Like millions of people around the world, I was very saddened to hear of the death of Steve Jobs. He contributed so much, not just to the IT industry, but to society as a whole. The overwhelming response to his death is certainly a reflection of his massive contribution.

He influenced me for many reasons, but it was his focus on the customer experience and therefore, delivering product excellence that resounded with me the most. I really appreciated the example he set by not being focused purely on profit.

As was written in his new biography:

“My passion has been to build an enduring company where people were motivated to make great products. The products, not the profits, were the motivation. Sculley flipped these priorities to where the goal was to make money. It’s a subtle difference, but it ends up meaning everything.”

This was a great example to me, because it is something I wholeheartedly believe in, and while I’m obviously not in the same sphere as him with my business, it has always given me strength to keep my focus on servicing my customers rather than chasing profits. It’s who I am and what drives me every day, so I thank him for this. I can assure you that this is not the easiest path to follow when many business peers remain profit focused.

I also think he embodied the concept of the “reality distortion field” – the idea that something becomes possible when you make people believe it. In a very positive way, I definitely see that he distorted reality for millions of people around the world – something we should all keep in mind for the future of business and humanity.

I really do appreciate his contribution to the IT industry and for being a positive role model for me as a businessman, and as a human being – although my employees can breathe a sigh of relief. I’ll always expect excellence from myself, but I won’t be taking a leaf out of his book when it comes to uncompromisingly high expectations. I do expect great things from my team, but I certainly go about achieving that in a milder way.

Soon Seah Toh 
Managing Director 
NetGain Systems