Silicon Valley: The Untold Story (2018): Season 1, Episode 1 - Magnetic Force - full transcript
Silicon Valley is a magnet for the world's greatest innovators, and the truth behind its rise reveals the powerful forces that made the region what it is today.
♪♪
SILICON VALLEY PUT TECHNOLOGY
INTO EVERYTHING
THAT YOU SEE
AND TOUCH IN YOUR LIFE.
THE TRANSFORMATIONS ARE SO VAST,
WE'RE JUST BARELY
KEEPING UP WITH THEM.
Alcorn: NOW WE'RE SUCH A MAGNET,
PEOPLE COME FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD.
THEY JUST WANT TO BE PART OF IT.
Berlin: IF YOU'RE SERIOUS
ABOUT SUCCEEDING IN FINANCE,
YOU GOT TO NEW YORK CITY.
IF YOU'RE SERIOUS ABOUT THE
MOVIES, YOU GOT TO HOLLYWOOD.
IF YOU'RE SERIOUS
ABOUT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY,
YOU COME TO SILICON VALLEY.
IT DRIVES PEOPLE WITH THAT
VISION OF TECHNOLOGICAL PROMISE.
IT'S A MAGNET THAT YOU
CANNOT DEMAGNETIZE.
[ RAPID BEEPING ]
♪♪
CAPTIONS PAID FOR BY
DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS
[ ELECTRONICA PLAYS ]
[ BEEPING ]
♪♪
Narrator:
IT'S A SPACESHIP
THAT, WITH A SINGLE CLICK,
CAN TAKE US ANYWHERE.
AND IT'S A DEPARTMENT STORE.
A LIBRARY.
AND AN OFFICE.
A THEATER AND A NAVIGATOR.
THIS DIGITAL GENIE
CAN DO ALMOST ANYTHING.
GOOGLE HAS EXPANDED
OUR CAPABILITIES
BEYOND OUR WILDEST DREAMS.
♪♪
IT'S THE KIND OF QUANTUM LEAP
WE'VE COME TO EXPECT
FROM SILICON VALLEY.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT'S
FASCINATING ABOUT SILICON VALLEY
IS THAT IT SELF-CONSCIOUSLY
AIMS TO CHANGE THE WORLD.
THIS IS A PLACE
THAT CHANGES HISTORY.
THE STORY OF THE VALLEY
IS TYPICALLY TOLD
AS THE STORY IN WHICH HEROIC
AND ENTREPRENEURIAL INDIVIDUALS
SUDDENLY FIND INSIDE THEMSELVES
THE INTELLECTUAL FORTITUDE
AND THE PERSONAL DRIVE
TO CREATE TECHNOLOGIES
THAT CHANGE THE WORLD.
IT'S A HIGHLY
INDIVIDUALISTIC STORY.
[ CHEERING AND APPLAUSE ]
IT'S DEEPLY RESONANT
WITH AMERICAN MYTH
AND AMERICAN HISTORY.
BUT IT'S NOT THE CASE.
Narrator: THE FACT IS,
THE HEROES OF SILICON VALLEY
COULD NOT HAVE DONE WHAT THEY
DID WITHOUT A LOT OF HELP,
PROVIDED BY TAXPAYERS,
THROUGH GOVERNMENT
AND MILITARY CONTRACTS...
♪♪
BY AN OUTWARD-LOOKING
UNIVERSITY,
BY A NEW BREED OF INVESTORS,
AND WAVES OF IMMIGRANTS.
A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE TRIED TO
REPLICATE IT AROUND THE WORLD,
AND NOT MANY HAVE SUCCEEDED.
Narrator: PEOPLE WITH DRIVE
AND AMBITION HAVE BEEN FUELING
THE VALLEY'S MAGNETIC
ATTRACTION SINCE THE 1840s.
THE VALLEY ATTRACTED DREAMERS
AND VISIONARIES AND REBELS
BECAUSE CALIFORNIA HAD ALREADY
ATTRACTED THOSE PEOPLE.
Narrator:
PEOPLE LIKE LELAND STANFORD,
A NEW YORKER DRAWN
BY THE GOLD RUSH.
HIS LEGACY WILL SHAPE THE VALLEY
FOR THE NEXT 150 YEARS.
IN 1861, HE COFOUNDS
THE CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILROAD.
AND THE RAILROAD BROUGHT IN
RIVERS OF MONEY.
Narrator: WEALTH THAT
ENABLES HIM TO CATALYZE ONE
OF THE VALLEY'S
EARLIEST INNOVATIONS.
[ HORSE NEIGHS ]
STANFORD,
WHO HAS A LIFELONG PASSION
FOR RACEHORSES,
BUYS A FARM SOUTH
OF SAN FRANCISCO,
IN THE REGION WE KNOW TODAY
AS SILICON VALLEY.
THE SPEED OF THE HORSE WAS
SOMETHING THAT FASCINATED HIM
AND HE WANTED TO DEVELOP
A TRAINING SYSTEM
THAT WOULD BREAK DOWN
THE HORSE'S GAIT INTO PARTS,
IN ORDER TO REASSEMBLE IT
INTO A FASTER-MOVING ANIMAL.
Narrator:
BUT SCIENTISTS AT THE TIME
DON'T REALLY KNOW
HOW HORSES RUN,
[ WHIMSICAL TUNE PLAYS ]
WHETHER ALL FOUR FEET,
FOR EXAMPLE, LEAVE THE GROUND
AT THE SAME TIME.
STANFORD WANTS TO END
THAT UNCERTAINTY.
AND HE THINKS ABOUT,
IN A PATTERN WE SEE
AGAIN AND AGAIN
IN THE VALLEY, YOU KNOW,
"HOW CAN TECHNOLOGY BE USED
TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION?"
Narrator:
SO, IN 1872,
STANFORD HIRES PHOTOGRAPHER
EADWEARD MUYBRIDGE
TO SOLVE THE MYSTERY.
Turner: HE SET UP A SHED
WITH A DOZEN CAMERAS POINTED
OUT OF A LONG WINDOW
AND HE RAN THE HORSES
PAST THE SHED
AND PHOTOGRAPHED THEM
IN RAPID SUCCESSION
AND, THROUGH
HIS SERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY,
WAS ABLE TO REVEAL THAT
WHEN A HORSE RUNS,
THEY ACTUALLY LIFT
ALL FOUR LEGS OFF THE GROUND.
THAT WAS NOT SOMETHING THAT
PEOPLE HAD SEEN BEFORE THEN.
MUYBRIDGE'S CAMERA REVEALED IT.
Narrator: FOR THE FIRST TIME,
MOTION IS CAPTURED USING A CAMERA,
A BREAKTHROUGH THAT WILL SOON
INSPIRE THE INVENTION OF MOVIES.
[ POIGNANT TUNE SWEEPS ]
[ CHEERING ]
COME ON, BISCUIT!
BUT SHORTLY AFTER PUBLISHING
A BOOK OF THE PHOTOS,
STANFORD IS STRUCK BY TRAGEDY.
IN 1884,
HIS 15-YEAR-OLD SON CONTRACTS
TYPHOID FEVER AND DIES.
HIS PARENTS WENT
INTO A FOG OF GRIEF.
BUT WHEN THEY EMERGED
FROM THIS FOG,
THEY DECIDED THAT THEY WOULD
MEMORIALIZE THEIR BOY
BY CREATING A SCHOOL
IN HIS NAME.
Narrator: ON THE GROUNDS OF THEIR
FARM IN THE VALLEY TOWN OF PALO ALTO,
THEY BUILD LELAND STANFORD
JUNIOR UNIVERSITY.
STANFORD REGARDED IT AS A SCHOOL
FOR THE PRACTICAL
INSTRUCTION OF ENGINEERS
AND OF PEOPLE WHO WOULD BE
USEFUL IN INDUSTRY.
AND I THINK HE ALWAYS
WANTED HIS UNIVERSITY
TO BE A KIND OF ISLAND
OF INNOVATION THAT WAY.
Miller:
LELAND STANFORD WAS A PIONEER.
HE WAS VERY INTERESTED
IN DEVELOPING NEW TECHNOLOGIES.
IT'S JUST THAT ATTITUDE
THAT HE ENDOWED
[chuckling] THE UNIVERSITY WITH,
AS WELL AS WITH MONEY.
Narrator:
OVER THE YEARS,
STANFORD ALUMNI HAVE FOUNDED
SOME 70,000 COMPANIES;
THEY'VE CREATED MORE THAN
5 MILLION JOBS;
AND, TODAY, GENERATE REVENUES
OF $2.7 TRILLION A YEAR.
[ WHIMSICAL TUNE PLAYS ]
THE FIRST STANFORD STARTUP
IS FOUNDED IN 1909,
BY A YOUNG GRADUATE
NAMED CYRIL ELWELL,
WHO WILL TRANSFORM THE NEW FIELD
[ MORSE CODE BEEPING ]
OF RADIO.
HE WANTS IT TO DO MORE
THAN SIMPLY TRANSMIT
THE DOTS AND DASHES
OF MORSE CODE.
IN THIS HOUSE IN PALO ALTO,
HE FIGURES OUT A WAY
TO BROADCAST MUSIC.
ONE OF CY'S FIRST DEMONSTRATIONS
WAS WHEN HE PUT ON
HIS PHONOGRAPH
IN HIS HOME IN PALO ALTO
AND TRANSMITTED
THE "BLUE DANUBE WALTZ"
TO ANOTHER HOME
IN LOS ALTOS, CALIFORNIA.
[ "BLUE DANUBE WALTZ" PLAYS ]
Narrator: BUT ELWELL'S
SOUND QUALITY IS SKETCHY.
HE KNOWS THAT A DANISH INVENTOR
NAMED VALDEMAR POULSEN
HAS DEVELOPED A BETTER WAY
TO TRANSMIT VOICES AND MUSIC
WITH SOMETHING CALLED
AN ARC TRANSMITTER.
ELWELL GOES TO DENMARK AND
LICENSES THE RIGHTS TO THE ARC.
STANFORD'S PRESIDENT,
DAVID STARR JORDAN,
IS IMPRESSED BY ELWELL AND HELPS
HIM TO START A COMPANY.
HE MAKES A FOUNDING INVESTMENT
OF $500 IN FEDERAL TELEGRAPH.
IN A SENSE, HE BECOMES
THE FIRST MODERN TECH VC.
Narrator: IN CALIFORNIA, ELWELL
USES THE NEW TRANSMITTERS
TO SEND VOICES
WIRELESSLY SOME 50 MILES
IN WELL-PUBLICIZED
DEMONSTRATIONS.
[ JAUNTY TUNE PLAYS ]
ELWELL SOON LANDS
A LUCRATIVE CONTRACT,
WITH A BIG NEW CLIENT THAT
BADLY NEEDS HIS TECHNOLOGY.
THE NAVY HAD USED RADIO
VERY EARLY
IN COMMUNICATING FROM SHIP
TO SHIP AND SHIP TO SHORE,
BUT THEY HAD NOT
DONE IT WITH VOICE.
IT WAS ALL DOTS AND DASHES.
Narrator: ELWELL'S RADIOS
MARK A BIG STEP FORWARD,
BUT RECEPTION IS OFTEN FAINT.
IT'S A PROBLEM
THAT A DEBT-RIDDEN
INVENTOR IN SAN FRANCISCO
NAMED LEE de FOREST
IS TRYING TO SOLVE.
HE IS DEVELOPING
A NEW KIND OF VACUUM TUBE,
BUT HE'S BROKE,
AND NEEDS A PLACE TO WORK.
[chuckling] HE'S TRYING
TO INVENT SOMETHING
THAT WILL MAKE HIM RICH ENOUGH
HE CAN PAY OFF ALL OF HIS DEBTS.
SO WHO DOES HE CONTACT?
HE CONTACTS CY ELWELL.
Narrator: WHO INVITES de FOREST TO
COME WORK IN HIS LAB IN THE VALLEY.
AND HE STARTS PLAYING AROUND
WITH THE PLATES
INSIDE THE VACUUM TUBE
AND LOOKING AT THE FLOW
OF ELECTRONS
AND HE ENDS UP
CREATING AN AMPLIFIER.
HE HANGS AN INGERSOLL WATCH
IN FRONT OF A MICROPHONE
THAT'S HOOKED UP TO ONE
OF THESE TUBE AMPLIFIERS,
WITH A HEADSET ON, AND JUST
ABOUT POPS HIS EARDRUMS
'CAUSE THE NOISE IS SO LOUD,
AND HE REALIZES HE'S GOT IT.
REMEMBER, CRYSTAL RADIOS,
YOU HAD TO MOVE
THAT LITTLE CAT'S WHISKER
AROUND ON THE CRYSTAL
AND WEAR HEADPHONES
'CAUSE IT WAS SO SOFT.
NOW, YOU CAN PUT THAT VACUUM
TUBE THERE, AMPLIFY THE SOUND,
AND YOU'VE GOT RADIO.
Narrator:
BY THE 1930s,
THE PLACE THAT WOULD BECOME
KNOWN AS SILICON VALLEY
IS A HOTBED
OF ELECTRONICS INNOVATION
AND THAT BURGEONING REPUTATION
ATTRACTS EVEN MORE
TINKERERS AND DREAMERS
WHOSE BOLD ADVANCES HELP CREATE
A MILITARY SUPERPOWER
AND TAKE AMERICANS
TO THE FRONTIERS OF SPACE.
♪♪
Narrator: HUMANS DWELLING
FAR ABOVE THEIR PLANET.
THE MOST SOPHISTICATED MILITARY
THE WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN.
ADVANCES THAT
WOULD'VE BEEN IMPOSSIBLE
WITHOUT THE TECHNOLOGIES
OF SILICON VALLEY,
MANY OF THEM FUNDED
BY GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS.
AND MANY OF THOSE
TECHNOLOGIES ORIGINATE
AT STANFORD UNIVERSITY'S
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING.
WELL, DON, I THINK ONE
OF THE FIRST THINGS
THAT WE SHOULD TELL
OUR VIEWERS TONIGHT
IS THAT WE WILL SEE,
PROBABLY FOR THE FIRST TIME,
A BILLION-WATT
ELECTRON LINEAR ACCELERATOR.
IS THAT RIGHT?
- THAT'S RIGHT, BOB.
OR, IN PLAIN TALK, AN ATOM
SMASHER, BUT THAT'S JUST...
Narrator: THIS LAB IS RUN BY
STANFORD'S DEAN OF ENGINEERING,
FRED TERMAN.
HE BECOMES KNOWN AS THE
FATHER OF SILICON VALLEY.
SO FAR, TONIGHT, SIR,
WE'VE SEEN
SEVERAL GRADUATE STUDENTS
WORKING HERE.
WHERE DO THESE PEOPLE
COME FROM?
THEY REPRESENT GRADUATES
OF SOME 75 DIFFERENT SCHOOLS
FROM ALL OVER
THE UNITED STATES
AND FROM TEN OR A DOZEN
FOREIGN COUNTRIES.
WE HAVE A LARGE
AND RAPIDLY EXPANDING
ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY
IN THIS REGION
AND THERE ARE PLENTY
OF ATTRACTIVE JOBS HERE.
Narrator: THAT INDUSTRY IS
KICKSTARTED BY TERMAN BACK IN 1938,
WHEN HE USES $500
OF UNIVERSITY MONEY
TO ENTICE TWO FORMER STUDENTS,
NAMED HEWLETT AND PACKARD,
TO START A BUSINESS.
THEIR COMPANY WILL ONE DAY
EMPLOY MORE THAN 300,000 PEOPLE
AND BE VALUED AT MORE
THAN $100 BILLION.
[ SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS ]
[ EXPLOSIONS ]
[ RAPID GUNFIRE ]
BUT WORLD WAR II
INTERRUPTS TERMAN'S PLANS
TO START MORE COMPANIES
IN THE VALLEY.
IN 1942, HE RELOCATES
TO THE BOSTON AREA,
TO HEAD A SECRET RESEARCH LAB
FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT.
FRED TERMAN REALIZED
THE REALLY IMPORTANT ROLE
THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
COULD PLAY IN FOSTERING
SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING,
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY,
AND ALSO THAT THERE WAS
THE POTENTIAL FOR STANFORD
TO REALLY BECOME
A POWERHOUSE OF ITS OWN.
Narrator: AFTER THE WAR,
TERMAN RETURNS TO STANFORD,
ONLY TO DISCOVER THAT
UNCLE SAM HAS PASSED IT BY.
Blank: MIT GOT TENS
OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
IN GOVERNMENT RESEARCH FUNDS.
