Derek McGowan Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 Has there been a CEO/founder of a company that has been able to successfully make the transition to a new technology. What I mean is, take Rockefeller, he was the man in kerosene but he didn't make the transition to electricity (for illumination) or to gasoline (as another use for oil). The company made the transition, sure, but Has any CEO been at the top of one business model and then followed the changing tides (thereby dropping what had made them successful) in favor or the "new" AND still been successful. In other words, if they shifted and failed, then it doesn't count and if the business did it without them it doesn't count. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf DeVoon Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 Golden Age charactersJay Gould: plank roads, tanning, finance, railroads, Union Pacific, mining, Western Union, transatlantic cablesThomas Edison: duplex telegraphy, phonograph, lighting, telephones, motion picture camera, electromagnets, batteriesGeorge Westinghouse: elevators, compressed air brakes, railway signaling, AC power distribution (with Nicola Tesla)WWII eraThomas J. Watson: cash registers, mechanical tabulating machines, electronic computersHoward Hughes Jr: oilfield tools, movies, aircraft, TWA airline, deep sea marine salvageWilliam Shockley: electron multiplier, optimized convoys, radar bomb sights, diode, transistorDavid Sarnoff: radio broadcasting networks, RKO movie studio, television, Voice of America, color TVDavid Packard: sonar and radar devices, test & measurement gear, calculators, computers, printers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek McGowan Posted June 10, 2014 Author Share Posted June 10, 2014 Wolf, I apologize if I wasn't clear. I'm looking for those who didn't just enter different fields, but those who entered fields that were the direct progeny of the field they were already in. So if I lived 100+ years ago and my business was candle making, then my field is illumination. When lamps were invented, did I see that as the new wave, leave candles behind and then become a top producer of lamps. If I was a top seller and producer of horses, once cars were invented, did I leave horses behind and build a car factory. A modern example would be the computer shift from a pure server/mainframe business to a desktop dominated one. IBM made the shift but did they do it under one CEO? The shift from land lines to wireless, as far as telecoms go, did the shift happen under one CEO (at each or any of the companies)These would be examples of real foresight and I'm sure these people are out there but I just don't know them.P.s. Edison was opposed to "talkies" so he didn't even make the logical shift Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek McGowan Posted June 10, 2014 Author Share Posted June 10, 2014 Actually looking at you David Packard example now for the shift from calculators to computers..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek McGowan Posted June 10, 2014 Author Share Posted June 10, 2014 HP website says they introduced both calculators and personal computers in 1968 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf DeVoon Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 Edison was opposed to "talkies" so he didn't even make the logical shiftEdison was right. I'm opposed to "talkies" too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek McGowan Posted June 10, 2014 Author Share Posted June 10, 2014 That's funny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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