"I'm just a pawn!" Unemployed from Texas Instruments at the age of 52, Morris Chang returned to Taiwan and established TSMC's e-commerce model in just 14 days

In the Texas Instruments office in 1972, Morris Chung-Mou Chang, then vice president, was reviewing the report on the table. He may not have expected at the time that a few years later, he would sadly leave the company that had served him for 25 years and had brought him to success.

Now, after an absence of 26 years, the founder of TSMC finally released his autobiography (volume 2) at the age of 93, fully revealing the most critical 54 years of his life for the first time.

After 20 years of smooth career, he encountered unemployment for the first time in his life at the age of 47.

Looking back on Morris Chang's road to fame, he studied at Harvard at the age of 18, transferred to MIT the following year, and received a master's degree in mechanical engineering at the age of only 22. The smooth academic experience allowed him to stand out at Texas Instruments, which also fully funded him to study for a PhD in electrical engineering at Stanford.

He was in the right boat when semiconductors were emerging. Texas Instruments gave him everything he needed and was optimistic about this future star.

From the age of 33 to 41, Morris Chang worked steadily, learning the marketing, marketing, accounting, finance, technology, etc. of running a business. He rose through the ranks to become the vice president of Texas Instruments Corporation and the general manager of the Global Semiconductor Group. But in the 1970s and 1980s, he disagreed with the business philosophy of the senior management. The senior management wanted to move to the consumer goods market instead of specializing in technology. He described the organization as if it were a multi-horse carriage. His years as general manager were full of hard work but also full of struggles. Morris Chang believes that Texas Instruments's advantage is semiconductor research and development, and it cannot win the existing market even if it reaches terminal sales.

What he got in exchange was to be frozen. Even when developing a new generation of 16k memory technology, the company organized a copycat competition without his knowledge. After copying, it notified Morris Chang and disbanded the original technology project. "(They) another Setting up a unit that doesn't report to me and isn't accountable to me to develop my important products is a clear expression of their contempt for me."

In 1978 (47 years old), he was still the general manager of the Semiconductor Group at Texas Instruments, and was asked by his boss to develop a product "home computer" that he was not optimistic about. At that time, home computers were too expensive and had simple functions, such as "simple accounting" , but the customer group who can afford it requires more than just "simple accounting" in financial planning. Seeing the uncertain future of this product,Morris Chang gritted his teeth and stayed in the new suburban base to develop the product.

After this incident, he was transferred to new business units one after another and was demoted four levels. Morris Chang said that "the debt is repaid and the fate is over" and decided to end the 25-year Deyi era. At the age of 52, he had the first time in his life. unemployment.

I returned to Taiwan confused in middle age. If I don't make it in the world, I will have no chance!

"To this day, I still can't forgive my unfilial piety that year." Morris Chang recalled in his autobiography that when his mother turned 70, he was still obsessed with saving the family computer project that was about to fail, and could only accommodate his visiting parents in a simple motel. This became his eternal regret, because his father suffered a stroke 2 years later.

That year, his parents living in New York visited him. Morris Chang simply put his parents in a motel and celebrated his birthday simply in a Chinese restaurant. Morris Chang recalled that even though he was fleeing in Hong Kong, his mother still had a birthday party when she was 40 years old. When his mother was 50 years old, he had already realized the "American dream" at Texas Instruments and took leave to return to New York to celebrate grandly and buy a mink coat; while his mother was 60 years old. At that time, they went to Miami for vacation together; but the 70-year-old mother saw her son on the "way down the mountain in Texas Instruments."

He described the last five or six years of his stay in Texas Instruments as the most desperate period, as he had to sacrifice his first marriage and time with his family.

In his later years at Texas Instruments, his career was on the decline. He once thought he had "nowhere to go." The industry considered his job title to be the pinnacle of the semiconductor industry. "I haven't received an invitation to poach from my peers for a long time. I never received an invitation from a venture capitalist who was still in my infancy at that time. It seemed like a big risk to resign first and then look for a job."

Grasp the pain points and plan TSMC's e-commerce model in 14 days

In 1983, after leaving Texas Instruments, Morris Chang accepted the invitation of Shu Shien-Siu, then chairman of the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), and returned to Taiwan to serve as the president of the ITRI. "At the age of 54, I will never make a breakthrough in the world again."

When he first took office, he keenly observed the disconnect between ITRI and enterprises. That is to say, academic research results cannot be used by enterprises, so we hope to receive private research projects and financial aid, and create spin-off companies under the leadership of some ITRI personnel. TSMC is one of them. The first task of taking office is to respond to the investment requirements for wafer fabs from IC design companies, namely Guo Shan Electronics, Mosel Vitelic, and Synchronous Communication. However, the construction of wafer fabs is expensive and it is difficult for the government to allocate funds. We cannot let the industry think that it does not support IC development.

He grasped this pain point and in just 14 days, he completely planned TSMC's business model: focusing on the foundry production model and not competing with customers. He described that period as "the two weeks with the highest innovative value in his life."

At that time, Morris Chang recalled that when he first became the president of Industrial Technology Research Institute, he wanted to do something. "But three years later, I found that I had only accomplished one big thing, the establishment of TSMC."

At the age of 57, Morris Chang resigned as dean of ITRI to focus on TSMC's business.

From 1983 to 1988, Morris Chang experienced the most turbulent five years in his life. From senior executives of Texas Instruments, general managers of General Instrument to presidents of Industrial Research Institute, a series of resignations made this "outstanding talent" feel unprecedented setbacks in middle age, but he still carried forward the burden.

"I am a 'pawn across the river,'" Morris Chang described in his autobiography his decision to move from the top of a large American company to Taiwan. Although there was no way out, this decision enabled him to break away from the business model of relying on others and achieve a lifelong hegemony.

Morris Chang described the age of 60 to 85 as his "golden age". Relying on the setbacks and lessons learned at Texas Instruments and years of accumulated experience, he established a unique corporate culture for TSMC: "leading technology, superior manufacturing, and customer trust." This commitment is not easy, but the business philosophy of "a promise of a thousand dollars" is not only written into TSMC's small handbook, but has also laid the foundation for this company to be a world-class enterprise from Day 1.