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Silicon Valley's Legendary 'Coach' Bill Campbell Has Died (recode.net)

Posted by msmash on from the rip dept.

Kara Swisher, reporting for Recode: Bill Campbell, who garnered the name "The Coach" for the sage advice and counsel he gave numerous tech leaders from Apple's Steve Jobs to Google's Larry Page to Amazon's Jeff Bezos, has died. He was battling with cancer. News of his passing popped up on Facebook early this morning and many prominent tech players also confirmed the death to me, which came after a long battle with cancer. It is a big loss for Silicon Valley, given the impact a man who said he did not even know how to do HTML had by virtue of wisdom alone. But he was not without tech chops. Campbell ran companies like Intuit and worked in key jobs at Apple, Claris and Go, and also served on a plethora of boards, including Columbia University, Intuit and Apple. He has been a longtime adviser to Google execs including Page and Eric Schmidt -- and really just about every major tech executive you could think of at some point.VentureBeat interviewed Campbell in 2011, in which he shared coaching tips.

18 comments

  1. Conspiracy Theory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Guess who was really running Silicon Valley the entire time....

    1. Re:Conspiracy Theory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He was a coach in the same way Jerry Sandusky was a coach.

  2. Concoliere by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Every clan will send a representative to the funeral. There will be no shooting, but the FBI will note down the license plates.

  3. He's a famous consultant by NotDrWho · · Score: 2

    "People hire him all the time."

    "Why do they hire him?"

    "Because he's a famous consultant who people hire all the time"

    "Does he give good advice?"

    "Well, he's a famous consultant, so he must."

    --
    SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
    1. Re: He's a famous consultant by johnsmithperson123 · · Score: 1

      How did you hear about him? Oh, word of mouth or something. Wait a second. He's snuck over from marketing!!!!

    2. Re:He's a famous consultant by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's exactly how most people climb the corporate ladder. Not through hard work, dedication, loyalty, or even skill, but rather by managing their "persona". In the business world, perception trumps everything.

    3. Re:He's a famous consultant by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      Not through hard work, dedication, loyalty, or even skill, but rather by managing their "persona".

      If you want to have a successful tech career, you need to manage your persona. Hard work, dedication, loyalty and even skill can take you only so far.

      In the business world, perception trumps everything.

      This is one of the reasons why I don't get hired after an in-person interview. No one wants to hire a fat white boy. However, if I get hired over the phone and report to the office, the manager will often look at me, my resume and wonder if he made a mistake. It doesn't take long to prove that I can get the job done and my stellar resume is well-earned.

    4. Re:He's a famous consultant by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      If you want to have a successful tech career, you need to manage your persona. Hard work, dedication, loyalty and even skill can take you only so far.

      AMEN! Brother. Amen.

      In my travels I have met and worked with incredibly brilliant people and some there weren't so brilliant - although, smarter then me.

      The successful ones were the folks who could promote themselves.

      Merit isn't recognized unless advertised. -

  4. Good, I'm glad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

    Another racist, aging, white, cisgendered nazi has died. As a feminist and fighter for Social Justice world wide I rejoice in the death of white men and if you don't then you're a sick bigot. I'm ready for Hillary!

    1. Re: Good, I'm glad by Type44Q · · Score: 1

      Go find another hobby, dude.

    2. Re:Good, I'm glad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      0/10. Obvious troll is obvious

    3. Re: Good, I'm glad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hope you forgot your sarcasm mark.

  5. Bill Campbell was CEO at Go by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The story of Go, the first company that tried to introduced pen-based handhelds in the late 1980's, can be found in "Startup: A Silicon Valley Adventure" by Jerry Kaplan. A great book about a small company that got screwed over by "partners" Microsoft, Apple and IBM.

    1. Re:Bill Campbell was CEO at Go by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I read that book. Particularly vivid were the depictions of John Sculley and Bill Gates (along with his tagalong assistant Jeff Raikes), who basically stole GO's idea and made it seem like they were the visionary ones.

  6. karma's a bitch by Type44Q · · Score: 1

    for the sage advice and counsel he gave... Amazon's Jeff Bezos... has died

    I guess karma's a bitch. ;)

  7. HTML? by Darinbob · · Score: 1

    Seriously, saying "did not even know how to do HTML" is supposed to mean someone doesn't know technology? Using HTML is to technology like using a belt sander is to building a house. It's the lowest of low tech. Some of the best minds in science and technology don't know HTML.

  8. wage suppression by shiva · · Score: 0

    He did know how to coach companies on wage suppression.

  9. Columbia University football coach by methano · · Score: 2

    I could be wrong but I believe that Bill Campbell was called "Coach" because he used to be the coach of the football team at Columbia University. I don't think they won many games under Bill.

    I met Bill Campbell when I visited Apple around 1990 as a member of the Apple Pharmaceutical Advisory Council. He showed us all the cool stuff that Claris was up to and gave me a copy of Claris CAD. It was a neat visit for a bunch of chemistry nerds from out east.