Xerox - The Company That Threw Away Everything
Why Innovation Commercialization Strategists Rewatch This 13-Minute Xerox PARC Tragedy Xerox "created commercial computer, Xerox Alto, before Apple and even IBM back in 1973, invented ethernet cable, graphical user interfaces, laser printers, bitmap images, text editors, object oriented programming"—Bill Gates admitted "we both had rich neighbor named Xerox and I broke into house to steal TV set and found out you (Steve Jobs) had already stolen it." Yet "revenue fallen by 70% past 10 years, last 12 months literally lost over billion dollars" with only "$930 million left in cash." The photocopier money printing at 06:01 reveals complacency source: Xerox 914 charged "$25 per month plus 15 cents per copy, translates to $256 per month plus $1.54 per copy"—government paid "$27,500 per machine, $281,000 in today's money." Within two years reached "$60M revenue, by 1965 pulled in over $500M revenue translating to $4.7B today"—success was "so profitable they didn't even care to expand." The Steve Jobs PARC giveaway at 09:30 quantifies strategic blindness: "1979 Steve agreed to give Xerox 5-8% of Apple in return for mere $1 million, condition was access to Palo Alto Research Center"—Steve ripped off "Window Icon Menu and Pointing Device systems." Their Apple stake "would be worth $150B today but Xerox flipped stake for disgusting $1.2M, truly had no idea what they were doing." The $16,000 Star catastrophe at 10:36 exposes halfhearted commercialization: "1981 launched Xerox Star based on Alto, computer worked fine with nice user interface, respectable hardware, productive software but cost $16,000 translating to over 50 gs today"—comparable IBM machine cost "less than $1,600, Xerox Star flopped like fish out of water, basically went oh well we tried back to photocopying." Strategic lesson: inventing revolutionary technology without commercialization urgency while riding cash cow business creates complacency death spiral—PARC developed foundation of modern computing but photocopier profits eliminated hunger to build businesses around own inventions. 5 Key Timestamps: [00:57] The PARC Innovation Portfolio – "Created commercial computer Xerox Alto before Apple and IBM back in 1973, invented ethernet cable, graphical user interfaces, laser printers, bitmap images, text editors, object oriented programming" [06:01] The Xerox 914 Money Printing – Charged "$25 per month plus 15 cents per copy, $256 monthly plus $1.54 per copy today"—government paid "$27,500 per machine, $281K today," reached "$60M revenue in 2 years, $500M by 1965" [09:30] The Steve Jobs $150B Giveaway – "1979 Steve gave Xerox 5-8% Apple for $1M plus access to PARC"—ripped off Window Icon Menu Pointing systems, stake "would be worth $150B today but flipped for disgusting $1.2M" [10:36] The $16K Xerox Star Flop – "1981 launched Star costing $16K translating to over 50 gs today"—comparable IBM machine "less than $1,600, Star flopped like fish out of water, went oh well we tried back to photocopying" [12:18] The Bankruptcy Trajectory – "Revenue fallen 70% past 10 years, last 12 months literally lost over billion dollars with only $930M cash left"—selling "outdated product to shrinking market, only one way this ends: bankruptcy"
Not Rated Yet