4 ms·
I think it reads more as a story of what happens when there are factors outside of your control while running your company. They could do nothing about the IBM
by comrade1 11y ago
I think it reads more as a story of what happens when there are factors outside of your control while running your company. They could do nothing about the IBM PC and they even knew that IBM was mimicing their business strategy, and yet there was nothing they could do. IBM couldn't work with them because they couldn't handle the volume.
They knew their end was coming and they all exited the company when they saw what was coming. I think they showed themselves to be much more savvy then you give them credit for.
Today, it would be like you finding out that Google is about to come to compete with you.
They did great, I think. They did an IPO, cashed out, stuck the investors with the shitty stock, gave all of their employees significant stock grants, and went on to live nice lives. That's everyone's HN dream.
- zeteo 11y ago> They could do nothing about the IBM PC Except for doing what the engineering guy had proposed - selling an IBM PC compatible machine. PC clones became a huge industry in the mid '80s. The first Compaq was sold in 1982, the first Dell in 1985. It looks like Vector missed out on this very lucrative market because of the rift between its engineering and management.
- _yosefk 11y agoEveryone's dream? I dunno, getting life-changingly rich by selling worthless stock is kinda scary, much more so than winning a lottery (and I never bought a ticket because, among other things, winning is irksome.) It'd kinda ruin it for me. I mean, I'm in it for the money and all, but one needs a lot of contempt for the guy stuck with worthless stock to feel perfectly fine with the outcome. Unless you genuinely thought it was a good deal for the buyer and even then its disappointing a bit
- danmaz74 11y ago> They could do nothing about the IBM PC and they even knew that IBM was mimicing their business strategy, and yet there was nothing they could do Actually, they could have done what one of the founders suggested, and actually did after leaving the company: create an IBM compatible system. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corona_Data_Systems https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corona_Data_Systems
- mintplant 11y agoReading through the "History" section, it doesn't seem like Corona fared well at all.
- asavadatti 11y agoAt least he tried and failed instead of just giving up.
- drfuchs 11y agoI bought a PC-compatible from Corona circa 1983 after my extensive research showed it had better technology (and thus more of a chance of corporate survival) than the also-newly-created Compaq.