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Bill and Dave: How Hewlett and Packard Built the World's Greatest Company
Others have written about the rise of Hewlett-Packard, including Dave Packard himself in The HP Way . But acclaimed journalist Michael S. Malone is the first to get the full story, based on exclusive access to corporate and private archives, along with hundreds of interviews.
Malone draws on his new material to show how some of the most influential products of our time were invented and how a culture of innovation led HP to unparalleled success for decades.
He also shows what was really behind the HP Way—the groundbreaking management philosophy that put people ahead of products or profits. It was a hard-nosed business philosophy that created a ferociously competitive and adaptive company—arguably the world’s greatest company.
Malone draws on his new material to show how some of the most influential products of our time were invented and how a culture of innovation led HP to unparalleled success for decades.
He also shows what was really behind the HP Way—the groundbreaking management philosophy that put people ahead of products or profits. It was a hard-nosed business philosophy that created a ferociously competitive and adaptive company—arguably the world’s greatest company.
448 pages, Paperback
First published April 5, 2007
12 people are currently reading
723 people want to read
About the author
Michael S. Malone
45 books63 followersMichael S. Malone is a journalist and author who has been nominated for the Pulitzer price twice for his investigative journalism contributions. He has a regular column Silicon Dreams in Forbes (previosuly Silicon Insider for ABC)
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Wikipedia entry
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
May 13, 2012
I absolutely loved Bill and Dave by the time I was done with this book. Almost made me want to buy something HP. True businessmen with class and compassion - they changed the face of the American workspace. Folks like Google and Zappos, who have such awesome places to work, would never be what they are had Bill & Dave not led the way.
You can learn so much from this book. I did.
You can learn so much from this book. I did.
January 8, 2012
Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard provides a historical account of how these two entrepreneurs built one of the most dominant companies in Silicon Valley. From the story of their tutelage under a prominent professor at Stanford to their separate paths that would hone the skills necessary for this partnership to work. Hewlett to academia and Packard to industry (GE) which gave them the experience they would need to form a partnership in the field of designing industrial instrumentation. HP would become known for building reliable, durable and cost effective equipment that kicked off an industry. By treating their employees right and using smart management coupled with an ethos that would become known as the HP Way. The author follows the development of the calculator, the personal computer, and the laser jet printer. From corporate restructuring to Packard's time in Washington the history of the company and the founders is covered in detail. The author also covers some of the current woes of the company including Carly Friona's times as CEO.
The book uses personal interviews, corporate records and Packard's own autobiography "The HP Way" as the primary sources for this book. Newspaper articles, trader journals and some other print pieces are also used to piece together the story. It is a very pro Bill and Dave book and shows that they could do wrong. It is well done overall and shows an in-depth understanding of how this company was built. For those who are looking for history on Silicon Valley this is an excellent resource. If you are looking for business wisdom you can find it here in a much more nuanced way than your standard business book that is trying to espouse the 12 secrets to leadership.
June 19, 2013
A very well written and informative book for anyone who is in IT and Instrumentation industry.
A compulsory read for the HP and Agilent (a HP spin-off) employees (also the ex-employees), so that they can feel proud of their heritage and make a sincere attempt sustain the core HP culture which is timeless.
More about this book @ http://bookwormsrecos.blogspot.in/200...
A compulsory read for the HP and Agilent (a HP spin-off) employees (also the ex-employees), so that they can feel proud of their heritage and make a sincere attempt sustain the core HP culture which is timeless.
More about this book @ http://bookwormsrecos.blogspot.in/200...
August 11, 2012
Any technocrat and/or businessman will throughly enjoy reading this book, and there is much to gain from doing so. It provides a well researched and well written detailed background into the beginnings and the development of HP as well as Silicon Valley. If you read only one business book and only one history of the electronics industry, then make sure it's this book for both.
November 3, 2012
Must read for anyone that wants to build a great company!
Think of all of the companies that are constantly lauded today for their innovative practices - Google, Apple, etc. - guess who started all of this? HP! All of these great companies were inspired by Bill and Dave...you should be, too!
Think of all of the companies that are constantly lauded today for their innovative practices - Google, Apple, etc. - guess who started all of this? HP! All of these great companies were inspired by Bill and Dave...you should be, too!
February 22, 2008
I really enjoyed this book about the founders of the company that I work for (Agilent.)
December 17, 2008
Interesting business biography. Hewlett & Packard were fundamentally decent guys and managed to hold on to that decency while creating a behemoth of a company.
