How Steve Jobs Embraced His Biggest Failure 

When Uber CEO Travis Kalanick was ousted to step down from his company, he told them he will just be "Steve Jobs-ing it" meaning he plans on returning to his company as president, just like Steve Jobs. However, when Steve Jobs left Apple in 1985 his return was not as easy and simple as Travis would put it.

In 1985 Steve Jobs' life changed dramatically, he went from being the tech-savvy CEO of Apple to a middle-aged unemployed businessman. After 10 years of doing the only job he knew, Steve was faced with a midlife crisis. Unlike most people, Steve took this failure as an opportunity to embrace.

Thanks to the late CEO, today Apple's Net Worth reached 2 trillion dollars with a 274.5 billion annual revenue. The company provides a diverse ubiquitous amount of products and services that are not limited to computers and tech services, but also iPhones, IPods, 4k HD TVs, Airpods, IPads, Watches, and further in the future the Apple Car too!

Disclaimer: This blog contains Affiliate Links for monetary gain 

Steve Jobs: Fall and Rise

"I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter into one of the most creative periods of my life," - Steve Jobs

The change did not happen overnight, it took 12 years for Steve to realize how to be a better leader as well as a better human being. Leaving Apple was his greatest failure in life, but it was also the best thing that could happen to him. It gave him time to reflect on what was important to him in life.

It wasn't until Jobs embraced this failure that he changed to become a winner. It gave him a chance to grow as a person so that he could grow as a businessman.

Steve Jobs: Selected or Rejected?

Before leaving Apple, Jobs was a horrifying person to work for. He cared more about machines than people. He was very demanding of his employees and very meticulous in detail. He would insult his employees' intelligence. He would even refuse to pay child support and deny his own daughter, Lisa.

Steve's denial of his daughter stemmed from his own personal experience. When he was just an infant his biological parents put him up for adoption. As an adoptive child, Jobs felt like he was rejected by society than selected by an adoptive family. 

Power Control

Growing up Steve Jobs was very cautious about forming real meaningful relationships with friends and family. He had no control over his birth parents' decision to give him up. Having no control like that terrified him and created a desire to always be in control in every aspect of his later life. 

After leaving and returning to Apple, he became a different person who saw the bigger picture. He knew how to handle criticisms better. He worked on giving credit where credit was due and he worked on repairing his relationship with his daughter. It wasn't until losing everything that Jobs finally found out what was important. 

Apple's Humble Beginnings

All great Entrepreneurs dropped out of college, just look at Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs was no exception. In 1976, after dropping out of college, Jobs started Apple in his garage with longtime friend and business partner, Steve Wozniak.

Although Jobs's methods were questionable, he did get results. 

Apple Lisa: A Successful Failure

Do you remember the Apple Lisa? No? That's because people rather not bother to remember the failures when there's plenty of winners to gaze at.

In 1985 Apple released the Lisa, it was the first computer ever to do Graphic User Interface (GUI), users could interact with technology to make specialized graphics. Lisa was a technical achievement in the realm of computers, however, it was a failure in the sales. Apple sold approximately 10,000 Lisa computers for only $9,995.00. Unfortunately, people just couldn't afford it and did not have enough reason to buy it. Although a technological success, Steve Jobs was blamed for this marketing failure.

Out With the Old, In With the New!

Steve Jobs didn't want to remember the failure of the Apple Lisa, but his colleagues did. This is why in 1985 at the age of 30 Steve Jobs was forced to leave Apple after a boardroom meeting dispute. Jobs lost total control with the top executives of Apple, including CEO John Scully. 

The company Jobs put his life's work and dream into was gone in the blink of an eye, just like that. Up till the moment of his firing, Steve lived, breathed and, ate Apple, hehe get it? Apple was the only thing Steve knew, now it was time for Steve to learn something new.

Steve's firing was just like another rejection from society saying he doesn't belong in the tech community. After leaving Apple Jobs thought about leaving the tech industry, he contemplated going into politics or becoming an astronaut.

