Jobs as a technopreneur? “I want to put a dent in the universe,” Jobs once said. From a business that had a garage as a headquarters to one of the largest establishment in the world. Leading the world in technological advancement and innovations. What did it take for him to get to the top? Steve had faith. He didn’t always know what he was doing in life. A college dropout who likes inventing and developing a machine called a computer, many gave up on him and had little faith in his abilities. But, Jobs didn’t give up on himself. He continued pursuing avenues that he found interesting, trusting that in the end it would be more meaningful and even perhaps useful. He soon learned that everything in his life, even the most terrible things, seem to happen for a reason and he is now able to place a certain amount of trust in the uncontrollable. Steve had passion. “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work,” says Jobs. From his first days working at his father’s workbench, Jobs knew that his future lay in the creation of things. It wasn’t until he met Wozniak in 1968 that he knew what those things were – personal computers. Despite failures such as Apple III and being fired from the company he helped found, Jobs managed to come back out on top because he knew that he didn’t want to devote his life to anything but his passion. Steve thought of innovation. When other CEOs were focusing on sales and financing, Jobs was concerning himself with the next big thing. Personally meeting with suppliers and suppliers’ suppliers, Jobs made it his top priority to keep on top of the next frontier. By filling his company with only the brightest of people, Jobs continues to work towards ensuring Apple a place at the top of the market for years to come. And so it did. Steve had a good vision. An open mind and the ability to put new twists on old techniques was one of the key distinguishing factors between Jobs and his competitors. From cute and utilitarian ads to those that appealed to counterculture rebellion, Jobs’ vision was integrated into every aspect of the company’s strategy. If you dreamed of changing the world, then Jobs was out to prove any way he could that you needed an Apple computer to do it. His motivation and passion for what he’s doing made it all possible. From being thought of as a one-hit wonder for his role in founding Apple Computer in the 1970s to rebounding with Pixar and once again rejuvenating Apple, Jobs has time and time again demonstrated resilience in the face of adversity. And, he shows no signs of stepping down any time soon. “I think we’re having fun. I think our customers really like our products. And we’re always trying to do better.” That was the factors that led him to his success, now these are the factors that contributed to his failures. First is a very common case that when victory is tasted you start to think that you’re some kind of an invulnerable thing that can never be hurt of broken. In steve’s case after his success he aimed to be ahead of everyone by enslaving his workers to work for 90 hours a week. And by out smarting everyone else if necessary just to have what it is that he wanted. Also thinking that he was invulnerable because of all that he has earned he started lower his guard against opportunists like bill gates who instantly took the opportunity that came his way and stole apples information for the development of windows. He also developed a habit of lowering other peoples self-esteem by telling them their not good enough to be in apple. The next factor is that growing up with the knowledge that he was adopted and not knowing who his real parents were he somehow didn’t want the child that her girlfriend claimed to be he’s, but somehow deep inside knew that the child was he’s. the next is that because of his new idea he formed a new team inside his company called Mac and made it compete with the old team who’s working on AppleII. That competition led to fighting and internal feud in his company, but what’s surprising is that Steve never seemed to care what was happening to his employees. Because of that he lost his one true friend Steve Wozniak. And all of those led to him being fired from apple. But in the end he was rehired and got everything back. So in the end all was well for Steve Jobs. Reference:http://www.evancarmichael.com/Famous-Entrepreneurs/568/Chipping-His-Way-To-The-Top-Jobs-Success-Factors.html 2. How do you see yourself as a technopreneur? Me as a technopreneur. Well I am into doing business but not today or not yet any way. I would like to finish my tertiary education before planning or entering such environment. But when the time comes I think I would become not as amazing as Steve Jobs and Bill Gates but good enough to compete with the existing enterprises. Because I am packed with the new world knowledge I am well updated with the new world technology. Here are some characteristics that I think a technoprenuer should have or atleast try to develop….. Open-minded – a technopreneur should know what ideas are good and what not. Also he should know that a good idea can always be improved. Everything is not at its final. So he should always be open for any changes. He should be open for new ideas that some might even be in contrast to him. He should know that he may be the boss but it doesn’t mean that he has the best ideas so he should always consider someone else’s ideas before making any final decision. Smart – a technoprenuer should know what is good from bad. And that not all