Pipkin initially bought Belkin components at retail, relying on unpaid labor
Chet Pipkin · Belkin International: Chet Pipkin · May 13, 2019 · at 16:36
Chet Pipkin, founder of Belkin International, explains his early pricing and manufacturing approach when hand-assembling computer cables in his parents' garage in the 1980s.
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“In those early days, the cost that I was paying for the components wasn't competitive. Some of the times I was buying it at a place like a Radio Shack or an electronic store or something, but my labor was, you know, free, and there was no doubt in my mind that I didn't have to worry about that. I just started to make it work and just get a little bit of scale, and then I'd figure out how to get the cost right later.”
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