The question really translates to: why companies are not taking risks today? The bigger risks are - the larger would be the profits from exploiting the risks. Creativity and innovation are huge risks but you you need to take them if you want to be successful today. "me too" strategy won't take you far. Apple is the best example for this point. Remember Steve Jobs announcing "year of copycats"?
Why Steve Jobs Couldn’t Find a Job Today
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Re: Why Steve Jobs Couldn’t Find a Job Today
#12A glaring point that the article seems to forget is that Bezos, Jobs, et. al., are founder CEOs. Not one of the individuals mentioned was a hire. I think that's an important distinction, especially with respect to the author's points on creativity. "... remember that when Jobs returned to Apple in 1996, ... Let’s just say he didn’t have the benefit of the doubt. What he did have: the founder’s courage to innovate des…
I think that's the point of the article- companies aren't hiring people who want to rock the boat, you have to find a way to do it yourself.
Re: Why Steve Jobs Couldn’t Find a Job Today
#13Earlier quoted context omitted.
I dunno, I'm not sure VCs would be too keen to fund someone with the characteristics of the 1970s Jobs. Quasi-homeless, just returned from a "spiritual enlightenment" trip to India and now dresses in traditional Indian costume, experiments with LSD...
You can be a cofounder with all those attributes, regardless of VC. You could also create something so compelling that VCs would overlook any concerns like that when it got to that stage of needing further investment.
For example a mobile photo sharing app.
Re: Why Steve Jobs Couldn’t Find a Job Today
#14If Steve Jobs applied for your job by submitting his resume and waiting for you to invite him in for an interview, he literally wouldn't be Steve Jobs in any meaningful way. He would just be a guy named Steve who didn't finish college and seems to maybe want a job. So the whole premise is nonsense. The better question is, "if Steve Jobs knocked on your door at 2am and jumped into a long speech about how your industry…
Actually, I'd probably threaten to call the cops. Passion or not, 2 am isn't the best time to make unannounced house calls.
No, Jobs would have co-opted the cops and they would have raided you.
http://gizmodo.com/5524843/police-seize-jason-chens-computer...
Re: Why Steve Jobs Couldn’t Find a Job Today
#15"And it’s not clear America would benefit even if it tried maintaining these lower-skilled jobs."
Myopic on many levels. A week in an industrial fabrication shop would change the author's tune regarding skill levels required for modern manufacturing jobs.
Re: Why Steve Jobs Couldn’t Find a Job Today
#16"And it’s not clear America would benefit even if it tried maintaining these lower-skilled jobs." Myopic on many levels. A week in an industrial fabrication shop would change the author's tune regarding skill levels required for modern manufacturing jobs.
He's not talking about that, he's talking about sewing buttons on things for 5 bucks a day.
Re: Why Steve Jobs Couldn’t Find a Job Today
#17The question really translates to: why companies are not taking risks today? The bigger risks are - the larger would be the profits from exploiting the risks. Creativity and innovation are huge risks but you you need to take them if you want to be successful today. "me too" strategy won't take you far. Apple is the best example for this point. Remember Steve Jobs announcing "year of copycats"?
One explanation could be that most people find that the pain of losing a set amount of money is greater in magnitude than the joy of making that same amount of money.
Also, it's simply political. When you have shareholders who all hold different beliefs and levels of risk-aversion, things get messy.
Re: Why Steve Jobs Couldn’t Find a Job Today
#18It's really quite simple, and in a sense I don't think big companies are behaving irrationally:
It's really hard to judge the potential of odd, creative people. There's a million people running around who talk like Steve Jobs did decades ago. Think about all the idea-people and 'mavens' you know.
Granted, I think the entire hiring system isn't even close to optimized and could be greatly improved.
Re: Why Steve Jobs Couldn’t Find a Job Today
#19If Steve Jobs applied for your job by submitting his resume and waiting for you to invite him in for an interview, he literally wouldn't be Steve Jobs in any meaningful way. He would just be a guy named Steve who didn't finish college and seems to maybe want a job. So the whole premise is nonsense. The better question is, "if Steve Jobs knocked on your door at 2am and jumped into a long speech about how your industry…
There are many people in the world with the passion, drive, and brilliance of Mr. Jobs. You will never know most of their names. Most hiring managers and investors will dismiss them.
Re: Why Steve Jobs Couldn’t Find a Job Today
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
I dunno, I'm not sure VCs would be too keen to fund someone with the characteristics of the 1970s Jobs. Quasi-homeless, just returned from a "spiritual enlightenment" trip to India and now dresses in traditional Indian costume, experiments with LSD...
You can be a cofounder with all those attributes, regardless of VC. You could also create something so compelling that VCs would overlook any concerns like that when it got to that stage of needing further investment.
It's not as easy for startups to create vertically integrated hardware devices these days.