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Going public: MIPS computer and the entrepreneurial dream
An inside, minute-by-minute narrative about a modern American taking a successful start-up company public. Going Public tells the story of the MIPS Computer team of employees, their secret dreams, and how these dreams were realized in their race to create a successful company.
- GenresBusiness
291 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1991
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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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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 20, 2012
Going Public covers the MIPS IPO based on the perspectives of a myriad of employees, from the CEO and upper management to the founders to the factory floor workers.
About 60% of the book was trials and tribulations from various people involved or affected by the process, which I found enlightening. I had absolutely no idea what was involved in an IPO or the implications of the timing. The other 40% was a walk through of the prospectus and analysis, and since I have no interest in finance, those sections were painful. Most of the information sounded like it was from interviews or journals from the IPO or around that time frame. The voice was distractingly inconsistent because it jumped from person to person, often times backtracking through the same events.
The book was published 21 years ago in 1991, shortly after the IPO at the end of 1989. Reading about technology and even the state of the world from then was fascinating. There is a fair amount of detail on RISC, and the challenges facing its adoption. I imagine someone without a technical background would be pretty confused. One non-technical tidbit stood out. The CEO mentions that if an investor wanted a guaranteed 8% return with no risk, there was a Bank of America down the street. (Apparently, MIPS is still around today. It was bought and then spun off again by SGI. It's still used in Playstations, and Honeycomb was ported to it in April 2011.)
About 60% of the book was trials and tribulations from various people involved or affected by the process, which I found enlightening. I had absolutely no idea what was involved in an IPO or the implications of the timing. The other 40% was a walk through of the prospectus and analysis, and since I have no interest in finance, those sections were painful. Most of the information sounded like it was from interviews or journals from the IPO or around that time frame. The voice was distractingly inconsistent because it jumped from person to person, often times backtracking through the same events.
The book was published 21 years ago in 1991, shortly after the IPO at the end of 1989. Reading about technology and even the state of the world from then was fascinating. There is a fair amount of detail on RISC, and the challenges facing its adoption. I imagine someone without a technical background would be pretty confused. One non-technical tidbit stood out. The CEO mentions that if an investor wanted a guaranteed 8% return with no risk, there was a Bank of America down the street. (Apparently, MIPS is still around today. It was bought and then spun off again by SGI. It's still used in Playstations, and Honeycomb was ported to it in April 2011.)
Displaying 1 of 1 review