Title
Stata, Ray oral historyCatalog Number
102738012Type
Moving imageDescription
Ray Stata is an exceptionally successful entrepreneur and venture capitalist. He was born in Pennsylvania farm country and attended MIT. He earned a masters degree in Electrical engineering and went to work for Hewlett Packard.His early assignments at HP took him to California, but after about 18 months he moved back to Boston, continuing to work for HP. He decided to enter sales, as he felt that would provide valuable experience towards his ultimate goal of running his own company.
His work at HP and previous co-op positions at MIT introduced him to the world of instrumentation. This experience taught him the central role that operational amplifiers (op amps) had in such products. A chance meeting with a former classmate led eventually to their starting a company together. In 1965, they founded a second company, Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI). Advanced engineering and careful listening to their customers to define new products allowed the company to grow rapidly. ADI went public in 1969, only 4 years after founding.
Stata served as CEO from 1973 to 1996. He started his own venture capital firm, called Stata Venture Partners and has served on the board of a number of organizations, including as a Trustee of MIT.
Date
2015-11-16Participants
Hendrie, Gardner, interviewer |
Stata, Ray, interviewee |