zlacker

[return to "Intel CEO Letter to Employees"]
1. strebl+Aw[view] [source] 2025-07-25 00:22:02
>>fancy_+(OP)
Intel missed GPUs, missed ARM, missed ASICs, missed everything right under their nose for the last 15 years. This from Andy Grove's "Only the Paranoid Survive" company, a company that in it's own past pivoted from commoditized RAM production to become the one that won the CPU race, a company perfectly positioned to win the next big cycle as the dominant leader in the industry.

This is what happens when the MBAs and the bean counters take over. They cut the fat, then they slice right through the muscle and bone.

◧◩
2. ethbr1+ix[view] [source] 2025-07-25 00:29:10
>>strebl+Aw
> They cut the fat, then they slice right through the muscle and bone.

The issues with MBAs and bean counters are that they rarely have intuition about which is which, and only investing in areas a company is already successful in is rarely a winning long term strategy.

◧◩◪
3. xadhom+kL1[view] [source] 2025-07-25 13:09:26
>>ethbr1+ix
The issue with Intel is certainly not the MBAs, although they are numerous.

The issue is that engineering leadership failed to execute on the process technology roadmap.

◧◩◪◨
4. pointy+xth[view] [source] 2025-07-31 07:03:16
>>xadhom+kL1
I'm with you. For some reason, the hardware / tech crowd insist that evil finance people or evil MBAs killed Intel. It's such lazy thinking.

But if you look at the past CEOs, Intel had Krzanich (fab guy), Swan (CFO guy who didn't even want the job but they couldn't find anyone else), and Gelsinger (design guy and Grove disciple) in 11 years. I'll even throw in Jim Keller, not a CEO but still The Chip God, who left in frustration after two years.

What's the one common problem that all of them had despite all their different backgrounds? Getting relevant nodes to market and scaling them up. Their foundry efforts (v1 and v2) have been disastrous. The CEOs or MBAs perhaps were a friction, but they aren't the root cause. Technology Development has been the center of power that the fabs and products revolved around for decades.

◧◩◪◨⬒
5. xadhom+S8y[view] [source] 2025-08-06 03:14:30
>>pointy+xth
I blame Bill and Sohail, principally. I think they essentially orchestrated a coverup of TD’s growing problems in the era of PSO and BK should have known better but was out to lunch.
[go to top]