HARVARD GOT TENS
OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
COLUMBIA, CALTECH.
EVERY, IN FACT,
MAJOR ENGINEERING SCHOOL,
DURING WORLD WAR II,
WAS FUNDED FOR RESEARCH.
AND STANFORD?
STANFORD GOT $50,000
FOR TEACHER TRAINING.
AND TERMAN CAME BACK AND SAID,
"NEVER GONNA HAPPEN AGAIN."
AND SO HE VERY AGGRESSIVELY
BUILT AN ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
AND AN AEROSPACE ENGINEERING
GROUP, IN PARTICULAR,
THAT WERE FOCUSED ON GOING
AFTER MILITARY CONTRACTS
AND MILITARY DEVELOPMENT.
Narrator:
TERMAN BEGINS LANDING CONTRACTS
TO HELP AMERICA ARM ITSELF
FOR A NEW FOREIGN CONFLICT:
THE COLD WAR.
[ SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS ]
WILL THERE BE PEACE OR WAR?
Blank: WHAT TERMAN DID
THEN WAS INCREDIBLY UNIQUE.
MOST UNIVERSITIES THAT HAD
MILITARY RESEARCH CONTRACTS
WOULD, IN FACT,
FOCUS BOTH RESEARCH
AND THEN PRODUCTION OF THE
SYSTEMS INSIDE THE UNIVERSITY,
BUT TERMAN DIDN'T WANT
TO TURN STANFORD
INTO A MILITARY FACTORY.
SO WHAT HE SAID
TO HIS STUDENTS WAS,
"TAKE MY TECHNOLOGY.
TAKE YOUR TECHNOLOGY.
TAKE ANYTHING IN OUR LAB
AND GO LEAVE STANFORD
AND DO SOMETHING GREAT
FOR THE COUNTRY."
AND BACK THEN,
GREAT FOR THE COUNTRY MEANT,
"LET'S HELP US WIN THIS COLD WAR
WITH THE SOVIET UNION."
AND WHAT STARTED TO HAPPEN
IN THE '50s IS,
FIRST, A TRICKLE,
AND THEN, A FLOOD,
OF MICROWAVE-COMPONENTS
COMPANIES, SYSTEMS COMPANIES.
O'Mara: YOU HAD THIS MASSIVE
GOVERNMENT INVESTMENT IN SCIENCE.
NOT JUST THE DEVELOPMENT
OF NEW PRODUCTS,
BUT ACTUALLY FUNDING
BASIC RESEARCH AND SAYING,
"OKAY, WE'RE GONNA GIVE YOU
SOME MONEY JUST TO PLAY AROUND
WITH THESE IDEAS
AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS."
Narrator:
ONE OF THE VALLEY'S RECIPIENTS
IS THE AMES AERONAUTICAL
LABORATORY IN SUNNYVALE,
A GOVERNMENT AVIATION LAB
THAT RUNS THE WORLD'S BIGGEST
COLLECTION OF WIND TUNNELS.
THIS WAS THE HIGHEST
OF HIGH-TECHNOLOGY LABORATORIES
IN AEROSPACE RESEARCH
AND THEY RECRUITED
FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.
THESE WERE THE BEST
AND THE BRIGHTEST
AND THEY WERE ABLE TO USE
REALLY BIG TOYS.
THESE WIND TUNNELS COLLECTED
MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF DATA.
THEY WERE IN OPERATION
ALL THE TIME.
SO THERE WAS A HUGE DEMAND
FOR INSTRUMENTATION
AND HEWLETT-PACKARD,
AS AN EXAMPLE,
PROVIDED A LOT
OF THE INSTRUMENTATION
AND IT WAS A VERY EXCITING TIME.
[ MORE CODE BEEPING ]
MOSCOW NEWSPAPERS WERE FIRST.
THEN, HEADLINES AROUND
THE WORLD ECHOED THE NEWS:
RUSSIA HAD BLASTED A MANMADE
MOON INTO OUTER SPACE.
THE SOVIETS HAD SCORED
A SCIENTIFIC FIRST.
SPUTNIK WAS A VERY
IMPORTANT MOMENT.
IT WAS WHEN THE U.S. REALIZED
IT ABSOLUTELY HAD TO,
YOU KNOW, COMPETE
WITH THE SOVIET UNION.
AND IT'S NOT A COINCIDENCE
THAT SPUTNIK WAS IN 1957
AND, IN 1958, YOU GET NASA
SET UP BY THE GOVERNMENT.
Narrator: NASA TAKES OVER
THE AMES LAB IN THE VALLEY.
Saffo: NASA WAS DESPERATE
TO GET TO THE MOON.
THE UNITED STATES WANTED
TO BEAT THE RUSSIANS.
THE PROBLEM IS YOU COULDN'T
BUILD ROCKET SHIPS
WITH VACUUM TUBES.
AND THAT WAS CRUCIAL,
BECAUSE EVERY NEW IDEA
IN SILICON VALLEY NEEDS
WHAT WE CALL EARLY ADOPTERS:
SOMEONE WHO IS HAPPY
TO PAY WAY TOO MUCH
FOR SOMETHING
THAT DOESN'T QUITE WORK.
THEY DON'T CARE WHAT IT COSTS.
THEY WANNA BE
THE FIRST TO HAVE IT.
Narrator: GOVERNMENT FUNDING
NOT ONLY DRIVES THE SPACE RACE,
BUT ALSO FUELS THE ARMS RACE.
ONE OF THE BIGGEST
BENEFICIARIES?
THE LOCKHEED CORPORATION,
WHICH OPENS A PLANT
IN THE VALLEY
TO MANUFACTURE
THE NAVY'S POLARIS MISSILE.
Reporter:
IN A FROTH OF BUBBLES,
THE BULLET-SHAPED
MISSILE SURFACED.
Blank: IN 1956,
LOCKHEED'S EMPLOYEE COUNT
WAS ZERO.
IN 1960, IT HAD 20,000
EMPLOYEES BUILDING MISSILES
IN THE MIDDLE OF WHAT
WOULD BECOME SILICON VALLEY.
Narrator: THE GROWING NUMBER OF
SPACE AND DEFENSE CONTRACTORS
DRAWS THOUSANDS MORE
SCIENTISTS, ENGINEERS,
AND TECHNICIANS TO THE VALLEY,
ALL SUPPORTED BY EVEN BROADER
GOVERNMENT INVESTMENT.
YOU HAD A BIG INVESTMENT
IN INFRASTRUCTURE;
NOT ONLY FEDERAL INVESTMENT,
BUT ALSO STATE INVESTMENT.
THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA IS
BUILDING ITS UNIVERSITY SYSTEM.
IT'S SUBSIDIZING ROADS.
IT'S SUBSIDIZING THE
DEVELOPMENT OF NEW TOWNS,
OF NEW SUBDIVISIONS.
THIS MASSIVE PUBLIC INVESTMENT
LAID THE GROUNDWORK
FOR THE NEW ECONOMY.
Narrator: THE NEW ARRIVALS
FIND JOBS AT THE COMPANIES
FOUNDED BY
FRED TERMAN'S GRADUATES,
COMPANIES HE PROMOTES
BY CUTTING DEALS.
Blank: AND THE FIRST THING THAT
TERMAN AND HIS PROFESSORS WOULD DO,
WOULD CALL UP GUYS AT LOCKHEED,
IN THE MILITARY
AND THE AIR FORCE
AND NAVY AND SAY,
"HEY, WE GOT SOME
GREAT NEW COMPANY HERE
THAT HAVE THESE GREAT DEVICES.
YOU GUYS OUGHTA GO
GIVE THEM A CONTRACT."
AND, PRETTY SOON,
THIS RAINMAKING NETWORK
OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP
JUST KIND OF
COLLECTED TOGETHER
AND COALESCED AROUND STANFORD.
THE MILITARY AND MILITARY-
RELATED COMPANIES AND INDUSTRIES
WERE THE BACKBONE
OF THE ECONOMY OF THE VALLEY,
PROBABLY FROM THE '50s
THROUGH THE '70s.
Narrator: AND INTO THIS
BOOMING ENVIRONMENT, IN 1956,
SWAGGERS ONE OF AMERICA'S
TOP SCIENTISTS,
WHO WILL LEAD THE VALLEY
AWAY FROM VACUUM TUBES
AND INTO A NEW ERA.
THE SAME LOCKHEED CAME TO TOWN?
SOMEONE NAMED SHOCKLEY
CAME TO TOWN.
I TARGET THE BIRTH OF WHAT WE
THINK OF TODAY AS SILICON VALLEY
TO THE ARRIVAL
OF WILLIAM SHOCKLEY.
Narrator: SHOCKLEY BRINGS WITH
HIM HIS GROUNDBREAKING INVENTION.
IT'S A SMALL DEVICE,
YET, ITS IMPACT WILL TRANSFORM,
NOT JUST THE VALLEY,
BUT THE WORLD.
Armstrong: THAT'S ONE
SMALL STEP FOR A MAN.
[ BEEPING ]
Narrator: TODAY,
THOUGH WE MAY NOT REALIZE IT,
THE TECHNOLOGY PIONEERED
BY WILLIAM SHOCKLEY
[ BEEPING ]
IS IN EVERYTHING AROUND US,
FROM COFFEE MAKERS
TO EKGs, [ BEEPING ]
WASHING MACHINES
TO PARKING METERS,
BIG-LEAGUE SCOREBOARDS,
AND ALMOST EVERY ELECTRONIC
DEVICE YOU'VE EVER OWNED.
IT'S CALLED THE TRANSISTOR.
THE TRANSISTOR
REDEFINES ELECTRONICS.
Narrator:
IT'S A TINY COMPONENT
THAT REGULATES THE FLOW
OF ELECTRICITY.
THINK OF IT AS A SWITCH.
YOU KNOW, THAT LIGHT SWITCH
IN YOUR HOUSE.
THAT'S AN ON/OFF SWITCH,
CONTROLLING
THE FLOW OF ELECTRONS.
Narrator: NO DEVICE WOULD
HAVE A MORE POWERFUL EFFECT
ON THE DEVELOPMENT
OF SILICON VALLEY.
AND SHOCKLEY, THE NOBEL
PRIZE-WINNING PHYSICIST
WHO COINVENTS THE TRANSISTOR,
HELPS TO SET THAT
TRANSFORMATION IN MOTION.
Moore: SHOCKLEY IS
AN INTERESTING CHARACTER.
HE HAD FANTASTIC
PHYSICAL INTUITION.
ONE OF MY COLLEAGUES
SUGGESTED SHOCKLEY
COULD EVEN SEE ELECTRONS,
HE HAD SUCH A GOOD IDEA
WHAT WAS GONNA HAPPEN
IN SOME OF THESE
COMPLEX STRUCTURES.
Narrator: TRANSISTORS
REPLACE VACUUM TUBES,
BUT ARE MUCH SMALLER,
AND GENERATE FAR LESS HEAT.
WHAT MAKES THEM WORK
IS A SOLID SUBSTANCE,
CALLED A SEMICONDUCTOR,
[ ELECTRICITY BUZZING ]
THAT CAN BE ENGINEERED
TO EITHER BLOCK
[ BUZZING]
OR PASS ELECTRONS.
SHOCKLEY HAS IDEAS FOR HOW
TO MAKE TRANSISTORS EVEN BETTER,
BUT HE'S EMBROILED IN DISPUTES
WITH HIS COLLEAGUES
AT NEW JERSEY'S BELL LABS.
SO HE DECIDES TO START
HIS OWN COMPANY.
HE PICKS A SITE IN THE VALLEY,
NEAR PALO ALTO,
WHERE HE GREW UP AND WHERE
HIS MOTHER STILL LIVES.
SO HE COMES TO PALO ALTO
AND GATHERS
THE BEST TALENT IN THE WORLD,
THE GREATEST YOUNG MINDS
IN SOLID-STATE PHYSICS.
Moore: WHEN HE WAS HIRING,
HE HAD US GO THROUGH
A SET OF IQ
AND PSYCHOLOGY-RELATED TESTS.
Man: HOW'D YOU DO?
WELL, INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH,
HE LET ME SEE
BOB NOYCE'S TEST RESULTS
AND BOB SEE MINE,
AND WE WERE VERY SIMILAR.
INTELLIGENCE WAS OKAY,
BUT NEITHER OF US
WERE EVER GOING TO BE A MANAGER.
I THINK SHOCKLEY SHOULD'VE
TAKEN ONE OF THOSE TESTS, ALSO.
Narrator: SHOCKLEY'S
SEMICONDUCTOR BECOMES THE FIRST
OF WHAT WILL BE HUNDREDS
OF TRANSISTOR COMPANIES
[ WHIMSICAL TUNE PLAYS ]
IN THE VALLEY.
I MEAN, BEFORE SHOCKLEY,
THERE WAS NOTHING.
THEN, YOU HAD SHOCKLEY,
WHO WAS A BRILLIANT GUY,
BUT KIND OF A SCREWBALL, TOO.
SHOCKLEY WAS PROBABLY
THE WORLD'S BEST TALENT-SPOTTER,
COMBINED WITH THE WORLD'S
WORST MANAGEMENT STYLE.
HE BELIEVED IN COMMAND
AND CONTROL:
"I'LL TELL YOU WHAT TO DO.
YOU'LL FOLLOW MY RULES.
NO INNOVATION REQUIRED.
HERE'S WHAT WE'RE BUILDING
AND I WON'T TELL YOU WHY."
Narrator: AS THE MONTHS ROLL
BY, TENSIONS BECOME UNBEARABLE.
FINALLY, ON SEPTEMBER 18, 1957,
EIGHT OF SHOCKLEY'S
TOP EMPLOYEES,
INCLUDING NOYCE AND MOORE,
ALL SIMULTANEOUSLY QUIT.
THEY BECOME KNOWN
AS THE TRAITOROUS EIGHT.
AN INTRODUCTION TO A WALL STREET
INVESTMENT BANKER,
ARTHUR ROCK,
CHANGES THEIR FORTUNES,
AND THE HISTORY OF THE VALLEY.
THEY WOULD'VE BEEN VERY HAPPY,
IF WE GOT 'EM JOBS,
BUT I JUST SAW MORE
IN IT THAN THAT.
Moore:
BY LUCK, OR BY PROVIDENCE,
ARTHUR ROCK MET UP
WITH SHERMAN FAIRCHILD,
THE FOUNDER OF FAIRCHILD
CAMERA AND INSTRUMENT.
HE WAS A TECHNOLOGY BUFF.
Narrator: FAIRCHILD AGREES TO
PUT UP OVER A MILLION DOLLARS
TO START A NEW DIVISION
OF HIS COMPANY IN THE VALLEY.
THE EIGHT WILL NOT ONLY WORK
AT FAIRCHILD SEMICONDUCTOR,
BUT ALSO OWN STOCK.
[ SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS ]
WE TOOK THESE EIGHT FELLOWS
AND COLLECTIVELY DECIDED THAT
WE'D TAKE A CHANCE
AT TRYING TO FORM A COMPANY
SO THAT THEY COULD OWN EQUITY.
IT SEEMED PRETTY
STRAIGHTFORWARD TO ME.
Saffo:
EVEN ART ROCK, WHEN HE STARTED,
DIDN'T APPRECIATE
WHAT WAS GOING ON.
HE WAS JUST TRYING
TO SOLVE A PROBLEM.
BUT, VERY MUCH IN THE
SILICON VALLEY TRADITION,
IT EVENTUALLY DAWNED ON HIM,
"WAIT A SECOND. I DIDN'T
JUST SOLVE A PROBLEM.
WE'RE CREATING
A WHOLE NEW MODEL."
Narrator: AND ROCK GIVES
THAT MODEL A NAME:
VENTURE CAPITAL,
WHERE INVESTORS NOT ONLY
ACQUIRE SHARES IN COMPANIES,
BUT ALSO HELP RUN THEM.
VENTURE CAPITAL PEOPLE
ARE GREAT ORCHESTRATORS
OF PULLING TOGETHER
THE RESOURCES, THE KNOWLEDGE,
THE RELATIONSHIPS,
AND THE MONEY NECESSARY
TO PROP UP A SMALL COMPANY.
WITHOUT THEM, WE WOULDN'T
HAVE THE VALLEY.
Narrator: THE NOVEL DEAL
THAT CREATES FAIRCHILD
WILL PAY OFF FOR ITS FOUNDERS,
AND FOR THE VALLEY.
FAIRCHILD WAS LIKE A CATALYST
FOR WHAT THEN BECOMES
AN EXPLOSION
OF TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT
OVER THE NEXT 50 YEARS.
