Inside Intel: Andy Grove and the Rise of the World's Most Powerful Chip Company [Paperback]

Tim Jackson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1998

Named one of the Best Business Books of 1997 by Business Week, Inside Intel is the gripping business saga of a company that rose to dominance through technological innovation, and maintained its leadership against competitors through aggressive marketing, tough business tactics, and liberal use of legal firepower. In his in-depth portrait of Intel, the first history/expose of the company, Financial Times columnist Tim Jackson reveals that: *

Intel's corporate culture is determinedly secretive and authoritarian. *

The company retains its own force of private investigators to prevent its employees from going astray. *

Intel routinely uses the threat of lawsuits against workers and rivals. At the center of this story is Andy Grove, Intel's high-profile CEO and chairman, once a penniless immigrant who waited tables to put himself through college. It is Grove who has made the unpopular decisions which have kept Intel at the top of the chip market. Exhaustively researched from court records, unpublished documents, and interviews with Intel's competitors, partners, and past and present employees, Jackson traces the company's spectacular failures and successes, as well as the powerful human struggles that have made Intel one of the most competitive players in a high-stakes game.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Eighty percent of today's desktop computers operate on chips produced by Intel Corporation, which is now a more profitable company than the top 10 PC makers combined. But just how did the company, under CEO Andrew Grove, become so powerful? And what does its position mean to those who depend upon it? By combining public records, private documents, and interviews with more than 100 of those who know the company best, Financial Times columnist Tim Jackson has produced the fascinating, definitive story: Inside Intel: Andy Grove and the Rise of the World's Most Powerful Chip Company. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Hard-driven CEO and chairman Grove has dominated Intel since shortly after its founding in 1968. He focused the company on setting goals and achieving results. As Jackson, a columnist for the Financial Times, points out in his excellent book, Grove was also largely responsible for Intel's arrogance toward customers, aggression toward competitors, and pettiness toward employees. Intel's success came from being on the cutting edge of semiconductor technology with innovative products like the DRAM, EPROM, and microprocessor. Nevertheless, lack of foresight lost Intel its memory-chip business, and only a last-minute marketing effort saved its dominant position in microprocessors. The author draws on interviews as well as published and unpublished sources to produce this well-written and -documented business and technical history. Highly recommended for all libraries as a window into one of the world's most important companies and its methods.?Lawrence Maxted, Gannon Univ., Erie, Pa.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Plume (November 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452276438
• ISBN-13: 978-0452276437
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.9 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #352,175 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Greate insight into a fascinating company, November 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Inside Intel: Andy Grove and the Rise of the World's Most Powerful Chip Company (Paperback)

As a former Intel employee, I feel that Tim Jackson got an in-depth understanding of the dual face that Intel has. On one hand, it is one of the most exciting companies in the world today - full of clever people with bright ideas, who create one of the most exciting products in today's world. Intel gives its employees the opportunity to be an active part of the technologic revolution. It also made many employees rich by giving them stock options (although it was much less generous than other companies in the high-tech business, like Microsoft). On the other hand, if the big companies of today are like independent countries, then Intel resembles the former Soviet Union. The walls at Intel's sites are all covered with propaganda posters about how Intel is "A great place to work", and how "Intel culture" makes sure that it will always be so (pretty much like "the communist heaven"...). Employees get regular lessons in "Intel Culture" and its principles - like "Constructive Confrontation" "One on One" "Intel Management by Objective" - teaching them how these great principles make sure that their voice is heard, that they will have an open door in the upper management, and they will be able to express their ideas freely. In practice, however, employees soon find out that the system's main purpose is to provide management a tight control over the ordinary engineers, and make sure that everybody "stays in line", and avoid criticism. The hierarchical system of "key results" and periodical reviews makes sure that any manager would be able to get rid of "trouble makers" reporting to him as soon as possible. As a result, internal politics and the pressure on the workers constantly grow. (In my opinion, this is the reason why Intel couldn't convert its great success in building processors to any other field - like software development or networking products - despite huge investments in these fields). It is amazing that Mr. Jackson had never been an Inter employee himself - as his book gives a fair and accurate description of what it is like inside Intel - with the good and the bad parts.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Engaging, with a nice sharp edge, December 25, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Inside Intel: Andrew Grove and the Rise of the World's Most Powerful Chip Company (Hardcover)

This is a highly engaging book. As a former Intel customer, now in recovery, I feel that this book can give the general audience an authentic taste both of the history of ingenuity and energy inside Intel, and of their sometimes incredible and insufferable arrogance.

I especially appreciated the enlightening and lively accounts of Dov Frohman's discovery and exploitation of floating gate technology for EPROMs, and of Tim May's discovery of alpha particle-induced errors.

It is unfortunate that Jackson did not relate the Intel / Nippon Steel flash memory production fiasco. This might easily rank #2 (behind Pentium FDIV) on the arrogance-toward-customers list, and is a pile of muck very ripe for a good raking.

The book seems nearly deserving of a 10, but some history, particularly from the 8008 and 8080 eras, did not quite match my recollection, and might have benefitted from more extensive fact-checking.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best book to read for engrs contemplating joining Intel, June 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Inside Intel: Andrew Grove and the Rise of the World's Most Powerful Chip Company (Hardcover)

If you are an engineer contemplating joining Intel read this book. You will have one of two reactions afterwards. You will be even more enthusiastic about joining a no nonsense, very well run company, or you will run like hell away from Intel. Take it from me, an Intel newbee, this book lets you know what Intel is all about.