The Ultimate Entrepreneur: The Story of Ken Olsen and Digital Equipment Corporation

The book was written with perfect mistiming. In 1987-8. DEC's share price hit its all time peak in 87. At that time, DEC was doing superbly. It hired the QE2 for its 87 shareholders' meeting. And Ken Olsen was lauded by many as a genius. If you read this book, keep in mind that it reflects quite accurately the time in which it was written. For some of us who grew up using DEC's machines, the PDPs, DEC system 10, Vaxes and microVaxes, the book is a sad dirge. It accurately depicts that DEC missed out on the PC revolution. What DEC and the authors did not anticipate is how the PC market would grow and grow. So too, albeit on a smaller scale, the workstation market. DEC's workstation offerings were inferior to Sun's, and Sun ate their lunch. And DEC never had any significant PC-level machines. You can see in the book mention of workstations and PCs. But the trends continued after the book was published. Yes, Ken Olsen was a genius. He successfully noticed the gap in IBM's product line, and created the minicomputer market. But he and DEC did not transition to workstations and PCs. These would eventually led to DEC's demise. Now in 2006, to call Olsen the Ultimate Entrepreneur would be seen as risible.

For those who got into computing before the DEC (Digital Equipment Corp) and Compaq's merge, DEC's VAX/VMS, Alpha processor, elegant workstation and notebooks are way too familiar. This book gives an insight to the making of Digital. Ken Olsen and his people who took a $70,000 investment and turn Digital into to a Fortune 50 company worth over $25 billion. This is not today's silicon valley IPO thriller that an unprofitable company is worth $50 billion overnight. This is a book about a company in a competitive emerging market that survived and thrived. Digital has an irreplacable place in computer history. When IBM missed the minicomputer trend, Digital took it. Then both missed the PC trend (first IBM, then Digital). When Apple's order processing system run out of capacity, they was put on wait list for Digital's PDP-11. It is an interesting reading for anyone who is interested in computer business and history in general. Even if you are not going to become an entrepreneur in the computer business. The lessons in the book can be invaluable.