❝Story03:30
Jensen Huang's Letter and TSMC's First Call to Nvidia
In 1997, a young, nearly-bankrupt Nvidia sent TSMC founder Morris Chang a letter after being ignored by TSMC's San Jose office, kicking off a partnership that would become one of TSMC's largest.
- Nvidia was 4 years old with ~50-60 employees when it wrote to Chang directly
- TSMC was already a billion-dollar company but Chang insisted no future customer be ignored
- Chang called Jensen Huang without advance notice and visited Nvidia the next day
- Huang predicted the chip TSMC would fab would make Nvidia a major TSMC customer — it did
#Nvidia#TSMC history#customer relationships
❝Story09:30
The 40nm Yield Crisis Strains the Nvidia Relationship
A manufacturing and quality problem on TSMC's 40nm node in 2009 caused major delays and losses for top customers like Nvidia, ultimately prompting Chang to retake the CEO role.
- The prior CEO's quality team insisted TSMC wasn't at fault, so Nvidia was offered nothing
- Nvidia was one of the largest customers affected by the yield problem
- Chang retook the CEO position in 2009 partly to resolve this and other priority issues
“it was a you problem and everybody was suffering from it and of course Nvidia at that time was the perhaps the biggest customer of…”
#yield problems#Nvidia#crisis management
❝Story21:00
700 Layoffs Spark Protests at Chang's Home
When TSMC's prior CEO laid off 600-700 employees under the guise of performance management, protesters gathered outside Chang's home for months, escalating until he retook the CEO role.
- 50-60 police officers were dispatched to manage over 100 protesters at Chang's home
- Protesters later camped overnight in a nearby park
- Chang's wife brought them breakfast, and they called off a planned march on the presidential palace
“the laid-off employees as I said there were 700 of them six or 700 of them uh came to my home uh to demonstrate and…”
#layoffs#company culture#crisis
❝Story32:00
Pizza, Salad, and a $100M Handshake With Jensen
Chang resolved the long-running Nvidia dispute over a casual family dinner at Huang's home, delivering a nine-figure offer with a 48-hour deadline.
- Chang scheduled the offer discussion for after a normal pizza-and-salad family dinner
- The offer was over $100 million with a strict 48-hour acceptance window
- Huang accepted within two days, and the partnership has generated many billions since
“I'm coming to Silicon Valley next week on this stage I will be at your home at 6:00 let's have just Salah and pizza”
#Nvidia#negotiation#customer relationships
❝Story1:06:30
A Mysterious Dinner Guest: Terry Gou Brings Apple's COO
TSMC's path to Apple began with an unannounced dinner visit from Chang's wife's cousin, Foxconn founder Terry Gou, who brought Apple COO Jeff Williams to pitch TSMC directly.
- Terry Gou is a second cousin of Chang's wife Sophie and was Foxconn's chairman
- Jeff Williams, Apple's COO (not just 'a vice president'), came to pitch wafer capacity
- Williams did roughly 80% of the talking and proposed an initial 40% gross margin, which Chang didn't answer that night
“uh uh Terry G called in the afternoon and said he was coming to dinner”
#Apple#Foxconn#Terry Gou#origin story
❝Story1:51:00
The Shock of Apple's First 16nm Order Going to Samsung
After investing tens of billions on the 20nm detour for Apple, Chang was blindsided to learn Apple placed its first 16nm orders with Samsung — until Jeff Williams personally reassured him TSMC would get the bulk of the business once ready.
- TSMC had converted most of its 20nm-related equipment expecting to carry Apple's 16nm volume too
- Samsung skipped 20nm and went straight to 16nm, undercutting TSMC's timing
- Jeff Williams flew to San Jose to reassure Chang, and TSMC ultimately won most of Apple's 16nm business
“I got a shock I mean it was a real shock when I heard that Apple had placed the first orders of 16 with Samson”
#Apple#Samsung#competition
❝Story1:59:00
Declining IBM and Watching UMC Regret Saying Yes
When IBM, losing Qualcomm's foundry business, asked TSMC to co-develop its next process node as a junior partner, Chang refused instantly — IBM went to rival UMC instead, who came to regret accepting the deal.
- Chang inferred IBM's semiconductor business was struggling once Qualcomm started shifting volume to TSMC
- IBM wanted TSMC engineers to work under IBM's process, risking TSMC's technological independence
- UMC accepted the co-development deal with IBM and reportedly regretted it seriously
“IBM in fact was uh quite uh Angry you know I mean they thought we we still a small Taiwan uh backward place”
“so they uh immediately went to uh uh UMC and UMC accepted them only to regret seriously their acceptance”
#IBM#UMC#Qualcomm#competitive intelligence
❝Story2:05:00
Bill Bain's 'World Imperative' and the Learning Curve's Origins
Chang recounts how BCG's Bruce Henderson and a young Bill Bain embedded at Texas Instruments to apply the experience curve to semiconductors — until Bain abruptly left to found his own firm, Bain & Company.
- Bill Bain worked out of an office next to Chang's at TI for roughly two years, refining learning curve applications together
- Bain reported back to Bruce Henderson weekly before eventually deciding to leave BCG
- Bain told Chang he was leaving to start his own firm because of a 'world imperative'
“you are the first one I tell this to outside the Boston Consulting Group I am leaving B concerning group to start my own consulting…”
“but there is the world imperative that's the first time I heard that term”
#learning curve#Bain & Company#BCG#Texas Instruments