The big score
by Michael S. Malone · first published 1985
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Starting with the birth of Hewlett-Packard in the 1930s, Malone illustrates how decades of technological innovation, driven by the need for better hardware, laid the foundation for the meteoric rise of the Valley in the 1970s. Drawing on unvarnished interviews, he punctuates this history with incisive profiles of early luminaries, including William Shockley and Steve Jobs, when they were struggling entrepreneurs.
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Two that I found really helpful were The Big Score and The Intel Trinity by Michael Malone. Both cover the earlier years, but great history.
on “Ask HN: Best books to understand semiconductor business?” ↗Dude, it was right there in my post https://www.amazon.com/Big-Score-Billion-Dollar-Silicon/dp/1...
on “Ironies of Automation (1983) [pdf]” ↗Source: The Big Score: The Billion Dollar Story of Silicon Valley by Michael S. Malone "This process only seems straightforward. In reality, the entire operation has about as much built-in voodoo and superstition as a major…
on “Semiconductor chip yield superstition” ↗