The Slash a Dash C O M

3min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

In 1980, the company gets acquired by an East Coast radio technology company called Macom. It used to be actually Macom and then it, you know, this like weird 80s branding stuff. They changed the brand to M slash A dash C O M microwave communications,. Anyway, they sell the business for 25 million bucks in 1980, which like nice early when not bad for some former academics. In 1985, a leadership change at Macom forces them out of their job. The wireless communications industry is kind of just getting started. And that's where Linkabit came from.

Qualcomm, or “Quality Communications” — despite being one of the largest technology companies in the world, few people know the absolutely amazing technological and business history behind it. Seriously, this story is on par with Nvidia, TSMC and all the great semiconductor giants. Without this single fabless company based in San Diego, there’s almost no chance you’d be consuming this episode on whatever device you’re currently listening on — a fact that enables them to earn an incredible estimated $20 for every new phone sold in the world. We dive into this story live at the perfect venue: our first-ever European live show at Solana’s Breakpoint conference in beautiful Lisbon, Portugal!

If you want more Acquired, you can follow our public LP Show feed here in the podcast player of your choice (including Spotify!).

Links:

Sponsors:
Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig24
Vanta: https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta
Crusoe: https://bit.ly/acquiredcrusoe

‍Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.