Amazing Experiences

SILICON VALLEY

1983-1989: Semiconductor Sr. Analyst – At market researcher Dataquest, I co-authored the Semiconductor Startup report about 150 startups and advised VCs in the U.S. and Europe. I also advised 200+ semiconductor companies and governments in the U.S., Europe, Japan and Asia.

1986: “Saving Intel” – My boss and I advised Intel’s troika to shut down its memory chip operations (70% of its staff) and focus on microprocessors after Japanese DRAM makers crushed it, AMD, and National Semiconductor. See my book, “In the Valley of Digital Dreams: Untold Stories From a Silicon Valley Insider” https://www.amazon.com/Valley-Digital-Dreams-Stories-Silicon/dp/1469969440

1989-present tech startups: As an emerging market and technology researcher, I often see very early-stage startups. Among the thousands: Dell, AOL, Yahoo!, Google, Cobalt Networks, MySimon, SalesForce, Twitter, Pinterest, Looksery and Podio. I urged my angel and VC friends to invest, but they passed on ALL of them!

1992: AMD’s sub-$1000 PC miss – I advised AMD to find a PC maker that would design in the K5 processor, plus find a second silicon source, but CEO Jerry Sanders ignored my second tip. AMD grabbed 15% of PC design wins, but ran out of silicon or it would have won 60%+ of the PC market in 18 months!

1994: Nokia’s global launch – As a consulting partner of London School of Business Professor Gary Hamel, I was part of his Strategos team to advise Nokia on its global launch marketing. Despite its young team (average age 24), Nokia became #1 in 3.5 years, shocking the industry.

SOCIAL ACTIVISM & MEDIA

1973: Manzanar Committee/LA – As a volunteer, I polished the final wording of the Manzanar plaque that we submitted to California’s state park system.

1977-1980: A-Bomb Survivors/SF – As a volunteer for the Committee for Atomic Bomb Survivors in the U.S. (CABS), I advised indie filmmaker Steven Okazaki on his documentary, “Survivors”, which was the 1980 PBS documentary winner. Steve has been nominated for four Oscars, winning in 1991 for “Years of Waiting” about the WW2 Japanese American detention camps. Farfilms.com

1991: Television documentaries – My two business books about Japanese tech and culture produced for television: “The Technopolis Strategy” (Prentice-Hall, 1986) as “Japan Dreaming” (1991, Central Independent Television plc); “Created in Japan” (HarperCollins, 1990) for the Kyoto scenes in the 4-hour “The Creative Spirit” series (1991, PBS; 1994 Nova).