Dell talks about some of the reasons behind Dell, Inc. going public. The transition was done primarily to raise more capital, attract more people, and acquire a measure of financial transparency. Tens of thousand of employees that the company would need to hire would be easier to find, as there was a lower risk and widespread recognition for joining a public company.

Transcript



But I think the reasons we did it then were, yes, liquidity, really, more capital for the company, but also the ability to attract people. Because as a young, four or five-year-old company, if we're trying to attract somebody from a company that's been around since before I was born, that is in the computer industry, that's pretty hard. The risk tolerance curve for the tens of thousands of people that we needed to hire, you just couldn't quite get them. So going public, I think, helped us enormously in terms of attracting a broader set of people. It was also important in terms of becoming more of a peer with our customers and having some measure of financial transparency where an Exxon Mobil, or General Electric, or Boeing, or Ford could look at the company and say, "Okay, we kind of know what this thing is. We're not buying from some unknown entity that we can't really quantify."

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.