Thursday, January 14, 2016

My Entrepreneurship Story

Although I cannot recall any personal experience with entrepreneurship, I was exposed to entrepreneurship through the CNN Films' produced movie called "Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine". The documentary film starts off by showing the beginnings of the Apple empire. Steve Jobs' life started on February 24, 1955 in San Francisco, California. There he grew up, and became intrigued by electronics and gadgets. He saw his first computer when he was 12 years old at a local NASA center. A few years later he was introduced to the Hewlett Packard 9100. Fascinated by the Hewlett Packard 9100, Jobs went to the Hewlett Packard Research Lab to write computer programs for the Hewlett Packard model in 1968. Years later in 1975, Steve Jobs and his childhood friend, Steve Wozniak, started the Apple legacy in Jobs parents' garage by building a prototype computer. Both were into electronics, and quit their jobs at technology companies to start their business venture. Jobs created the Macintosh, now branded Mac, in 1984 after years of producing different types of Apple computers. 


 Apple has managed to create some of the best technology products known to man. Following Steve Jobs' death, many people around the world were deeply saddened by the tragedy of his passing away. This was because he left an impression on them with his Apple products. Jobs was a true example of a great entrepreneur. My perception of entrepreneurship greatly mirrors the actions of him in his career. I perceive entrepreneurship to be working hard to create something that can be used by many people. Steve Jobs did exactly that. Although he had a different approach to running his business compared to his competitors, he still managed to soar to the top. Many people who knew Jobs saw him as diligent and cold. He was also very competitive. Apple eventually outsold it's competitor, IBM, to become the leading computer company. I see this as being a great accomplishment as an entrepreneur. Presently, IBM is nonexistent compared to Apple. Apple is a leading technology company, while IBM is a struggling computer hardware company. Entrepreneurs should always strive to be the best in their field. He advertised Apple setting customers free from IBM with Apple's 1984 Super Bowl advertisement, where the setting was a dystopian society of mindless drones sitting in a crowd and watching a tyrant's speech. The drones represented IBM's customers, and the tyrant was the leading computer company at the time, IBM. Finally a girl with a hammer interrupts the tyrant's speech, and sets the customers free from the unoriginality of IBM with Apple's Macintosh. Jobs also made a speech where he pointed out the battle of the two companies for the top spot in the technology world. Another trait that makes him a great entrepreneur is his persistence for invention within his company. Apple has constantly came up with new versions of its Macs, Ipads, and Iphones, which makes them such exciting and anticipated product lines. People wait hours in line for the release of these Apple products.



I enrolled in ENT3003 because I am interested in using entrepreneurship to make decisions in my financial career, or even starting my own business. I am presently minoring in Entrepreneurship, and hope employers will see this as an asset to the financial position I will be applying to. I hope to learn about the foundation of entrepreneurship from this course. It is a prerequisite for many of my other entrepreneurship courses, so I am assuming that it is an important entrepreneurship course. I don't wish to learn everything about starting my own business from ENT3003, but just the priciples of entrepreneurship. 


1 comment:

  1. Hi Arielle,
    Steve Jobs certainly left an impression on society. I love the story behind how Apple started, right in Jobs’ parent’s garage. Today, we see iPhones and Macs in every business and personal setting we step into. I own an iPhone but I do not have a Mac (wish I did though). When I go to my boyfriend’s school to visit him I see a large number of students on MacBook’s. They’re a very innovative piece of technology. Being that Apple continuously updates their products gives them this leverage. Jobs’ had a great entrepreneur mind set and really laid a solid ground for Apple before he passed.

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