Narrator: THAT EXPLOSION BEGINS
WHEN FAIRCHILD DEVISES A NEW WAY
TO SWITCH THE SEMICONDUCTOR
USED IN MOST TRANSISTORS
FROM GERMANIUM,
A RARE SUBSTANCE,
TO ONE FOUND IN ORDINARY SAND.
SILICON TRANSISTORS ARE MORE
RELIABLE AND HEAT-RESISTANT.
THEY SOON FIND THEIR WAY
INTO EVERYTHING FROM ROCKETS
TO RADIOS.
- Commentator: Jackie Robinson
of the Dodgers.
- AND EARN THE VALLEY
ITS FAMOUS NAME.
BUT THE VALLEY'S RISE
WILL NOT INCLUDE THE MAN
WHO SET IT IN MOTION.
WILLIAM SHOCKLEY LOSES HIS PLACE
AT THE PINNACLE OF ELECTRONICS.
HIS COMPANY IS SOLD IN 1960,
AT A LOSS.
HE THEN DEVOTES YEARS OF HIS
LIFE TO A QUIXOTIC CRUSADE:
PROMOTING CRACKPOT IDEAS
ABOUT RACE AND INTELLIGENCE...
THAT THE MAJOR CAUSE
OF THE AMERICAN NEGRO'S
INTELLECTUAL AND SOCIAL
DEFICITS IS HEREDITARY,
AND RACIALLY GENETIC
IN ORIGIN.
...A NOTION THAT EXPERTS
ON INTELLIGENCE DISMISS
AS HAVING NO BASIS IN SCIENCE.
IN 1989, THE ONCE-LAUDED
SCIENTIST DIES A PARIAH.
ALTHOUGH THE VALLEY REJECTS
SHOCKLEY'S EXTREME VIEWS,
[ SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS ]
OTHER KINDS OF BIAS LINGER.
TODAY, THE VALLEY'S
TECH WORKFORCE IS
ABOUT 90% WHITE AND
ASIAN, ONLY 2% BLACK,
AND FEWER THAN 1 IN 3
TECH EMPLOYEES ARE WOMEN.
THE CULTURE OF SILICON VALLEY
HAS BEEN, FROM THE BEGINNING,
NOT JUST WHITE,
BUT ALSO VERY MALE.
IT'S JUST AN INDUSTRY
THAT'S STILL GOT
A DEARTH OF WOMEN IN IT,
AND, YET, IT BELIEVES
IT'S A MERITOCRACY.
THAT'S NOT A GOOD COMBINATION.
♪♪
IF YOU'RE NOT DOING
SOMETHING HARD,
YOU'RE WASTING YOUR TIME.
Narrator: IN 1986,
HEIDI ROIZEN, CEO OF THE
SOFTWARE COMPANY T/MAKER
AND ONE OF THE FEW
WOMEN CEOs IN SILICON VALLEY,
APPLIES FOR
A MILLION-DOLLAR BANK LOAN.
THE BANK INVITED ME TO A DINNER
OF OTHER PEOPLE LIKE ME,
OTHER CEOs
OF TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES,
WHO WERE APPLYING FOR DEBT
FROM THIS PARTICULAR BANK.
AND THEY HAD THIS DINNER FOR 10
OR 12 OF US AND I WALKED IN
AND, FIRST OF ALL,
IT WAS A SCOTCH-TASTING.
I CAN'T STAND SCOTCH.
EVERYONE WAS TALKING
ABOUT THEIR GOLF GAMES.
I DON'T PLAY GOLF.
I WAS THE ONLY WOMAN
IN THE ROOM.
I WAS SITTING THERE.
I WAS THINKING,
"HOW DO I MAKE CONVERSATION?
HOW DO I GET IN THE GAME HERE?"
IT WAS ONE OF THOSE MOMENTS
WHERE I JUST THOUGHT TO MYSELF,
"I'M NOT GONNA BE GETTING
A LOAN FROM THIS BANK."
AND, IN FACT, I DIDN'T
GET A LOAN FROM THAT BANK.
[ BELL CLANGING ]
Narrator: ROIZEN IS FAR
FROM THE ONLY WOMAN
WHO'S FELT UNWELCOME
IN THE VALLEY.
THIS PLACE IS NOT FOR EVERYONE.
THERE'S A LOT OF
[laughing] TESTOSTERONE.
THERE'S A LOT OF COMPETITION.
Narrator: COMPANIES OFTEN
DEMAND LONG HOURS,
THAT CAN BE ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE
FOR WOMEN WITH CHILDREN.
YOU LOOK AT A PLACE LIKE GOOGLE,
WHICH BUILDS IN
CAFETERIAS, SUSHI BARS,
GET YOUR DRY CLEANING DONE.
EVERYTHING IS ORGANIZED
TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU SPEND
AS MUCH TIME AS POSSIBLE
INSIDE THE COMPANY.
Narrator: SO, TODAY, THE
VALLEY'S HIGH-TECH WORKFORCE
IS OVERWHELMINGLY MALE.
[ SURF MUSIC PLAYS ]
AND YET, WOMEN
HAVE BEEN ESSENTIAL
TO THE VALLEY'S HISTORY.
IN THE ORIGINS
OF SILICON VALLEY,
WOMEN WERE THE ASSEMBLY WORKERS.
THEY WERE
THE PRODUCTION WORKERS.
THE STEREOTYPES ALL ARE
THAT WOMEN HAVE SMALL HANDS,
WOMEN CAN DO THIS
VERY CLOSE WORK
THAT WAS INVOLVED WITH
ELECTRONICS ASSEMBLING.
Narrator:
DURING WORLD WAR II,
SOME OF THE FIRST
PROGRAMMERS ARE WOMEN.
THEY WERE ACTUALLY
CALLED COMPUTERS
BECAUSE THEY WERE COMPUTING
BALLISTICS TRAJECTORIES,
USING DIFFERENTIAL MATH,
AND THESE WERE MATH MAJORS.
THESE WERE THE WOMEN I LOOK
UP TO, WHO WERE PIONEERING
AND BREAKING GROUND AND SOLVING
REALLY COMPLEX PROBLEMS.
NOT GETTING A LOT
OF CREDIT FOR IT,
BUT WHO REALLY ESTABLISHED
THE FOUNDATIONS
OF COMPUTING
IN SOME IMPORTANT WAYS.
Narrator: BUT DURING THE
DECADES AFTER THE WAR,
WOMEN LOSE THEIR FOOTHOLD
IN COMPUTING.
PART OF THE CULTURE
OF HACKERS AND CODERS
IS SOMETHING THAT COMES OUT
OF A ERA, THE 1950s AND 1960s,
WHEN YOU END UP
WITH A FACE OF THE VALLEY
THAT IS OVERWHELMINGLY MALE,
AND THAT CULTURE
HAS KIND OF GOTTEN BAKED IN
TO THE WHOLE SYSTEM.
Narrator: BUT SOME WOMEN FIND
WAYS TO BREAK DOWN BARRIERS.
Polese:
I WAS A GIRL GEEK.
I ALWAYS KNEW THAT I WANTED TO
HAVE A CAREER IN THE SCIENCES.
I MAJORED IN BIOPHYSICS
AT UC BERKELEY
AND THEN I FELL
IN LOVE WITH SOFTWARE.
Narrator: IN 1989,
KIM POLESE JOINS ONE OF THE
VALLEY'S TOP COMPUTER COMPANIES:
SUN MICROSYSTEMS.
OCCASIONALLY LOOK
AROUND THE ROOM,
REALIZE YOU'RE THE ONLY WOMAN,
BUT IT'S KINDA LIKE,
"WELL, SO WHAT?
[laughing] NOW, LET'S GET
BACK TO BUSINESS."
Narrator: SHE'S PART OF THE
TEAM THAT DEVELOPS JAVA,
THE PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE
THAT BRINGS MOTION
TO THE WORLD WIDE WEB.
IN 1996,
POLESE COFOUNDS A BUSINESS
SOFTWARE COMPANY, MARIMBA,
AND BECOMES ITS CEO.
AS ONE OF THE FEW WOMEN CEOs,
I GOT A LOT OF ATTENTION
AND SOME OF IT WAS KIND OF
STRANGE. [laughs]
I WOULD BE GIVING A SPEECH
ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE INTERNET
OR WHAT JAVA WAS,
AND IT WOULD END UP BEING
THIS FLUFFY PIECE ABOUT,
YOU KNOW, WHAT I WAS WEARING.
IT WAS FRUSTRATING,
AT TIMES, BUT,
I DID MY BEST, REALLY,
TO IGNORE THE SILLY STUFF.
Narrator:
LED BY POLESE, MARIMBA THRIVES.
WHEN IT'S SOLD,
IT FETCHES A PRICE
OF $239 MILLION.
THERE IS ONE THING THAT
I THINK HAS BEEN A THEME
THROUGHOUT MY CAREER:
IT'S PERSISTENCE
AND ANYONE THAT I'VE SEEN
WHO'S BEEN SUCCESSFUL HERE
IN THE VALLEY,
IT'S NEVER GIVING UP.
Narrator: HEIDI ROIZEN'S
AMBITION TO RUN A TECH COMPANY
HAS ITS ROOTS IN HER
VALLEY CHILDHOOD.
FOR ME, THIS IS MY HOMETOWN.
MY FATHER CAME HERE TO WORK
FOR AMPEX IN THE '50s
AND WORKED ON THE EARLY
VIDEOTAPE RECORDERS.
MY FATHER WAS NOT SO MUCH
ENCOURAGING ME TO BE AN ENGINEER
AS HE WAS ENCOURAGING ME
TO BE AN ENTREPRENEUR.
Narrator: LIKE SO MANY PEOPLE
IN THE VALLEY'S HISTORY,
ROIZEN ATTENDS STANFORD,
AND GOES ON
TO ITS BUSINESS SCHOOL.
IN 1983, SHE AND HER BROTHER
PETER, A SOFTWARE ENGINEER,
START THEIR COMPANY T/MAKER.
Roizen: WE WERE RUNNING FOR A
NUMBER OF YEARS BEFORE WE DECIDED
THAT WE WERE MISSING
THE OPPORTUNITY
TO PUT THE COMPANY
ON A FASTER GROWTH TRAJECTORY.
Narrator: ROIZEN NEEDS MONEY,
AND SEEKS ADVICE FROM A FRIEND:
ANN WINBLAD,
A FORMER SOFTWARE CEO
WHO STARTED HER OWN
VENTURE CAPITAL FUND.
SHE HAD A VERY EFFICIENT
BUSINESS MODEL.
EVEN THOUGH SHE WAS SELLING
SOFTWARE AT LOW PRICES,
IT WAS A VERY HIGH-GROSS MARGIN.
SHE KNEW HOW
TO BUILD A PROFIT.
Roizen: SO SHE WAS
HELPING ME WITH MY PITCH.
Narrator: ROIZEN RECEIVES AN OFFER,
OR TERM SHEET, FROM ANOTHER VC.
AND, AT THAT POINT,
ANN SAID TO ME,
"I DON'T WANT YOU
TO TAKE THEIR TERM SHEET.
I WANT YOU TO TAKE
MY TERM SHEET."
AND THEN SHE GAVE ME
A TERM SHEET OF LOWER VALUATION.
AND I SAID, "WELL,
WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"
AND SHE SAID,
"WELL, YOU KNOW I'M BETTER
THAN THAT OTHER FIRM FOR YOU
AND I'M GONNA BE
A BETTER PARTNER TO YOU."
AND I KNEW SHE WAS GONNA BE
AN AMAZING PARTNER.
IN THE END, IT WAS ACQUIRED
FOR A NICE SUM OF MONEY,
SO IT HAD A GREAT OUTCOME
FOR THE ENTREPRENEUR,
HEIDI, AND HER TEAM;
AS WELL AS FOR US, THE INVESTOR.
[ OMINOUS CHORD STRIKES ]
Narrator: BUT THE SUCCESSES
OF SOME VALLEY WOMEN
HAVE NOT ELIMINATED
THE PREVAILING BIAS.
ANOTHER HIGH-PROFILE
SILICON VALLEY COMPANY
IS BEING SUED ON
SEX-DISCRIMINATION CLAIMS.
BUT DISCRIMINATION AND DIVERSITY
HAS BEEN A REOCCURRING ISSUE
ACROSS SILICON VALLEY.
I'M PERPLEXED BY THE FACT THAT
WE'RE STILL DEALING
WITH THIS PROBLEM.
BACK THEN, IN 1996,
WHEN WE COFOUNDED MARIMBA
AND I WAS GETTING SOME
OF THIS STRANGE REACTION,
I THOUGHT, "WELL,
THIS WILL ALL BE GONE.
IN 10 YEARS, THERE WILL BE
SO MANY MORE WOMEN FOUNDING
AND BUILDING COMPANIES.
THIS IS JUST A BLIP IN TIME."
UNFORTUNATELY,
20 YEARS LATER NOW,
THINGS HAVE CHANGED
FOR THE BETTER,
BUT THEY CERTAINLY ARE NOT
WHERE THEY NEED TO BE.
[ SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS ]
Narrator: IN THE VALLEY,
MEN HAVE ALWAYS BEEN
MORE LIKELY
TO BE JUDGED SOLELY
ON THEIR MERITS,
EVEN IF THEY'VE IMMIGRATED FROM
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD.
ONE OF THEM IS A YOUNG
PUNJABI PHYSICIST
WHO COMES HERE
IN HOT PURSUIT OF AN IDEA.
IT WAS A PROFESSOR OF MINE
WHO WAS TEACHING PHYSICS
AND, DURING THE COURSE,
HE SAID,
"LIGHT TRAVELS
IN STRAIGHT LINES."
I THOUGHT ABOUT THAT
A LITTLE BIT
AND DECIDED THAT HE WAS WRONG.
AND SO THAT BECAME
THE MISSION OF MY LIFE.
Narrator: A MISSION THAT
WOULD ULTIMATELY TRANSFORM
THE WAY WE COMMUNICATE,
THROUGH TECHNOLOGY HE CALLED
[ SHIMMERING TUNE PLAYS ]
FIBER OPTICS.
[ SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS ]
English-Lueck: THE VALLEY IS
A REALLY INTERESTING PLACE
IN THE WAY DIFFERENT KINDS
OF PEOPLE HAVE COALESCED HERE.
THIS IS A PLACE WHICH IS PART
OF THAT VISION OF PROGRESS
AND THAT VISION
IS DEEPLY AMERICAN,
BUT IT ALSO HAS BEEN A MAGNET
FOR PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD.
[ HORN BLARING ]
[ SIGNAL BELL CLANGING ]
Narrator: THERE'S NO STRONGER EVIDENCE
OF THE MAGNETISM OF SILICON VALLEY
THAN THE FACT THAT MORE THAN
A THIRD OF ITS PEOPLE
ARE FOREIGN-BORN.
THE THING THAT IMMIGRANTS BRING
TO THE PARTY, SO TO SPEAK,
IS THE SILICON VALLEY DNA
AND HYPERDRIVE.
NEW IDEAS ARE BORN OF PEOPLE
WITH MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES
WHO COME IN WITH A BELIEF
THAT THEY CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
Narrator: ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE IS
PHYSICIST NARINDER SINGH KAPANY.
HIS INNOVATIONS WILL CREATE
A NEW INDUSTRY
AND LEAD THE VALLEY INTO THE
WORLD OF MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY.
[ ROCK MUSIC PLAYS ]
WHEN KAPANY ARRIVES
IN THE VALLEY IN 1960,
THERE AREN'T YET
MANY PEOPLE FROM INDIA.
WHEN I FIRST GOT HERE,
THERE WAS ONLY
TWO INDIAN RESTAURANTS
IN ALL OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
AND THEY WERE BOTH IN THE CITY
OF SAN FRANCISCO.
[ BELL CLANGING ]
AND NOW EVERY STREET
HAS INDIAN FOOD. [laughs]
♪♪
I CAME FROM A GENERATION THAT
DID NOT BELIEVE IN HAVING A PhD.
HAVING A PhD MADE YOU
[laughing] AN ABSENTMINDED-
THINKING PROFESSOR
AND I WANTED TO BE
AN ENTREPRENEUR.
THE OTHER CHOICE WAS
GOING TO BOSTON,
BUT I HAD A STRONG FEELING
IN FAVOR OF SILICON VALLEY.
LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE FROM
DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD.
PEOPLE LOVE ENTREPRENEURS.
I THINK YOU COULD SEE
THE BEGINNINGS
OF SOMETHING
THAT BASICALLY EMERGED
TO MAKE SILICON VALLEY
WHAT IT IS TODAY.
