Steve Wozniak Visits Rutgers for Entrepreneurship Event

He was part of a duo that created one of the most innovative and influential companies today - a company that broke groundand disrupted and revolutionized at least three industries: music, personal computers and telephones.

Addressing an attentive crowd of entrepreneurs, investors, students and alumni on Nov. 14 at Rutgers University’s third annual Entrepreneurship Day, keynote speaker Steve Wozniak retains the buoyant charisma of a person passionate with engineering, computing, and creative irreverence, much like his friend and Apple co-founder, Steve Jobs.

“An innovator is someone who thinks independently and comes up with big ideas that may not be possible or real, who might not know the approaches but goes into the laboratory and builds things,” Wozniak said. “The ability to build is very important.”

Prior to making his mark in the computing industry with his design of Apple’s first products the Apple I and Apple II, Wozniak was a self confessed nerd with an insatiable appetite for electronics, engineering and computers.

From an early age Wozniak was already pursuing projects like stapling wires to wooden fences up and down the block in order to communicate by microphone with his friends. And when he found out that you could be as young as 10 and obtain a hand radio operating license, 10-year-old Wozniak passed the exam and got the license.

Later on in high school Wozniak could be found programming computers and developing programs on Fridays at a company called Sylvania. Rather than get discouraged by the lack of material on the subject of computers, Wozniak would find as many computer manuals as he could and through trial and error started designing his own models.

“My skills are self taught,” he said. “The ones that I’m known for. They didn't have many books or courses in subjects like computers in those days.”

While he considers education important in order to learn about discipline and the fundamentals, he said, oftentimes one is taught other people’s solutions and that can be stifling to a person’s creativity.

He advises entrepreneurs to get an early training in one’s passion or cultivate the hobbies that satisfy one’s inner spirit. In other words, he said, keep working on the things you would do if no one was paying you.

“I never thought I was ever going to make a living building computers because back then engineers were analog, they created radio and telephones,” Wozniak said.

Understanding that entrepreneurs like Wozniak and Jobs need specialized resources like equipment, access to patents as well as intellectual capital and business resources, Rutgers University has $400 million in research funding, said Michael Pazzani, the vice president of research and economic development at the University.

Executive Director of the Rutgers Office of Technology and Commercialization Dipanjan Nag said the university takes inventions from Rutgers to the marketplace, either to companies or to licensing. Rutgers is also ranked as one of the top 10 universities in the country for start ups.

As part of Entrepreneurship Day, startups and early stage companies were provided a space in the College Avenue Gym to show their ideas and products.

Jason Halpern, the CEO of the startup PowerFlower Solar, a company that designs solar generators to reduce the cost of fuel in the military, was one of many entrepreneurs representing his company at the event.

While PowerFlower Solar company has raised $700,000 in government grants and private investment, Halpern and his team are also seeking an additional $150,000 to close its research and development phase.

Resilience and passion is key to embarking on an entrepreneurial venture Halpern said.

“You’re going to be wrong a lot, it’s a learning process and a great way to learn is to be wrong,” he said.

Initially their product was a lot different from their current solar tactical generator and the change had resulted from looking at other alternatives rather than blindly sticking with their initial idea.

Leah Brown, from Stone Ridge, N.Y., came in support of her son David Brown, who presented his product QR Yellow Pages.

As a mother of an entrepreneur and teacher, she said parents need to do whatever they can to support their children, encourage understanding and also to take advantage of the many activities New York and New Jersey has to offer like the Liberty Science Museum.

“Especially today because the United States is falling so far behind in terms of math and science, engaging our kids in those subjects is really important,” Brown said. “There are many creative ways to do this because math and science are very much related to art.”

Despite being young adults in their 20s with no savings, no generous family members available for funding and no business experience, Wozniak and Jobs set out to create a thriving company based on a couple of big ideas and the factor that unites all entrepreneurs - belief in oneself.

“If people are contradicting you and saying 'No this is not how it's done' you have to move in the direction that you know feels good,' ” he said. “If it's really different and disruptive there's no formula written for what's good and what's bad.”