Intel? The company has massive problems now, but many of the larger scale pivots in its history were not the work of Moore or Noyce. Now, we can debate whether

Intel? The company has massive problems now, but many of the larger scale pivots in its history were not the work of Moore or Noyce. Now, we can debate whether Andy Grove counts (and I tend to say no, because though not technically a founder, he was employee number 3 and there from the day the company was incorporated), but looking at someone like Paul Otellini, who most definitely helped turn the company around, I think that's a good example. Otellini missed mobile, a massive, massive problem -- but I don't think there is any evidence to suggest that Grove would've necessarily done better. It's hard to say. And if we want to go further back, I would argue that IBM was never led by its founders. Watson wasn't a founder; he came into what became IBM as a hired manager. One could argue his son was "more" of a founder because he grew up seeped into the culture of what IBM became and he definitely helped lead the company to greatness. But subsequent CEOs like Frank Cary and Louis Gerstner really did the big turnarounds and pivots.