4 lessons from Steve Jobs for entrepreneurs

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Vendini founder Mark Tacchi talked about the incredible experience he had working with Steve Jobs. These four tips will come in handy for anyone looking to start their own business.

Steve Jobs is called an outstanding marketer for a reason. Yes, his character was imperfect, but the amount of innovation presented and the inspiration he gave to others is really impressive. Steve Jobs's methods are considered revolutionary, as they changed many areas - from design to branding.

When Mark Tacci was 12 years old, he was presented with an Apple II, and even then the boy realized that he wanted to work with whoever created this device. Tacci later got a job at NeXT and moved from Winnipeg to California.

Mark Tacci believes that his time at NeXT, and then at Apple, taught him not only to work and achieve success. It changed his entrepreneurial DNA. The culture that Jobs created within his companies played a major role in Mark's personal development. Moreover, it taught several important lessons to Tacci, and he used the new knowledge when he started his business. These tips will be useful to anyone who is going to start their own company.

1. Hire correctly. Look for the best

When Tacci did his first interview at NeXT, he was amazed at the thoroughness of the procedure. It was like a creative surgical operation. HR managers knew exactly who they were looking for and used the most ingenious ways to uncover a candidate's true skill level. Then Mark realized that the HR department works like a well-coordinated machine that selects the best of the best for a top-tier company.

When Mark Tacci opened his first business, he understood why Steve Jobs paid so much attention to the selection of employees, wasting time and energy trying to find the coolest. After all, it is not enough to hire just a highly qualified employee.

The tide lifts all boats: when you hire someone with great talent, it inspires your other employees as well.

Take your time interviewing a candidate. Test his skills, ask him to solve some problem. Get an idea of who a person is, what he lives, what he wants from life.

Remember, many people can be a rock star in a job interview but end up being mediocre employees afterwards.

2. Strive for simplicity

Five minutes of working with Steve Jobs was more valuable than five years in the workplace, says Mark Tacci, recalling his first product presentation.

He prepared for Jobs to ask questions, read the user manual, or evaluate the appearance of the device. But none of this happened: Steve just walked over to the workstation and started using the product. If it was not simple and straightforward enough, then Jobs rejected it.

Think about Apple products: you just take each one out of the box, plug it in, and start using it. All the details are thought out, the elements are located exactly where they are needed, and the design is simplified as much as possible.

There are two reasons for this approach. First, simple products are very easy to use, which attracts a large number of customers. Secondly, getting a simple product in his hands, a person quickly understands its management, which means that he becomes an expert.

When a person understands a gadget inside and out, he not only feels smart, but also becomes attached to the company that gave him this feeling.

It takes an incredible amount of effort to create a really simple and straightforward product. But when you reach your goal, you can change the world.

3. Offer a complete solution

Apple was one of the first companies to offer people a complete solution rather than a single product. You didn't need to buy a motherboard from one manufacturer, a processor from another, a video card from a third. Apple sold everything at once, presenting not so much a product as a solution. This was one of the most important lessons for Marc Tacci, who embodied this concept in his company Vendini. If you're not offering a product, but a solution to a problem, people start to appreciate you.

The fragmented product is becoming less and less popular. People choose those products and services that offer a comprehensive solution. It's even better if multiple products from the same company can work together and increase overall efficiency.

4. Let your employees play in the sandbox

Not everything that Mark Tacci learned during his time with Jobs liked him. On the contrary, what he uses in his work today is based on principles that Tacci previously disagreed with.

Jobs was incredibly dedicated to his work. And he demanded the same from his subordinates. This created a culture within which workers were afraid to voice their own opinions, especially when it came to competing products. But engineers need to be interested in other designs, someone else's products, and challenge themselves to find the best solutions.

Therefore, Mark did not agree with Jobs's policies. He thinks that if you've hired the right person, then he must be curious. This is good, this is useful. If one of its developers wants to learn a new programming language, Mark will pay for his courses. Some of Vendini's products have been implemented only due to the fact that employees attended various exhibitions, workshops and lectures.

If your employees want to play in the sandbox, give them this opportunity. Let them receive a new portion of inspiration and knowledge, feel freedom.

Starting your own business is difficult, and burning out is very easy. Sometimes you just need to slow things down, become more selective, and simplify things as much as possible. After all, that's exactly what Steve Jobs did.