On Jun 26, 2006, at 4:14 PM, Xiaofan Chen wrote:

>> Cisco's first CEO (the one you've never heard of) had
>> a PhD in Physics.  When we got venture funding, one of the
>> first things the VCs did was to fire him, since "Physicist"
>> were NOT the sort of image they wanted "company about to go
>> public" to project.
>>
>
> That is a bit odd. There are many CEOs with Engineering
> degree and start as an engineer. A physicist can be a good engineer.

It wasn't THAT odd.  A longer resume that included additional
startup management experience might have saved him in spite of
the PhD in physics.  The original CFO met a similar fate for
similar reasons.  I don't think anyone liked it much, but it
was understandable even in the trenches...

BillW
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