# Compaq Computers: Rod Canion (2019)

- Show: [How I Built This](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this)
- Published: 2019-03-25
- Length: 39m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2019-03-25-compaq-computers-rod-canion-2019

## Summary

Rod Canion, who co-founded Compaq with Jim Harris and Bill Murto, explains how they reverse-engineered the IBM PC to create the first portable IBM-compatible computer, the Compaq Portable. Canion details the strategic decision to keep building inventory when IBM launched its own portable, which ultimately allowed Compaq to outsell IBM's entry. He also discusses the company's rapid scaling to Fortune 500 status, his ousting by the board, and the eventual merger with HP that erased the brand. In a postscript, Danica Lause describes turning a knitting hobby into Peekaboos Ponytail Hats, solving a design problem for ponytails by creating hats with strategic holes and later engineering a custom knitting machine to scale production.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2019-03-25-compaq-computers-rod-canion-2019#t=0) Introduction: Rod Canion and Compaq's Origin
- [4:50](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2019-03-25-compaq-computers-rod-canion-2019#t=290) The Idea: Reverse-Engineering the IBM PC
- [8:19](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2019-03-25-compaq-computers-rod-canion-2019#t=499) Building the Prototype and First Factory
- [13:32](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2019-03-25-compaq-computers-rod-canion-2019#t=812) Stealth Launch and Dealer Adoption
- [16:01](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2019-03-25-compaq-computers-rod-canion-2019#t=961) The IBM Portable Threat and Inventory Strategy
- [21:39](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2019-03-25-compaq-computers-rod-canion-2019#t=1299) Outselling IBM and the PS2 Failure
- [26:16](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2019-03-25-compaq-computers-rod-canion-2019#t=1576) Personal Stress and Boardroom Ousting
- [32:21](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2019-03-25-compaq-computers-rod-canion-2019#t=1941) HP Merger and Brand Disappearance
- [36:01](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2019-03-25-compaq-computers-rod-canion-2019#t=2161) Postscript: Danica Lause and Peekaboos Ponytail Hats

## Topics

- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Mechanical engineering](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/mechanical-engineering)
- [Intellectual property](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/intellectual-property)
- [Scaling production](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/scaling-production)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Growth, exits & acquisitions](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/growth-exits-and-acquisitions)

## Most relevant to

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

## Mentioned

- Compaq (company)
- IBM (company)
- Texas Instruments (company)
- Peekaboos Ponytail Hats (product)
- Kleiner Perkins (company)
- HP (company)
- Osborne (product)
- PS2 (product)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Silicon Cowboys](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2021-06-01-silicon-cowboys) (Oxide and Friends)
- [S4E48 Paul McEnroe | Inventing the Barcode (UPC) & Scanner](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2023-12-15-s4e48-paul-mcenroe-inventing-the-barcode-upc-scanner) (Being an Engineer)
- [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)
- [An Interview with Chuck Peddle (Repeat, in memoriam)](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2019-12-30-an-interview-with-chuck-peddle-repeat-in-memoriam) (The Amp Hour)
- [The Rise and Fall of DEC](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-06-14-the-rise-and-fall-of-dec) (Oxide and Friends)

## 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/2019-03-25-compaq-computers-rod-canion-2019. 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.