Jobs didn't know what the future held, he later admits,

"really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down, that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me." - Steve Jobs

What's Next?

After Apple, Steve would eventually decide to get back in the tech industry. Steve would create his next computer startup, NeXT Inc which was aptly named. In 1985 Next was the next big thing, a computer tech company that sold software and hardware like their competitor Apple. 

The NeXT Computer was released in 1988, that sold computer workstations for businesses' and schools' usage it sold for $6,500, a price that mainly targeted business and schools. Although not a very profitable company, NeXT did have a wide impact on the tech industry, especially Apple.

On February 9, 1993, under Jobs' leadership, NeXT decides to stop selling computers and focus on coding software. This software would later turn into a valuable asset that Apple would need to create more efficient computers.

Apple's Failures

Apple in the '90s was not the business it is today. There were many problems apple was facing its Operating System(OS) was outdated and its products were expensive and uninspiring. The design of Apple products was dull and looked like cheap toys.

In 1993, Apple CEO John Sculley marketed the Apple Newton, it was a personal assistant MessagePad that screams a precursor to the IPad/ iPod. Although innovative and impressive the sales were not impressive. The Newton may not have been successful in sales but it was a device ahead of its time.

In 1993 After a bad first quarter in sales the Apple executives forced CEO Sculley to step down, 2 other CEOs would later step in and resign for similar problems until Jobs return. 

Jobs: The Resurrection of Apple

Jobs's return to apple was like the second coming of Christ, he resurrected Apple, a failing computer company on the brink of bankruptcy. 

Jobs's past experience with NeXT software meant they had something that Apple desperately needed.

Software vs Hardware 

In the 90's Apple was facing its challenges, CEO's were going in and out like a revolving door. Apple had good hardware, but the software had slow processing. This is where Steve's company NeXT comes next, NeXT had bad hardware, but good software. 

In 1997, NeXT was bought out by Apple for 429 million to upgrade its Macintosh computers with NeXT's software. Next had the software, while Apple had the hardware, it was the perfect deal.

Apple Milestones

The same year Jobs returned to Apple as Interim-CEO, a year later Jobs unveils the new iMac. The selling point was what it didn't have, a floppy disk drive. Instead, Jobs decided that the future computers would only run on CDs and digital downloads. Another popular selling point was something that connected a user's computer to a computer, they called it the internet. 

• In 2001 Jobs introduced to the world the first digital music player, he called it the iPod. This early music listening device was just the first generation with many generations to come. Apple's iTunes software would allow users to manage thousands of songs easier than putting a caseate tape in a Walkman. 
• 2007 iPhone: After reinventing music, Jobs would reinvent the phone into the world's first smartphone. The iPhone became a revolutionary communication device that connected us to the internet with a simple touch to the screen. 

• 2010 iPad: Apple stretches its iPhone to the iPad, a computer tablet somewhere between an iPhone and laptop, Jobs says the iPad was their first idea, but the iPhone's touchscreen turned out to be a priority for it to work. 
• 2011 New CEO: Steve Jobs resigned from Apple due to health issues fighting cancer. Jobs appointed long-time chief operating officer, Tim Cook as the new CEO. 
• 2014 Apple Watch released 
• September 2016 AirPods released; hate it when those headphones get all tangled, then for only $150, Apple's wireless AirPods are the headphones for you 
• 2018: Apple is worth 1 trillion, the first company ever to do so. 
• September 2020: Apple's growth reaches 2 trillion net worth

Apple continues to grow, innovate and inspire to this day. If Steve Jobs never left Apple, then they will certainly not be where they are today. It's all thanks to a setback that caused him on a long road of rediscovering himself. 

When former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said he will be "Steve Jobs -ing it" he made it sound way too simple, when it's really not. When Steve went back to Apple he reinvented the industry and changed the way the world used technology. If Travis plans on "Steve Jobs-ing it" then he should know it will not be as easy as he thinks. One may only be able to "Steve Jobs it" by embracing their biggest failure. 

---