barter_and_bid

19/10/2014

The First Trillion-Dollar Startup

In 1957, eight entrepreneurs decided to do something that seemed crazy. They launched a new tech company called Fairchild Semiconductor in a small town south of San Francisco. The entrepreneurs had a difficult start, but Fairchild eventually became the first major computer chip company in the region.

Although many people are familiar with Fairchild’s success, few know the full extent of its impact. During the last year, our team at Endeavor Insight has traced the story of Fairchild and gathered intriguing new data. We uncovered something that was quite surprising: if the value Fairchild created is measured in today’s dollars, we believe the firm would qualify as the first trillion dollar startup in the world.

Fairchild’s Launch and Early Success

The achievements of Fairchild’s co-founders are even more impressive when you consider where they occurred. The San Francisco Bay Area is now a thriving tech hub, but it was a very different place in the mid-1950s. At that time, there were no venture capital investors in the region. Stanford University did not produce any of the major research on computer chip components and immigrants made up only a small percentage of the population.

As the chart below illustrates, the San Francisco area was far behind other U.S. cities in the development of the transistor companies that made up the early computer chip industry. No one expected the region to become a hub for these technology businesses.

http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/26/the-first-trillion-dollar-startup/

In 1957, eight entrepreneurs decided to do something that seemed crazy. They launched a new tech company called Fairchild Semiconductor in a small town south..

11/10/2014

files for , points to “oppressive and burdensome” conditions imposed by

SUMMARY:
is looking to nullify agreements with Apple as part of its bankruptcy filing, and the company may be laying the groundwork for a future lawsuit. GTAT also plans to shut down a , plant that employs 890 workers.

Information about GT Advanced Technologies, a , has been trickling out this week since the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection . The latest , made public , indicate that GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT) is planning to shut down its factory in Mesa, Arizona, as well as another facility in Salem, Massachusetts. The operations winding down will likely result in 890 GTAT employees losing their jobs.

“Only if GT winds down these operations will it be able to stop its mounting losses and re-focus its on the operation of its core business of selling sapphire furnaces and other products,” GTAT said in a public court filing.

Although GTAT initially constructed its business around producing materials, most of the latest attention focused on its best known client: Apple. The primary reason that GTAT is facing issues is its agreements with Apple. One court filing reads: “The [Apple] agreements imposed oppressive and burdensome terms and obligations on GTAT.” Earlier this week, reported that Apple withheld a $139 million payment from the sapphire crystal manufacturer.

GTAT is looking to terminate its agreements with Apple, and may be laying the groundwork for a future suit. “GTAT believes it has many claims against Apple arising out of its relationship with Apple,” one filing read.

What were the specific “oppressive and burdensome” terms of the agreements with Apple? They could remain . GTAT filed a motion to have hearings related to the bankruptcy kept closed because it could face damages to the tune of $50 million per disclosure due to a confidentiality pact with Apple. One document reads: “GTAT recognizes the unusual (and perhaps unprecedented) nature of the request in this Motion.”

In response, yesterday’s order from a judge said that while some details will remain sealed, details about the plants winding down would be public. Apple will have at least three days to review information about its dealings with GTAT that may come up during bankruptcy hearings and can request to have details barred. Details from Apple’s supplier contracts would be of intense interest not only to the parties involved in the case, but to Apple watchers worldwide, as well as Apple’s competitors. The $50 million disclosure penalty is fascinating in and of itself.

In November 2013, Apple signed a $578 million contract with GTAT. The deal was announced by both the state of Arizona (touting 700 jobs created) as well as GTAT itself. (Apple CEO Tim Cook later confirmed the deal in an interview.) As part of the agreement, Apple built the facility and leased it back to GTAT, which owned the expensive sapphire furnaces needed to produce the material. It was widely believed that the sapphire produced by GTAT would end up covering iPhone screens.

For a while, it did look like GTAT was going to produce hundreds of millions of dollars of sapphire crystal glass for Apple. with sapphire screens were spotted in the supply chain. were even able to get their hands on sapphire parts which looked like real Apple components. But when the iPhone 6 was announced in September, its screen was covered by , a competing product which has been the iPhone’s glass since it came out.

As it stands, GTAT may never supply sapphire crystal to Apple in meaningful quantities. Apple has said it plans to include sapphire faces on some Apple Watch models, but the sapphire-equipped watches will likely be the most expensive and produced in the lowest numbers. crystal is currently used on the to cover the Touch ID sensor as well as the camera, but there are other sapphire producers that could be providing those parts.

Sapphire producer GTAT is looking to nullify agreements with Apple as part of its bankruptcy filing, and the company may be laying the groundwork for a future lawsuit. GTAT also plans to shut down a Mesa, Arizona plant that employs 890 workers.

29/09/2014

This week's show looks at how a proposed mansion tax may work and who would be affected, plus how behavioural psychology can aid investors, and how inheritance laws are changing where there is no will