Narrator: KAPANY HAS
COME TO START A BUSINESS,
ONE THAT WILL MAKE
PRACTICAL USE OF WORK
HE'S BEEN DOING FOR YEARS
IN INDIA AND ENGLAND:
RESEARCH ON HOW TO MAKE LIGHT
TRAVEL ALONG A CURVED PATH.
I TRIED TO DO SOMETHING
IN INDIA,
BUT USING MIRRORS
AND LENSES AND SO ON
TO BEND LIGHT AROUND CORNERS,
BUT IT WASN'T UNTIL
I WENT TO ENGLAND,
AT THE IMPERIAL COLLEGE
IN LONDON,
THAT I DECIDED TO USE
FIBERS OF GLASS.
IF YOU TAKE A ROD OF GLASS,
TRANSPARENT GLASS,
AND, FROM THE END,
YOU SEND THE LIGHT IN IT,
EVEN THOUGH THE ROD IS BENT,
IT STILL GETS TRANSMITTED
TO THE OTHER END.
Narrator: KAPANY COINS
THE TERM FIBER OPTICS
AND, WHEN HE AND HIS WIFE
ARRIVE IN SILICON VALLEY,
HE HAS ALREADY DEVELOPED
THIS TECHNOLOGY
TO GIVE DOCTORS A NEW WAY
TO SEE INSIDE THE HUMAN BODY.
YOU SEE, THEY USED TO HAVE
TELESCOPIC SYSTEM
TO LOOK INSIDE THE BODY,
AND THAT WAS HORRIBLE.
PEOPLE HAD TO HAVE
PSYCHIATRIC EXAMINATION
TO BE ABLE TO SHOVE THIS THING
[laughing] DOWN THE THROAT
INTO THE STOMACH.
Narrator: BUT A FIBER OPTIC
ENDOSCOPE IS FLEXIBLE.
I ACTUALLY MADE THE DEVICES
TO HAVE A LARGE NUMBER OF FIBERS
ALIGNED TOGETHER,
SO THAT WHEN YOU TAKE
A BUNDLE OF FIBERS,
YOU CAN FORM AN IMAGE ON IT
AND THE WHOLE IMAGE
IS TRANSMITTED DOWN.
[ WHIMSICAL TUNE PLAYS ]
Narrator: IN SEARCH OF INVESTORS,
KAPANY WRANGLES A MEETING
WITH THE LEGENDARY FOUNDERS
OF HEWLETT-PACKARD.
MY PITCH WAS THAT WE WANTED
TO START THIS COMPANY
WITH FIBERS AND LASERS
AND OPTICAL THIN FILMS
AND OTHER DEVICES.
AND THEY BOUGHT IT.
Narrator: HEWLETT-PACKARD
AND OTHER VALLEY INVESTORS
ENABLE KAPANY'S COMPANY,
OPTICS TECHNOLOGY,
TO KEEP ON INNOVATING
WITH LIGHT.
I THINK EVERY 3, 4 MONTHS,
THERE WAS A NEW INVENTION
WE WERE COMING UP WITH.
Narrator:
KAPANY ALSO PIONEERS SOME
OF THE EARLIEST SURGICAL
USES OF LASERS:
TO TREAT DETACHED RETINAS.
WHEN THE RETINA
GETS A DETACHMENT,
IT WAS NOT EASY TO SEAL IT
BACK TO ITSELF,
EXCEPT WITH THE LASER.
YOU FOCUS IT DOWN AND THAT
GIVES YOU THE COAGULATION THERE
AND YOU COULD DO IT.
SO WE DEMONSTRATED THAT,
FIRST, ON ANIMALS;
AND THEN ON HUMANS' EYES;
AND THEN BOB HOPE.
BOB HOPE HAD A DETACHED RETINA,
SO WE DID THAT ON HIM, TOO.
THEN WE TOOK THAT COMPANY
PUBLIC IN 1967,
AT $12 A SHARE;
AND, IN 6 MONTHS,
IT WENT UP TO $60 A SHARE.
Narrator: KAPANY IS THE FIRST
INDIAN ENTREPRENEUR IN THE VALLEY
TO TAKE A COMPANY PUBLIC,
PAVING THE WAY FOR THE MANY
WHO WOULD FOLLOW.
TODAY, MORE THAN HALF
OF THE VALLEY'S ENGINEERS
WERE BORN IN OTHER COUNTRIES.
DOING SOMETHING THAT IS REALLY
INNOVATIVE AND CUTTING-EDGE
AND THAT YOU CAN'T
DO ANYWHERE ELSE,
THAT IS A COMPELLING STORY
AND THAT'S WHY THEY COME HERE.
Narrator: THE ROSTER OF IMMIGRANTS
WHO HAVE SHAPED SILICON VALLEY
INCLUDES: ALEXANDER PONIATOFF,
FROM RUSSIA, FOUNDER OF AMPEX;
ANDREW GROVE,
FROM HUNGARY, CEO OF INTEL;
JERRY YANG, FROM TAIWAN,
COFOUNDER OF YAHOO!;
ANDREAS BECHTOLSHEIM,
FROM GERMANY,
AND VINOD KHOSLA, FROM INDIA,
COFOUNDERS OF
SUN MICROSYSTEMS;
ELON MUSK, FROM SOUTH AFRICA,
FOUNDER OF TESLA;
AND, FROM RUSSIA, A YOUNG MAN
NAMED SERGEY BRIN.
SERGEY'S MOTHER WAS DISAPPOINTED
HE DIDN'T COMPLETE HIS PhD,
SHE TOLD ME. I WAS LIKE,
"WELL, EVERYTHING ELSE
TURNED OUT OKAY."
[laughing]
[ SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS ]
Narrator: IT'S HARD TO THINK
OF ANOTHER VALLEY COMPANY
WHOSE NAME IS SAID
AS OFTEN BY SO MANY.
WE SAY THE INTERNET GATHERED UP
ALL THE WORLD'S INFORMATION
AND GAVE US ACCESS TO IT.
NO. GOOGLE GATHERED UP
ALL THE WORLD'S INFORMATION
AND GAVE US ACCESS TO IT.
IT'S REALLY THE ABILITY
TO SEARCH FOR KNOWLEDGE
THAT IS THE TRANSFORMATIVE
EVENT OF OUR ERA.
Narrator: THIS GLOBAL GIANT, LIKE SO
MANY OF THE VALLEY'S LEGENDARY FIRMS,
OWES ITS FOUNDING TO THE
VALLEY'S MAGNETIC ATTRACTION,
A FORCE THAT DRAWS TWO AMBITIOUS
YOUNG PERSONAL PEOPLE HERE.
IT'S, YOU KNOW, TWO PEOPLE
OUT OF STANFORD, YOU KNOW,
THAT NEVER HAD A JOB BEFORE
AND STARTED WHAT TODAY IS ONE
OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL
COMPANIES IN THE WORLD.
Narrator:
LARRY PAGE IS FROM MICHIGAN.
SERGEY BRIN, BORN IN RUSSIA,
GROWS UP IN MARYLAND.
AFTER COLLEGE,
EACH WANTS TO PURSUE A PhD.
IN COMPUTER SCIENCE.
EACH DECIDES TO COME
TO THE VALLEY, TO STANFORD,
WHERE, IN 1995, THEY MEET.
THE NEXT YEAR, THEY DECIDE
TO WORK TOGETHER
ON A THESIS PROJECT
TO IMPROVE THE SORRY STATE
OF SEARCH ON THE INTERNET.
SEARCH ON THE INTERNET
HAD BECOME HORRIBLE.
Reporter: THE SHEER AMOUNT OF
INFORMATION AVAILABLE IS IMMENSE,
ALMOST OVERWHELMING.
AND SO, FINDING THINGS THAT WERE
RELEVANT WAS VERY DIFFICULT.
YOU MIGHT SEARCH
FOR SOME IMPORTANT TOPIC
AND YOU GOT SOMEBODY'S
KID'S TERM PAPER ON IT,
YOU GOT SOMEBODY WHO'D WRITTEN
ABOUT IT, WHATEVER.
YOU COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING
ANYMORE BECAUSE THE STUFF
YOU WERE LOOKING FOR
WAS LIKE 100 PAGES DOWN.
Narrator: BUT BRIN AND PAGE
THINK THEY'VE FOUND A SOLUTION.
THE THING THAT REALLY SHIFTED
WAS THE RECOGNITION THAT
DECIDING WHETHER
A PARTICULAR THING
WAS RELEVANT TO YOUR SEARCH
WAS NOT JUST A MATTER
OF LOOKING AT WHAT WAS IN IT.
YOU WANT TO LOOK FOR PAGES THAT
OTHER PEOPLE THINK ARE VALUABLE.
Narrator: IT'S AN IDEA THEY
BORROW FROM THEIR PARENTS.
Winograd: BOTH SERGEY AND
LARRY WERE ACADEMIC KIDS.
THEIR FAMILIES WERE PROFESSORS,
THEY WERE GRADUATE STUDENTS,
AND THEY WERE EXTREMELY FAMILIAR
WITH THE WAY THAT CITATIONS
WORK IN SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE.
I WRITE A PAPER, OTHER PEOPLE
WHO THINK IT'S A GOOD PAPER
PUT A FOOTNOTE IN THEIR PAPER,
POINTING TO MY PAPER.
AND MAYBE YOU COULD TAKE THAT
SAME STRUCTURE AND IMPORT IT
TO THE WAY THAT PEOPLE LINK
ONE PAGE TO ANOTHER.
SO IF LOTS OF PEOPLE
LINK TO MY PAGE,
PROBABLY MEANS IT'S A GOOD PAGE.
THE IDEA WAS TO BUILD A SYSTEM
THAT YOU COULD RELIABLY COUNT
HOW POPULAR SOMETHING WAS.
Narrator: THEY NAMED THEIR SEARCH
METHOD AFTER THE MATHEMATICAL TERM
FOR 1 FOLLOWED BY 100 ZEROS,
INTENTIONALLY MISSPELLED.
I REMEMBER, TO THIS DAY,
THE FIRST SEARCH I DID ON GOOGLE
WAS DRAMATICALLY BETTER
THAN ALL THE SEARCH
THAT I HAD TRIED
PREVIOUS TO THAT.
Narrator: PAGE AND BRIN, WHO
WERE PLANNING TO STAY IN SCHOOL
AND FINISH THEIR PhDs,
SET OUT TO SELL
THEIR SPIFFY NEW TOOL.
THEY WERE LOOKING
TO LICENSE THE TECHNOLOGY
AND, YOU KNOW, YOU OFTEN THINK
YOU PRODUCE SOMETHING WONDERFUL
AND OTHER PEOPLE WOULD LOVE
THE BABY YOU'VE CREATED
AND WOULD WANNA RAISE IT,
BUT THE REALITY IS
THEY GOT OTHER THINGS GOING ON
AND IT DOESN'T LOOK AS PRETTY
TO THEM AS IT DOES TO YOU.
Narrator:
THEY SPEND A YEAR LOOKING,
BUT NO ONE WILL PAY FOR THE
RIGHTS TO THEIR SEARCH ENGINE.
SO THEY ASK DAVID CHERITON,
WHO'S AN INVESTOR,
AS WELL AS A PROFESSOR,
IF HE CAN HELP THEM FIND MONEY
TO START THEIR OWN COMPANY.
IN 1998,
HE ASKS A STANFORD ALUMNUS
WHO COFOUNDED SUN MICROSYSTEMS
TO COME TO HIS HOME
TO MEET PAGE AND BRIN.
DAVID THOUGHT IT WOULD BE
USEFUL, YOU KNOW, FOR US TO MEET
AND JUST SORT OF TALK OVER
OF WHAT IT MEANS
TO START A COMPANY, IF YOU'RE
STILL A STANFORD STUDENT.
SO, WE MET AT DAVID'S
HOUSE IN PALO ALTO
AND IT WAS LIKE
EARLY MORNING, AT 8:00,
AND I HAD A 9:00
MEETING AT CISCO,
SO I DIDN'T HAVE MUCH TIME.
LARRY AND SERGEY ARRIVED FIRST
AND SO THEY WERE OUT THERE
ON THE FRONT PORCH WITH ME
AND CONNECTED
INTO MY ETHERNET AT HOME
AND ANDY PULLED UP IN HIS
PORSCHE AND HOPPED OUT
AND THEY DEMOED THE GOOGLE
RUNNING ON THIS LAPTOP.
IT WAS WORKING
ASTONISHINGLY WELL,
I MEAN,
EVEN AS THIS SMALL DEMO.
SO, CLEARLY, YOU KNOW,
I THOUGHT THIS WAS GONNA WORK.
THAT WAS NOT EVEN THE QUESTION.
THE ONLY QUESTION WAS, YOU KNOW,
HOW WOULD THEY MAKE
MONEY WITH THIS?
SO THE NEXT QUESTION WAS LIKE,
"WHAT'S THE BUSINESS MODEL?
HOW DO YOU MONETIZE THIS?"
AND THEY WOULD SAY, "WELL,
YOU KNOW, WE CAN THEN LINK
TO SORT OF THESE RELEVANT ADS,"
OR RELATIVE
TO THE SEARCH TERM YOU HAVE.
THEY COULD HAVE THIS
UNLIMITED AD INVENTORY
AND JUST YOU SEARCH FOR
A TENNIS RACKET, YOU KNOW,
HERE'S AN AD FROM PEOPLE WHO
WANT TO SELL YOU TENNIS RACKETS.
AND, YOU KNOW, AND THEY WILL
CHARGE 5 CENTS A CLICK FOR THAT,
WHICH IS STILL
THE BASIC FEE TODAY.
SO, IN THE BACK OF MY MIND,
I WAS CALCULATING, YOU KNOW,
YOU'RE GONNA GET
A MILLION CLICKS A DAY,
AT 5 CENTS A CLICK, $50,000
A DAY, THEY CANNOT GO BROKE.
SO IT WAS CLEAR THAT THIS WAS
A MONEY-MAKING MACHINE.
SO HE SAID, "YOU KNOW, I DON'T
WANT YOU GUYS TO HAVE TO,
YOU KNOW,
TAKE TOO LOW A VALUATION
OR TO HAVE TO WORRY TOO MUCH
ABOUT THESE MONEY
THINGS RIGHT NOW.
WHY DON'T I JUST
WRITE YOU A CHECK?"
SO HE WENT BACK TO HIS CAR,
CAME BACK WITH A CHECKBOOK,
AND HE WROTE US
A CHECK FOR $100,000.
Narrator:
A NEW COMPANY IS BORN,
AND SOON, A NEW VERB:
TO GOOGLE.
THE WEBSITE PULLS IN
SO MUCH AD REVENUE
THAT GOOGLE QUICKLY
BECOMES A VERY BIG BUSINESS.
WHEN IT GOES PUBLIC IN 2004,
IT'S WORTH $23 BILLION.
BY 2017, IT'S ONE OF THE MOST
VALUABLE COMPANIES ON EARTH,
WORTH $600 BILLION.
[ BEEPING ]
BUT AS GOOGLE HAS PROSPERED,
IT HAS ALSO ACCUMULATED
A HUGE AMOUNT OF INFORMATION
ABOUT ITS USERS
AND OTHER TECH COMPANIES
HAVE DONE THE SAME,
RAISING FEARS ABOUT
THEIR UNCHECKED POWER.
THERE IS AN INCREASING
REALIZATION
OF THE WAYS THE TECHNOLOGIES
WE'RE DEVELOPING
[ SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS ]
COULD BE USED FOR BAD.
Swisher: WHEN YOU HAVE A SMARTPHONE,
THEY KNOW WHAT YOU LOOKED AT,
THEY KNOW WHERE YOU DROVE TO,
THEY KNOW WHO YOU CALLED,
THEY KNOW WHAT BANKING YOU DID,
WHAT YOU BOUGHT.
THEY COULD GUESS WHAT
YOU'RE GONNA DO NEXT.
I THINK ANY COMPANY, WHETHER
IT BE GOOGLE, AMAZON, FACEBOOK,
THAT HAS THAT MUCH INFORMATION
ABOUT SO MANY PEOPLE
AND THEIR ACTIVITIES,
YOU'VE GOTTA WONDER,
"WHAT WILL HAPPEN
WHEN A SINGLE COMPANY
HAS THIS MUCH
INFORMATION ON PEOPLE?"
I THINK, FOR THE MOST PART,
THESE TOOLS:
BENIGN, FANTASTIC
FOR THE HUMAN RACE,
MORE KNOWLEDGE, GREAT.
