Imagine you were creating the Macintosh computer. Or if you were creating the I-pad. What type of market research would you have forgone? Would you have conducted surveys to potential consumers? The reason Steve Jobs was so successful was surprisingly the fact that he did almost no market research. Many would find it hard to believe that Jobs view on market research and focus groups only limited one’s ability to innovate. When asked how much research was done to guide Apple when he introduced the I-Pad, Jobs said, “None. It isn’t the consumers’ job to know what they want. It’s hard for consumers to tell you what they want when they’ve never seen anything remotely like it.” The astounding thing about an entrepreneur is their vision to see ahead. They are always a few steps ahead of everyone else in terms of their vision. What differentiated Steve Jobs from others was his talent with technology. His vision was an extra few steps ahead of everyone else. A response to a reporter sums up to me what an entrepreneur is, “Did Alexander Graham Bell do any market research before he invented the telephone?”

A modern day Ashton Kutcher.