As self-described “accidental entrepreneurs,” Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore created what would become by far the foremost semiconductor maker in the world. They didn’t set out to create a billion dollar company or to transform an industry, but that is exactly what the pair did when they founded Intel in 1968.

Though best known for its Pentium and Celeron microprocessors that can be found in more than three-quarters of the new PCs that come today, Intel also makes flash memories and embedded semiconductors. Now, with over $35 billion in revenue and annual growth standing at 13.5 percent, the legacy left by Noyce and Moore remains one of the strongest examples of innovation and entrepreneurship in the 21st century.

Today, Intel is ranked 49th on Fortune 500’s list of the top revenue grossing companies. Noyce and Moore may no longer be in charge of the daily running of the business they first founded in 1968; however, their impact on not only the company, but also the entire industry can still be felt.

The maker of motherboard chipsets, network cards, flash memory drives, graphic chips, embedded processors and more, Intel is an innovator and a leader in the world of electronics and computing. How did two scientists who knew nothing about business become two of the most successful examples of entrepreneurship in history?

There is such a thing as a natural-born entrepreneur, for whom the entrepreneurial urge drives everything, and who can make a business out of almost anything. But the accidental entrepreneur like me has to fall into the opportunity or be pushed into it. Then the entrepreneurial spirit eventually catches on.

To me the opportunities to start a company are few and far between. I’m not the sort of entrepreneur who can just say, ‘I’m going to start a company. Let’s look for an opportunity.

I had no training in business after my sophomore year of college. I didn’t take any courses outside of chemistry, math, and physics. Most of what I learned as an entrepreneur was by trial and error. I think a lot of this really could have been learned more efficiently.

We saw semiconductor memory as an opportunity to make something complex and sell it for all kinds of digital applications. So that was the first thing we went after. That was really the basis of our business plan.

Fortunately, very much by luck, we had hit on a technology that had just the right degree of difficulty for a successful startup. This was how Intel began.

Long before Apple, one of our engineers came to me with the suggestion that Intel ought to build a computer for the home. And I asked him, ‘What the heck would anyone want a computer for in his home?’ It seemed ridiculous!

“We had no idea at all that we had turned the first stone on something that was going to be an $80 billion business.

In retrospect, there are a lot of things we could have done better along the way. But, we did enough right to grow a fairly large company.

It’s important to remember one thing that is essential for any entrepreneurial organization. Do what you do well. Look at other things as incremental opportunities, but don’t change the basis of what you do well.”

Evan Carmichael
YoungEntrepreneur.com Blog Manager

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