The Intel Trinity: How Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore, and Andy Grove Built the World's Most Important Company

This is not the best book about Silicon Valley that Mike Malone has written. It is, however, a great read -- which is what you want from a good book! There have been criticisms in this column that the book is "Grove heavy" and "Moore light". That's certainly true.However, the context is that Gordon Moore was the Spirit -- ethereal and above it all...the giver of the Law.I enjoyed this book very much... Having lived through most of the story but watching from afar from my desk at HP, I was keenly interested in the subject matter. It's not a book really about Intel the company as it is a book about the 3 fallible human beings who went on to greatness -- each in their own way: Noyce the entrepreneur and ultimate gambler; Moore the calm and rational scientist; and Grove the 'first employee' who sublimated his (often violent) passions (and loathing for Noyce) to finally become probably the greatest businessman of our time (Donald Trump could only wish...).This is a book about 3 extraordinary individuals and their relationships with each other with the semiconductor revolution as a backdrop. I appreciated that Malone didn't give short shrift to the importance of some of the other notable "Fairchildren" who were equally as important to the development of Silicon Valley -- most notably Charlie Sporck at National Semiconductor.Since it's a book about relationships and not about facts and figures, there are not a lot of details about product lines, income statements, sales etc. except to provide historical context for the narrative. If you are at all interested in the history of technology, this book is a must read.As with "Bill and Dave", these stories need to be preserved...

For anyone interested in the recent decades' history of materials chemistry and what led to the microminiaturized world we are still entering, I would highly recommend this book. I would especially recommend to anyone that they read Jon Gertner's "The Idea Factory" about Bell Labs first, and then follow that reading up with the study of this book. Here is why. "The Idea Factory" covers the decades of the 1920's through the 1960's and thus thoroughly and thoughtfully covers the creation of the transistor in 1947-48. One of the physicists involved in that invention was Bill Shockley, who left Bell Labs around 1953 to found his own company. The company he located where he grew up, south of San Francisco, thus planting the seed for what we now call Silicon Valley. Two of Shockley's first hires were Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore. When they became fed up with Shockley's behavior, they left and formed the company that soon became Intel. So, in reading the two books back to back, one gets an astonishing insight into the people and the organizations that led us from Marconi's wireless to the eve of 5G cell phone technology. Truly a stunning saga.

I guess I can't blame the book but it is more of a management book than a discussion of the technical challenges they overcame. There are better more technically interesting ones out there. I did learn that one consequence of Steve Jobs cheating Steve Wozniak out of his share of the $5000 payment, Woz could not afford Intel's microprocessor for his first Apple 1 computer so bought a $20 6502 instead. Who knows if that's truly what lead Woz down the 6502 path but it makes sense.

This is a fascinating, independent writing about the foundations of Intel corporation through the primary founders. Probably no other text does Intel justice in describing the company's formation and it's culture than this one. Amazing glimpse into it's persona and transformation throughout nearly 50 years of existence.Updated after reflection and reading the one "negative review"...The negative review posted on Amazon is 100% accurate with respect to Malone's organization and his use of data. Malone could have done a better job in that respect. However, the book is about the people and their personas. The book certainly covers less of the last 20 years as the reviewer pointed out. I wanted to find out more about the people and in this respect Michael did a very nice job- other than Moore's mentorship of Grove, it was very difficult to penetrate into Gordon's character.I'd be interested in what the current Intel CEO- Brian Krzanich - would like to see written in the next phase of the life of Intel.

To me this book is most and foremost an excellent example of a company biography and I'd be eager to read more books like this about the story of a company rather than more books about the single successful individuals.If there's one book about entrepreneurship I would want my children to read it would be this one because:1) While the title focuses on the three man who founded the company the content actually is complete with many other characters that at different stages played a role in Intel.2) This book a fantastic document on how such an impressive company develops from the contribution of many individuals and how there are many environment, historical and technology factors that do play an important role.3) It illustrates to some decent/good degree of detail the hard choices and decision the team faced over time giving an idea of what running a business is like.4) As the analysis spans approximately 50 years of company lifetime it's an extraordinary long term analysis that can't be found in business books.5) It tells about these 3 prominent men highlighting how they were brilliant but not super humans or heroes.6) I find it an interesting account of how companies and corporations are de facto part of determining modern history.

Phew, it's a long and detailed book. I did enjoy it but I felt that the really interesting stuff was the early days when Fairchild Semiconductor was the big boy in town and Noyce/Moore left to start Intel. Learning how they succeeded was riveting, and the chapter on Andy Grove's childhood in Hungary was fascinating. I guess the last third of the book, as we approached the 21st century with Intel already earning its many billions, dragged a bit because it just became another multi-billion dollar company with which we are all now familiar.It felt long and wordy and not as punchy as I would've liked, but I'm glad I read it - the first half alone was worth the price of admission.

Too repetitive. The author keeps bringing up Moore's Law and the fact that the company was/is great/in trouble/the most amazing company ever.Also the timeline of the book is a bit difficult to follow.

enjoyable read and authentic

I wasn’t sure about buying this book, but sure glad I did. Very well written didn’t get to technical and got into the personalities of the Trinity. All different personalities that created the biggest company in the world!This book also helped me understand how the digital age started.Loved it!