Also testified to in Jessica's book.

The biggest lesson I got from it is that oftentimes all it takes to start something big is deciding that you actually want to start it. Don't let uncertainty about how you'll become a profitable business stop you from pursuing ideas you have.

i think this is a case of reading too much into something in search for "lessons". investors are right to be looking for the things they look for, because HP is an exceptional exception. tens of thousands of smart guys that "just wanted to work together" didn't get far.

At the same time though, you get several bright people who work together really well and suddenly there is no need to stick to one "great idea". Business plans change all the time. What matters most is the ability of that team to adapt to the changes around them.

> appalling timing (in the tail-end of the great depression, just before the second world war),

Isn't that awesome timing? Depression over, cusp of giant government spending and demand for innovation whatever the cost due to war.

At the time, though, the U.S. was still in a depression, and I doubt that either founder expected a war that would be great for their business.

This is why my favorite Goethe quote is: "Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it. Action has magic, grace and power in it."

Oops! Turns out this quote isn't by Goethe after all but by W.H. Murray. Check it out: (http://german.about.com/library/blgermyth12.htm). The original quote which this one is based on was “Now at last let me see some deeds!” which is a line from Faust... :-)

Faust... that worked out well. ;p

Wow, that quote should be mandatory for everyone thinking about becoming an entrepreneur. Getting started is toughest hurdle to cross for most people...

Isn't most businesses started with a small group of people wanting to go into business together? They may have a slightly more articulated idea of what to do, but still nowhere near an elevator pitch. The HP founders just took the "hey, we should do something together" conversation over lunch and formalized it.

Once they struck sales with their model 200 audio oscillator, they became as focused as any successful company.

Great story, this is how magic is created. Few mates getting together and want to create something. It's not the idea that count, its the motivation!!

the minutes: http://www.communities.hp.com/online/blogs/hparchives/archiv...

By what criterion did they decide if a field looks "good" or not? It matters less what you see than how you see.

It looks like market assessment, probably based on likely growth in demand, existing competitors and the HP founders' capabilities to make a "[technical] contribution" (as they later came to call it).