In July 1968, Life Magazine published one of the most haunting covers in American media history—starving children from the Biafra War staring back at readers from newsstands across the country.
A 13-year-old Steve Jobs saw that cover. He didn’t just feel sad. He did something most kids—and most adults—would never dream of doing.
He marched into Sunday school the following week, held up the magazine cover, & confronted the pastor directly.
“If I raise my finger,” he asked, “will God know which one I’m going to raise even before I do it?”
“Yes,” the pastor answered. “God knows everything.”
Steve then held up the Life cover. “Well, does God know about this? And what’s going to happen to those children?”
The pastor replied, “Steve, I know you don’t understand, but yes, God knows about that.”
Jobs walked out and never went back to church.
This wasn’t teenage rebellion. It was something far more rare: the refusal to accept unsatisfying answers from authority figures.
It’s the same trait that would later help him build Apple into the most valuable company on Earth. And it’s a trait that every home business entrepreneur needs to cultivate.
Here are 3 stories from Jobs’ early life that reveal how successful entrepreneurs, think differently.
1. Question Authority (Respectfully, But Relentlessly)
The Story
That Sunday school confrontation wasn’t about being disrespectful or rebellious. Jobs genuinely wanted to understand. He was grappling with one of the oldest theological questions in human history—the problem of suffering. And when the answer he received didn’t satisfy him, he didn’t just swallow it and move on.
He made a decision. He would seek truth elsewhere.
Jobs spent years studying Zen Buddhism after that. As he later reflected, “Religion is at its best when it emphasizes spiritual experiences rather than received dogma.”
He also concluded “The juice goes out of Christianity when it becomes too based on faith rather than on living like Jesus or seeing the world as Jesus saw it.”
The Lesson for Home Business Entrepreneurs
In the home business world, you’ll encounter countless “authorities” telling you what’s possible and what isn’t. What you can do, and what you can’t.
People who say your market is ‘saturated’.
Family members who say online business is a scam.
‘Goo roos’ who insist there’s only one right way to succeed.
Question them. Respectfully, but relentlessly.
When someone tells you “that won’t work” or “you can’t do that,” don’t accept it at face value.
Ask: Why? And when their answer doesn’t satisfy you, seek other perspectives.
Find people who’ve done what you want to do and learn from them instead.
2. Be Boldly Assertive (The Doors You Don’t Knock On Stay Closed)
The Story
When Jobs was still a teenager, he decided to build a frequency counter—a device that measures electronic signal pulses.
There was just one problem: he needed parts that only Hewlett-Packard made.
So what did he do?
He picked up the phone book, looked up Bill Hewlett, co-founder of HP—and called him at home.
“Back then, people didn’t have unlisted numbers,” Jobs later explained. “So I looked up Bill Hewlett in Palo Alto and called him at home. And he answered and chatted with me for twenty minutes.”
Hewlett didn’t just give Jobs the parts. He gave him a summer job at HP’s plant where they made frequency counters.
The Lesson for Home Business Entrepreneurs
Most people never reach their goals because they never ask. They assume the answer will be no, so they don’t bother. They convince themselves they’re not ready, not worthy, not qualified.
Jobs didn’t have a business degree. He didn’t have a track record. He was a kid who wanted some electronic parts. But he understood something profound: the worst anyone can say is no.
One of my biggest breakthroughs in home business came when I realized that every conversation could be an opportunity. A chance for me to learn something from someone more successful than me, or a chance for me to share something valuable with someone else.
When I begin to look at my interactions as a learning opportunity, instead of a rejection minefield, every conversation became a seed planted—not a bomb to avoid.
This allowed me to stop tiptoeing and start moving forward with confidence.
3. Take Calculated Risks (Even When There’s a Gun Involved)
The Story
Before Macs & iPhones, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were selling something far less revolutionary: Blue Boxes.
Blue Boxes were devices that let you make free long-distance phone calls by tricking the telephone system.
And yes, totally illegal.
Wozniak had built this amazing little circuit board—but he would’ve been happy just using it himself. Jobs convinced him they could sell them.
“I got together the rest of the components, like the casing and power supply and keypads, and figured out how we could price it,” Jobs recalled. The parts cost about $40. They sold each Blue Box for $150.
They gave demonstrations in college dorms, made about a hundred of them and sold almost all.
Business was good and they were having fun.
Then one night, at a pizza parlor, Jobs pitched their Blue Box to some guys at the next table.
They were interested.
The “customers” said they needed to get money from their car.
“So we walk over to the car, Woz and me,” Jobs recounted, “and I’ve got the Blue Box in my hand, and the guy gets in, reaches under the seat, and he pulls out a gun.”
He points it at Steve’s stomach and says “Hand it over brother.”
Jobs thought about running. He thought about slamming the car door on the guy’s legs. But he calculated the risk in that split second and handed it over.
Strangely, the robber actually gave Jobs his phone number, and promised to pay laster if it worked.
Imagine making that follow up call.
Would you follow up with that kind of a prospect?
Jobs did. Turns out the gun toting prospect couldn’t get the product to work so Jobs set up a time to help him so he could close the sale. 😬
He ended up deciding that the risk of a 2nd meeting outweighed the potential $150 reward, and moved on to other prospects.
The Lesson for Home Business Entrepreneurs
Now, of course I’m not suggesting you sell illegal devices or meet with armed criminals. But notice what Jobs took away from the Blue Box adventure:
“If it hadn’t been for the Blue Boxes, there wouldn’t have been an Apple. I’m 100% sure of that. Woz and I learned how to work together, and we gained the confidence that we could solve technical problems and actually put something into production.”
Every successful business involves risk. The question isn’t whether to take risks—it’s which risks are worth taking. Jobs learned to evaluate opportunities quickly, move decisively, and not let fear of failure stop him from trying.
Your home business demands the same time of decisive action, and willingness to learn on the job.
The Thread That Ties It All Together
Steve Jobs wasn’t born a billionaire. He wasn’t handed opportunities on a silver platter. He was an adopted child, raised in a middle class family.
What set him apart wasn’t his wealth or family connections. It was his mindset:
He questioned authority instead of blindly accepting what he was told.
He asked for what he wanted instead of assuming the answer would be no.
He took calculated risks instead of waiting for the perfect timing.
That 13-year-old who confronted his pastor, called a CEO at home, and followed up with an armed robber—he didn’t become Steve Jobs because he had a crystal ball.
He just had the audacity to question and to act.
Your home business doesn’t need you to be a genius—it just needs you to be bold, and the only one who can stop you from being bold, is yourself.
Thanks for reading and whatever you do, always go for your dreams!
PS: Pretty crazy that he followed up with a prospect who pulled a gun him right? Have you ever followed up with a prospect that scary?
Would love to hear your thoughts below.