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Andrew Grove
CEO, Intel
To some, the entrepreneurs driving the digital revolution can often seem like alien forces: intensely focused nerds who see nothing beyond the microchip and the market, unengaging on the repercussions of their ground-breaking work on government and society as a whole.
Andrew Grove, survivor of the Nazis and the Communists, hard-headed CEO of the toughest competitor in the hardware business, Intel, is certainly an exception to this. A Jew who survived wartime Budapest only to flee Hungary when the Communist tanks rolled in during 1956, Grove fits neatly the archetypal American Dream: an 18 year old immigrant who through sheer self-persistence helped to build one of the world's most powerful companies.
In 1992, when Grove spoke at the Club, the digital revolution was ready to roll over all before it in the 1990s. For Grove, this was an 'inflection point' for government, where it needed to learn from the success of lean and mean companies such as Intel.
Grove emphasised the importance of Intel's stern cost-cutting and competitive maneuvers as essential to his company's success: "In 1992 Intel became the largest worldwide manufacturer of semiconductors, as a direct consequence of the tough decisions we made at our inflection point."
Intel's dominance in the microchip market is often put down to Grove's ruthless management approach, crushing all competition over the past 30 years. Such success has brought them as much criticism as plaudits, bringing complaints of monopoly, a 'Wintel' alliance with Microsoft that unfairly skewed the market to their mutual benefit. Quite clearly, Grove would give such claims short shrift, and as with Microsoft, the historical dust will not settle for a long time to come.
What is indisputable is that a whole generation of Silicon Valley managers have learned from Grove's driven approach: during one financial crisis for Intel, Grove's way out was to demand, and receive, 125% performance from workers for the same 100% pay.
By molding the uncompromising leadership style of the digital revolution in Silicon Valley, the Hungarian immigrant fleeing communism gave American capitalism an even sharper edge. In his speech to the Cub, Grove expoliated how he felt government should learn from the lessons of Intel's revolutionary management strategy.
