The Forgotten Story of Fairchild Semiconductor

This episode of Tech History with Fexingo digs into the origin of Fairchild Semiconductor, the company that launched Silicon Valley. Lucas and Luna trace how eight engineers left Shockley Semiconductor in 1957 to start Fairchild, creating the first commercially viable integrated circuit and birthing a culture of spin-offs that led to Intel, AMD, and dozens more. They focus on the 'Traitorous Eight' and the pivotal moment when Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore decided to leave Shockley, the role of venture capital pioneer Arthur Rock, and how Fairchild's planar process made silicon chips scalable. Specific numbers: the eight founders each invested $500, Fairchild's first year revenue hit $1.3 million by 1960, and the company grew to 12,000 employees by 1967. The hosts also discuss why Fairchild itself faded while its offspring thrived. No prior episode covered Fairchild directly — this is the prequel to the microprocessor story. #FairchildSemiconductor #TraitorousEight #RobertNoyce #GordonMoore #ArthurRock #SiliconValley #IntegratedCircuit #PlanarProcess #ShockleySemiconductor #JeanHoerni #JayLast #Intel #AMD #VentureCapital #TechHistory #BusinessHistory #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo