Compaq
also referred to as: compaq computers
includes Compaq Portable, Compaq Presario
43 statements across 3 episodes · 12 bullish · 8 bearish · 3 people on the record · first statement May 22, 2017 by Rod Canion · said 102 times in 12 episodes since 2017 · across every show →
Mentions by year, the whole family
brought up most by Guy Raz (84), Rod Canion (12), Michael Dell (3), Tristan Walker (1), Rich Barton (1), Niklas Zennström (1)
tap a year for its mentions
2025 1 mention in 1 episode
2022 6 mentions in 2 episodes 3 per episode
2021 1 mention in 1 episode
2020 6 mentions in 1 episode
2019 31 mentions in 2 episodes 16 per episode
2018 8 mentions in 2 episodes 4 per episode
2017 49 mentions in 3 episodes 16 per episode
Everything said about Compaq, oldest first
May 22, 2017 positive
May 22, 2017 neutral
May 22, 2017 bullish
May 22, 2017 positive
Kleiner Perkins agreed to invest in Compaq after a single morning meeting
“So we basically flew out to Silicon Valley, and we went in to meet with John Doerr, and we spent a good morning, probably three or four hours, being questioned, and sure enough, about a week later, we got a call that they were willing to invest, and so it was …”
May 22, 2017 positive
May 22, 2017 negative
May 22, 2017 negative
Compaq's orders froze when IBM previewed its own portable computer
“They, you know, in February of 1984, IBM introduces their own portable into the market. Now, our order stopped because before it actually was introduced, they were showing it to dealers and customers, and they just stopped ordering ours.”
May 22, 2017
Severe burnout led Rod Canion to subconsciously guide his own firing
“I guess under the stress I was under and kind of gotten into this frame of mind where I need to get away, the disagreement over the low-cost speed to market was just the catalyst that, that allowed it to happen. I almost guided it to the point where I was goin…”
May 22, 2017 neutral
Canion now attributes 90% of Compaq's massive success to pure luck
“If you had asked me that in the eighties, let's say the late eighties, I would probably have said it was 90% intelligence and insight and work and 10% luck. But to tell you how perspective changes with time, I would say today it was the other way around.”
May 22, 2017
IBM initially ignored Compaq because IBM lacked a portable computer entirely
“No, they had no idea, and nor did they care. I mean, even after we began to sort of get some positive results and getting into stores, remember we were portable. They didn't have a portable. So, initially it was very easy for them to ignore us because we were …”
May 22, 2017
Compaq reached $1.2 billion in 1987 with a faster, cheaper desktop
“The thing that took us from six hundred million in 86 to 1.2 billion in sales in 87, we came out with our own desktop, which was, ah, essentially three times faster than IBM's desktop for about the same price, and began to establish ourselves as not only the p…”
May 22, 2017
May 22, 2017
Compaq's initial definition of success was simply not going bankrupt
“You know, it never crossed my mind that we wouldn't succeed, and as I look back now, I think, wow, that was such a long shot. You know, our expectations were very low. What did succeed mean? It didn't mean become the industry leader. It didn't even mean become…”
May 22, 2017 negative
May 22, 2017
Compaq stockpiled inventory instead of doing layoffs when IBM attacked
“We're going to keep building these things. We're going to store them and wait for the orders to come. If the orders never come, yeah, we're in deep trouble, but you know what? We're in deep trouble anyway if the orders don't come.”
May 22, 2017
Compaq founders drafted a four-page business plan in under two weeks
“I mean, it was very quick from the ninth of January to when the idea came up to the 22nd of January when we met with the venture capitalists. We basically put together a very short, a four-page business plan and prepared to meet and discuss it with them.”
May 22, 2017
May 22, 2017
A fierce disagreement over Asian outsourcing led to Rod Canion's ouster
“The chairman of the company, Ben Rosen, thought we ought to move very quickly and so quickly that, in fact, we ought to go buy a product from a Taiwanese or a Japanese or a Korean supplier. And my argument was, look, it's not what it seems. We can get to marke…”
May 22, 2017
May 22, 2017
May 22, 2017
May 22, 2017 negative
Canion says Compaq would never have sold to HP under his leadership
“The leaders of those companies maintained enough control to make sure that it never got into the hands of somebody that looked at it just purely from a financial standpoint. If I had been there, if I had been leading the company, we would never have sold. We w…”
May 22, 2017
May 22, 2017 positive
Mar 25, 2019 negative
Mar 25, 2019 bullish
Canion: Compaq doubled sales to $1.2B with desktop 3x faster than IBM
“The thing that took us from six hundred million in 86 to 1.2 billion in sales in 87, we came out with our own desktop, which was, ah, essentially three times faster than IBM's desktop for about the same price and began to establish ourselves as not only the po…”
Mar 25, 2019 bullish
Mar 25, 2019 neutral
Mar 25, 2019 negative
Canion: IBM's 1984 portable launch halted Compaq's customer orders
“They, you know, in February of 1984, IBM introduces their own portable into the market. Now, our order stopped because before it actually was introduced, they were showing it to dealers and customers, and they just stopped ordering ours.”
Mar 25, 2019 neutral
Mar 25, 2019
Mar 25, 2019 negative
Canion: Ben Rosen wanted Compaq to outsource low-cost PCs to Asia
“The chairman of the company, Ben Rosen, thought we ought to move very quickly and so quickly that, in fact, we ought to go buy a product from a Taiwanese or a Japanese or a Korean supplier. And my argument was, look, it's not what it seems. We can get to marke…”
Mar 25, 2019 bullish
Mar 25, 2019 negative
Mar 25, 2019 neutral
Canion: Compaq's success was 90% luck and 10% hard work
“If you had asked me that in the eighties, let's say the late eighties, I would probably have said it was 90% intelligence and insight and work and 10% luck. But to tell you how perspective changes with time, I would say today it was the other way around.”
Mar 25, 2019 positive
Mar 25, 2019 positive
Canion: Kleiner Perkins agreed to fund Compaq a week after pitching Doerr
“We went in to, ah, meet with John Doerr, and we spent a good morning, probably three or four hours, being questioned, and sure enough, ah, about a week later, ah, we got a call that they were willing to invest, and so it was a go.”
Mar 25, 2019
Mar 25, 2019
Mar 25, 2019 positive
Mar 25, 2019 bullish