[Recorded: March 10, 2009]
Bob Metcalfe led invention, standardization, and commercialization of the Ethernet local-area networking system for personal computers (PCs).
Metcalfe was born on April 7, 1946 in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1969 with bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering and industrial management. At Harvard University in 1970, he earned his master’s degree in applied mathematics. His 1973 Harvard Ph.D. dissertation, Packet Communication, came out of research on Arpanet at MIT Project MAC and on Alohanet at the University of Hawaii.
In 1972, Metcalfe joined the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). He worked in the Computer Science Laboratory led by Jerry Elkind, Bob Taylor, Butler Lampson, and Chuck Thacker, who were developing early PCs. Metcalfe, in collaboration with David Boggs, invented and developed the Ethernet local-area network (LAN) and its system of packet protocols, which have proliferated and evolved to become today’s Internet plumbing.
In 1979, Metcalfe founded 3Com Corporation to promote “computer communication compatibility.” 3Com initially developed PC LAN products based on emerging UNIX, TCP/IP, and Ethernet standards, went public in 1984, and grew into a billion-dollar networking company. In addition, Metcalfe served as the “marriage broker” who convinced DEC, Intel, and Xerox (DIX) to work together to promote Ethernet as an open standard.
In September 1980, DIX published its “Blue Book” specification for Ethernet and submitted it for standardization by the newly formed IEEE Project 802. Ethernet’s hard fought standardization resulted in a tidal wave of interoperable products from hundreds of manufacturers. In 2008, according to IDC, 350 million new Ethernet switch ports will be shipped, not including Wi-Fi products.
From 1990-2000, Metcalfe wrote weekly Internet columns in InfoWorld, collected in his book, “Internet Collapses”. In 2001, Metcalfe joined Polaris Venture Partners. Metcalfe’s Internet pioneering earned him many honors including the ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award; the IEEE Medal of Honor; the National Medal of Technology; and induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. In 2008, Bob Metcalfe was named a Fellow of the Computer History Museum.
In this discussion, Metcalfe is joined by Cisco Senior Vice President Kathy Hill to discuss his experiences in the technology industry, life lessons and current passions.
Duration : 1:29:3
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How does our entrepreneur differentiate between a solid business opportunity and an infatuation?
research, research and research. You need to put some work to differentiate.
Xango – Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the year
Duration : 0:2:59
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Considering the corporate expansion and improvement of capitalistic motives, what makes a person better equipped for the world? Just a mere job or being an entrepreneur? Please explain your choice. I thank everyone in advance. Good luck to you all.
I can only give my answer from personal experience.
I’ve done both… I tried to have a genuine business in my early 20’s, but at the time I had very few personal contacts who I could get excited about my product (and as it was a pyramid-type of thing, there were too many other people already selling the same types of products). It ended up going bust and not working. I think, had I done it in my childhood hometown, I may have had better success, as I would have known more people who could have spread the word about my business… but at the time I was a good halfway across the country and my best contacts were coworkers at my various temp jobs, and my best friend and her family.
In a way now, in my late 20’s, I kind of still am an entrepreneur… as I control what time I start and finish my day for my business as an independent contractor. Though I also have a full-time job. While I love having my own business… I get up when I want, I don’t fight anyone over what is on the radio while I’m working, I can take a break when I want to and I don’t have to work around anyone else’s schedule, and my customers are pretty much fine with me not meeting a set deadline… I know I need a bit of structure in my life in order to be sane.
It’s the full-time job which has molded me best… as I’m around other people. I occasionally have a run-in with a coworker or my boss over an issue, but generally we can reach an agreement once we have voiced our grievances. I usually don’t have that kind of personal contact with my customers or the overseeing company, in terms of my business, unless a message is left for me in terms of a personal note.
I think if I worked entirely on my own, I would still be lacking in some one-on-one personal skills. Working with a team helps to remind me that I have deadlines to meet, and I am also reminded of others’ needs. I think having the business alone would accidentally put me inside of my own little bubble… and that’s no way to live your life.
What one function differentiates a business manager from an entrepreneur?
A. the entrepreneur assumes the responsibility for the risk of failure for the business; the manager doesn’t.
B.the manager can fire and hire workers; the entrepreneur can’t.
C.the manager must be a good accountant; the entrepreneur doesn’t need to be.
D.the manager researches new products and the entrepreneur doesn’t
E.the manager supervises the production process but the entrepreneur doesn’t.
A
Preview for Bill Drayton: Entrepreneur for Society — one of 16 DVDs created by Ashoka’s Global Academy for Social Entrepreneurship. Bill Drayton, founder of Ashoka and a leader in the social entrepreneurship movement, shares his own story as a guide to creating widespread social change. To buy the films, visit dvd.ashoka.org.
Duration : 0:5:47
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Should I keep plowing through the process of starting a business or should I take a couple month break to travel, unwind, and maybe get some different perspectives? I’m a younger entrepreneur that has had success in the past. I’d like to make something else work out but I think the economy being in rough shape has dampered my motivation. Any advice?
i think you should think positive thoughts and concentrate on them. Think about the opportunities you could gain from this economy and the success in the long run. Also you know when you stay in the same country and continue with the same routine for too long , your vision starts to get limited, as in you live in a box and dont get a feel of whats really out there. You continue to think of the same thoughts etc… so i think if you travel for a bit , go to a total diff country and not a similar city to urs , you will start to think further and new ideas will pour in. so ye i would suggest travelling and then come back and get ready to work hard.
what helps me is that travelling as i start thinking about new things instead of the same things. i also think about the things i want to achieve in the future and what i want to become , basically personal fulfilment…
i hope this helped…..i kno im a bit vague.. but i hope u got the idea..:)
goodluck
In this Tulane University program, David Bornstein, author of How to Change the World, J.B. Schramm, founder and CEO of College Summit and Susan Davis, chair of the Grameen Foundation USA, discuss the role of the social entrepreneur in addressing social issues. These innovative people have found solutions to many problems by combining their social expertise with business acumen to create new organizations that are, as London School of Business Dean Laura Tyson describes them, ‘a new kind of business hero.’ The 2004 Burkenroad Symposium addresses the issue with three scholars who, having written extensively on the subject, share examples of how social entrepreneurs have changed the world.
Duration : 0:59:17
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Is it possible to developed third generation to First generation entrepreneur and HOW can ?
Third generation means that your grandparent(s) were entrepreneurs. First generation means that you, or whoever they are referring to, are the entrepreneurs without any history in your family.
What, in your opinion, is a entrepreneur? What are his/her characteristics? What factors of their personality distinguish them as such?
Also what is NOT entrepreneurship? What are some of the myths about entrepreneurs that you see.
An entrepreneur is someone who has a great idea for a new business and works hard enough and is lucky enough to secure backing to start and run a successful business on their own terms. Usually an entrepreneur is an out going, intelligent person with loads of focus and drive.
A person who inherits everything or has it all handed to them is not an entrepreneur.