Davidow, Bill (William) oral history

William "Bill" Davidow spent his entire business career in the high tech industry -- as an executive at companies such as Hewlett-Packard and Intel, as an author of three books and as a successful venture capitalist who invested primarily in semiconductor related companies. He earned a BA summa cum laude (1957) and an MS (1958), both in electrical engineering, from Dartmouth College, and a PhD in electrical engineering from Stanford University in 1961. He also took graduate courses at Caltech before earning his doctorate. In this oral history, Bill discusses family background, his early years as a student and the inspiration that caused him to become an engineer. Experiences at General Electric and Hewlett-Packard laid the foundation for his role as the marketing leader of Intel's charge into the microprocessor market. His membership on Intel's 1975-1985 iconic executive staff and his relationships with Drs. Moore, Noyce and Grove are also covered. While at Intel, he held a variety of positions including senior vice president of marketing and sales, vice president of the microcomputer division, and vice president of the microcomputer systems division. When he left Intel, Bill founded a venture capital firm, Mohr Davidow Ventures with Lawrence Mohr and invested in and mentored a variety of successful entrepreneurial ventures. During this time he also served on the Board of trustees for the California institute of Technology. Dr. Davidow authored three books: Marketing High Technology (1986), Total Customer Service (1989), and The Virtual Corporation (1992).