Wristband Company Learned from Steve Jobs

Every startup company has its history. One company, which has now sold millions of ear buds and is on the verge of announcing a new health monitor rubber wristband , learned how to succeed by being reprimanded from the late Steve Jobs. According to SFGate.com : “Hosain Rahman met Steve Jobs in 2004; it did not go well. Rahman's 5-year-old startup, Aliph, was about to begin selling headsets for mobile phones, and one of his investors had arranged for him to show Jobs his first creation, a stylish earpiece connected to a phone with a thick cord. Jobs hated it. In an hour-long session in Apple's offices, Jobs intuitively exposed every shortcut the company had taken. "It was a shellacking," Rahman said. "It was one of the most painful and formative experiences of my life." Rahman says that conversation was a turning point for the company now known as Jawbone. After that meeting, the San Francisco company began work on an updated device and has now sold 10 million Bluetooth earpieces, making it one of the largest makers of headsets in the world. Jawbone also has begun positioning itself in a very Apple-like way, as a maker of consumer products that combine intricately designed hardware and easy-to-use software. Last year, Jawbone introduced a well-regarded wireless speaker, called the Jambox. And on Sunday it will begin selling UP, a sensor-laden wristband that connects wirelessly to a mobile phone and tracks elements of the wearer's health, such as sleep patterns and physical activity.” Do you own a small company? How did you learn to succeed?