I have recently completed reading a book by Richard S. Tedlow. It is titled: 'The Life and Times of an American - Andy Grove', not quite aptly though. I came across this book in the Top 10 reads of Business Standard and found it(luckily) with my roommate. I definitely achieved a milestone by reading this book as it is: 1.) my first book which is only published as hardcover edition 2.) the first biography that i ve read. Hence, my opinion might be a bit naive and to some extent prejudiced (towards autobiographies and against biographies).
The book starts in Hungary where Mr. Andras Istvan Grof is born in a Jewish family. It takes a slow pace in describing how he evades Hitler and his minions to reach America. After putting himself through college and graduate school and getting 'Americanized' to Andy Grove, the book revs up its pace after he joins Fairchild (a start up into manufacturing memory chips). At this juncture, the book introduces us to two new people: Bob Noyce and Gordon Moore (yes, the same guy who proposed Moore's law). The trinity is formed. And soon, Intel. Henceforth, the book bleeds blue.
Frankly, i was expecting much more of 'life and times of Andy Grove if not an American'. But the author takes its readers through the complete journey of Intel, and its mercurial rise, and talks intermittently of the main subject. Although the book is very informative, at times i found it very boring when author took up some point and stuck to it for pages.
Ironically, i did love reading it but i would suggest readers not to expect too much of Mr. Grove in it. One would definitely, slowly know what this man is all about. But i would suggest the publishers to publish the next reprint with a * marked statutory warning: Intel Inside.
I would like to share an excerpt from the book. This poem was posted by somebody (addressed to Andy Grove) on internet, when it(internet) was still infantile. And Pentium was Launched and almost, almost drowned.
When in the future we wish to deride
A CEO whose disastrous pride
Causes spokesmen to lie
And sales streams to dry
We'll say he's got Intel Inside(TM).
