Hardware Podcasts

Belkin International: Chet Pipkin

How I Built This · 13 May 2019 · 52m

What this episode covers

Chet Pipkin, founder of Belkin International, explains how he identified the gap in computer cables during the early PC boom and built the company from his parents' garage in the early 1980s. Pipkin details the operational challenges of scaling from handmade Frankenstein cables to a global manufacturing operation, including the pivotal decision to outsource production to Asia to compete on cost while maintaining US-based design. The episode covers Belkin's growth through the smartphone era, its strategic move to Compton, and its eventual acquisition by Foxconn subsidiary FIT for over $800 million.

Most relevant to

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

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Belkin, Foxconn, FIT, RadioShack, Carnegie Mellon University, Zipper Rescue
Products
IBM PC, Apple II, Lynxis

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