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But as the years passed, as I dealt with hundreds of entrepreneurs, and with Packard himself, I began to understand that the key to the greatness of Bill Hewlet

by whyenot 16y ago

But as the years passed, as I dealt with hundreds of entrepreneurs, and with Packard himself, I began to understand that the key to the greatness of Bill Hewlett and David Packard was that they held no attachment to things, only people. The garage was left behind, as would be, in time, the redwood building. So too was the audio oscillator and thousands of other products--all abandoned in the endless pursuit of something better. Only the people remained, and they were cherished and respected, far more than by any corporation in history. - Michael Malone http://www.forbes.com/2000/10/19/1019malone.html http://www.forbes.com/2000/10/19/1019malone.html Mark Hurd did not fit in this mold. Neither did Fiorina.

krupan 16y ago
Carly at least paid it some lip service to respecting the people of HP. Mark worked really hard to completely remove that culture.
potatolicious 16y ago
The curse of the publicly traded company, after the founders retire. There are precious few companies that can survive this transition - as the principled, long-term management style is swapped out for quick profits and lowest-common-denominator management.
flatulent1 16y ago
I suspect there's more of the early HP spirit at Agilent than at HP. Somehow when Compaq got the HP computer division, they got the name too, and the very cool test equipment part of HP got the new name Agilent. (This is my recollection, I'm sure the wikipedia has a much more detailed history) I chuckle when I see the old tube-type HP gear as movie props. The HP 330 series distortion analyzer has had many appearances including on the wall in the presidents office in Battlestar Galactica. HP and Tektronix certainly have had many years as favorites for much of their test gear. Much older equipment is still in use. It's an eye opener to see the circuit boards with all the traces covered in gold. Not just an edge connector... the entire boards. Time to dust off my favorite early piece, the HP 300 Harmonic Wave Analyzer... http://www.kennethkuhn.com/hpmuseum/ http://www.kennethkuhn.com/hpmuseum/

by whyenot 16y ago

krupan 16y ago

Carly at least paid it some lip service to respecting the people of HP. Mark worked really hard to completely remove that culture.

potatolicious 16y ago

The curse of the publicly traded company, after the founders retire. There are precious few companies that can survive this transition - as the principled, long-term management style is swapped out for quick profits and lowest-common-denominator management.

flatulent1 16y ago

I suspect there's more of the early HP spirit at Agilent than at HP. Somehow when Compaq got the HP computer division, they got the name too, and the very cool test equipment part of HP got the new name Agilent. (This is my recollection, I'm sure the wikipedia has a much more detailed history) I chuckle when I see the old tube-type HP gear as movie props. The HP 330 series distortion analyzer has had many appearances including on the wall in the presidents office in Battlestar Galactica. HP and Tektronix certainly have had many years as favorites for much of their test gear. Much older equipment is still in use. It's an eye opener to see the circuit boards with all the traces covered in gold. Not just an edge connector... the entire boards. Time to dust off my favorite early piece, the HP 300 Harmonic Wave Analyzer... http://www.kennethkuhn.com/hpmuseum/ http://www.kennethkuhn.com/hpmuseum/