'Let's remember that millions of young people who have had the misfortune of being born in the wrong national boundaries are going through all the horrors that Ben described. I made it. Let’s try in a little way to help them make it.'
I was hugely influenced by reading Grove's writing. He had phenomenal impact as a technologist, even bigger as a technology leader, and yet more educating other technology leaders. Under his watch Intel was one of the few companies to avoid the innovator's dilemma, and he wrote about how others could avoid it too.
Just read about Andy Grove yesterday in The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution by Walter Isaacson. Great book (though its thesis and the story in the book would contradict the assertion that a single man built Silicon Valley).
It would be nice if hero worship got reduced. When something succeeds there are tons of people who contribute to that success and not only the guy at the top. Grove was certainly a smart guy but he did not make Silicon Valley. He was one among many people that made Silicon Valley.
Andy Grove: the man, the myth, the legend, but the first? Companies were around before Intel, but Andy Grove was the one who revolutionized Silicon Valley. He was the Wayne Gretzky of hockey.
There's no doubt as to the magnitude of Grove's influence, but the assertion might be a little strong.
I'd argue the Traitorous Eight were the first to break the cultural mold and set the tone for modern entrepreneurship in the Valley. Two of the traitorous eight (Bob Noyce and Gordon Moore) later founded Intel, and another (Eugene Kleiner) established one of the Valley's most storied VC firms.
The culture of the Valley is really interesting, Stanford Professor Frederick Terman probably should get the most credit. He influenced companies from the very beginning.
Also Hewlett and Packard are often cited as the two that really set the tone and culture of valley, The HP Way management style was modeled by numerous companies.
Hewlett and Packard were influenced greatly by the Varian brothers whose company in the 40's were some of the first to have radical ideas of profit-sharing, stock-ownership, insurance, and retirement plans for employees.
Fairchild still had the Eastern company mindset of top down driven which with poor management led to the Traitorous Eight but the culture was already started in the Valley.
I agree it is silly to say a company was built by one man. Shockley was founded in 56, Intel in 68, so not sure if I would call that 'decades', though. I don't think any of the other early SV companies were as successful as Intel either.
Well the funny thing is that the US Government Missle Program is really what built Silicon Valley (Intel) - if it weren't for that defense contract, for weapons of the Cold War, we really wouldn't be where we are today.
Not quite, radio, radar and microwaves were all prior to missile programs; but yes definitely military spending helped fund the Valley without a doubt. It's not a coincidence that Moffet Field is in the center of Silicon Valley.
We are probably "arguing" the same point - my point was the technology started in the Valley even before the microchip, but yes primarily all military focused
Steve Jobs - hipster IP thief whole stole every last idea from Xerox PARC shamelessly. Real talent was Woz. Jobs was an aggressive, rude, lucky marketing machine whose success could not be recreated even if he was reincarnated. Apple has huge amounts of money and employees, but a year of work from IP4S to IP5 produced an extra row of Icons and a $650 dollar IP5 that still caters to carrier lockins. Little brat Apple trying to sue Samsung while Android has captured over 50% market share.
Without Steve Jobs we would have: No overpriced poorly supported iProducts, No hyper expensive laptops, anti-standard non-USB connectors, ruthlessly jailed operating systems.
Without Andy Grove : No x86 - the ultimate revolution in tech the world has ever seen, inexpensive, effective and universal.
When Jobs died it was like a third world funeral for a Dictator. Andy dies, nothing from the media. ..
Apple shipped the first mainstream products with USB.
" Apple Inc.'s iMac was the first mainstream product with USB and the iMac's success popularized USB itself.[15]" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB
I built my own PCs at the time. it took about 5 years before USB gained wide adoption. Today the smaller, reversible, faster, USB C standard is on the verge of becoming a standard. I feel like it's the late 90s all over again. Apple first and the PC industry taking its good old time. Why is it so difficult to ship a couple new ports, along with that legacy USB?