July 6, 2009
As a book, the writing is above average at best. But the subject matters, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, will inspire you to believe that corporations weren't always evil.
April 16, 2019
My review of this book is a little biased by the timing of when I chanced upon it. The build up of its narrative, the meticulous detailing of certain critical times in the history of HP and of computing in general, and the treatment of certain game-changing technologies and products (for HP and the world) arrests the reader's attention and holds it right to the end of the book.
The sections on Prof. Frederick Terman left a very deep impact on me. The sense of history-in-the-making through the efforts of Prof. Terman - widely acclaimed as the father of Silicon Valley - has been presented very well indeed. I categorize the effect it has had on my thinking as transformative - particularly so because of the way it has shaped my thoughts as an entrepreneur as I was just starting out. To my mind, it helped redefine the role that institutions and academia can play in truly shaping the world.
The chapters on how Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard built the company - for example, the one on how sales was handled by a large set of partners with a very small central team all through the late 1940s and into the 1950s and how in the 1960s HP started amalgamating these partners into their core sales team - is a great lesson on team-building, managing costs, managing business risks, channeling aggressiveness, rolling out processes and a lot more. There are similar sections on how research and design grew as organizational entities.
The section on the creation of the HP-35 pocket calculator - the build up right through the final product - is fascinating, not just on account of the story itself, but on account of how the Mr. Malone has covered all facets of the invention and has taken the reader through a very important journey.
Overall, the author has succeeded in creating an account that befits the place that Mr. Bill Hewlett and Mr. Dave Packard hold in the world of computing. But importantly, for readers such as me, he has succeeded in authoring some very inspiring text.
The sections on Prof. Frederick Terman left a very deep impact on me. The sense of history-in-the-making through the efforts of Prof. Terman - widely acclaimed as the father of Silicon Valley - has been presented very well indeed. I categorize the effect it has had on my thinking as transformative - particularly so because of the way it has shaped my thoughts as an entrepreneur as I was just starting out. To my mind, it helped redefine the role that institutions and academia can play in truly shaping the world.
The chapters on how Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard built the company - for example, the one on how sales was handled by a large set of partners with a very small central team all through the late 1940s and into the 1950s and how in the 1960s HP started amalgamating these partners into their core sales team - is a great lesson on team-building, managing costs, managing business risks, channeling aggressiveness, rolling out processes and a lot more. There are similar sections on how research and design grew as organizational entities.
The section on the creation of the HP-35 pocket calculator - the build up right through the final product - is fascinating, not just on account of the story itself, but on account of how the Mr. Malone has covered all facets of the invention and has taken the reader through a very important journey.
Overall, the author has succeeded in creating an account that befits the place that Mr. Bill Hewlett and Mr. Dave Packard hold in the world of computing. But importantly, for readers such as me, he has succeeded in authoring some very inspiring text.
March 3, 2015
If you are business owner or looking into become one pick up a copy of Bill & Dave: How Hewlett and Packard Built the World's Greatest Company. We are each predestined for a purpose on this earth and once we begin to tap into that purpose we can make that dream a reality. What is your vision?
Bill and Dave did what they loved regardless of the money. They wanted to introduce something simple and necessary to a world based upon what they envisioned could be possible with technology. I love how Michael S. Malone showed the humble beginnings of HP and how Bill and Dave cared greatly about not only their inventions and their company but the people that made a difference.
I read this book several times years ago and can still remember several elements in which I had began to incorporate into my business model. The main one is that you care and show your appreciation to the work of others that is there to help you move forward it works.
There has been other books on Bill and Dave but this one provided a more well-rounded view of Bill and Dave from their humble beginnings to a HP working machine.
Bill and Dave did what they loved regardless of the money. They wanted to introduce something simple and necessary to a world based upon what they envisioned could be possible with technology. I love how Michael S. Malone showed the humble beginnings of HP and how Bill and Dave cared greatly about not only their inventions and their company but the people that made a difference.
I read this book several times years ago and can still remember several elements in which I had began to incorporate into my business model. The main one is that you care and show your appreciation to the work of others that is there to help you move forward it works.
There has been other books on Bill and Dave but this one provided a more well-rounded view of Bill and Dave from their humble beginnings to a HP working machine.
September 24, 2013
Bill & Dave, as anyone who grew up on Silicon Valley knows, is Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard. Michael S Malone's book is part history, part business advice and part hagiography.
