Reflection on ch14,19, and 22: A History of Silicon Valley

In A History of Silicon Valley, chapter 14 discusses lawyers and investment bankers in the valley and their role. These law firms were the “workhorse” that helped corporations in the Valley be successful. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Cooley, Fenwick and West, and Gunderson Detmer were among the largest law firms in Silicon Valley. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, based in the heart of Silicon Valley, in 2012 took on 300 public and over 3000 private cases. According to A History of Silicon Valley, some of these corporations were Apple, Novell, Micron Technology, and Netscape Communications. There model was to represent entrepreneurs and startups first, then the venture banks and firms second. They were building the recipe on how to build company. As the company’s they were representing grew, so did they. They did not want to hand them off to a larger firm. I am intrigued to see how law firms play a role in large corporations, and where might they be without them.  

In chapter 19 of A History of Silicon Valley, they discuss the early failure of products and way they failed in Silicon Valley.   From 1981 to 1987 the venture capital and startup industry went through a boom. Three products such as the Apple Newton, Go PenPoint OS and Commodore Amiga show a fine line between extremely successful and bankruptcy. This is based on an unprepared market with the wrong timing. Amiga had a case of a “startup taking on too big a problem with too little funding; its technology was promising but the early investors would not be able to capitalize on it” stated Arun Rao. Problems such as pre announcing, specs and a foray of handwriting haunted Apple’s Newton Personal Digital Assistant by John Sculley. With my upcoming visit to Silicon Valley, I am going to look for technology that is being produced and developed today for the future that will be released at the appropriate time. I also would like to the criteria they look at for a release date for new technology in the market. 

The most intriguing thing I am looking forward to is seeing all the startup companies. I find it very interesting that companies such as Oracle. Oracle in 1982 had 24 employees with revenues of $2.5 million. By 1987 revenues reached $100 million and only 2 short years later they brought in a profit of $584 million. Oracle is the perfect example of a company I would like to see at Silicon Valley. I would like to analyze how they manage such rapid growth in a short amount of time.