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One of the most brilliant technologists, if not the most brilliant technologist, ever in the analog semiconductor industry is Bob Dobkin. Dobkin, known as “Dobby,” was the co-founder of Linear Technology, one of the most successful startups ever in the analog semiconductor business.
Dobkin was my nemesis for years. He was this creative genius (with over 100 patents) that kept coming up with idea after idea, many of which were aimed at destroying the business I was running for Maxim, Linear’s chief competitor.
I hated Dobby.
I imagined him being this diabolical, megalomaniac genius, right down to the evil laugh. I assumed he was out to get me.
You should always respect your competitors.
I knew that we would have to be at our best to beat Dobby. Not only would we have to be smart, we would have to move fast, and our execution would have to be flawless.
We were like two boxers, trading blows. We would announce a killer product, and then Linear would announce a killer product.
The threat of Linear Technology forced us to have a paranoid mindset:
- Use the thought process that there’s another team out there, and…
- This team is working on…
