Acquired · Jan 26TSMC founder Morris Chang
Gordon Campbell asked it for $50 million, then said he needed only $5 million since he would not build a fab. That and another startup's wafer request showed Chang fabless firms were coming.
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Company · Other
General Instrument
An American electronics company where Chang worked before TSMC.
What was said about General Instrument
Strategy and moats2
- Morris Chang saw fabless chip companies coming before TSMC had any▶ 2:16:30Hosts say TSMC's early customers were integrated chipmakers, which Chang knowingly accepted as a weak business to build capacity before the fabless wave.Acquired · TSMC founder Morris Chang
- Chang bet on chip designers who did not yet exist because fabs blocked them▶ 59:20Qualcomm, Broadcom, Marvell and Nvidia all grew up on this model, and Nvidia raised only $20 million and never built its own fab.Acquired · TSMC
Leadership and culture1
Acquired · Jan 26Acquired · Jan 20TSMC
Chang took the number two job there in 1984 but quit within a year as a poor fit. He saw chip designers there who wanted to leave but could not fund a fab.
Tips
- Chang bet on chip designers who did not yet exist because fabs blocked them▶ 59:20Qualcomm, Broadcom, Marvell and Nvidia all grew up on this model, and Nvidia raised only $20 million and never built its own fab.
- Texas Instruments moved Chang to consumer products on the belief a good manager can manage anything▶ 38:05Chang then spent a year at General Instrument, which he found a poor cultural fit, before going to Taiwan.
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