I'm sure retired HPers will love the book, and other Silicon Valley veterans might enjoy the history, though it is biased and repetitive. Otherwise, not much to recommend it.
http://1book42day.blogspot.com/2011/1...
I'm sure retired HPers will love the book, and other Silicon Valley veterans might enjoy the history, though it is biased and repetitive. Otherwise, not much to recommend it.
http://1book42day.blogspot.com/2011/1...
January 4, 2018
Loved the book, equally as a biography of how one of the "world's greatest companies" was built and led by two great entrepreneurs, as much as a reminder of how history has a short memory and how businesses that took decades to be built can fall so quickly.. HP are clearly a shadow of their former self, and I was never aware of the full extent of their former self. 4 stars only due to coming across as very one sided
September 21, 2008
As a technologist I just love the story of Hewlett-Packard and the culture of the HP Way.
July 3, 2009
Outstanding business biography of two heroic entrepreneurs. Chock full of valuable entrepreneurial lessons
May 11, 2015
The journey was rough but the rewards were immerse.
Read
May 26, 2015Two Legends of the moden industry, revolution in business.
April 19, 2025
The best business book I’ve read so far!
This book is a treasure of lessons and information on how to start, grow, run and globalize a company. With every page, no every paragraph, I found myself interested and drawn to reflect upon it. I give big credit to the writing for that, because somehow it is not dry and dragging, as one would expected of a recount of an engineering company. But, more than that, the story of Bill and Dave, and of HP as a whole is nothing short of fascinating. It’s a story worth telling. The decisions made, the successes achieved, the failures overcome, the principles and standards established, all of it was worthy of being told. As an aspiring entrepreneur, I feel that this book will be a reference to go back to for creating my own business and my own path. When I finished the book, I knew I needed to record everything I learned from it, so I found myself spending four hours just jotting down all the lessons I gleaned. I truly recommend anyone read this page-turner of business mastery, there’s much you can benefit from in it.
This book is a treasure of lessons and information on how to start, grow, run and globalize a company. With every page, no every paragraph, I found myself interested and drawn to reflect upon it. I give big credit to the writing for that, because somehow it is not dry and dragging, as one would expected of a recount of an engineering company. But, more than that, the story of Bill and Dave, and of HP as a whole is nothing short of fascinating. It’s a story worth telling. The decisions made, the successes achieved, the failures overcome, the principles and standards established, all of it was worthy of being told. As an aspiring entrepreneur, I feel that this book will be a reference to go back to for creating my own business and my own path. When I finished the book, I knew I needed to record everything I learned from it, so I found myself spending four hours just jotting down all the lessons I gleaned. I truly recommend anyone read this page-turner of business mastery, there’s much you can benefit from in it.
September 2, 2024
A great biography… simultaneously telling the life story of two great tech entrepreneurs and the company at the heart of the creation of Silicon Valley, this book makes the discerning reader appreciate just how fast technology is advancing, and the continuously accelerating pace of innovation.
Malone helps readers to relate to Bill and Dave, and while it is obvious the author intends to paint the protagonists in the best light possible, he almost deifies them in this book. Surely these men were truly human, and while a few hints of their mortality and imperfection are told in the book, those accounts are so minor they might have just been relegated to footnotes.
Overall, though, this was a fantastic book. Well worth a read even having been published 17 years ago.
Malone helps readers to relate to Bill and Dave, and while it is obvious the author intends to paint the protagonists in the best light possible, he almost deifies them in this book. Surely these men were truly human, and while a few hints of their mortality and imperfection are told in the book, those accounts are so minor they might have just been relegated to footnotes.
Overall, though, this was a fantastic book. Well worth a read even having been published 17 years ago.
September 28, 2016
his is one of the best biography books I have ever read, Bill Hewlett and David Packard were honorable men who tried to keep their employees working during business downturns. HP made high quality products that were accurate, rugged, and dependable. Bill and Dave must have been spinning in their graves when Carly Fiorina fired 30,000 American HP employees and sent their jobs to China and elsewhere.
I deeply recommend this book to aspiring entrepreneurs. The HP Way not only worked, but, as with many other excellent things that one encounters in life, once you have experienced something like that at its best, it's very difficult to settle for less.
I deeply recommend this book to aspiring entrepreneurs. The HP Way not only worked, but, as with many other excellent things that one encounters in life, once you have experienced something like that at its best, it's very difficult to settle for less.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews