Altos Computer

Altos Computer appears in Ron Conway on National Semiconductor, Altos, and Early Angel Investing as the early microcomputer company Ron Conway joined after National Semiconductor. Dave Jackson founded the company, and Conway joined as a sales and marketing leader with 2% equity at what he describes as the earliest possible stage.

The episode presents Altos as both a success and a warning. It used Intel chips, CP/M, Unix, and worldwide distribution to challenge minicomputer incumbents with lower-cost systems, became profitable early, reached number one on the Inc. 100, and went public in 1982 with Sequoia Capital backing and Don Valentine on the board. After the IPO, Conway says Altos dismissed personal computers as toys and failed to adapt as networked PCs and Ethernet changed the market, making the company a central case for Self-Disruption Discipline and Startup Timing Windows.

Connections

• Ron Conway, Dave Jackson, Sequoia Capital, and Don Valentine - operating, founder, and investor context.
• Self-Disruption Discipline and Startup Timing Windows - missed personal-computer wave.
• Equity Compensation Upside - Conway’s 2% stake and IPO wealth.
• Microsoft - Zenix relationship and urgent software-support anecdote.