# Dell Computers: Michael Dell

- Show: [How I Built This](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this)
- Published: 2018-01-29
- Length: 48m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2018-01-29-dell-computers-michael-dell

## Summary

Michael Dell, founder of Dell Computers, explains how he launched the company from his University of Texas dorm room in 1983 by selling PC upgrade kits, specifically hard drive subsystems, to local businesses and universities. He details the direct-to-consumer business model that allowed Dell to undercut IBM on price while offering superior speed, and describes the critical decision to implement on-site service to differentiate from competitors. Dell also recounts early regulatory struggles with the FCC and strategic missteps, such as the failed Dell UNIX project, which shaped the company's evolution into a global enterprise.

## Chapters

- [0:49](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2018-01-29-dell-computers-michael-dell#t=49) Introduction: Michael Dell and the Dorm Room Origins
- [3:12](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2018-01-29-dell-computers-michael-dell#t=192) Early Entrepreneurship: High School Sales and Direct Mail
- [12:55](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2018-01-29-dell-computers-michael-dell#t=775) The PC Opportunity: Upgrading IBM Computers with Hard Drives
- [20:15](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2018-01-29-dell-computers-michael-dell#t=1215) From Kits to Computers: The First Dell Systems
- [24:48](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2018-01-29-dell-computers-michael-dell#t=1488) Direct-to-Consumer Model: Beating IBM on Price and Speed
- [28:33](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2018-01-29-dell-computers-michael-dell#t=1713) Differentiation: On-Site Service and Global Expansion
- [33:43](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2018-01-29-dell-computers-michael-dell#t=2023) Going Public: The 1988 IPO and Capital Needs
- [37:46](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2018-01-29-dell-computers-michael-dell#t=2266) Mistakes and Missteps: Dell UNIX and Inventory Issues
- [39:32](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2018-01-29-dell-computers-michael-dell#t=2372) Leadership Transitions and Market Decline
- [44:30](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2018-01-29-dell-computers-michael-dell#t=2670) Postscript: Hannah England and Wash. It. Later.

## Topics

- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Direct-to-consumer & e-commerce](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/direct-to-consumer)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)
- [Quality & yield](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/quality-and-yield)
- [Fundraising & investors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/fundraising)
- [Scaling production](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/scaling-production)

## Most relevant to

founders before launch, early-stage companies, companies scaling up, large enterprises

## Mentioned

- Dell Computers (company)
- IBM (company)
- Compaq (company)
- Texas Instruments (company)
- Apple 2 (product)
- IBM PC (product)
- Dell UNIX (product)
- Wash. It. Later. (product)
- QuickBooks (company)

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- [An Interview With Chuck Peddle - Charismatic Chipmaking Coryphaeus](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-03-20-an-interview-with-chuck-peddle-charismatic-chipmaking-coryphaeus) (The Amp Hour)
- [Silicon Cowboys](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2021-06-01-silicon-cowboys) (Oxide and Friends)
- [Ep. 26 | Microchip's Steve Sanghi on How to Bring a Company from Debt to Billions](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/moores-lobby/2021-06-08-ep-26-microchips-steve-sanghi-on-how-to-bring-a-company-from-debt-to-billions) (Moore's Lobby)
- [An Interview with Clint Cole of Digilent](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2016-06-10-an-interview-with-clint-cole-of-digilent) (The Amp Hour)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2018-01-29-dell-computers-michael-dell. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to How I Built This.