Oral History of Andy Bechtolsheim
Interviewed by Douglas Fairbairn, on 2015-07-17 in Mountain View, California, X7546.2016
© Computer History Museum
Born in 1955, Andy describes growing up in Germany in a small rural town in the shadow of the Alps. Although he had no direct outside influence, Andy quickly developed a keen interest in electrical and electronic devices. He turned his basement into his electronic workshop. When the microprocessor was developed in the early 1970’s he immediately recognized the unique potential of this new device, becoming a self-taught expert. While working at a local shop which did machine controllers, he developed the idea to replace the random logic controllers with a programmable machine. He built the device from scratch, programmed it in binary, and made a very successful business selling these controllers to this local shop.
After winning a national science fair award, he won a Fulbright scholarship to come study in the United States. He enrolled in Carnegie Mellon as a graduate student and earned a Master’s degree in 1976 at the age of 19. He transferred to Stanford University in 1977 where he came into contact with the work at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center. On seeing the Alto computer at PARC, he immediately realized it represented the future of computing. He embarked on building a similar personal workstation at Stanford where it became an immediate hit.
After several attempts to sell his workstation design to existing companies, he decided to once again start a company of his own, Sun Microsystems. After helping Sun grow into a major workstation vendor, Andy got the entrepreneurial itch again and started Granite Systems, a gigabit Ethernet company. Since then he has founded or funded many other companies, including being the first outside investor in Google. Andy is currently at his latest startup, Arista Networks, which went public in 2015.
* Note: Transcripts represent what was said in the interview. However, to enhance meaning or add clarification, interviewees have the opportunity to modify this text afterward. This may result in discrepancies between the transcript and the video. Please refer to the transcript for further information - http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102737929
Visit computerhistory.org/collections/oralhistories/ for more information about the Computer History Museum's Oral History Collection.
Catalog Number: 102737928
Lot Number: X7546.2016
Видео Oral History of Andy Bechtolsheim канала Computer History Museum
© Computer History Museum
Born in 1955, Andy describes growing up in Germany in a small rural town in the shadow of the Alps. Although he had no direct outside influence, Andy quickly developed a keen interest in electrical and electronic devices. He turned his basement into his electronic workshop. When the microprocessor was developed in the early 1970’s he immediately recognized the unique potential of this new device, becoming a self-taught expert. While working at a local shop which did machine controllers, he developed the idea to replace the random logic controllers with a programmable machine. He built the device from scratch, programmed it in binary, and made a very successful business selling these controllers to this local shop.
After winning a national science fair award, he won a Fulbright scholarship to come study in the United States. He enrolled in Carnegie Mellon as a graduate student and earned a Master’s degree in 1976 at the age of 19. He transferred to Stanford University in 1977 where he came into contact with the work at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center. On seeing the Alto computer at PARC, he immediately realized it represented the future of computing. He embarked on building a similar personal workstation at Stanford where it became an immediate hit.
After several attempts to sell his workstation design to existing companies, he decided to once again start a company of his own, Sun Microsystems. After helping Sun grow into a major workstation vendor, Andy got the entrepreneurial itch again and started Granite Systems, a gigabit Ethernet company. Since then he has founded or funded many other companies, including being the first outside investor in Google. Andy is currently at his latest startup, Arista Networks, which went public in 2015.
* Note: Transcripts represent what was said in the interview. However, to enhance meaning or add clarification, interviewees have the opportunity to modify this text afterward. This may result in discrepancies between the transcript and the video. Please refer to the transcript for further information - http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102737929
Visit computerhistory.org/collections/oralhistories/ for more information about the Computer History Museum's Oral History Collection.
Catalog Number: 102737928
Lot Number: X7546.2016
Видео Oral History of Andy Bechtolsheim канала Computer History Museum
Показать
Комментарии отсутствуют
Информация о видео
Другие видео канала
SD Forum : Grady Booch on The Limits of Software ParcOral History of William Carrico Jr. Part 2PLATO@50: Innovations in HardwareCHM Revolutionaries: SRI's Curt Carlson and Bill Mark in Conversation with John MarkoffProgramming the System of the World: The Industrial Internet of ThingsPhillip Moorby—2016 CHM FellowLegacy of Gary Kildall: The CP/M IEEE Milestone DedicationOral History of Regis McKenna, part 1 of 8Technology Legend: Honoring Douglas EngelbartOral History of Liz CrewsOral History of Aaron Marcus2019 Fellows Awards: ceremonyIntel 4004 / MCS-4 50th Anniversary Celebration2022 Fellow Award CeremonyCHM Live | Quantum QuestionsCache-Coherent Multiprocessors, lecture by Forest BaskettIEEE Milestone Dedication: SHAKEY, The First Robot with Artificial Intelligence (1966-1972)Oral History of John L. HennessyOral History of David HamptonCHM Live | Technically Speaking | Minitel: The Web before the WebOral History of Mark Bertelsen