When Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak realised it was time to listen to Steve Jobs’ advice

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has revealed the exact moment he realised it was time to listen to Steve Jobs and start their own company. Speaking recently during a commencement address at Grand Valley State University, the legendary engineer told graduates that his co-creation of Apple was never motivated by money, but rather born out of a string of corporate rejections from his dream job.“When you try things, they don’t have to be for obvious money,” Wozniak told the graduating class, adding, “When we started Apple, did I want to make money? Start a company? Start an industry? No.”Wozniak explained that he was simply driven by the passion for engineering and a desire to bring his vision of a personal computer to life. He also noted that he wanted to earn the respect of his peers in the early computing community.“I wanted other engineers or other computer people to look at my designs and say, ‘Whoa’ and appreciate me and my brilliance, ‘How did he come up with these things?’” Wozniak recalled.During the 1970s, after taking a temporary break from his degree program at the University of California, Berkeley, Wozniak landed a position at technology giant Hewlett-Packard (HP). At the time, the Apple cofounder believed he had found his permanent professional home and intended to spend his entire career working at the company.While working at HP, Wozniak designed what would eventually become the blueprint for the modern personal computer. He formally pitched his invention to HP leadership five separate times but each time, the company turned him down.It was only after being rejected for the fifth time that Wozniak finally began warming to a persistent suggestion from his close friend, Steve Jobs: that they abandon the corporate safety net and strike out on their own.That decision to finally listen to Jobs' advice laid the foundational groundwork for Apple. Alongside Jobs and Ronald Wayne, Wozniak officially co-founded the tech company in 1976. The company permanently reshape global technology and communication, sitting at the top of consumer electronics business.“Don’t follow the same steps as a million other people. “Think: ‘Is there something I can do a little different?”,” Wozniak advised the crowd.