BUT THERE IS THIS OTHER SIDE.
YOU KNOW,
WHERE DOES THAT GO?
♪♪
SILICON VALLEY PUT TECHNOLOGY
INTO EVERYTHING
THAT YOU SEE
AND TOUCH IN YOUR LIFE.
THE TRANSFORMATIONS ARE SO VAST,
WE'RE JUST BARELY
KEEPING UP WITH THEM.
Alcorn: NOW WE'RE SUCH A MAGNET,
PEOPLE COME FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD.
THEY JUST WANT TO BE PART OF IT.
Berlin: IF YOU'RE SERIOUS
ABOUT SUCCEEDING IN FINANCE,
YOU GOT TO NEW YORK CITY.
IF YOU'RE SERIOUS ABOUT THE
MOVIES, YOU GOT TO HOLLYWOOD.
IF YOU'RE SERIOUS
ABOUT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY,
YOU COME TO SILICON VALLEY.
IT DRIVES PEOPLE WITH THAT
VISION OF TECHNOLOGICAL PROMISE.
IT'S A MAGNET THAT YOU
CANNOT DEMAGNETIZE.
[ RAPID BEEPING ]
♪♪
CAPTIONS PAID FOR BY
DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS
[ ELECTRONICA PLAYS ]
[ BEEPING ]
♪♪
Narrator:
IT'S A SPACESHIP
THAT, WITH A SINGLE CLICK,
CAN TAKE US ANYWHERE.
AND IT'S A DEPARTMENT STORE.
A LIBRARY.
AND AN OFFICE.
A THEATER AND A NAVIGATOR.
THIS DIGITAL GENIE
CAN DO ALMOST ANYTHING.
GOOGLE HAS EXPANDED
OUR CAPABILITIES
BEYOND OUR WILDEST DREAMS.
♪♪
IT'S THE KIND OF QUANTUM LEAP
WE'VE COME TO EXPECT
FROM SILICON VALLEY.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT'S
FASCINATING ABOUT SILICON VALLEY
IS THAT IT SELF-CONSCIOUSLY
AIMS TO CHANGE THE WORLD.
THIS IS A PLACE
THAT CHANGES HISTORY.
THE STORY OF THE VALLEY
IS TYPICALLY TOLD
AS THE STORY IN WHICH HEROIC
AND ENTREPRENEURIAL INDIVIDUALS
SUDDENLY FIND INSIDE THEMSELVES
THE INTELLECTUAL FORTITUDE
AND THE PERSONAL DRIVE
TO CREATE TECHNOLOGIES
THAT CHANGE THE WORLD.
IT'S A HIGHLY
INDIVIDUALISTIC STORY.
[ CHEERING AND APPLAUSE ]
IT'S DEEPLY RESONANT
WITH AMERICAN MYTH
AND AMERICAN HISTORY.
BUT IT'S NOT THE CASE.
Narrator: THE FACT IS,
THE HEROES OF SILICON VALLEY
COULD NOT HAVE DONE WHAT THEY
DID WITHOUT A LOT OF HELP,
PROVIDED BY TAXPAYERS,
THROUGH GOVERNMENT
AND MILITARY CONTRACTS...
♪♪
BY AN OUTWARD-LOOKING
UNIVERSITY,
BY A NEW BREED OF INVESTORS,
AND WAVES OF IMMIGRANTS.
A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE TRIED TO
REPLICATE IT AROUND THE WORLD,
AND NOT MANY HAVE SUCCEEDED.
Narrator: PEOPLE WITH DRIVE
AND AMBITION HAVE BEEN FUELING
THE VALLEY'S MAGNETIC
ATTRACTION SINCE THE 1840s.
THE VALLEY ATTRACTED DREAMERS
AND VISIONARIES AND REBELS
BECAUSE CALIFORNIA HAD ALREADY
ATTRACTED THOSE PEOPLE.
Narrator:
PEOPLE LIKE LELAND STANFORD,
A NEW YORKER DRAWN
BY THE GOLD RUSH.
HIS LEGACY WILL SHAPE THE VALLEY
FOR THE NEXT 150 YEARS.
IN 1861, HE COFOUNDS
THE CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILROAD.
AND THE RAILROAD BROUGHT IN
RIVERS OF MONEY.
Narrator: WEALTH THAT
ENABLES HIM TO CATALYZE ONE
OF THE VALLEY'S
EARLIEST INNOVATIONS.
[ HORSE NEIGHS ]
STANFORD,
WHO HAS A LIFELONG PASSION
FOR RACEHORSES,
BUYS A FARM SOUTH
OF SAN FRANCISCO,
IN THE REGION WE KNOW TODAY
AS SILICON VALLEY.
THE SPEED OF THE HORSE WAS
SOMETHING THAT FASCINATED HIM
AND HE WANTED TO DEVELOP
A TRAINING SYSTEM
THAT WOULD BREAK DOWN
THE HORSE'S GAIT INTO PARTS,
IN ORDER TO REASSEMBLE IT
INTO A FASTER-MOVING ANIMAL.
Narrator:
BUT SCIENTISTS AT THE TIME
DON'T REALLY KNOW
HOW HORSES RUN,
[ WHIMSICAL TUNE PLAYS ]
WHETHER ALL FOUR FEET,
FOR EXAMPLE, LEAVE THE GROUND
AT THE SAME TIME.
STANFORD WANTS TO END
THAT UNCERTAINTY.
AND HE THINKS ABOUT,
IN A PATTERN WE SEE
AGAIN AND AGAIN
IN THE VALLEY, YOU KNOW,
"HOW CAN TECHNOLOGY BE USED
TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION?"
Narrator:
SO, IN 1872,
STANFORD HIRES PHOTOGRAPHER
EADWEARD MUYBRIDGE
TO SOLVE THE MYSTERY.
Turner: HE SET UP A SHED
WITH A DOZEN CAMERAS POINTED
OUT OF A LONG WINDOW
AND HE RAN THE HORSES
PAST THE SHED
AND PHOTOGRAPHED THEM
IN RAPID SUCCESSION
AND, THROUGH
HIS SERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY,
WAS ABLE TO REVEAL THAT
WHEN A HORSE RUNS,
THEY ACTUALLY LIFT
ALL FOUR LEGS OFF THE GROUND.
THAT WAS NOT SOMETHING THAT
PEOPLE HAD SEEN BEFORE THEN.
MUYBRIDGE'S CAMERA REVEALED IT.
Narrator: FOR THE FIRST TIME,
MOTION IS CAPTURED USING A CAMERA,
A BREAKTHROUGH THAT WILL SOON
INSPIRE THE INVENTION OF MOVIES.
[ POIGNANT TUNE SWEEPS ]
[ CHEERING ]
COME ON, BISCUIT!
BUT SHORTLY AFTER PUBLISHING
A BOOK OF THE PHOTOS,
STANFORD IS STRUCK BY TRAGEDY.
IN 1884,
HIS 15-YEAR-OLD SON CONTRACTS
TYPHOID FEVER AND DIES.
HIS PARENTS WENT
INTO A FOG OF GRIEF.
BUT WHEN THEY EMERGED
FROM THIS FOG,
THEY DECIDED THAT THEY WOULD
MEMORIALIZE THEIR BOY
BY CREATING A SCHOOL
IN HIS NAME.
Narrator: ON THE GROUNDS OF THEIR
FARM IN THE VALLEY TOWN OF PALO ALTO,
THEY BUILD LELAND STANFORD
JUNIOR UNIVERSITY.
STANFORD REGARDED IT AS A SCHOOL
FOR THE PRACTICAL
INSTRUCTION OF ENGINEERS
AND OF PEOPLE WHO WOULD BE
USEFUL IN INDUSTRY.
AND I THINK HE ALWAYS
WANTED HIS UNIVERSITY
TO BE A KIND OF ISLAND
OF INNOVATION THAT WAY.
Miller:
LELAND STANFORD WAS A PIONEER.
HE WAS VERY INTERESTED
IN DEVELOPING NEW TECHNOLOGIES.
IT'S JUST THAT ATTITUDE
THAT HE ENDOWED
[chuckling] THE UNIVERSITY WITH,
AS WELL AS WITH MONEY.
Narrator:
OVER THE YEARS,
STANFORD ALUMNI HAVE FOUNDED
SOME 70,000 COMPANIES;
THEY'VE CREATED MORE THAN
5 MILLION JOBS;
AND, TODAY, GENERATE REVENUES
OF $2.7 TRILLION A YEAR.
[ WHIMSICAL TUNE PLAYS ]
THE FIRST STANFORD STARTUP
IS FOUNDED IN 1909,
BY A YOUNG GRADUATE
NAMED CYRIL ELWELL,
WHO WILL TRANSFORM THE NEW FIELD
[ MORSE CODE BEEPING ]
OF RADIO.
HE WANTS IT TO DO MORE
THAN SIMPLY TRANSMIT
THE DOTS AND DASHES
OF MORSE CODE.
IN THIS HOUSE IN PALO ALTO,
HE FIGURES OUT A WAY
TO BROADCAST MUSIC.
ONE OF CY'S FIRST DEMONSTRATIONS
WAS WHEN HE PUT ON
HIS PHONOGRAPH
IN HIS HOME IN PALO ALTO
AND TRANSMITTED
THE "BLUE DANUBE WALTZ"
TO ANOTHER HOME
IN LOS ALTOS, CALIFORNIA.
[ "BLUE DANUBE WALTZ" PLAYS ]
Narrator: BUT ELWELL'S
SOUND QUALITY IS SKETCHY.
HE KNOWS THAT A DANISH INVENTOR
NAMED VALDEMAR POULSEN
HAS DEVELOPED A BETTER WAY
TO TRANSMIT VOICES AND MUSIC
WITH SOMETHING CALLED
AN ARC TRANSMITTER.
ELWELL GOES TO DENMARK AND
LICENSES THE RIGHTS TO THE ARC.
STANFORD'S PRESIDENT,
DAVID STARR JORDAN,
IS IMPRESSED BY ELWELL AND HELPS
HIM TO START A COMPANY.
HE MAKES A FOUNDING INVESTMENT
OF $500 IN FEDERAL TELEGRAPH.
IN A SENSE, HE BECOMES
THE FIRST MODERN TECH VC.
Narrator: IN CALIFORNIA, ELWELL
USES THE NEW TRANSMITTERS
TO SEND VOICES
WIRELESSLY SOME 50 MILES
IN WELL-PUBLICIZED
DEMONSTRATIONS.
[ JAUNTY TUNE PLAYS ]
ELWELL SOON LANDS
A LUCRATIVE CONTRACT,
WITH A BIG NEW CLIENT THAT
BADLY NEEDS HIS TECHNOLOGY.
THE NAVY HAD USED RADIO
VERY EARLY
IN COMMUNICATING FROM SHIP
TO SHIP AND SHIP TO SHORE,
BUT THEY HAD NOT
DONE IT WITH VOICE.
IT WAS ALL DOTS AND DASHES.
Narrator: ELWELL'S RADIOS
MARK A BIG STEP FORWARD,
BUT RECEPTION IS OFTEN FAINT.
IT'S A PROBLEM
THAT A DEBT-RIDDEN
INVENTOR IN SAN FRANCISCO
NAMED LEE de FOREST
IS TRYING TO SOLVE.
HE IS DEVELOPING
A NEW KIND OF VACUUM TUBE,
BUT HE'S BROKE,
AND NEEDS A PLACE TO WORK.
[chuckling] HE'S TRYING
TO INVENT SOMETHING
THAT WILL MAKE HIM RICH ENOUGH
HE CAN PAY OFF ALL OF HIS DEBTS.
SO WHO DOES HE CONTACT?
HE CONTACTS CY ELWELL.
Narrator: WHO INVITES de FOREST TO
COME WORK IN HIS LAB IN THE VALLEY.
AND HE STARTS PLAYING AROUND
WITH THE PLATES
INSIDE THE VACUUM TUBE
AND LOOKING AT THE FLOW
OF ELECTRONS
AND HE ENDS UP
CREATING AN AMPLIFIER.
HE HANGS AN INGERSOLL WATCH
IN FRONT OF A MICROPHONE
THAT'S HOOKED UP TO ONE
OF THESE TUBE AMPLIFIERS,
WITH A HEADSET ON, AND JUST
ABOUT POPS HIS EARDRUMS
'CAUSE THE NOISE IS SO LOUD,
AND HE REALIZES HE'S GOT IT.
REMEMBER, CRYSTAL RADIOS,
YOU HAD TO MOVE
THAT LITTLE CAT'S WHISKER
AROUND ON THE CRYSTAL
AND WEAR HEADPHONES
'CAUSE IT WAS SO SOFT.
NOW, YOU CAN PUT THAT VACUUM
TUBE THERE, AMPLIFY THE SOUND,
AND YOU'VE GOT RADIO.
Narrator:
BY THE 1930s,
THE PLACE THAT WOULD BECOME
KNOWN AS SILICON VALLEY
IS A HOTBED
OF ELECTRONICS INNOVATION
AND THAT BURGEONING REPUTATION
ATTRACTS EVEN MORE
TINKERERS AND DREAMERS
WHOSE BOLD ADVANCES HELP CREATE
A MILITARY SUPERPOWER
AND TAKE AMERICANS
TO THE FRONTIERS OF SPACE.
♪♪
Narrator: HUMANS DWELLING
FAR ABOVE THEIR PLANET.
THE MOST SOPHISTICATED MILITARY
THE WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN.
ADVANCES THAT
WOULD'VE BEEN IMPOSSIBLE
WITHOUT THE TECHNOLOGIES
OF SILICON VALLEY,
MANY OF THEM FUNDED
BY GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS.
AND MANY OF THOSE
TECHNOLOGIES ORIGINATE
AT STANFORD UNIVERSITY'S
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING.
WELL, DON, I THINK ONE
OF THE FIRST THINGS
THAT WE SHOULD TELL
OUR VIEWERS TONIGHT
IS THAT WE WILL SEE,
PROBABLY FOR THE FIRST TIME,
A BILLION-WATT
ELECTRON LINEAR ACCELERATOR.
IS THAT RIGHT?
- THAT'S RIGHT, BOB.
OR, IN PLAIN TALK, AN ATOM
SMASHER, BUT THAT'S JUST...
Narrator: THIS LAB IS RUN BY
STANFORD'S DEAN OF ENGINEERING,
FRED TERMAN.
HE BECOMES KNOWN AS THE
FATHER OF SILICON VALLEY.
SO FAR, TONIGHT, SIR,
WE'VE SEEN
SEVERAL GRADUATE STUDENTS
WORKING HERE.
WHERE DO THESE PEOPLE
COME FROM?
THEY REPRESENT GRADUATES
OF SOME 75 DIFFERENT SCHOOLS
FROM ALL OVER
THE UNITED STATES
AND FROM TEN OR A DOZEN
FOREIGN COUNTRIES.
WE HAVE A LARGE
AND RAPIDLY EXPANDING
ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY
IN THIS REGION
AND THERE ARE PLENTY
OF ATTRACTIVE JOBS HERE.
Narrator: THAT INDUSTRY IS
KICKSTARTED BY TERMAN BACK IN 1938,
WHEN HE USES $500
OF UNIVERSITY MONEY
TO ENTICE TWO FORMER STUDENTS,
NAMED HEWLETT AND PACKARD,
TO START A BUSINESS.
THEIR COMPANY WILL ONE DAY
EMPLOY MORE THAN 300,000 PEOPLE
AND BE VALUED AT MORE
THAN $100 BILLION.
[ SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS ]
[ EXPLOSIONS ]
[ RAPID GUNFIRE ]
BUT WORLD WAR II
INTERRUPTS TERMAN'S PLANS
TO START MORE COMPANIES
IN THE VALLEY.
IN 1942, HE RELOCATES
TO THE BOSTON AREA,
TO HEAD A SECRET RESEARCH LAB
FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT.
FRED TERMAN REALIZED
THE REALLY IMPORTANT ROLE
THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
COULD PLAY IN FOSTERING
SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING,
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY,
AND ALSO THAT THERE WAS
THE POTENTIAL FOR STANFORD
TO REALLY BECOME
A POWERHOUSE OF ITS OWN.
Narrator: AFTER THE WAR,
TERMAN RETURNS TO STANFORD,
ONLY TO DISCOVER THAT
UNCLE SAM HAS PASSED IT BY.
Blank: MIT GOT TENS
OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
IN GOVERNMENT RESEARCH FUNDS.
HARVARD GOT TENS
OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
COLUMBIA, CALTECH.
