C'mon people! Let's give these guys a break. They had a vision for something great and they tried their best to make it happen. Not every business succeeds, in fact almost many fail. They had the guts, the vision and the nerve to be great.
C'mon people! Let's give these guys a break. They had a vision for something great and they tried their best to make it happen. Not every business succeeds, in fact almost many fail. They had the guts, the vision and the nerve to be great.
C'mon people! Let's give these guys a break. They had a vision for something great and they tried their best to make it happen. Not every business succeeds, in fact almost many fail. They had the guts, the vision and the nerve to be great.
Honestly it’s hard to read your comment without an envious tone. You even admitted his timing was right, that alone takes skill. The point others are making is that there are lots of examples of failed companies, yet his have been successful. If anyone could have done what he’s done, why haven’t they?
Lol...you want him to have built more than one of the most successful businesses in history? It isn't one idea that got him here.. Everyone's a critic.
They had been trying to find buyers for almost 2 years. It was going to be Jobs or nothing. Give the man credit for being the only one to see at least part of the vision.
He comes across as a great guy, that made something great - so it seems that he deserves this, so why be bitter about it?
Sure, I envy his success and would like to make something great that will leave its mark on the world, too. I haven't, yet, but if anything, I'm inspired - and been so way before he sold his company.
And the company only lasted a few years! Good for him on being in the right place at the right time and jumping on the opportunity. But if we're going to use it as a yardstick of his genius, surely we have to also look at how it turned out.
They built a product that they didn't use. His entire post-mortem could have been that one sentence and it still would've taught a ton of entrepreneurs a great lesson.
Steve's "vision" failed him time and time again. He risked his own money and lost it. He risked other peoples' money and lost it. And then eventually he made it work. It doesn't matter that he leveraged other peoples' genius and vision. It doesn't matter that he stole everything. It doesn't matter that he was a little self-delusional or that he was an asshole. Under his direction, his "vision" finally materialized, and was wildly successful.
Now I wouldn't say that being a narcissistic asshole is a good strategy or something to emulate (after all, nobody's perfect), but pursuing a vision through all manner of trial and tribulation is a worthy goal, and something to emulate.
The people who make the biggest impact tend to be those who spend years, even decades in the harsh wildnerness, taking hits and taking falls, but never giving up because they refuse to believe that it can't be done. And then one day they do it, or die trying.
These people look at a territory and say "I'm going to conquer that." Most people will tell them they're crazy to even try, and that it would already be conquered if it were worthwhile or even possible to do so. "Just till the land like everyone else does" they'll say.
And then these would-be conquerors get some other key people to see the vision and the possibility. They all work hard, doing what nobody else is doing, or would even try doing.
They fail campaign after campaign, but keep going, eventually seeing some success. And then one day the visionary stands on the tallest hill, surveying their newly acquired "unconquerable" territory, and suddenly they're not crazy, but genius.
He didn't build that company, him and thousands of talented professionals built that company to where it is now. I'm not saying his contributions weren't a major part of that, but lets not act like he alone made this happen and this company is his alone to destroy, including all those jobs.
One big take away is how much these guys just kept at it despite fiscal failure for months/years on end. This business isn't for the meek at heart. It's so easy to get so discouraged, when your livelihood depends on it.
A lot of people don't think much of him, and I completely disagree with his ultimate stated vision, but it's one hell of an accomplishment to take a company from $0-531 Billion in your 20's and early 30's, do it while retaining talent and growing and have people as committed now as they were 10 years ago. Doing that requires a very special person.
The guy created a $4 billion business that changed the game for co-working spaces. He just made the mistake of convincing people it was a $47 billion company, and Soft Bank threw fuel on the fire. (and he did some weird shit with the IPO)
What he accomplished is still incredibly difficult, and by all accounts he has a rare skill set for getting people excited about a vision. Plus, his failure mode is widely known now.
I'd throw money at him if I had some to throw, for sure. Don't bet against crazy and smart.
Had a CEO that had a grand vision of abstractions. 3 years and no one could figure out what on earth his vision was. But he was very passionate about it.
Was a really nice guy, seemed fully functional, yet he completely sank his business from whatever he was taking.
Im presenting alternatives for others to aspire to. Ive given him props for his success and still use his company as a positive example in several ways. I would never call him a failure.
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