Steve Wozniak on Reddit AMA: Entrepreneurs' Most Common Mistake Is Not Hiring a Business Person
Steve Wozniak, one of the founders of Apple offered up a Reddit AMA recently in which he opened up about his opinions on growing businesses and the keys to success. Here are some takeaways from the Q&A.
1. Employee and Customer Appreciation is key.
When asked what he feels about Apple CEO Tim Cook, Wozniak immediately noted that he liked the direction Cook was taking in his approach to the employees.
"Tim Cook is acknowledging the employees of Apple and the customers of Apple as real people," he said. "He is continuing a strong tradition that Steve Jobs was known for of making good products that help people do things they want to do in their life, and not taking the company into roads of, 'Oh, we'll make all our money like by knowing you and advertising to you.'"
2. Overcoming obstacles comes down to knowing how to deal with people.
When asked about overcoming obstacles he noted that he has had a relatively easy life, but that, "Basically I think obstacles do a lot with dealing with people, and I work very independently, as far as I can, and then turn it over to others in very complete forms. So I didn't have a lot of the obstacles some people would talk about."
3. Have the right team to succeed in growing your company.
Wozniak's big takeaway from the AMA came from his advice about growing a company. His tip was to ensure you have the best team possible. "Hopefully you all have great skills," he added. This ensures that differing teammates complement one another, giving the team more depth and flexibility in dealing with different issues that may crop up.
4. Find your motivation.
He remarked that there was something more important than education and that was motivation.
"Wanting to do something. Having your own reason. And one of the things you should do is separate yourself off from the money," he said. "There's a great quote that I came across from Russell Simmons 'Operate from a place of needing nothing. Needing nothing attracts everything.' And I find that so true in so many places in life. Be willing to go out and build stuff that you like, even if it doesn't seem like it's a huge business success right away. Your learning from it will put you in the position to build those devices that someday in the future maybe have a major relevance on the world."
5. Hire a Business person.
A lot of companies think that having a great idea is enough to get your business rolling. But with no business acumen, this can go south quickly. Wozniak remarked that not having a business person on the team was one of the biggest mistakes that entrepreneurs made.
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