EVERY, IN FACT,
MAJOR ENGINEERING SCHOOL,
DURING WORLD WAR II,
WAS FUNDED FOR RESEARCH.
AND STANFORD?
STANFORD GOT $50,000
FOR TEACHER TRAINING.
AND TERMAN CAME BACK AND SAID,
"NEVER GONNA HAPPEN AGAIN."
AND SO HE VERY AGGRESSIVELY
BUILT AN ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
AND AN AEROSPACE ENGINEERING
GROUP, IN PARTICULAR,
THAT WERE FOCUSED ON GOING
AFTER MILITARY CONTRACTS
AND MILITARY DEVELOPMENT.
Narrator:
TERMAN BEGINS LANDING CONTRACTS
TO HELP AMERICA ARM ITSELF
FOR A NEW FOREIGN CONFLICT:
THE COLD WAR.
[ SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS ]
WILL THERE BE PEACE OR WAR?
Blank: WHAT TERMAN DID
THEN WAS INCREDIBLY UNIQUE.
MOST UNIVERSITIES THAT HAD
MILITARY RESEARCH CONTRACTS
WOULD, IN FACT,
FOCUS BOTH RESEARCH
AND THEN PRODUCTION OF THE
SYSTEMS INSIDE THE UNIVERSITY,
BUT TERMAN DIDN'T WANT
TO TURN STANFORD
INTO A MILITARY FACTORY.
SO WHAT HE SAID
TO HIS STUDENTS WAS,
"TAKE MY TECHNOLOGY.
TAKE YOUR TECHNOLOGY.
TAKE ANYTHING IN OUR LAB
AND GO LEAVE STANFORD
AND DO SOMETHING GREAT
FOR THE COUNTRY."
AND BACK THEN,
GREAT FOR THE COUNTRY MEANT,
"LET'S HELP US WIN THIS COLD WAR
WITH THE SOVIET UNION."
AND WHAT STARTED TO HAPPEN
IN THE '50s IS,
FIRST, A TRICKLE,
AND THEN, A FLOOD,
OF MICROWAVE-COMPONENTS
COMPANIES, SYSTEMS COMPANIES.
O'Mara: YOU HAD THIS MASSIVE
GOVERNMENT INVESTMENT IN SCIENCE.
NOT JUST THE DEVELOPMENT
OF NEW PRODUCTS,
BUT ACTUALLY FUNDING
BASIC RESEARCH AND SAYING,
"OKAY, WE'RE GONNA GIVE YOU
SOME MONEY JUST TO PLAY AROUND
WITH THESE IDEAS
AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS."
Narrator:
ONE OF THE VALLEY'S RECIPIENTS
IS THE AMES AERONAUTICAL
LABORATORY IN SUNNYVALE,
A GOVERNMENT AVIATION LAB
THAT RUNS THE WORLD'S BIGGEST
COLLECTION OF WIND TUNNELS.
THIS WAS THE HIGHEST
OF HIGH-TECHNOLOGY LABORATORIES
IN AEROSPACE RESEARCH
AND THEY RECRUITED
FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.
THESE WERE THE BEST
AND THE BRIGHTEST
AND THEY WERE ABLE TO USE
REALLY BIG TOYS.
THESE WIND TUNNELS COLLECTED
MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF DATA.
THEY WERE IN OPERATION
ALL THE TIME.
SO THERE WAS A HUGE DEMAND
FOR INSTRUMENTATION
AND HEWLETT-PACKARD,
AS AN EXAMPLE,
PROVIDED A LOT
OF THE INSTRUMENTATION
AND IT WAS A VERY EXCITING TIME.
[ MORE CODE BEEPING ]
MOSCOW NEWSPAPERS WERE FIRST.
THEN, HEADLINES AROUND
THE WORLD ECHOED THE NEWS:
RUSSIA HAD BLASTED A MANMADE
MOON INTO OUTER SPACE.
THE SOVIETS HAD SCORED
A SCIENTIFIC FIRST.
SPUTNIK WAS A VERY
IMPORTANT MOMENT.
IT WAS WHEN THE U.S. REALIZED
IT ABSOLUTELY HAD TO,
YOU KNOW, COMPETE
WITH THE SOVIET UNION.
AND IT'S NOT A COINCIDENCE
THAT SPUTNIK WAS IN 1957
AND, IN 1958, YOU GET NASA
SET UP BY THE GOVERNMENT.
Narrator: NASA TAKES OVER
THE AMES LAB IN THE VALLEY.
Saffo: NASA WAS DESPERATE
TO GET TO THE MOON.
THE UNITED STATES WANTED
TO BEAT THE RUSSIANS.
THE PROBLEM IS YOU COULDN'T
BUILD ROCKET SHIPS
WITH VACUUM TUBES.
AND THAT WAS CRUCIAL,
BECAUSE EVERY NEW IDEA
IN SILICON VALLEY NEEDS
WHAT WE CALL EARLY ADOPTERS:
SOMEONE WHO IS HAPPY
TO PAY WAY TOO MUCH
FOR SOMETHING
THAT DOESN'T QUITE WORK.
THEY DON'T CARE WHAT IT COSTS.
THEY WANNA BE
THE FIRST TO HAVE IT.
Narrator: GOVERNMENT FUNDING
NOT ONLY DRIVES THE SPACE RACE,
BUT ALSO FUELS THE ARMS RACE.
ONE OF THE BIGGEST
BENEFICIARIES?
THE LOCKHEED CORPORATION,
WHICH OPENS A PLANT
IN THE VALLEY
TO MANUFACTURE
THE NAVY'S POLARIS MISSILE.
Reporter:
IN A FROTH OF BUBBLES,
THE BULLET-SHAPED
MISSILE SURFACED.
Blank: IN 1956,
LOCKHEED'S EMPLOYEE COUNT
WAS ZERO.
IN 1960, IT HAD 20,000
EMPLOYEES BUILDING MISSILES
IN THE MIDDLE OF WHAT
WOULD BECOME SILICON VALLEY.
Narrator: THE GROWING NUMBER OF
SPACE AND DEFENSE CONTRACTORS
DRAWS THOUSANDS MORE
SCIENTISTS, ENGINEERS,
AND TECHNICIANS TO THE VALLEY,
ALL SUPPORTED BY EVEN BROADER
GOVERNMENT INVESTMENT.
YOU HAD A BIG INVESTMENT
IN INFRASTRUCTURE;
NOT ONLY FEDERAL INVESTMENT,
BUT ALSO STATE INVESTMENT.
THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA IS
BUILDING ITS UNIVERSITY SYSTEM.
IT'S SUBSIDIZING ROADS.
IT'S SUBSIDIZING THE
DEVELOPMENT OF NEW TOWNS,
OF NEW SUBDIVISIONS.
THIS MASSIVE PUBLIC INVESTMENT
LAID THE GROUNDWORK
FOR THE NEW ECONOMY.
Narrator: THE NEW ARRIVALS
FIND JOBS AT THE COMPANIES
FOUNDED BY
FRED TERMAN'S GRADUATES,
COMPANIES HE PROMOTES
BY CUTTING DEALS.
Blank: AND THE FIRST THING THAT
TERMAN AND HIS PROFESSORS WOULD DO,
WOULD CALL UP GUYS AT LOCKHEED,
IN THE MILITARY
AND THE AIR FORCE
AND NAVY AND SAY,
"HEY, WE GOT SOME
GREAT NEW COMPANY HERE
THAT HAVE THESE GREAT DEVICES.
YOU GUYS OUGHTA GO
GIVE THEM A CONTRACT."
AND, PRETTY SOON,
THIS RAINMAKING NETWORK
OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP
JUST KIND OF
COLLECTED TOGETHER
AND COALESCED AROUND STANFORD.
THE MILITARY AND MILITARY-
RELATED COMPANIES AND INDUSTRIES
WERE THE BACKBONE
OF THE ECONOMY OF THE VALLEY,
PROBABLY FROM THE '50s
THROUGH THE '70s.
Narrator: AND INTO THIS
BOOMING ENVIRONMENT, IN 1956,
SWAGGERS ONE OF AMERICA'S
TOP SCIENTISTS,
WHO WILL LEAD THE VALLEY
AWAY FROM VACUUM TUBES
AND INTO A NEW ERA.
THE SAME LOCKHEED CAME TO TOWN?
SOMEONE NAMED SHOCKLEY
CAME TO TOWN.
I TARGET THE BIRTH OF WHAT WE
THINK OF TODAY AS SILICON VALLEY
TO THE ARRIVAL
OF WILLIAM SHOCKLEY.
Narrator: SHOCKLEY BRINGS WITH
HIM HIS GROUNDBREAKING INVENTION.
IT'S A SMALL DEVICE,
YET, ITS IMPACT WILL TRANSFORM,
NOT JUST THE VALLEY,
BUT THE WORLD.
Armstrong: THAT'S ONE
SMALL STEP FOR A MAN.
[ BEEPING ]
Narrator: TODAY,
THOUGH WE MAY NOT REALIZE IT,
THE TECHNOLOGY PIONEERED
BY WILLIAM SHOCKLEY
[ BEEPING ]
IS IN EVERYTHING AROUND US,
FROM COFFEE MAKERS
TO EKGs, [ BEEPING ]
WASHING MACHINES
TO PARKING METERS,
BIG-LEAGUE SCOREBOARDS,
AND ALMOST EVERY ELECTRONIC
DEVICE YOU'VE EVER OWNED.
IT'S CALLED THE TRANSISTOR.
THE TRANSISTOR
REDEFINES ELECTRONICS.
Narrator:
IT'S A TINY COMPONENT
THAT REGULATES THE FLOW
OF ELECTRICITY.
THINK OF IT AS A SWITCH.
YOU KNOW, THAT LIGHT SWITCH
IN YOUR HOUSE.
THAT'S AN ON/OFF SWITCH,
CONTROLLING
THE FLOW OF ELECTRONS.
Narrator: NO DEVICE WOULD
HAVE A MORE POWERFUL EFFECT
ON THE DEVELOPMENT
OF SILICON VALLEY.
AND SHOCKLEY, THE NOBEL
PRIZE-WINNING PHYSICIST
WHO COINVENTS THE TRANSISTOR,
HELPS TO SET THAT
TRANSFORMATION IN MOTION.
Moore: SHOCKLEY IS
AN INTERESTING CHARACTER.
HE HAD FANTASTIC
PHYSICAL INTUITION.
ONE OF MY COLLEAGUES
SUGGESTED SHOCKLEY
COULD EVEN SEE ELECTRONS,
HE HAD SUCH A GOOD IDEA
WHAT WAS GONNA HAPPEN
IN SOME OF THESE
COMPLEX STRUCTURES.
Narrator: TRANSISTORS
REPLACE VACUUM TUBES,
BUT ARE MUCH SMALLER,
AND GENERATE FAR LESS HEAT.
WHAT MAKES THEM WORK
IS A SOLID SUBSTANCE,
CALLED A SEMICONDUCTOR,
[ ELECTRICITY BUZZING ]
THAT CAN BE ENGINEERED
TO EITHER BLOCK
[ BUZZING]
OR PASS ELECTRONS.
SHOCKLEY HAS IDEAS FOR HOW
TO MAKE TRANSISTORS EVEN BETTER,
BUT HE'S EMBROILED IN DISPUTES
WITH HIS COLLEAGUES
AT NEW JERSEY'S BELL LABS.
SO HE DECIDES TO START
HIS OWN COMPANY.
HE PICKS A SITE IN THE VALLEY,
NEAR PALO ALTO,
WHERE HE GREW UP AND WHERE
HIS MOTHER STILL LIVES.
SO HE COMES TO PALO ALTO
AND GATHERS
THE BEST TALENT IN THE WORLD,
THE GREATEST YOUNG MINDS
IN SOLID-STATE PHYSICS.
Moore: WHEN HE WAS HIRING,
HE HAD US GO THROUGH
A SET OF IQ
AND PSYCHOLOGY-RELATED TESTS.
Man: HOW'D YOU DO?
WELL, INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH,
HE LET ME SEE
BOB NOYCE'S TEST RESULTS
AND BOB SEE MINE,
AND WE WERE VERY SIMILAR.
INTELLIGENCE WAS OKAY,
BUT NEITHER OF US
WERE EVER GOING TO BE A MANAGER.
I THINK SHOCKLEY SHOULD'VE
TAKEN ONE OF THOSE TESTS, ALSO.
Narrator: SHOCKLEY'S
SEMICONDUCTOR BECOMES THE FIRST
OF WHAT WILL BE HUNDREDS
OF TRANSISTOR COMPANIES
[ WHIMSICAL TUNE PLAYS ]
IN THE VALLEY.
I MEAN, BEFORE SHOCKLEY,
THERE WAS NOTHING.
THEN, YOU HAD SHOCKLEY,
WHO WAS A BRILLIANT GUY,
BUT KIND OF A SCREWBALL, TOO.
SHOCKLEY WAS PROBABLY
THE WORLD'S BEST TALENT-SPOTTER,
COMBINED WITH THE WORLD'S
WORST MANAGEMENT STYLE.
HE BELIEVED IN COMMAND
AND CONTROL:
"I'LL TELL YOU WHAT TO DO.
YOU'LL FOLLOW MY RULES.
NO INNOVATION REQUIRED.
HERE'S WHAT WE'RE BUILDING
AND I WON'T TELL YOU WHY."
Narrator: AS THE MONTHS ROLL
BY, TENSIONS BECOME UNBEARABLE.
FINALLY, ON SEPTEMBER 18, 1957,
EIGHT OF SHOCKLEY'S
TOP EMPLOYEES,
INCLUDING NOYCE AND MOORE,
ALL SIMULTANEOUSLY QUIT.
THEY BECOME KNOWN
AS THE TRAITOROUS EIGHT.
AN INTRODUCTION TO A WALL STREET
INVESTMENT BANKER,
ARTHUR ROCK,
CHANGES THEIR FORTUNES,
AND THE HISTORY OF THE VALLEY.
THEY WOULD'VE BEEN VERY HAPPY,
IF WE GOT 'EM JOBS,
BUT I JUST SAW MORE
IN IT THAN THAT.
Moore:
BY LUCK, OR BY PROVIDENCE,
ARTHUR ROCK MET UP
WITH SHERMAN FAIRCHILD,
THE FOUNDER OF FAIRCHILD
CAMERA AND INSTRUMENT.
HE WAS A TECHNOLOGY BUFF.
Narrator: FAIRCHILD AGREES TO
PUT UP OVER A MILLION DOLLARS
TO START A NEW DIVISION
OF HIS COMPANY IN THE VALLEY.
THE EIGHT WILL NOT ONLY WORK
AT FAIRCHILD SEMICONDUCTOR,
BUT ALSO OWN STOCK.
[ SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS ]
WE TOOK THESE EIGHT FELLOWS
AND COLLECTIVELY DECIDED THAT
WE'D TAKE A CHANCE
AT TRYING TO FORM A COMPANY
SO THAT THEY COULD OWN EQUITY.
IT SEEMED PRETTY
STRAIGHTFORWARD TO ME.
Saffo:
EVEN ART ROCK, WHEN HE STARTED,
DIDN'T APPRECIATE
WHAT WAS GOING ON.
HE WAS JUST TRYING
TO SOLVE A PROBLEM.
BUT, VERY MUCH IN THE
SILICON VALLEY TRADITION,
IT EVENTUALLY DAWNED ON HIM,
"WAIT A SECOND. I DIDN'T
JUST SOLVE A PROBLEM.
WE'RE CREATING
A WHOLE NEW MODEL."
Narrator: AND ROCK GIVES
THAT MODEL A NAME:
VENTURE CAPITAL,
WHERE INVESTORS NOT ONLY
ACQUIRE SHARES IN COMPANIES,
BUT ALSO HELP RUN THEM.
VENTURE CAPITAL PEOPLE
ARE GREAT ORCHESTRATORS
OF PULLING TOGETHER
THE RESOURCES, THE KNOWLEDGE,
THE RELATIONSHIPS,
AND THE MONEY NECESSARY
TO PROP UP A SMALL COMPANY.
WITHOUT THEM, WE WOULDN'T
HAVE THE VALLEY.
Narrator: THE NOVEL DEAL
THAT CREATES FAIRCHILD
WILL PAY OFF FOR ITS FOUNDERS,
AND FOR THE VALLEY.
FAIRCHILD WAS LIKE A CATALYST
FOR WHAT THEN BECOMES
AN EXPLOSION
OF TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT
OVER THE NEXT 50 YEARS.
