Sunburst: The Ascent of Sun Microsystems

In the volatile, high-stakes arena of the Silicon Valley computer industry, few corporate stars have consistently blazed as brightly as Sun Microsystems. Rising from start-up to present-day revenues of over $1 billion in just six years, Sun has not only survived the competitive and technological land mines that annihilate many a fledgling business; it has succeeded - and it has done so spectacularly. Sun Microsystems exploded into the computer business world with amazing speed and force in 1982. With an innovative new machine - a high-performance desktop computer capable of handling even complex scientific tasks - four men still in their twenties combined their marketing savvy, business drive, and engineering talent to create a company that within four years of its founding would ascend to the number one position in the workstation marketplace. Within six years, it would be recognized as an industry leader. Sun's unique marketing tactics and sheer business chutzpah have outraged most of its competitors - and resulted in an almost unprecedented rate of success for the upstart firm. In the history of high-tech business, only one other firm has exceeded Sun's growth in terms of speed and size. Where others imitate, though, Sun invents. While others jockey for a share of shelf space, Sun goes for a share of mind. In this high-voltage account, authors Mark Hall and John Barry tell the story of an amazing start-up success. The history of Sun Microsystems is, however, much more than an inside look at the exciting and perilous world of start-up technologies. It's an object lesson in how to build a major corporation able to compete with companies ten, twenty, even fifty times its size. It's an exploration of the innovative corporate cultural traits that have enabled Sun to beat out its competition, from fellow upstarts to the "big dogs" such as Hewlett-Packard and IBM - traits that may well represent a formula for what it takes to be successful in today's world.