Maximum Impact: Maxim’s Quiet Rise as Silicon Valley’s Most Prolific Analog Chip Maker

Maximum Impact: Maxim’s Quiet Rise as Silicon Valley’s Most Prolific Analog Chip Maker by Tunç Doluca 

Maximum Impact is part biography of Jack Gifford and part history of Maxim Semiconductor. Even if Jack had not founded Maxim, he would have been a key player in Silicon Valley. He was the leader of analog products at Fairchild Semiconductor. He cofounded AMD. He became CEO of Intersil. And in between he worked in farming and other endeavors. He eventually founded Maxim and lead the company through it's early growth phase, passing away a short time after he left the company.

Jack went to UCLA to play baseball before "stumbling" into the semiconductor industry. He had hard-driving, yet family oriented management style that would likely not pass muster today. He ended up leaving the company as a stock-options backdating scandal unfolded. Maxim had almost always picked the "low price" for option valuations to give employees the best option value. This "backdating" was found to only benefit the rank and file, and not be used to enrich executives.

Maxim itself rose as a pure-play analog semiconductor company. There were lean days at the start, but the company persevered to become a behemoth in the industry. The book is full of plenty of analog semiconductor jargon. Those with intimate knowledge of the industry would likely understand the detailed significance of the events. For the rest of us, the book makes clear that these were some important things that happened.

The book was written primarily by the second (and final) CEO of Maxim. It is filled with quotes from people that played a role in the early days of the company. Many of the stories will be familiar to those that lived through the industry. The book provides a glimpse into the inner workings of a less well-known Silicon Valley success story.