Oral History of Ray Stata
1,614 views · Published 23 July 2018 · 2:20:38 · Indexed 27 October 2026
Channel: Computer History Museum · 2018 · Science & Technology
Interviewed by Gardner Hendrie, on 2015-11-16 in Norwood, MA X7680.2016 © Computer History Museum Ray Stata is an exceptionally successful entrepreneur and venture capitalist. He was born in Pennsylvania farm country and attended MIT. He earned a masters degree in Electrical engineering and went to work for Hewlett Packard. His early assignments at HP took him to California, but after about 18 months he moved back to Boston, continuing to work for HP. He decided to enter sales, as he felt that would provide valuable experience towards his ultimate goal of running his own company. His work at HP and previous co-op positions at MIT introduced him to the world of instrumentation. This experience taught him the central role that operational amplifiers (op amps) had in such products. A chance meeting with a former classmate led eventually to their starting a company together. In 1965, they founded a second company, Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI). Advanced engineering and careful listening to their customers to define new products allowed the company to grow rapidly. ADI went public in 1969, only 4 years after founding. Stata served as CEO from 1973 to 1996. He started his own venture capital firm, called Stata Venture Partners and has served on the board of a number of organizations, including as a Trustee of MIT. * Note: Transcripts represent what was said in the interview. However, to enhance meaning or add clarification, interviewees have the opportunity to modify this text afterwards. This may result in discrepancies between the transcript text and the video recording. Please see the transcript for further information: http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102738013 Visit computerhistory.org/collections/oralhistories/ for more information about the Computer History Museum's Oral History Collection. Catalog Number: 102738012 Lot Number: X7680.2016
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