Narrator: THAT EXPLOSION BEGINS
WHEN FAIRCHILD DEVISES A NEW WAY
TO SWITCH THE SEMICONDUCTOR
USED IN MOST TRANSISTORS
FROM GERMANIUM,
A RARE SUBSTANCE,
TO ONE FOUND IN ORDINARY SAND.
SILICON TRANSISTORS ARE MORE
RELIABLE AND HEAT-RESISTANT.
THEY SOON FIND THEIR WAY
INTO EVERYTHING FROM ROCKETS
TO RADIOS.
- Commentator: Jackie Robinson
of the Dodgers.
- AND EARN THE VALLEY
ITS FAMOUS NAME.
BUT THE VALLEY'S RISE
WILL NOT INCLUDE THE MAN
WHO SET IT IN MOTION.
WILLIAM SHOCKLEY LOSES HIS PLACE
AT THE PINNACLE OF ELECTRONICS.
HIS COMPANY IS SOLD IN 1960,
AT A LOSS.
HE THEN DEVOTES YEARS OF HIS
LIFE TO A QUIXOTIC CRUSADE:
PROMOTING CRACKPOT IDEAS
ABOUT RACE AND INTELLIGENCE...
THAT THE MAJOR CAUSE
OF THE AMERICAN NEGRO'S
INTELLECTUAL AND SOCIAL
DEFICITS IS HEREDITARY,
AND RACIALLY GENETIC
IN ORIGIN.
...A NOTION THAT EXPERTS
ON INTELLIGENCE DISMISS
AS HAVING NO BASIS IN SCIENCE.
IN 1989, THE ONCE-LAUDED
SCIENTIST DIES A PARIAH.
ALTHOUGH THE VALLEY REJECTS
SHOCKLEY'S EXTREME VIEWS,
[ SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS ]
OTHER KINDS OF BIAS LINGER.
TODAY, THE VALLEY'S
TECH WORKFORCE IS
ABOUT 90% WHITE AND
ASIAN, ONLY 2% BLACK,
AND FEWER THAN 1 IN 3
TECH EMPLOYEES ARE WOMEN.
THE CULTURE OF SILICON VALLEY
HAS BEEN, FROM THE BEGINNING,
NOT JUST WHITE,
BUT ALSO VERY MALE.
IT'S JUST AN INDUSTRY
THAT'S STILL GOT
A DEARTH OF WOMEN IN IT,
AND, YET, IT BELIEVES
IT'S A MERITOCRACY.
THAT'S NOT A GOOD COMBINATION.
♪♪
IF YOU'RE NOT DOING
SOMETHING HARD,
YOU'RE WASTING YOUR TIME.
Narrator: IN 1986,
HEIDI ROIZEN, CEO OF THE
SOFTWARE COMPANY T/MAKER
AND ONE OF THE FEW
WOMEN CEOs IN SILICON VALLEY,
APPLIES FOR
A MILLION-DOLLAR BANK LOAN.
THE BANK INVITED ME TO A DINNER
OF OTHER PEOPLE LIKE ME,
OTHER CEOs
OF TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES,
WHO WERE APPLYING FOR DEBT
FROM THIS PARTICULAR BANK.
AND THEY HAD THIS DINNER FOR 10
OR 12 OF US AND I WALKED IN
AND, FIRST OF ALL,
IT WAS A SCOTCH-TASTING.
I CAN'T STAND SCOTCH.
EVERYONE WAS TALKING
ABOUT THEIR GOLF GAMES.
I DON'T PLAY GOLF.
I WAS THE ONLY WOMAN
IN THE ROOM.
I WAS SITTING THERE.
I WAS THINKING,
"HOW DO I MAKE CONVERSATION?
HOW DO I GET IN THE GAME HERE?"
IT WAS ONE OF THOSE MOMENTS
WHERE I JUST THOUGHT TO MYSELF,
"I'M NOT GONNA BE GETTING
A LOAN FROM THIS BANK."
AND, IN FACT, I DIDN'T
GET A LOAN FROM THAT BANK.
[ BELL CLANGING ]
Narrator: ROIZEN IS FAR
FROM THE ONLY WOMAN
WHO'S FELT UNWELCOME
IN THE VALLEY.
THIS PLACE IS NOT FOR EVERYONE.
THERE'S A LOT OF
[laughing] TESTOSTERONE.
THERE'S A LOT OF COMPETITION.
Narrator: COMPANIES OFTEN
DEMAND LONG HOURS,
THAT CAN BE ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE
FOR WOMEN WITH CHILDREN.
YOU LOOK AT A PLACE LIKE GOOGLE,
WHICH BUILDS IN
CAFETERIAS, SUSHI BARS,
GET YOUR DRY CLEANING DONE.
EVERYTHING IS ORGANIZED
TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU SPEND
AS MUCH TIME AS POSSIBLE
INSIDE THE COMPANY.
Narrator: SO, TODAY, THE
VALLEY'S HIGH-TECH WORKFORCE
IS OVERWHELMINGLY MALE.
[ SURF MUSIC PLAYS ]
AND YET, WOMEN
HAVE BEEN ESSENTIAL
TO THE VALLEY'S HISTORY.
IN THE ORIGINS
OF SILICON VALLEY,
WOMEN WERE THE ASSEMBLY WORKERS.
THEY WERE
THE PRODUCTION WORKERS.
THE STEREOTYPES ALL ARE
THAT WOMEN HAVE SMALL HANDS,
WOMEN CAN DO THIS
VERY CLOSE WORK
THAT WAS INVOLVED WITH
ELECTRONICS ASSEMBLING.
Narrator:
DURING WORLD WAR II,
SOME OF THE FIRST
PROGRAMMERS ARE WOMEN.
THEY WERE ACTUALLY
CALLED COMPUTERS
BECAUSE THEY WERE COMPUTING
BALLISTICS TRAJECTORIES,
USING DIFFERENTIAL MATH,
AND THESE WERE MATH MAJORS.
THESE WERE THE WOMEN I LOOK
UP TO, WHO WERE PIONEERING
AND BREAKING GROUND AND SOLVING
REALLY COMPLEX PROBLEMS.
NOT GETTING A LOT
OF CREDIT FOR IT,
BUT WHO REALLY ESTABLISHED
THE FOUNDATIONS
OF COMPUTING
IN SOME IMPORTANT WAYS.
Narrator: BUT DURING THE
DECADES AFTER THE WAR,
WOMEN LOSE THEIR FOOTHOLD
IN COMPUTING.
PART OF THE CULTURE
OF HACKERS AND CODERS
IS SOMETHING THAT COMES OUT
OF A ERA, THE 1950s AND 1960s,
WHEN YOU END UP
WITH A FACE OF THE VALLEY
THAT IS OVERWHELMINGLY MALE,
AND THAT CULTURE
HAS KIND OF GOTTEN BAKED IN
TO THE WHOLE SYSTEM.
Narrator: BUT SOME WOMEN FIND
WAYS TO BREAK DOWN BARRIERS.
Polese:
I WAS A GIRL GEEK.
I ALWAYS KNEW THAT I WANTED TO
HAVE A CAREER IN THE SCIENCES.
I MAJORED IN BIOPHYSICS
AT UC BERKELEY
AND THEN I FELL
IN LOVE WITH SOFTWARE.
Narrator: IN 1989,
KIM POLESE JOINS ONE OF THE
VALLEY'S TOP COMPUTER COMPANIES:
SUN MICROSYSTEMS.
OCCASIONALLY LOOK
AROUND THE ROOM,
REALIZE YOU'RE THE ONLY WOMAN,
BUT IT'S KINDA LIKE,
"WELL, SO WHAT?
[laughing] NOW, LET'S GET
BACK TO BUSINESS."
Narrator: SHE'S PART OF THE
TEAM THAT DEVELOPS JAVA,
THE PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE
THAT BRINGS MOTION
TO THE WORLD WIDE WEB.
IN 1996,
POLESE COFOUNDS A BUSINESS
SOFTWARE COMPANY, MARIMBA,
AND BECOMES ITS CEO.
AS ONE OF THE FEW WOMEN CEOs,
I GOT A LOT OF ATTENTION
AND SOME OF IT WAS KIND OF
STRANGE. [laughs]
I WOULD BE GIVING A SPEECH
ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE INTERNET
OR WHAT JAVA WAS,
AND IT WOULD END UP BEING
THIS FLUFFY PIECE ABOUT,
YOU KNOW, WHAT I WAS WEARING.
IT WAS FRUSTRATING,
AT TIMES, BUT,
I DID MY BEST, REALLY,
TO IGNORE THE SILLY STUFF.
Narrator:
LED BY POLESE, MARIMBA THRIVES.
WHEN IT'S SOLD,
IT FETCHES A PRICE
OF $239 MILLION.
THERE IS ONE THING THAT
I THINK HAS BEEN A THEME
THROUGHOUT MY CAREER:
IT'S PERSISTENCE
AND ANYONE THAT I'VE SEEN
WHO'S BEEN SUCCESSFUL HERE
IN THE VALLEY,
IT'S NEVER GIVING UP.
Narrator: HEIDI ROIZEN'S
AMBITION TO RUN A TECH COMPANY
HAS ITS ROOTS IN HER
VALLEY CHILDHOOD.
FOR ME, THIS IS MY HOMETOWN.
MY FATHER CAME HERE TO WORK
FOR AMPEX IN THE '50s
AND WORKED ON THE EARLY
VIDEOTAPE RECORDERS.
MY FATHER WAS NOT SO MUCH
ENCOURAGING ME TO BE AN ENGINEER
AS HE WAS ENCOURAGING ME
TO BE AN ENTREPRENEUR.
Narrator: LIKE SO MANY PEOPLE
IN THE VALLEY'S HISTORY,
ROIZEN ATTENDS STANFORD,
AND GOES ON
TO ITS BUSINESS SCHOOL.
IN 1983, SHE AND HER BROTHER
PETER, A SOFTWARE ENGINEER,
START THEIR COMPANY T/MAKER.
Roizen: WE WERE RUNNING FOR A
NUMBER OF YEARS BEFORE WE DECIDED
THAT WE WERE MISSING
THE OPPORTUNITY
TO PUT THE COMPANY
ON A FASTER GROWTH TRAJECTORY.
Narrator: ROIZEN NEEDS MONEY,
AND SEEKS ADVICE FROM A FRIEND:
ANN WINBLAD,
A FORMER SOFTWARE CEO
WHO STARTED HER OWN
VENTURE CAPITAL FUND.
SHE HAD A VERY EFFICIENT
BUSINESS MODEL.
EVEN THOUGH SHE WAS SELLING
SOFTWARE AT LOW PRICES,
IT WAS A VERY HIGH-GROSS MARGIN.
SHE KNEW HOW
TO BUILD A PROFIT.
Roizen: SO SHE WAS
HELPING ME WITH MY PITCH.
Narrator: ROIZEN RECEIVES AN OFFER,
OR TERM SHEET, FROM ANOTHER VC.
AND, AT THAT POINT,
ANN SAID TO ME,
"I DON'T WANT YOU
TO TAKE THEIR TERM SHEET.
I WANT YOU TO TAKE
MY TERM SHEET."
AND THEN SHE GAVE ME
A TERM SHEET OF LOWER VALUATION.
AND I SAID, "WELL,
WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"
AND SHE SAID,
"WELL, YOU KNOW I'M BETTER
THAN THAT OTHER FIRM FOR YOU
AND I'M GONNA BE
A BETTER PARTNER TO YOU."
AND I KNEW SHE WAS GONNA BE
AN AMAZING PARTNER.
IN THE END, IT WAS ACQUIRED
FOR A NICE SUM OF MONEY,
SO IT HAD A GREAT OUTCOME
FOR THE ENTREPRENEUR,
HEIDI, AND HER TEAM;
AS WELL AS FOR US, THE INVESTOR.
[ OMINOUS CHORD STRIKES ]
Narrator: BUT THE SUCCESSES
OF SOME VALLEY WOMEN
HAVE NOT ELIMINATED
THE PREVAILING BIAS.
ANOTHER HIGH-PROFILE
SILICON VALLEY COMPANY
IS BEING SUED ON
SEX-DISCRIMINATION CLAIMS.
BUT DISCRIMINATION AND DIVERSITY
HAS BEEN A REOCCURRING ISSUE
ACROSS SILICON VALLEY.
I'M PERPLEXED BY THE FACT THAT
WE'RE STILL DEALING
WITH THIS PROBLEM.
BACK THEN, IN 1996,
WHEN WE COFOUNDED MARIMBA
AND I WAS GETTING SOME
OF THIS STRANGE REACTION,
I THOUGHT, "WELL,
THIS WILL ALL BE GONE.
IN 10 YEARS, THERE WILL BE
SO MANY MORE WOMEN FOUNDING
AND BUILDING COMPANIES.
THIS IS JUST A BLIP IN TIME."
UNFORTUNATELY,
20 YEARS LATER NOW,
THINGS HAVE CHANGED
FOR THE BETTER,
BUT THEY CERTAINLY ARE NOT
WHERE THEY NEED TO BE.
[ SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS ]
Narrator: IN THE VALLEY,
MEN HAVE ALWAYS BEEN
MORE LIKELY
TO BE JUDGED SOLELY
ON THEIR MERITS,
EVEN IF THEY'VE IMMIGRATED FROM
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD.
ONE OF THEM IS A YOUNG
PUNJABI PHYSICIST
WHO COMES HERE
IN HOT PURSUIT OF AN IDEA.
IT WAS A PROFESSOR OF MINE
WHO WAS TEACHING PHYSICS
AND, DURING THE COURSE,
HE SAID,
"LIGHT TRAVELS
IN STRAIGHT LINES."
I THOUGHT ABOUT THAT
A LITTLE BIT
AND DECIDED THAT HE WAS WRONG.
AND SO THAT BECAME
THE MISSION OF MY LIFE.
Narrator: A MISSION THAT
WOULD ULTIMATELY TRANSFORM
THE WAY WE COMMUNICATE,
THROUGH TECHNOLOGY HE CALLED
[ SHIMMERING TUNE PLAYS ]
FIBER OPTICS.
[ SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS ]
English-Lueck: THE VALLEY IS
A REALLY INTERESTING PLACE
IN THE WAY DIFFERENT KINDS
OF PEOPLE HAVE COALESCED HERE.
THIS IS A PLACE WHICH IS PART
OF THAT VISION OF PROGRESS
AND THAT VISION
IS DEEPLY AMERICAN,
BUT IT ALSO HAS BEEN A MAGNET
FOR PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD.
[ HORN BLARING ]
[ SIGNAL BELL CLANGING ]
Narrator: THERE'S NO STRONGER EVIDENCE
OF THE MAGNETISM OF SILICON VALLEY
THAN THE FACT THAT MORE THAN
A THIRD OF ITS PEOPLE
ARE FOREIGN-BORN.
THE THING THAT IMMIGRANTS BRING
TO THE PARTY, SO TO SPEAK,
IS THE SILICON VALLEY DNA
AND HYPERDRIVE.
NEW IDEAS ARE BORN OF PEOPLE
WITH MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES
WHO COME IN WITH A BELIEF
THAT THEY CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
Narrator: ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE IS
PHYSICIST NARINDER SINGH KAPANY.
HIS INNOVATIONS WILL CREATE
A NEW INDUSTRY
AND LEAD THE VALLEY INTO THE
WORLD OF MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY.
[ ROCK MUSIC PLAYS ]
WHEN KAPANY ARRIVES
IN THE VALLEY IN 1960,
THERE AREN'T YET
MANY PEOPLE FROM INDIA.
WHEN I FIRST GOT HERE,
THERE WAS ONLY
TWO INDIAN RESTAURANTS
IN ALL OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
AND THEY WERE BOTH IN THE CITY
OF SAN FRANCISCO.
[ BELL CLANGING ]
AND NOW EVERY STREET
HAS INDIAN FOOD. [laughs]
♪♪
I CAME FROM A GENERATION THAT
DID NOT BELIEVE IN HAVING A PhD.
HAVING A PhD MADE YOU
[laughing] AN ABSENTMINDED-
THINKING PROFESSOR
AND I WANTED TO BE
AN ENTREPRENEUR.
THE OTHER CHOICE WAS
GOING TO BOSTON,
BUT I HAD A STRONG FEELING
IN FAVOR OF SILICON VALLEY.
LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE FROM
DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD.
PEOPLE LOVE ENTREPRENEURS.
I THINK YOU COULD SEE
THE BEGINNINGS
OF SOMETHING
THAT BASICALLY EMERGED
TO MAKE SILICON VALLEY
WHAT IT IS TODAY.
