Founders · How The Sun Rose On Silicon Valley: Bob Noyce (Founder of Intel)
Acquired · Jan 26TSMC founder Morris Chang
Chang's R&D requests (4.8% of revenue versus 5.5% wanted) were always denied there, inspiring his fixed 8% at TSMC. Around 1970 he worked two years with BCG's Bill Bain on the learning curve, and he alone opposed a performance-rating layoff.
Tips
- Morris Chang fixed TSMC's R&D budget at 8% of revenue to end yearly fights▶ 41:30The fixed budget fed the push to 28nm, which Chang says propelled TSMC's effort from 2010.
- Morris Chang refused to lay off staff by performance rating▶ 19:40Hundreds of laid off staff protested outside his home, and Chang took back the CEO job and offered to rehire anyone who wanted to return.
- Morris Chang built TSMC on the learning curve and never planned to stop at two fabs▶ 2:02:18Hosts Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal note the semiconductor market grew from 26 billion dollars to 527 billion since TSMC's 1987 founding.
