Title
Coleman, Ken oral historyCatalog Number
102740137Type
Moving imageDescription
A math major at Ohio State, Coleman came to the Bay area with the Air Force. Upon leaving the Air Force, Roy Clay at Hewlett-Packard hired him as a recruiter. His first job, 1972, was looking at 100 resumes per day for HP’s new computer division. Shortly, HP sent him to Northern Europe to set up a Human Resources group, then as 4th person at HP’s 3000 team.Coleman describes work at HP, Activision and Silicon Graphics, and the evolution of his skillset from HR to legal to operations, becoming the Chief Administrative Officer of Silicon Graphics where he commissioned and oversaw the construction of the Computer History Museum’s headquarters building. He served first as CAO, then VP of Service, then VP of Sales, as SGI grew from $10 Million to $4 Billion in revenue. Coleman discusses SGI evolution and key contributions of players like Ramsey, McCracken, Clark, Baskett, and VC Kramlich.
Coleman, the Valley’s first black recruiter, discusses diversity in hiring at length; he now serves as Advisor to the Andreesen/Horowitz investment firm.
Date
2017-03-15Participants
Coleman, Ken, Interviewee |
House, Charles, Interviewer |
Publisher
Computer History MuseumPlace of Publication
Mountain View, CADuration
01:09:45Format
MOVCategory
Oral historySubject
Hewlett-Packard; Silicon Graphics; Diversity; Crawford Beveridge; Doyle, John; Levy, Ken; Ramsey, Mike; Baskett, Forest; McCracken, Ed; Clark, Jim; Lauer, Gary; Kramlich, C. RichardCredit
Computer History MuseumLot Number
X8129.2017Related Records
102740136 | Coleman, Ken oral history |