4 ms·

There is a very good argument that the real inheritor of the HP DNA is Keysight.

by Aloha 3y ago

scrlk 3y ago
I've said this before, but it's a shame that the HP brand didn't end up with Agilent/Keysight. What was once a well respected name has been destroyed over the last 25 years, and is now synonymous with terrible printers and computers.
- AlbertCory 3y ago
  Yes. I even did some market cap comparisons between Agilent / Keysight (and there are other spinoffs and semi-spinoffs) and HPE. HPE loses. The real villain, which you won't get from the press but the book tells you, is Richard Hackborn. He was offered the job before Fiorina, and turned it down. https://archive.ph/5ijLo https://archive.ph/5ijLo https://www.nndb.com/people/181/000124806/ https://www.nndb.com/people/181/000124806/ Hackborn was the genius behind their laser printer business. He hated HQ and stayed in Boise, which is probably why he didn't want the top job. But he was Fiorina's champion all the way through the Compaq merger debacle.
  - scrlk 3y ago
    Interesting, I'll have to get a copy of that book. It goes to show how difficult succession planning and keeping a culture is, once the founders retire or leave. I'm reminded of the "HP Origins" video from 2006. There's a clip of Bill Hewlett towards the end, talking about the HP Way: > "We hope that the people that'll follow us will have the same ideas...I don't think that a lot of these fundamental positions are going to change very much; they're too ingrained in the organisation." [0] Sadly, this didn't come to pass. [0] https://youtu.be/Iqv6DhtLay4?t=1327 https://youtu.be/Iqv6DhtLay4?t=1327
    - AlbertCory 3y ago
      Funny, my knowledge of HP (three separate visits) came from the John Young / Lew Platt eras. I thought they were already getting stodgy and mediocre, although the folks were just great to work with. No big egos at all. It was a nice company. Walter Hewlett and David Packard, Jr. really should have been groomed to take over. No skin in the game like having your name on the company.

There is a very good argument that the real inheritor of the HP DNA is Keysight.

by Aloha 3y ago

There is a very good argument that the real inheritor of the HP DNA is Keysight.

I've said this before, but it's a shame that the HP brand didn't end up with Agilent/Keysight. What was once a well respected name has been destroyed over the last 25 years, and is now synonymous with terrible printers and computers.

AlbertCory 3y ago
Yes. I even did some market cap comparisons between Agilent / Keysight (and there are other spinoffs and semi-spinoffs) and HPE. HPE loses. The real villain, which you won't get from the press but the book tells you, is Richard Hackborn. He was offered the job before Fiorina, and turned it down. https://archive.ph/5ijLo https://archive.ph/5ijLo https://www.nndb.com/people/181/000124806/ https://www.nndb.com/people/181/000124806/ Hackborn was the genius behind their laser printer business. He hated HQ and stayed in Boise, which is probably why he didn't want the top job. But he was Fiorina's champion all the way through the Compaq merger debacle.
- scrlk 3y ago
  Interesting, I'll have to get a copy of that book. It goes to show how difficult succession planning and keeping a culture is, once the founders retire or leave. I'm reminded of the "HP Origins" video from 2006. There's a clip of Bill Hewlett towards the end, talking about the HP Way: > "We hope that the people that'll follow us will have the same ideas...I don't think that a lot of these fundamental positions are going to change very much; they're too ingrained in the organisation." [0] Sadly, this didn't come to pass. [0] https://youtu.be/Iqv6DhtLay4?t=1327 https://youtu.be/Iqv6DhtLay4?t=1327
  - AlbertCory 3y ago
    Funny, my knowledge of HP (three separate visits) came from the John Young / Lew Platt eras. I thought they were already getting stodgy and mediocre, although the folks were just great to work with. No big egos at all. It was a nice company. Walter Hewlett and David Packard, Jr. really should have been groomed to take over. No skin in the game like having your name on the company.