bad ideas should be rejected some can also be altered to be a good one. He should be smart enough not to get scammed. He should be smart enough to make the right decisions as often as possible for the sake of the company. Good communication skills – a technopreneur should have good communication skills. Clients sometimes don’t know what they want or if they really need what your offering them so a technopreneur should be able to explain everything in a manner that makes clients interested and purchase whatever it is that you are offering. It is always a technopreneurs aim to invite more clients to have more income and good communication skills will help the achieve it. Determination - a technopremeur can never be successful if he is not determined on what he is doing. It is in his determination where his success lies. If he is not determind on what he is doing he would easily give up when facing an obstacle that he has to pass. And it is determination that keeps you going on when the going gets tough. Knows how to handle failures – it not always a win in business so a technopreneur should know how to handle failures. Some people gives up after their first failure but remember that even the most successful people have experienced failure at least once in their life. What you should do is look back where you made the mistake and learn from it so as not to happen again. Remember that failures are there for us to learn and there’s no better teacher that experience. Knows how to handle stress – being a technopreneur you are subjected to work work work and more work so it is expected that you can handle the pressure and stress that comes with it. Some businessmen take a vacation every once in awhile to relieve stress and to get the mind off the work. This will keep you sane while having a career that’s driving you insane. Willing to take risk – the most important aspect that a technopreneur should have is the willingness to take risks. It is in risk taking that the greatest success will come from so if you wanted to succeed then be prepared to take a lot of risk. Some risk might even put the whole company in a dangerous situation. But the success that comes along after it is always worth it. Well those are the characteristics that a technopreneur I think should have. And luckily for me, I happen to have the ability to adjust to what is necessary. So being a technopreneur for me will not be easy but it won’t be something impossible. That is why I see myself having a large successful business placed in the cutting edge of the industry being envied by those who were unable to be where I am. 3. Would you take the same career path that Steve Jobs took? Why or why not? Yes. The career he took was a career that has the ability to not only help the improvements of the world but also it can change the worldl. Being a n amazing technopreneur is an amazing career to take. Let me cite reasons why. First is leading the world of innovation and technological advancement is IT’s first and primary goal. IT is not just a path that lands you to a career that places you behind a table with a computer. It has different paths that lead to different career like a computer programmer, a software developer, a database manager, a data security expert and even a businessman who does business in a technological manner. Just as what Steve Jobs did. He was a Harvard student who traded his education for a chance to invent something that is way ahead of everyone in terms of innovation. He created a computer for everyone that now is a must have gadget at every home. Second is almost every house hold nowadays has a computer if not has something that is related to the technology. So developing and improving these existing technologies and then putting into a business is not a bad idea. In fact it is a great idea. It could be a chance to be in the cutting edge of technological advancement. And it does not require a large amount of money only a working mind, a good idea and most importantly motivation to do all that it takes to succeed. Third is well this is a business inclined career so income will definitely be in terms of large amounts. If in luck you are successful then you will surely become a millionaire. Fourth and most importantly is entering the world of business you are providing innovations, improvements and other stuffs to the community. Thus when success comes your way you will have to extend your company when it gets larger, this will require you to hire more people to work for you and that will lead to the decrease of unemployment rate to your local location. And further success and extensions if ever you get really lucky you might even want to place branches in the different parts of the Philippines. So now you’re not only helping your self but also your country and country men who doesn’t have a work. You provide work, salary and you are close to your family. You no longer need to go out of the country just to earn a large amount of money. Those are the reasons that I have thought of why I want to take the same career path as Steve jobs. Some professionals have a problem of which path to take, weather to go to a career building job or to a high earning one. Well be a technopreneur and have both good career that you can boast to everyone while earning as much as millions if you get lucky and succeed. And most of the successful persons are the businessmen who knows how to take risks just to be on top of everyone. hope this is enough........................ done..............