Reflection: Pirates of Silicon Valley

Steve Jobs is a well-known technopreneur. He is the chairman and CEO of the Apple Company. Upon witnessing Steve Jobs’ success story unfolds in the movie “Pirates of Silicon Valley”, I discovered that I have developed an admiration towards his brilliance and passion in his work. As a technopreneur who ventures in a fast-changing world, I can say that one of the significant factors that makes Steve Jobs as one of the best technopreneurs in the world, thus bringing success to him up until now is his uniqueness. He can think of unbelievably bright and new ideas and concepts for a certain thing. He does not think in a way that is normal and traditional. As much as possible, he challenges himself to think out of the ordinary, which at first, sounded like absurd or unimaginable, but turned out to be a very smart idea. He did not stick on the norms or the standard pattern that rules the world, especially the world of technology. In the movie, his partner Steve Wozniak even said that Steve Jobs was never like anyone else and always sees things differently. He has a clear aspiration and an unyielding goal to put Apple and its products at the forefront of Information Technology through setting trends in technological advancements and innovation, and one of Apple products’ trademarks: Style. I can say that he is a risk-taker yet a very clever one. He is the type of person who is never shaken up by people who looks down on them just because they are nobodies. He knows what he wants to achieve and knows exactly how to get it. He knows the things to do whether it is just or not, in order to induce the people around him into following and doing whatever he wants, whether they are his subordinates, employees, partners, or possible investors. And I believe being able to make your people follow and recognize you as their superior is a very vital factor in business. I can say that he is the kind of person who is never contented nor settled with the present technology and with what he has achieved, thus making him more eager to be better, which is a very good characteristic to develop. But every technopreneur has its own downside. A lot of people who knows or works with Steve Jobs say that he has an aggressive and demanding personality. He is also temperamental and an egomaniac, someone who has exaggerated estimate of one's intellect, ability, importance, appearance, wit, or other valued personal characteristics. In the movie, it showed how he throws tantrums on his employees and sometimes says unreasonably improper comments. I believe this is one of the factors of his failures then. He was not able to build a good rapport with his partners or employees. He treats his subordinates improperly and lowly, which is not good for a leader. I believe that in order to have good and dedicated followers, the leader must show respect to his people in order to gain their respect and loyalty in return. The people must also have trust on their leader in order for them to support him in his ventures, one thing that Steve Jobs was not able to achieve back then. Lucky enough that Jobs realized his shortcomings and he then changed the way he treats his men after his great comeback in Apple.

Being such a submissive and passive person as I am, I have never been interested in putting up a business even a small one. I did not even choose entrepreneurship as my elective back in my high school days. My worst enemy regarding things like that would always be communication. I admit that I lack good communication skills and I have no talent in making a good rapport with others. Whenever I was asked what I would want to do after I finish my college degree, I would normally say that I want to land a high-paying job, either as a programmer, a web-developer or any job that is inclined with my degree. So I have never thought of putting up a business of any kind or being a technopreneur.  I never considered a career like that for myself. But everything changed when I watched the movie “Pirates of Silicon Valley”. It made me think that it would be so nice if I could be like Steve Jobs or Bill Gates. I was inspired by the story of Steve Job and Bill Gates’ success as technopreneurs, and it made me imagine myself being on their shoes. The movie made me reflect on the personal changes that have unknowingly occurred in my life ever since I went to college and took up Information Technology. Being able to encounter different kinds of people every day and being able to somehow survive every trial that I have so far encountered day by day as an IT student, I realized that my personality have changed over time. I am no longer that very aloof and excessively shy person. And having that summer job that I had last April, which has something to do with communicating and dealing with different kinds of people in different kinds of status in life, I have gained more confidence and developed my interpersonal skills. I have noticed that I am more confident with myself, thus making me sound very confident and reliable, which I think could be very helpful when I venture technopreneurship in the near future.  I believe that if I was able to do something with my weaknesses so it would not be a hindrance in my life, then I can also develop my strength and be better with the knowledge that I gained. With my skills and knowledge with Information Technology as of now, I must admit that I would not be a good technopreneur yet. I am honest enough to myself to admit that my knowledge is still not enough and very much lacking. I am still not globally competitive especially in the demanding world of Information Technology, but I am very much determined to be better and be the best that I can be with the field that I chose and I love. I can say that if I continue the improvement that is happening to me, whether personality-wise or knowledge-wise, I will be an effective and successful technoprenuer. I believe and I have the confidence to say that I can be the boss of my own company someday, not just a high-paid employee. I believe that someday, I will be able to put up my own company and be respected by my subordinates and partners.

Given the chance in the near future to be a technoprenuer, I would like to take the same career path as Steve Jobs took because I really admire him or his brilliance in his field and his dedication to what he has been doing for the past years. I hope I could also be bold and fearless like him with regards to the decisions that I am will make.  I was amused with how his fascination in computer technology led him to a very successful career as a technopenuer and I hope that someday, my love and passion for Information Technology would also lead me to something as big as it took Steve Jobs, or even much bigger. Someday, I would also want to be somebody with high ideals like Steve Jobs. I remember in the opening part of the movie “Pirates of Silicon Valley”, Steve Jobs, played by Noah Wyle, delivered this line: “We’re rewriting the history of human thought with what we're doing.” Steve Jobs made history with his unique thinking and ideas, and I, as a future technoprenuer would like to take part in rewriting and making history too. He was the type of person who never gives up on every trial and he also never gets discouraged when competitors come across his way. I also want to make a name for myself and my future company like Steve Jobs who wants his products as well as his whole company to be distinguished from other companies not just as a mere competitor but as one of the pillars and discoverers of new and outstanding architecture for software and, incomparable, stylish and up-to-date designs for devices. I would also like to be someone who takes note and pays attention to other people’s idea and try to think of new ideas to improve the previous one, just as Steve Jobs did. Even though at some point in Steve Jobs’ journey to success, there were times that he tried and did some pirating schemes and acts with the ideas and concepts, he still managed to do something about it to make it his own. I dream to somehow follow his footsteps and be exceptionally good in this field because Steve Jobs is really one of a kind. Like Steve Jobs, I also want to be out of the ordinary, distinct and someone who envisions and reaches way higher than everybody else, someone who defies everything just to be one step ahead of everybody else. There is a reason why Apple is a world-renowned company whose products are known to anybody in any walk of life. The reason why Fortune Magazine named Apple as the most admired company not only in the United States, but also in the world for 3 consecutive years since 2008: They’ve got Steve Jobs as their CEO. Steve Jobs will always be the man behind Apple, and as an aspiring technoprenuer, I am seeing him as an inspiring model, whom I would like to set as an exemplary and ideal of brilliance.