Narrator: KAPANY HAS
COME TO START A BUSINESS,
ONE THAT WILL MAKE
PRACTICAL USE OF WORK
HE'S BEEN DOING FOR YEARS
IN INDIA AND ENGLAND:
RESEARCH ON HOW TO MAKE LIGHT
TRAVEL ALONG A CURVED PATH.
I TRIED TO DO SOMETHING
IN INDIA,
BUT USING MIRRORS
AND LENSES AND SO ON
TO BEND LIGHT AROUND CORNERS,
BUT IT WASN'T UNTIL
I WENT TO ENGLAND,
AT THE IMPERIAL COLLEGE
IN LONDON,
THAT I DECIDED TO USE
FIBERS OF GLASS.
IF YOU TAKE A ROD OF GLASS,
TRANSPARENT GLASS,
AND, FROM THE END,
YOU SEND THE LIGHT IN IT,
EVEN THOUGH THE ROD IS BENT,
IT STILL GETS TRANSMITTED
TO THE OTHER END.
Narrator: KAPANY COINS
THE TERM FIBER OPTICS
AND, WHEN HE AND HIS WIFE
ARRIVE IN SILICON VALLEY,
HE HAS ALREADY DEVELOPED
THIS TECHNOLOGY
TO GIVE DOCTORS A NEW WAY
TO SEE INSIDE THE HUMAN BODY.
YOU SEE, THEY USED TO HAVE
TELESCOPIC SYSTEM
TO LOOK INSIDE THE BODY,
AND THAT WAS HORRIBLE.
PEOPLE HAD TO HAVE
PSYCHIATRIC EXAMINATION
TO BE ABLE TO SHOVE THIS THING
[laughing] DOWN THE THROAT
INTO THE STOMACH.
Narrator: BUT A FIBER OPTIC
ENDOSCOPE IS FLEXIBLE.
I ACTUALLY MADE THE DEVICES
TO HAVE A LARGE NUMBER OF FIBERS
ALIGNED TOGETHER,
SO THAT WHEN YOU TAKE
A BUNDLE OF FIBERS,
YOU CAN FORM AN IMAGE ON IT
AND THE WHOLE IMAGE
IS TRANSMITTED DOWN.
[ WHIMSICAL TUNE PLAYS ]
Narrator: IN SEARCH OF INVESTORS,
KAPANY WRANGLES A MEETING
WITH THE LEGENDARY FOUNDERS
OF HEWLETT-PACKARD.
MY PITCH WAS THAT WE WANTED
TO START THIS COMPANY
WITH FIBERS AND LASERS
AND OPTICAL THIN FILMS
AND OTHER DEVICES.
AND THEY BOUGHT IT.
Narrator: HEWLETT-PACKARD
AND OTHER VALLEY INVESTORS
ENABLE KAPANY'S COMPANY,
OPTICS TECHNOLOGY,
TO KEEP ON INNOVATING
WITH LIGHT.
I THINK EVERY 3, 4 MONTHS,
THERE WAS A NEW INVENTION
WE WERE COMING UP WITH.
Narrator:
KAPANY ALSO PIONEERS SOME
OF THE EARLIEST SURGICAL
USES OF LASERS:
TO TREAT DETACHED RETINAS.
WHEN THE RETINA
GETS A DETACHMENT,
IT WAS NOT EASY TO SEAL IT
BACK TO ITSELF,
EXCEPT WITH THE LASER.
YOU FOCUS IT DOWN AND THAT
GIVES YOU THE COAGULATION THERE
AND YOU COULD DO IT.
SO WE DEMONSTRATED THAT,
FIRST, ON ANIMALS;
AND THEN ON HUMANS' EYES;
AND THEN BOB HOPE.
BOB HOPE HAD A DETACHED RETINA,
SO WE DID THAT ON HIM, TOO.
THEN WE TOOK THAT COMPANY
PUBLIC IN 1967,
AT $12 A SHARE;
AND, IN 6 MONTHS,
IT WENT UP TO $60 A SHARE.
Narrator: KAPANY IS THE FIRST
INDIAN ENTREPRENEUR IN THE VALLEY
TO TAKE A COMPANY PUBLIC,
PAVING THE WAY FOR THE MANY
WHO WOULD FOLLOW.
TODAY, MORE THAN HALF
OF THE VALLEY'S ENGINEERS
WERE BORN IN OTHER COUNTRIES.
DOING SOMETHING THAT IS REALLY
INNOVATIVE AND CUTTING-EDGE
AND THAT YOU CAN'T
DO ANYWHERE ELSE,
THAT IS A COMPELLING STORY
AND THAT'S WHY THEY COME HERE.
Narrator: THE ROSTER OF IMMIGRANTS
WHO HAVE SHAPED SILICON VALLEY
INCLUDES: ALEXANDER PONIATOFF,
FROM RUSSIA, FOUNDER OF AMPEX;
ANDREW GROVE,
FROM HUNGARY, CEO OF INTEL;
JERRY YANG, FROM TAIWAN,
COFOUNDER OF YAHOO!;
ANDREAS BECHTOLSHEIM,
FROM GERMANY,
AND VINOD KHOSLA, FROM INDIA,
COFOUNDERS OF
SUN MICROSYSTEMS;
ELON MUSK, FROM SOUTH AFRICA,
FOUNDER OF TESLA;
AND, FROM RUSSIA, A YOUNG MAN
NAMED SERGEY BRIN.
SERGEY'S MOTHER WAS DISAPPOINTED
HE DIDN'T COMPLETE HIS PhD,
SHE TOLD ME. I WAS LIKE,
"WELL, EVERYTHING ELSE
TURNED OUT OKAY."
[laughing]
[ SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS ]
Narrator: IT'S HARD TO THINK
OF ANOTHER VALLEY COMPANY
WHOSE NAME IS SAID
AS OFTEN BY SO MANY.
WE SAY THE INTERNET GATHERED UP
ALL THE WORLD'S INFORMATION
AND GAVE US ACCESS TO IT.
NO. GOOGLE GATHERED UP
ALL THE WORLD'S INFORMATION
AND GAVE US ACCESS TO IT.
IT'S REALLY THE ABILITY
TO SEARCH FOR KNOWLEDGE
THAT IS THE TRANSFORMATIVE
EVENT OF OUR ERA.
Narrator: THIS GLOBAL GIANT, LIKE SO
MANY OF THE VALLEY'S LEGENDARY FIRMS,
OWES ITS FOUNDING TO THE
VALLEY'S MAGNETIC ATTRACTION,
A FORCE THAT DRAWS TWO AMBITIOUS
YOUNG PERSONAL PEOPLE HERE.
IT'S, YOU KNOW, TWO PEOPLE
OUT OF STANFORD, YOU KNOW,
THAT NEVER HAD A JOB BEFORE
AND STARTED WHAT TODAY IS ONE
OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL
COMPANIES IN THE WORLD.
Narrator:
LARRY PAGE IS FROM MICHIGAN.
SERGEY BRIN, BORN IN RUSSIA,
GROWS UP IN MARYLAND.
AFTER COLLEGE,
EACH WANTS TO PURSUE A PhD.
IN COMPUTER SCIENCE.
EACH DECIDES TO COME
TO THE VALLEY, TO STANFORD,
WHERE, IN 1995, THEY MEET.
THE NEXT YEAR, THEY DECIDE
TO WORK TOGETHER
ON A THESIS PROJECT
TO IMPROVE THE SORRY STATE
OF SEARCH ON THE INTERNET.
SEARCH ON THE INTERNET
HAD BECOME HORRIBLE.
Reporter: THE SHEER AMOUNT OF
INFORMATION AVAILABLE IS IMMENSE,
ALMOST OVERWHELMING.
AND SO, FINDING THINGS THAT WERE
RELEVANT WAS VERY DIFFICULT.
YOU MIGHT SEARCH
FOR SOME IMPORTANT TOPIC
AND YOU GOT SOMEBODY'S
KID'S TERM PAPER ON IT,
YOU GOT SOMEBODY WHO'D WRITTEN
ABOUT IT, WHATEVER.
YOU COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING
ANYMORE BECAUSE THE STUFF
YOU WERE LOOKING FOR
WAS LIKE 100 PAGES DOWN.
Narrator: BUT BRIN AND PAGE
THINK THEY'VE FOUND A SOLUTION.
THE THING THAT REALLY SHIFTED
WAS THE RECOGNITION THAT
DECIDING WHETHER
A PARTICULAR THING
WAS RELEVANT TO YOUR SEARCH
WAS NOT JUST A MATTER
OF LOOKING AT WHAT WAS IN IT.
YOU WANT TO LOOK FOR PAGES THAT
OTHER PEOPLE THINK ARE VALUABLE.
Narrator: IT'S AN IDEA THEY
BORROW FROM THEIR PARENTS.
Winograd: BOTH SERGEY AND
LARRY WERE ACADEMIC KIDS.
THEIR FAMILIES WERE PROFESSORS,
THEY WERE GRADUATE STUDENTS,
AND THEY WERE EXTREMELY FAMILIAR
WITH THE WAY THAT CITATIONS
WORK IN SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE.
I WRITE A PAPER, OTHER PEOPLE
WHO THINK IT'S A GOOD PAPER
PUT A FOOTNOTE IN THEIR PAPER,
POINTING TO MY PAPER.
AND MAYBE YOU COULD TAKE THAT
SAME STRUCTURE AND IMPORT IT
TO THE WAY THAT PEOPLE LINK
ONE PAGE TO ANOTHER.
SO IF LOTS OF PEOPLE
LINK TO MY PAGE,
PROBABLY MEANS IT'S A GOOD PAGE.
THE IDEA WAS TO BUILD A SYSTEM
THAT YOU COULD RELIABLY COUNT
HOW POPULAR SOMETHING WAS.
Narrator: THEY NAMED THEIR SEARCH
METHOD AFTER THE MATHEMATICAL TERM
FOR 1 FOLLOWED BY 100 ZEROS,
INTENTIONALLY MISSPELLED.
I REMEMBER, TO THIS DAY,
THE FIRST SEARCH I DID ON GOOGLE
WAS DRAMATICALLY BETTER
THAN ALL THE SEARCH
THAT I HAD TRIED
PREVIOUS TO THAT.
Narrator: PAGE AND BRIN, WHO
WERE PLANNING TO STAY IN SCHOOL
AND FINISH THEIR PhDs,
SET OUT TO SELL
THEIR SPIFFY NEW TOOL.
THEY WERE LOOKING
TO LICENSE THE TECHNOLOGY
AND, YOU KNOW, YOU OFTEN THINK
YOU PRODUCE SOMETHING WONDERFUL
AND OTHER PEOPLE WOULD LOVE
THE BABY YOU'VE CREATED
AND WOULD WANNA RAISE IT,
BUT THE REALITY IS
THEY GOT OTHER THINGS GOING ON
AND IT DOESN'T LOOK AS PRETTY
TO THEM AS IT DOES TO YOU.
Narrator:
THEY SPEND A YEAR LOOKING,
BUT NO ONE WILL PAY FOR THE
RIGHTS TO THEIR SEARCH ENGINE.
SO THEY ASK DAVID CHERITON,
WHO'S AN INVESTOR,
AS WELL AS A PROFESSOR,
IF HE CAN HELP THEM FIND MONEY
TO START THEIR OWN COMPANY.
IN 1998,
HE ASKS A STANFORD ALUMNUS
WHO COFOUNDED SUN MICROSYSTEMS
TO COME TO HIS HOME
TO MEET PAGE AND BRIN.
DAVID THOUGHT IT WOULD BE
USEFUL, YOU KNOW, FOR US TO MEET
AND JUST SORT OF TALK OVER
OF WHAT IT MEANS
TO START A COMPANY, IF YOU'RE
STILL A STANFORD STUDENT.
SO, WE MET AT DAVID'S
HOUSE IN PALO ALTO
AND IT WAS LIKE
EARLY MORNING, AT 8:00,
AND I HAD A 9:00
MEETING AT CISCO,
SO I DIDN'T HAVE MUCH TIME.
LARRY AND SERGEY ARRIVED FIRST
AND SO THEY WERE OUT THERE
ON THE FRONT PORCH WITH ME
AND CONNECTED
INTO MY ETHERNET AT HOME
AND ANDY PULLED UP IN HIS
PORSCHE AND HOPPED OUT
AND THEY DEMOED THE GOOGLE
RUNNING ON THIS LAPTOP.
IT WAS WORKING
ASTONISHINGLY WELL,
I MEAN,
EVEN AS THIS SMALL DEMO.
SO, CLEARLY, YOU KNOW,
I THOUGHT THIS WAS GONNA WORK.
THAT WAS NOT EVEN THE QUESTION.
THE ONLY QUESTION WAS, YOU KNOW,
HOW WOULD THEY MAKE
MONEY WITH THIS?
SO THE NEXT QUESTION WAS LIKE,
"WHAT'S THE BUSINESS MODEL?
HOW DO YOU MONETIZE THIS?"
AND THEY WOULD SAY, "WELL,
YOU KNOW, WE CAN THEN LINK
TO SORT OF THESE RELEVANT ADS,"
OR RELATIVE
TO THE SEARCH TERM YOU HAVE.
THEY COULD HAVE THIS
UNLIMITED AD INVENTORY
AND JUST YOU SEARCH FOR
A TENNIS RACKET, YOU KNOW,
HERE'S AN AD FROM PEOPLE WHO
WANT TO SELL YOU TENNIS RACKETS.
AND, YOU KNOW, AND THEY WILL
CHARGE 5 CENTS A CLICK FOR THAT,
WHICH IS STILL
THE BASIC FEE TODAY.
SO, IN THE BACK OF MY MIND,
I WAS CALCULATING, YOU KNOW,
YOU'RE GONNA GET
A MILLION CLICKS A DAY,
AT 5 CENTS A CLICK, $50,000
A DAY, THEY CANNOT GO BROKE.
SO IT WAS CLEAR THAT THIS WAS
A MONEY-MAKING MACHINE.
SO HE SAID, "YOU KNOW, I DON'T
WANT YOU GUYS TO HAVE TO,
YOU KNOW,
TAKE TOO LOW A VALUATION
OR TO HAVE TO WORRY TOO MUCH
ABOUT THESE MONEY
THINGS RIGHT NOW.
WHY DON'T I JUST
WRITE YOU A CHECK?"
SO HE WENT BACK TO HIS CAR,
CAME BACK WITH A CHECKBOOK,
AND HE WROTE US
A CHECK FOR $100,000.
Narrator:
A NEW COMPANY IS BORN,
AND SOON, A NEW VERB:
TO GOOGLE.
THE WEBSITE PULLS IN
SO MUCH AD REVENUE
THAT GOOGLE QUICKLY
BECOMES A VERY BIG BUSINESS.
WHEN IT GOES PUBLIC IN 2004,
IT'S WORTH $23 BILLION.
BY 2017, IT'S ONE OF THE MOST
VALUABLE COMPANIES ON EARTH,
WORTH $600 BILLION.
[ BEEPING ]
BUT AS GOOGLE HAS PROSPERED,
IT HAS ALSO ACCUMULATED
A HUGE AMOUNT OF INFORMATION
ABOUT ITS USERS
AND OTHER TECH COMPANIES
HAVE DONE THE SAME,
RAISING FEARS ABOUT
THEIR UNCHECKED POWER.
THERE IS AN INCREASING
REALIZATION
OF THE WAYS THE TECHNOLOGIES
WE'RE DEVELOPING
[ SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS ]
COULD BE USED FOR BAD.
Swisher: WHEN YOU HAVE A SMARTPHONE,
THEY KNOW WHAT YOU LOOKED AT,
THEY KNOW WHERE YOU DROVE TO,
THEY KNOW WHO YOU CALLED,
THEY KNOW WHAT BANKING YOU DID,
WHAT YOU BOUGHT.
THEY COULD GUESS WHAT
YOU'RE GONNA DO NEXT.
I THINK ANY COMPANY, WHETHER
IT BE GOOGLE, AMAZON, FACEBOOK,
THAT HAS THAT MUCH INFORMATION
ABOUT SO MANY PEOPLE
AND THEIR ACTIVITIES,
YOU'VE GOTTA WONDER,
"WHAT WILL HAPPEN
WHEN A SINGLE COMPANY
HAS THIS MUCH
INFORMATION ON PEOPLE?"
I THINK, FOR THE MOST PART,
THESE TOOLS:
BENIGN, FANTASTIC
FOR THE HUMAN RACE,
MORE KNOWLEDGE, GREAT.
BUT THERE IS THIS OTHER SIDE.
YOU KNOW,
WHERE DOES THAT GO?
♪♪