Annaliza E. Nebres

OOC

Case study 14

 Mike Ramsay

(Co Founder TiVo)

The original plan was to create a network server for homes. But when they realized that it would be hard to explain to the consumer why they need it, they’d just narrowed the idea to a Digital Video Reorder (DVR). The first version launched in 1999. They founded TiVo in 1997.

TiVo was ground-breaking that it gave viewers the power to manipulate the information existed on the television. Using TiVo you can avoid commercials, pause live TV shoes, all the things might expert to be able to do with data but it sparked controversy in Hollywood because they worried about losing control over how people watch TV. TiVo went public in 1999.

Ramsay also worked in HP. When there’s no PC and microprocessor he was involved in chip design but he also left HP to do a startup company called Convergent Technologies. The idea of this is to build workstation. He met Jim Borton in HP and then he got recruited at SGI. One of his cofounders Jim became a world-class technologist because he made UNIX work in parallel processing systems. That’s why he got interested on how he can use computer technology to do things that are rally interesting and different from what you might expect it to be used for. He has done also a video-on-demand system called the Fall Service Network. 

The first idea was not about DVR but about “flam boyant”, a home server network thing. They had someone to fund them but they realize how they will sell it to the customers, to explain that they need it. The launched the first users at the end of March 1999. They had a deal with Sony and DIRECTV. So they started to supply DIRECTV with TiVo. At first the people couldn’t believe that they can actually pause a live TV.

Three thighs I’ve learn are, first you can do startups based on curiosity. Like Ramsay he was interested in how you can use computing technology to do things that are really entertaining and very different from what you might expect it to be used for. Second is that, some people might like and dislike the startup that you’ve done, It base on the necessity that they really need it or not. Third is that, competiti0ns are always there. They will do everything just to be ahead of you but you should not be affected. You should think that it is part of the business and think of something that you can do to make your company work and stay strong