Bob Metcalfe (@BobMetcalfe) is an MIT-Harvard-trained engineer-entrepreneur who became an Internet pioneer in 1970, invented Ethernet in 1973, and founded 3Com Corporation in 1979. About 1.2B Ethernet ports were shipped last year — 400M wired and 800M wireless (Wi-Fi).3Com went public in 1984, peaked at $5.7B in annual sales in 1999, and after 30 years became part of HP last year. Bob was a publisher-pundit for IDG-InfoWorld for about 10 years and a venture capitalist for about 10 years with Polaris Venture Partners, where he continues as a Venture Partner.Bob is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a recipient of the National Medal of Technology.In this conversation, we talk about everything from how he toasts when drinking with friends, how he learned to recruit and fire, what he does to scale businesses, different approaches to talent evaluation, critical decisions and mistakes made, how he has gotten through dark times, and much more. Please enjoy!This episode is brought to you by WeWork. I haven’t had an office in almost two decades, but working from home and coffee shops isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. When I moved to Austin, one of the first things I did was get a space at WeWork, and I could not be happier. It’s dog friendly and serves the best cold-brew coffee on tap I’ve ever had!WeWork is a global network of work spaces where companies and people grow together — in fact, more than ten percent of Fortune 500 companies use WeWork. The idea is simple: you focus on your business, and WeWork takes care of the rest — front desk service, utilities, refreshments, and more. WeWork now has more than 200 locations all over the world, so chances are good there’s one near you. Check out we.co/tim to become a part of the global WeWork community!This podcast is also brought to you by Peloton, which has become a staple of my daily routine. I picked up this bike after seeing the success of my friend Kevin Rose, and I’ve been enjoying it more than I ever imagined. Peloton is an indoor cycling bike that brings live studio classes right to your home. No worrying about fitting classes into your busy schedule or making it to a studio with a crazy commute.New classes are added every day, and this includes options led by elite NYC instructors in your own living room. You can even live stream studio classes taught by the world’s best instructors, or find your favorite class on demand.Peloton is offering listeners to this show a special offer. Visit onepeloton.com and enter the code TIM at checkout to receive $100 off accessories with your Peloton bike purchase. This is a great way to get in your workouts, or an incredible gift. Again, that’s onepeloton.com and enter the code TIM.***If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading the reviews!For show notes and past guests, please visit tim.blog/podcast.Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (“5-Bullet Friday”) at tim.blog/friday.For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.Interested in sponsoring the podcast? Please fill out the form at tim.blog/sponsor.Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books.Follow Tim:Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss Instagram: instagram.com/timferrissFacebook: facebook.com/timferriss YouTube: youtube.com/timferrissPast guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, and many more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Tim Ferriss and Bob Metcalfe discuss Bob's early days, creating Ethernet and Metcalfe's Law, scaling businesses, evaluating talents, and critical decisions made in his career.
In this conversation, the speaker acknowledges that he learned about competition through playing tennis, allowing his competitive nature to be channeled positively. The discussion also includes a tangent on Austin and Long Island identities.
Bob Metcalfe, co-inventor of the Ethernet and founder of 3Com, discusses the development of Ethernet at Xerox PARC and its significance as the plumbing of the internet.
Bob Metcalfe, co-inventor of ethernet, discusses the origins of Ethernet and Metcalfe's Law. He explains how a network becomes more valuable as more devices are added to it, and the role of ethernet in computer communication compatibility.
Operating ranges refer to the range of skills a person possesses based on the size and scale of a company. Different people have different operating ranges and they can affect their roles and effectiveness in a company.
Tim Ferriss discusses with Ben Horowitz how to effectively fire an employee, emphasizing that it's important to make it clear the decision is final, avoid giving reasons, and bring help to the meeting.
In this episode, the speaker shares the story of how he was tricked into hiring the wrong salesperson and discusses the importance of recruiting over hiring in order to build a successful team.
The key to building credibility in sales and recruiting is to start with small promises and work your way up to bigger ones while also involving the team that the candidate will be working with, according to Ben Horowitz, co-founder of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.
In this podcast, the speaker talks about having Steve Jobs at his wedding and how defending high standards was a valuable lesson he learned from the Apple co-founder.
Network effects are often misunderstood in relation to the quantification of their value and the number of users. The principle issue is the assumption that the value grows to infinity with the number of users, but this is not a true feature of networks.
In this excerpt, Naval Ravikant discusses the topic of network effects and how they can create a competitive advantage for businesses. He also shares his personal experience with building a social network in his Maine vacation spot.
The guest talks about his experience with sailing and how it helps him reset, and then he discusses how he deals with feeling overwhelmed and scattered, which often occurs from over-committing. He also mentions his favorite book, "Atlas Shrugged."
Breaking a to-do list into urgent, important, and forgettable tasks and prioritizing based on personal values and priorities can greatly increase productivity and efficiency.
In this snippet, the speaker talks about submitting his thesis and getting nine job offers while on a job tour due to the networking field being hot at the time, which was facilitated by universities hoping to get grants from ARPA.
Bob Metcalfe, co-founder of 3Com, recalls a board meeting where he was asked to step down as CEO and pass the reigns to his colleague, Bill Krause, due to the lack of growth in revenue. Metcalfe was surprised but prepared for this moment and remained involved in the company as a board member.
Steve Blank talks about the importance of starting companies to solve human problems, as well as the concept that all large corporations were startups at one point in time.
Peloton is offering a special discount on accessories for podcast listeners. Bob Iger's Twitter account and other resources mentioned in the show can be found in the show notes on Tim Ferriss' website.
WeWork provides workspaces for entrepreneurs, freelancers, startups, and large enterprises, including more than 10 Fortune 500 companies. With over 200 locations worldwide, WeWork aims to create spaces where people can connect and develop community while also using space cost-effectively.