Herman Fialkov

Herman Fialkov was born in 1922 and grew up in Brooklyn, New York.  His father had emigrated from Russia to be a watchmaker but had lost sight in one eye, so the family lived on welfare during the Great Depression.  Herman’s mother had emigrated from what is now Romania to Canada, eventually meeting and marrying Herman’s father in New York City.  Always “a smart kid” who wanted to build a bridge across the Atlantic Ocean, Herman attended City College of New York, studying engineering.  He left college to take a job with Emerson Radio Corporation.  In 1942 he enlisted in the United States Army Signal Corps, but he was unable to obtain officer training there, so he transferred to the Aviation Cadet Program.  The Cadet Program suspended their officer training and assigned Herman to the infantry, just in time for the Battle of the Bulge.  When he was discharged in 1946 he went back to Emerson as a mechanical designer and to night school at New York University, where he took a degree in administrative engineering, the “administrative” part laying the foundation for his entrepreneurship.  While at Emerson he acquired the nickname “Hammering Herman” for his handy way with a hammer, and designed a television antenna for his first patent.  From there he went to Radio Receptor Corporation.  Seeing a market for transistors he founded General Transistor Corporation, whose first major customer was UNIVAC.  In 1960 General Transistor Corporation merged with General Instrument Corporation and began making integrated circuits.  Then Fialkov started a microelectronics division, which was eventually spun off into Microchip Technology, Inc.  He next ventured into cable television, convincing General Instrument to purchase Jerrold Electronics.  Jerrold, through several incarnations, has evolved into Comcast.

Fialkov invested in Arthur Rock’s venture capital firm, Rock and Davis, and became intrigued by venture capital.  He founded his own venture capital firm, Geiger and Fialkov, with Richard Geiger, and specialized in startup companies.  He ended that firm and set up Aleph Null and PolyVentures.  In the last fifty years his personal and venture capital investments have financed the startup or early development of many important companies, including Intel; Teledyne; Electroglas, Inc.; Standard Microsystems; General Signal; Globecomm Systems; and several Israeli companies.  He details the beginnings, the spin-offs, and the present statuses of these companies and the people involved.  He recently retired from eight companies and three philanthropies, retaining only his position on the board of InEnTec.  He is fascinated by InEnTec’s attempts to develop a process that turns municipal waste into energy and hazardous waste into building material.

Technology and electronics fields developed extremely rapidly, and Fialkov took more classes to learn about licensing and patents.  In the early days one obtained patents to exchange, later for revenue.  Fialkov describes the cyclical nature of business and the general economy, saying that recessions come and go and that an investor must be patient.  He explains that a successful venture capital firm can expect 30% failures, 30% average performers, 30% moneymakers, and 10% wild successes.  He attributes his choice of venture capital area to his love of technology, a “vibrant, changing technological environment.”

Fialkov talks throughout the interview about his method for choosing worthy companies; the importance of assessing the market and correctly evaluating the people involved; several people who inspired or impressed him; his grandsons’ entry into venture capital, one with startups and the other with developed companies.  He loved his work, saying he could have retired at forty but did not want to give up the “fun” he was having.  Though he now lives in Florida, he says he never changed his domicile for a job.  He has been lucky, he claims, and he is glad to be able to continue to engage in several philanthropic endeavors.  He loves his family and is proud that his grandsons have followed him into venture capital.  His contributions have been honored many times.  He never did build a physical bridge across the Atlantic Ocean, but he knows that he certainly built a bridge with his support of communications and technology.

1942	Studies in Mechanical Engineering City College of New York
1943	Power Equipment Maintenance Signal Corps, U.S. Army
1943	Fundamentals of Radio Signal Corps, U.S. Army
1951	Bachelor of Administrative Engineering New York University
1952	Graduate studies in Mechanical Engineering New York University

Emerson Radio Corporation

1941 - 1942

Assistant Mechanical Engineer

Emerson Radio Corporation

1946 - 1947

Mechanical Engineer

Signal Corps and Infantry, U.S. Army

1942 - 1946

Service

Mutual Broadcasting System

1947 - 1949

Engineering Department

Radio Receptor

1949 - 1951

Mechanical Designer

Radio Receptor

1951 - 1954

Chief Mechanical Designer

General Transistor Corporation

1954 - 1960

Co-founder and President

General Instruments Corporation

1960 - 1967

Group Vice President

General Instruments Corporation

1967 - 1968

Senior Vice President of Development

Geiger & Fialkov Fund

1968 - 1977

Partner

Aleph Null Fund

1978 - 1987

Partner

Poly Ventures

1987 - 1997

Partner

Newlight Associates

1997 - 2004

Partner

1945	Bronze Star and two Oak Leaf Clusters, U.S. Army
1947	Conspicuous Service Cross, State of New York
1968	Leadership Award, United Jewish Appeal
1978	Israeli Leadership Award, State of Israel Bonds
1980	Fellow, Polytechnic Institute of New York
1987	Special Recognition Award, National Engineer Week
1988	Builder of Technion,  American Society for Technion
1988	Long Island Distinguished Leadership Award
1990	Tech Island Award, Long Island Forum for Technology
1993	Presidential Medal, Polytechnic University
1996	Distinguished Alumni Citation, Polytechnic University
1999	Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Lifetime Achievement as a supporter of entrepreneurship
1999	Outstanding Mechanical Engineering Alumnus of the Century,   Polytechnic University
2000	Alex Grunwald Award for Enhancing Long Island’s Technology, IEEE Long Island Section
2001	Long Island Software Award

David C. Brock

David C. Brock is a senior research fellow with the Center for Contemporary History and Policy at the Chemical Heritage Foundation. As a historian of science and technology, he specializes in the history of semiconductor science, technology, and industry; the history of instrumentation; and oral history. Brock has studied the philosophy, sociology, and history of science at Brown University, the University of Edinburgh, and Princeton University.

In the policy arena Brock recently published Patterning the World: The Rise of Chemically Amplified Photoresists, a white-paper case study for the Center’s Studies in Materials Innovation. With Hyungsub Choi he is preparing an analysis of semiconductor technology roadmapping, having presented preliminary results at the 2009 meeting of the Industry Studies Association.

Richard Ulrych

Richard Ulrych is the director of institutional grants and strategic projects at the Chemical Heritage Foundation.