#165 William Shockley (Creator of the Electronic Age)
Feb 1, 2021
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William Shockley, Creator of the Electronic Age, discussed his life and struggles with success. From his passive involvement in his group's success to his frustration with not having a significant inventive contribution. Shockley's abusive behavior, limited people skills, and flawed management led to the downfall of his semiconductor company.
William Shockley's brilliance as a physicist was overshadowed by his flawed personality and inability to collaborate effectively.
The rebellion of the 'traitorous eight' against Shockley's management style was a pivotal moment in Silicon Valley's history.
Noise's departure from Shockley Semiconductor and the subsequent founding of Fairchild Semiconductor laid the foundation for the thriving tech ecosystem in Silicon Valley.
Deep dives
The Power of ReadWise for Podcasters
In this podcast episode, the host shares his personal experience with using ReadWise. ReadWise is a product that allows users to organize and reference their book highlights and notes. The host explains how he became a super user of ReadWise, adding over 20,000 highlights and notes for the books he has read for his podcast. He praises ReadWise for its functionality, allowing him to search and review all his notes and highlights easily. As a result of his positive experience, the host decided to collaborate with ReadWise to create a product where people can subscribe to access his own notes and highlights. He shares details about this new product and encourages founders and entrepreneurs to test it out.
The Rise and Fall of William Shockley
In this podcast episode, the host discusses the book 'Broken Genius: The Rise and Fall of William Shockley, the Creator of the Electronic Age' by Joel Shurkin. The book delves into the life of William Shockley, a key figure in the development of the modern transistor and a Nobel laureate. The host highlights Shockley's brilliance as a physicist but explores his flawed personality, which hindered his relationships with colleagues, friends, and family. The episode reveals Shockley's struggles to manage and collaborate with others, leading to the downfall of his company, Shockley Semiconductor. The summary emphasizes the importance of effective teamwork, highlighting the contrast between Shockley's leadership style and the successful collaborative approach of his former employees who went on to found influential companies in Silicon Valley.
Avoiding Shockley's Mistakes in Building a Company
This podcast episode focuses on the mistakes made by William Shockley in building his company, Shockley Semiconductor, and how aspiring entrepreneurs can learn from them. The summary highlights Shockley's misguided approach to managing and motivating people, which led to conflicts and the eventual departure of his talented employees. The rebellion of the 'traitorous eight,' as they became known, is seen as a pivotal moment in Silicon Valley's history. The summary emphasizes that entrepreneurs should prioritize effective teamwork, listen to their employees' input, and consider the market demand for their products. By avoiding Shockley's mistakes, entrepreneurs can increase their chances of building successful and innovative companies.
The Birth of Silicon Valley and the Traitorous Eight
In this podcast episode, the host explores the pivotal event known as the 'traitorous eight' and its significance in the birth of Silicon Valley. The summary explains how a group of talented researchers at Shockley Semiconductor, led by Robert Noise, decided to leave the company due to disagreements with William Shockley's management style and technical decisions. The episode highlights the importance of the traitorous eight's departure, as they went on to form their own companies, such as Fairchild Semiconductor, and later Intel. This act of rebellion and entrepreneurial spirit laid the foundation for the thriving tech ecosystem that is now known as Silicon Valley.
Importance of the Market
The podcast highlights the importance of the market in determining the success of a company. Using the example of Bob Noise and Intel, it is emphasized that being in the right market can pull a great product out of you. The market development that occurred after the launch of Sputnik created a demand for transistors, and Noise's company was well positioned to meet that demand while Shockley's company failed to do so. The lesson learned is that a great market can significantly impact a company's success.
The Negative Impact of Poor People Skills
The podcast delves into the life of Bill Shockley, highlighting his lack of people skills and the detrimental effects it had on his career and personal life. Shockley's arrogance and inability to work well with others led to the downfall of his company and strained relationships, including his own family. The contrast is drawn between Shockley and successful entrepreneurs like Bob Noise, who understood the importance of constantly learning and developing their people skills. The main takeaway is that building and maintaining positive relationships is key to success in business and life.
[1:19] Why would a man as unquestionably brilliant as he knowingly and deliberately destroy himself?
[5:04] Dear Jean: I am sorry that I feel I can no longer go on. Most of my life I have felt. that the world was not a pleasant place and that people were not a very admirable form of life. I find that I am particularly dissatisfied with myself and that most of my actions are the consequence of motives of which I am ashamed. Consequently, I must regard myself as less well suited than most to carry on with life and to develop the proper attitudes in our children. I hope you have better luck in the future. —Bill. He took out his revolver, put a bullet in one of the six chambers, put the gun to his head and pressed the trigger. Nothing happened. He put the gun away and wrote a second note.
[13:36] “My elation with the group’s success was balanced by the frustration of not being one of the inventors. I experienced frustration that my personal efforts had not resulted in a significant inventive contribution of my own.” Apparently his involvement was too passive to provide Shockley with the credit he craved.
[16:29] I am overwhelmed by an irresistible temptation to do my climbing by moonlight and unroped. This is contrary to all my rock climbing teaching and does not mean poor training but only a strong headedness.
[24:21] The rise and fall of Bill Shockley’s company took less than a year and a half. It profoundly affected Shockley, but had even more impact on the world around him and on our lives today. In all of the history of business, the failure of Shockley Semiconductor is in a class by itself.
[35:26] Shockley was often insulting, treating his employees the way he treated his sons, with no glimmer of sensitivity. His favorite crack, when he thought someone was wrong, was: ‘Are you sure you have a PhD?’ Worse of all, he could not keep himself from believing he was in competition with his employees. The very people he hired because they were so bright. He just didn’t want them to be as bright as he was. That his employees could come up with their own ideas did not register with him.
[46:07] Bob Noyce and Gordon Moore decided it was time to go and set up their own company. They raised the capital, based entirely on Noyce’s reputation, with one telephone call to Arthur Rock. They called the new company Intel. They lived Bill Shockley’s fantasy. They directed the flow of the technology and made billions.
[52:12] A genealogy of Silicon Valley showed that virtually every company in the valley could show a line leading directly to someone who worked at and eventually left Fairchild Semiconductor. Everyone from Fairchild originally came from Shockley Semiconductor. Shockley’s company was the seed of Silicon Valley.
[1:00:48] They called his personality “reverse charisma.”
[1:01:07] Alison read about her father’s death in the Washington Post. Emmy, obeying her husband’s last order, did not call her or Shockley’s sons. Emmy had her husband’s body cremated. She did not have a memorial service. It is not clear who would have come.
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