SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEUR CASE STUDYSTEVE JOBS OF APPLE INC Introduction Steve Jobs (1955-2011), one of the founders and

CEOs of Apple Inc, is best known for his achievements in the personal computer revolution. He had an incredibly excellent career leading to the fact that he was acclaimed as the master evangelist of the digital age (Jeffrey; William, 2005) or a design perfectionist (JP Mandaligan, 2011). In addition to this, he was also voted as Times 20 most influential Americans of all time (Time, 2012). It is not exaggerated to state that whether you are enthusiastic about Apples products or not, you must admit that Steve Jobs had a powerful influence in the innovation of technological world. Studying about his successes, thus, is essential to enhance our knowledge of entrepreneurship. Successful story It could be not well known but the truth is that Steve Jobs was an adopted child since his biological mothers family protested against his parents relationship (Walter, 2011). Adopted by Paul Reinhold Jobs and Clara Jobs, he fortunately received a careful education, evidenced by the fact that although Paul and Clara were not rich, they made a big effort to support him to enroll at Reed College in Oregon, an expensive college at that time. In 1973, Jobs started his career as a technician at Atari, Inc. where he was assigned to make a circuit board for a video game named Breakout. This in turn led Jobs to cooperate with Wozniak to set up Apple Computer Company, which is one of the powerful brand names in the information and technology industry nowadays. In 1976, Wozniak invented the Apple I computer which was widely sold after that as Jobs recommendation. To develop their own business, Jobs appealed John Sculley to participate in Apple as a CEO. However, this caused a struggle between the pair due to Jobs despair of Sculleys policies. The result was that Jobs was removed by Apples board of directors and he founded NeXT Computer in 1985. It is noted that Jobs bought The Graphic Group from Lucasfilm and renamed it as Pixar in 1986. This was followed by the release of Toy Story, the first film in which Jobs was the executive producer. This film suddenly rose to the fame since it received critical applause from critics and audiences. Jobs showed his sound leadership when Pixars following films achieved huge commercial successes in which a number of them received the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature such as Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, WALL-E, etc. In 2006, after the merger of Disney and Pixar, Jobs held approximately 7% of Disneys shares and became the biggest shareholders of this company (Carmine, 2011). One of the remarkable events in Jobs career is the period of time when he returned Apple, of which he was a co-founder. In 1996, Apple successfully purchased NeXT, bringing Jobs back as a chief executive in the year after. This seemly opened a new chapter for Apple when Jobs made a number of reforms to get the profitability of this company back.

Realizing the disadvantages of different companies digital products, especially their imperfection of appearances and qualities, Jobs decided to form an innovation team. Initially, in 2000, he and his team released The Cube, a kind of compact desktop computers without a cooling fan. The iPod, launched in the year after, was the following product which is used to store and playback songs in its hard drive. However, two breathtaking innovations which should be mentioned are MacBook, launched in 2006 and iPhone, launched in 2007. They contained a number of intelligent functions in eye-catching designs causing a new trend in using digital products. The former is a laptop encompassing all the qualities of a desktop whereas the latter is a multitasking high-end fashion phone added a lot of applications such as playing movies, surfing the net, etc. As a result, they immediately got publics attention and the demand was boosted above the forecast. In other words, the release of these digital equipments, especially the iPhone, basically changed the technology industry and defeated all competing products. Hence, Apples operating performance was impressively improved. In Q1 2011, Apple became the biggest mobile vendor in the world, surpassing Nokia and many different rivals (Neil, 2011). Secrets of innovations It could be suggested that the explanation for Apples achievements is non-stop innovations in which Steve Jobs played a vital role. Actually, this businessman dedicated all his passion and enthusiasm to the reputation of this corporation. Implicitly, Jobs was the soul of Apple. We might not deeply analyze the insights of Apples success without studying about Jobs entrepreneurship. This part, hence, sheds light to the secrets of factors leading to Jobs and Apples accomplishments. A visionary CEO Steve Jobs is considered as the greatest entrepreneur of all time, not just because his dedication to Apple but also his distinctive qualities compared to different CEOs in which the first attribute is Jobs long term vision. It is evidenced by the fact that he accurately forecasted the demand of customers and thought out of boxes. From his perspective, in a modern society, the phone is not only used for communication but it also signals our lifestyles (Walter, 2011). Overcoming the drawbacks of existing smart phones, the iPhone was designed to satisfy future consumers demand with a number of innovated functions beyond basic applications. This kind of phone, therefore, instantly met publics requirements and outsold different smart phones after it was launched. A creative leader and distinctive products Another attribute making Steve Jobs become a great entrepreneur is his creative brain which crucially contributes to Apples distinction. An illustration is Apples ecosystem lock-in starting together with the release of iPod in 2001 as his intention. To possess this equipment, the users were forced to buy a Macintosh computer because it did not work with other ones. Initially, this seemed to be a disadvantage of Apples device. However, the iPods were so cool that most customers were attracted, compelling them to buy a Mac. A great outcome of this system is that nowadays, Apples users happily accept it and it becomes one of the advantages of this company. It is not difficult to conclude that once consumers bought Apples first products, they 2

