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In 1976, Steve Wozniak teamed up with Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne to launch Apple, setting in motion a tech giant that would go on to reshape modern technology.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yet despite Apple\u2019s evolution into a $4.5 trillion powerhouse<\/a> behind products like the iPhone and iPad, Wozniak says the idea of building a global tech giant was never a part of the original vision.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you try things, they don\u2019t have to be for obvious money,\u201d Wozniak said earlier this month in a commencement address<\/a> at Grand Valley State University. \u201cWhen we started Apple, did I want to make money? Start a company? Start an industry? No.\u201d<\/p>\n Wozniak said his motivation was far simpler: He wanted to design and build his own personal computer and impress other engineers in the industry. What he wanted more than money was recognition.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted other engineers or other computer people to look at my designs and say, \u2018Whoa\u2019 and appreciate me and my brilliance,\u201d Wozniak said. \u201c\u2018How did he come up with these things?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n In the 1970s, Wozniak took a job at Hewlett-Packard (HP), the company he imagined would define his career. At HP, he found stability and a community of engineers who shared his passion \u2014\u00a0but he was also developing a bold idea behind the scenes: a personal computer that individuals could own and use themselves.<\/p>\n Wozniak brought the concept to his managers not once, but five separate times, hoping the company would see its potential. Each time, HP passed. The repeated rejections forced him to reconsider his path, and gradually he decided to act on an alternative he had initially resisted \u2014 he agreed to Jobs\u2019 plan to take the idea outside the company and build something of their own.<\/p>\n Looking back, Wozniak sees that moment as a lesson in choosing possibility over uncertainty. He shared the same message with graduates: Choose meaningful opportunities, even if they take you off the expected path. Stepping away from convention can be the first step toward building something extraordinary, Wozniak said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t follow the same steps as a million other people,\u201d he added. \u201cThink: Is there something I can do a little different?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Wozniak has expressed a long-held indifference toward chasing wealth. Even in his early years, money was never the primary driver.\u00a0<\/p>\n In his commencement speech, he recalled spending late nights typing college term papers for strangers for just a few cents and tutoring classmates \u2014\u00a0not because it paid well, but because he genuinely enjoyed the work and the chance to help others.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you had to type them on a real typewriter from midnight to 6 in the morning for a stranger I would never see again, I would charge 5 cents,\u201d he said in his speech. \u201cIf you do something you love, and I love typing, you don\u2019t need to prove it by charging a huge amount of money.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n In 1976, Steve Wozniak teamed up with Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne to launch Apple, setting in motion a tech giant that would go on to reshape modern technology.\u00a0<\/p>\n Yet despite Apple\u2019s evolution into a $4.5 trillion powerhouse<\/a> behind products like the iPhone and iPad, Wozniak says the idea of building a global tech giant was never a part of the original vision.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you try things, they don\u2019t have to be for obvious money,\u201d Wozniak said earlier this month in a commencement address<\/a> at Grand Valley State University. \u201cWhen we started Apple, did I want to make money? Start a company? Start an industry? No.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nHow he got to Apple<\/h2>\n
Wozniak has never been driven by money<\/h2>\n
Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n
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