Steve Jobs was extremely successful and unmatched in vision. He started Apple at the age of 20. Ten years later, he was fired from the very company he started. Jobs stated it transformed him. It made him better.
Within two years of his departure, he starts NeXT Computer (later NeXT Software) and buys a division of Lucasfilm. Similar to the iPad, he created an industry. The division of Lucasfilm became Pixar and created movies like Toy Story, Monsters, Inc. and Up. NeXT had its ups and downs but once again, Jobs had vision and success.
He started NeXT with $70M of proceeds from his sale Apple stock. Years later, NeXT is sold back to Apple for over $400M. With the sale, Jobs was back on track to the helm of Apple. While NeXT is not a household name today, in 1985, a NeXT computer was the first server in the World Wide Web.
Vision, dedication, and belief can overcome failure. This was indeed the case with Jobs. A Harvard Business Review (HBR) had an issue related just to failure and this will be the focus of my next several blog posts.