mostly continue to be potential consumers in the future. Interestingly, they love to be locked in Apples world. The distinction of Apple could be also seen in its sales and marketing strategy. The first dimension is the brainy choice of niche market. Apart from other rivals, it concentrates on developed market, indicated by the fact that its revenues mainly come from US or Europe (Sameer, 2012). This differentiates its position from its competitors who commonly offer a wide range of products and prices. Furthermore, it is worthy waiting for Apples new products launching. The launch videos always bring meaningful messages of innovation to customers, motivating them to possess trendy and high-end fashion products. Another aspect of Apples marketing process is that it offers a high-class user experience which makes them be different from other consumers. Together with the quality of products, Apples marketing strategy deliberately makes its customers believe that they own the best phones or laptops in the world. Apples distribution strategy also plays a significant role in distinguishing its brand-name from others. This company intentionally makes long lines outside its stores at each product launch as a way to provoke consumers curiosity. A vivid example is that in India where Apple was not a dominant brand name to create long lines as usual, it decided to delay shipments to boost sellouts (Sameer, 2012). A risk taker, a perfectionist and a passionate leader Jobs is definitely an optimistic risk taker. This businessman never gave up when facing failures. By contrast, he claimed that failures should be conceived as an unavoidable part of successes. On the other hand, what he wanted was that Apples employees must reflect and learn quickly from their mistakes, which encouraged his team not be afraid to conduct any experiments in order to initiate and innovate continually (Walter, 2012). Additionally, he is described as a perfectionist who aimed at the beauty of perfection. The question how to satisfy users increasing demand frequently occupied his mind, leading to a lot of improvements in the following generations of iPhones. Jobs even paid attention to small details such as the designs of circuit boards inside the phones or the covers of them, which other CEOs rarely did. This amazed Apples consumers once a new product was introduced and therefore, it maintained their loyalty. Obviously, once you are a fan of Apple, you can find it difficult to be satisfied by other brand names products. Jobs is also a passionate person, which is inherently necessary for an entrepreneur. He managed the company as if he poured all his life, health and soul into the products. A phone, in his opinion, is just not non-biological equipment. He stated that it should be conceived as the way to touch our dreams and thus, he sold dreams, not sold products (Carmine, 2011). Besides, he always thrived to achieve his objectives as well as possible. His employees remembered about him as a temperamental but persuasive and enthusiastic director, which inspired them to contribute their energy to the company. It finally resulted in the accomplishments of Apple under Steve Jobs dynasty as the combination of innovation, affiliation and dedication. Conclusion 3

In conclusion, Steve Jobs entrepreneurship is the key factor behind Apples successful story. Among different CEOs, he became a legend in the technology industry because he was the greatest pathfinder no matter what challenges he coped with during his career. It is not a coincidence that Newtons apple was chosen as the official symbol of this company. A bitten apple is not only a simple symbol appearing on the covers of Mac computers or iPhones but also an image of endless entrepreneurial spirit. Bibliography Carmine, G 2010, The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs: Insanely Different Principles for Breakthrough Success, McGraw Hill Professional, New York Jeffrey, Y; William S 2005, iCon: Steve Jobs, The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business, John Wiley & Sons, New York JP Mangalindan, 2011, Steve Jobs: Design perfectionist, Fortune, 25 August, viewed in 16 May 2013, <http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2011/technology/1101/gallery.Steve_Jobs_Apple_design.fortun e/index.html> Neil, M 2011, Apple becomes worlds largest handset vendor by revenue in Q1 2011, Network Solutions, viewed 17 May 2013, <http://www.strategyanalytics.com/default.aspx?mod=reportabstractviewer&a0=6263> Sameer, S 2012, What drives Apples success, viewed <http://www.androidauthority.com/what-drives-apples-success-80438/> 17 May 2013,

TIME staff, 2012, The 20 most influential Americans of all time, Time NewsFeed, 24 July, viewed 18 May 2013, <http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/07/25/the-20-most-influential-americansof-all-time/slide/steve-jobs/> Walter, I 2011, Steve Jobs, Simon & Schuster, New York