Michael Dell, CEO and founder of Dell, Inc., describes how the idea for Dell, Inc. originated. Dell was fascinated by the emerging field of the personal computer and disenchanted by the way technology was being provided to the consumer. To challenge what he noticed was a very lengthy and expensive process, he experimented with the concept of selling the product directly to the customer.

Transcript



Well, you know, it goes back to the beginning of the formation of the personal computer industry, which ... that sounds like a long time ago. And I was an interested user. I became fascinated with the idea that the PC could really change a lot of things. And it was exciting and interesting, and this device that had all this computational power that any person could afford or start to afford, that was just really interesting to me. And as a user, as a customer, I was sort of disenchanted with the experience in the computer store, and saw that the way that computers were being sold and the way that technology found its way from the lab all the way to the customer, it just took an enormous amount of time. It was very very expensive. And so I thought, hey, what if you sold the product directly to the customer. And so that's what I did.

1. The Origins of Dell, Inc.
2. The Culture and Dynamics of Dell, Inc. During the Early Years
3. Take Caution in Forming Close Friendships in a Company
4. Setting up the Initial Board of Directors for Dell, Inc.
5. Enhancing the Effectiveness of a Board of Directors
6. Overcoming Some of the Early Mistakes of Dell, Inc.
7. The Reasons Behind Dell, Inc. Going Public
8. Critical Changes to the Business Model of Dell, Inc.
9. Self-Disruption at Dell, Inc.
10. Starting a New Company in an Inefficient Industry
11. Implementing Processes in a Fast-Growing Company
12. Creating an Effective Communication Infrastructure
13. The Flawed Model of the Early Computer Industry
14. Revolutionizing the PC and IT Industry
15. Innovation at Dell, Inc.
16. Finding a Common Language for Improvement inside a Company
17. Current Threats to the PC Industry

Michael Dell lectures on Entrepreneurship for Stanford University students, May 1, 2007. Michael Dell is the founder of the computer company Dell, Inc. He created one of the most profitable computer companies in the world with annual sales of up to $50 billion American dollars. Dell has also become one of the wealthiest people in the world with a 4th place listing on the Forbes rich Americans list in 2005 with an estimated worth of $18 billion. In this Stanford lecture, he talks about taking caution in forming close friendships in a company, creating an effective communication infrastructure and starting a new company in an inefficient industry.

Related Links: http://www.dell.com/
                            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell

Last Updated: Mon, Jul 16, 2007

Course Details:
- Endeavor's Entrepreneurs' Summit
- Stanford University's Entrepreneurship Corner (ecorner)

Original Course Name: Endeavor's Entrepreneurs' Summit.