Mannerisms

“After World War two I had a job with RCA. I was managing the solid state division”, said Vonderschmitt, “RCA had a policy of licensing all their technology. The CEO was David Sarnoff, an outstanding executive who drove RCA to the top by adopting the colour TV standards which are still used in the US today.

“That was one of the reasons why RCA won the battle in colour television because they were willing to license their technology to any manufacturer qualified to take it over. That ensured that standards were established, and that prices were acceptable and reasonable.”

“Not only did you have to sell the colour TV at a reasonable price, you had to have outstanding quality”, recalled Vonderschmitt, “Sarnoff pushed the people who built the transmitters to make sure they were technically outstanding and sufficiently inexpensive. Unless you can get something working at a cheaper price it won't happen. You have to make sure the fundamentals are good enough. We sold components to competitors at very reasonable prices in order to get them into the business.”

“It took us three years to get colour TVs launched and, for those three years, we'd sell it with no gross margin percentage, and then we’d have to work to get it inexpensive enough to be able to make money.”

“David Sarnoff recognised that more than anyone else I've ever met”, remembered Vonderschmitt, “he was absolutely, without any question, the greatest a businessman I ever saw in the industry. He was not formally educated, but he was smart and had good business instincts.”

“After living through the colour TV experience I appreciate the necessity of having something which works, which is cost effective, and has good economics”, concluded Vonderschmitt, “any guy can work through something and make it work, but it has to be cost effective.”