Alicia Castillo Holley

Image via CrunchBase

Who isn’t talking about Steve Jobs these days?  the orphan kid that reshaped the world through a continuous rollercoaster of innnovation, the same guy who make raving fans wait hours for new products, the guy who formed passionate mac’kers (the other MAC), and that showed that yes, failure and success dance tango together… Only that, they shift roles.

Steve, the visible tip of the iceberg. Apple, the millions of drops of water sustaining the dream, the goal, the change.

I wondered, after spending sometime in Stanford, about this idol culture in the US. and I wonder if that is what more of us need to be thinking of. It reminds me of the studies my friend Joan Strassmann did, on social amoebas, where, in times of hardship, the group would get together and form a tiny pin, where only those at the top survive and the rest would starve themselves to death to pull up the leaders.  No, I don’t mean that others die for Steve to survive, but rather that those idles are the tips of the pin that stoutly supports them.

The tip of the pin is then a hero, an idol, someone worthy of admiration, and usually praised, the icon that other’s want to emulate, a driving force because, who doesn’t want that level of recognition. In some other countries the tip of the pin is to be smashed, criticized, and pulled down. Going up means killing a way up. That might be the reason why so many highly visible entrepreneurs abound in the USA.They are loved and respected… and in return, they give back.

In the mean time, dear Steve leaves an extraordinary legacy, building a company as a drop out, failing as an entrepreneur (in a very public dispute he was forced out of Apple), started over again, and came back.  For those of us now typing on apple computers, the times where we thought they were going out of business is over – the main reason amoebas’ Joann got an apple and I had a pc, until this year, fed up with vaio I also switched.

After palms, androids and tables, I can see myself sucked into the iphone soon too. In the mean time, Steve Jobs, thanks so much. Tim, my hat to you.

The adventure continues….

Related articles

• Slide show: 11 pivotal moments in Steve Jobs’ career (bizjournals.com)
• Steve Jobs hands over the reins to Tim Cook as Apple CEO (macmusings.wordpress.com)
• Steve Jobs and Apple: A pictorial timeline (digitaltrends.com)
• Tributes to Steve Jobs from business executives start pouring in (venturebeat.com)

Alicia Castillo Holley is an international speaker on entrepreneurship, innovation, and venture capital.  Alicia Castillo Holley is an international speaker and researcher on innovation, entrepreneurship, and venture capital. Read more from this author

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