Before Steve Jobs Met Wozniak, He Was Just a Guy with Big Ideas

Before Apple, before the Mac, before the iPhone, before the world knew his name, Steve Jobs was just another guy trying to figure it out.

Jobs was nineteen, brilliant, already combative, and restless.

He had dropped out of Reed College, was dabbling in Eastern philosophy, and had taken a job at Atari, where he was known as a difficult but undeniably smart young man.

He had big ideas for the computer revolution—huge ideas—but there was just one problem:

He was not an engineer.

The Dreamer

At the time, the computer world belonged to big corporations. IBM made mainframes the size of rooms, and hobbyist computers were clunky and obscure.

But Jobs saw something different. He believed that the future belonged to personal computers—machines in every home, something regular people could use.

He just did not know how to build one.

A problem, that.

Along Comes Woz

Around this time, Jobs met Steve Wozniak at a local computer club in Palo Alto and the two hit it off instantly.

Woz shared with Jobs something he had created at home. It was something extraordinary: A computer small enough to sit on a desk.

Jobs couldn’t believe what he saw. His vision come to life.

The two friends were an odd pair for sure, but an odd pair that filled each other’s gaps.

Woz was a pure engineer, a genius who built for the love of it. He had no interest in selling computers—he just liked solving problems. Jobs, on the other hand, had the soft skills that Woz lacked. Jobs was visionary. He saw the market, the vision . . .

He saw the future.

So Jobs pitched Woz. Hard.

They had to start a business together and sell a version of Wozniak’s desktop computer.

Woz was not convinced. Why would anyone buy a personal computer? Who would even want one?

But Jobs had a way of seeing what others did not. He painted a vision so compelling that Woz finally agreed.

The Birth of Apple

Woz built a prototype and Jobs quickly got their first order from a local computer store. Then another. And then another.

Apple was born.

One moment, Jobs was just another a kid with ideas but no way to execute. The next, he had found the one person who could turn his vision into reality.

Woz built the technology. Jobs built the company.

The Whole is Greater Than the Sum of its Parts

After the success of the Apple I (which was really just a kit for hobbyists), Jobs knew they needed something bigger. The Apple II, released in 1977, was that product.

Wozniak, the engineer, built a technological masterpiece—the Apple II had color graphics, a built-in keyboard, and expandable memory. It was one of the first truly user-friendly computers.

By himself, Woz likely would have just built it and moved on.

Jobs, the visionary, saw that it was not enough to build a great computer—you had to package and sell it like a consumer product.

A latent genius for selling and showmanship may have been is superpower.

A Partnership that Changed the World

Here’s the thing: Alone, neither Jobs nor Wozniak probably would have ever become what they did. They needed each other.

And that’s the thing about entrepreneurship - almost always, you need to find your Woz, your Jobs; the person who whose mad skills complement your own.

To wit:

• Woz made the Apple II work. Jobs made them sell.

• Woz focused on engineering. Jobs focused on branding, marketing, and funding.

• Woz cared about the product. Jobs cared about the experience.

And today? Today Apple is considered the most valuable brand in the world.

All because two unlikely friends teamed up and allowed each other to do what they do best.

The Takeaway

Your breakthrough might not be a what. It might be a who.

Find your Woz.

(Side note: This newsletter has taken off, thanks to you. So first, thank you! And second, I am looking for my Woz - a business partner whose mad business and operational skills complement my own content skills. If this sounds like you, shoot me an email! [email protected].)

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Overnight Challenge

Think about your one of your goals right now. What is stopping you from reaching it? Skill? Execution? Connections? Now, instead of trying to solve it alone, ask: Who already has that skill? Who could fill that gap? Write down a few names. And maybe, just maybe, reach out to one of them tomorrow.

About Steve

Steve Strauss is the best-selling author of The Small Business Bible (and 17 other books), Inc.’s small business columnist, a lawyer (non-practicing), and an ardent hater of ketchup. He sold his last venture, TheSelfEmployed.com to Mark Cuban & Zen Business.