Jerry Sanders, founder, chairman of the board, and CEO of AMD (Advanced Micro Devices), USA
Personal information
Born in 1936 September 12th
Grew up in Chicago, Illinois, USA
Student at the University of Illinois
Remarried and has three children
Entrepreneurial Experience
lOne of the main founders of AMD
l founded AMD in 1969. After going through a desperate battle with various giants in the same industry, Finally, AMD has become a leading company in the US semiconductor manufacturing industry
In 2000, AMD's revenue was US$4.6 billion (according to the US annual financial settlement statistics on December 31, 2000)
"I remember a professor who once taught me said to me: 'Jerry, you have extraordinary abilities. Don't just muddle along. Concentrate on studying and working, and you will definitely achieve a lot.' Unfortunately, I didn't To be able to fulfill his expectations of me - to become an outstanding scientist, but I will always remember his teachings - focus on those important things, work selflessly and never let up. ”
< p>Some people say that Sanders is a living treasure of the IT industry in Silicon Valley, while others comment that this person is a sight in IT. Manager Sanders was born in Hollywood. His mother was only 15 years old when he was born, and his father was a traffic light repairman. When little Sanders was less than five years old, his parents divorced, and he had to live a homeless life with his mother. Later, his mother left him, and Sanders went to live with his grandparents.Gerry Sanders, founder of AMD and former CEO of the company
As a student, Sanders had outstanding grades, but he was often involved in fights. "I often get into fights because I often lose." Sanders recalled. Sanders' fighting spirit has been talked about for the past 34 years. The most legendary story is that he once got into a scuffle with people on the streets of Chicago, was beaten to a bloody head, and fell unconscious. Even when the priest was preparing to help him pray silently for salvation, he miraculously survived.
As a young man, Sanders worked as an air conditioning system designer at Douglas Aircraft Company. But this wage earner daydreams all day long: he hopes to own his own villa, drive a luxury car, and get a generous salary.
In addition to fighting, Sanders is also good at words and oratory. He soon discovered that he could make money much faster as a salesperson than as an engineer, so he boldly applied for a job as a sales manager at Motorola, and was successfully accepted. It turned out that Sanders was one of the top salesmen in Silicon Valley in the 1960s and 1970s, and he was immediately hired into Fairchild.
In the late 1960s, the prestigious Fairchild Company suffered an internal split, and three companies appeared in the IT industry that were crucial to the subsequent development of semiconductors: National Semiconductor, AMD and Intel.
National Semiconductor was formed by Charlie Spock and Pierre Lomond, and its top management is smart and practical; Intel has three top leaders, Noyce, Moore and Grove, who pay attention to group wisdom; and AMD's entrepreneurship is full of hardships, struggles and inherent tenacity. Because AMD's earliest headquarters was located in an entrepreneur's home, AMD's corporate culture is also called "living room culture."
In its early days, AMD mainly designed and manufactured products for other companies. Sanders started the campaign by touting his product as having "better parameter performance." In order to strengthen the sales advantage of its products, the company has made an unprecedented quality guarantee in the industry: all products are produced and tested in accordance with strict military standards. The guarantee applies to all customers and does not charge any additional fees.
In the mid-1980s, due to the large-scale entry of Japanese manufacturers, American semiconductor manufacturers were facing operational difficulties. Intel, which was struggling to compete with Japan's NEC for semiconductors, decided to abandon other businesses and shift all its energy to the development and production of CPUs.
Due to his close relationship with Intel executives while working at Fairchild, Sanders came into contact with the microprocessor foundry industry, which was not yet fully formed. A large proportion of the 8008 chip that Intel is famous for comes from AMD's manufacturing plant. This rough chip records the huge changes in the IT industry.
Bill Gates and Paul Allen first came into contact with the CPU from the 8008. The two worked together to write simple Basic software for the chip, and also established a small software company in the town of New Mexico. The company later became the predecessor of Microsoft.
Blessings and misfortunes: A CEO with extravagant and exaggerated styles
Sanders has a bohemian personality, and he can ignore everyone in the world. He hates restraint and the hypocrisy of successful people; he is obsessed with success, even to the point of making his utilitarianism naked to the public. Everything a businessman should have, even if it is inappropriate and ridiculous behavior or words and deeds, will make him feel satisfied.
Before Sanders, the older generation of technical elites in Silicon Valley were almost all unknown ordinary workers. Semiconductor talents who are also from the Fairchild family, whether they are the three giants of Intel or Spock and others from National Semiconductor, all advocate diligence, thrift and simplicity. Even if these people are worth over 100 million, they are still serious and orthodox mainstream people.
But Sanders is different. In his eyes, Silicon Valley is not a holy place, but at best a place for him to make a fortune. If anyone saw a rare black Cadillac in Silicon Valley in the 1970s, it goes without saying that Sanders was here. He lives in a luxurious villa, grows his hair long, wears the best male cologne, and even wears a pair of very feminine pink pants. It is said that he wore these pants to discuss business with IBM. The title "President in Pink Pants" spread like wildfire.
In the 1980s, AMD launched many cheap products based on the Intel microprocessor architecture and quickly won the market. In 1984, AMD, which mainly relied on licensing the production of processors, had sales of US$1.1 billion. When AMD's shares were listed in New York, the company had 20,000 employees and annual revenue of more than US$400 million. The company’s investors were overjoyed—more than ten years after starting the business, they received a 2,000% return.
AMD has a well-known TV commercial: there is a young man on the sea, wearing businessman's clothes and standing on a surfboard, surrounded by a group of young people. A wave of waves came, and only this young man saw it correctly, arched his body, and successfully broke out of the spiral wave. The closing slogan is: "AMD Catch the Wave (AMD, catch up with the trend)." The young man in the film looks particularly like Sanders.
Sanders brought AMD into the spotlight with his unique combination of charm, arrogance, intelligence and just the right amount of madness. Despite his mediocre performance, Sanders has long been a celebrity in Silicon Valley. His flamboyance is idiosyncratic in Silicon Valley. "Today, humble and frugal companies seem abnormal, and everything Sanders brought has become mainstream." Some media commented bitterly. The implication is that Sanders has "brought bad" Silicon Valley.
Lao Sang retires: powerful Heggett takes over
On March 6, 2000, AMD launched the 1GHz Athlon processor, becoming the first processor in the industry to cross the 1,000-thousand-thousand-year mark. The company's R&D and manufacturing capabilities have impressed the industry. On the one hand, it is the speed of microprocessors, and on the other hand, it is product price marketing and brand accumulation. AMD and Intel are fighting on two fronts.
In market competition between two opposing powers, the public often believes that the challenger has the same market position and technical strength as the challenged one. In this way, the "runner principle" in marketing has been used very skillfully by AMD. AMD and Intel frequently competed over the issue of whose processor has a higher frequency. The business story of "Pepsi vs. Coca-Cola" was repeated in the IT industry, and AMD suddenly gained popularity.