Derek Lidow

Derek Lidow is a professor of practice at Princeton University,{{Cite web |title=Derek Lidow {{!}} Keller Center at Princeton University |url=https://kellercenter.princeton.edu/people/derek-lidow |access-date=2022-08-06 |website=kellercenter.princeton.edu |language=en}} author, speaker, entrepreneur, former CEO and founder of {{proper name|iSuppli}}, and former CEO of International Rectifier. Lidow is author of three books: Startup Leadership: How Savvy Entrepreneurs Turn Their Ideas Into Successful Enterprises (2014, Wiley),{{cite web|url=http://www.onenewspage.us/n/Press+Releases/750cn5url/Jossey-Bass-Releases-Startup-Leadership-How-Savvy-Entrepreneurs.htm |title=Jossey-Bass Releases Startup Leadership: How Savvy Entrepreneurs Turn Their Ideas Into Successful Enterprises |publisher=One News Page [US] |date=2014-03-11 |accessdate=2014-03-19}} What Sam Walton, Walt Disney, and Other Great Self-Made Entrepreneurs Can Teach Us About Building Valuable Companies (2018, Diversion), and THE ENTREPRENEURS: The Relentless Quest for Value (2022, Columbia University Press).{{Cite book |last=Lidow |first=Derek |url=https://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-entrepreneurs/9780231199148 |title=The Entrepreneurs: The Relentless Quest for Value |date=September 2022 |publisher=Columbia Business School Publishing |isbn=978-0-231-55296-7}} He is also a media commentator; Lidow's coverage to date includes The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, Forbes, Bloomberg, The Economist, Nikkei, Reuters, and Taipei Times as well as many top bloggers.

Lidow's book, articles and speeches cover topics on innovation, entrepreneurship, startups, leadership and creativity. He joined Princeton university's Keller Center as the James Wei Visiting Professor in Entrepreneurship for the academic year 2011–2012. At Princeton he has created three novel classes: "Entrepreneurial Leadership," "Creativity, Innovation, and Design" and "The History of Entrepreneurship".

Early years

Lidow holds degrees from Princeton and Stanford. He received his BSE summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1973, and a PhD in applied physics as a Hertz Foundation Fellow at Stanford University in 1976.{{cite web |url=https://www.princeton.edu/engineering/eqnews/winter02-03/feature1.html |title=The E-Quad News, Princeton University |publisher=Princeton.edu |date= |accessdate=2014-03-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151212154437/http://www.princeton.edu/engineering/eqnews/winter02-03/feature1.html |archive-date=2015-12-12 |url-status=dead }} Lidow's PhD thesis identified a new type of atomic interaction in the presence of intense beams of light.{{Cite journal |last1=Lidow |first1=D. B. |last2=Falcone |first2=R. W. |last3=Young |first3=J. F. |last4=Harris |first4=S. E. |date=1976-03-01 |title=Inelastic Collision Induced by Intense Optical Radiation |url=https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.36.462 |journal=Physical Review Letters |volume=36 |issue=9 |pages=462–464 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.36.462|url-access=subscription }}

In 1977 Lidow began a 22-year career at International Rectifier, founded by his grandfather and his father Eric Lidow (CEO at the time) in 1947, as a Production Engineer. He then served as Vice President of Operations, and was promoted in 1985 to Executive Vice President for Marketing and Administration.

Lidow became President of International Rectifier's Power Products Division in 1989, and was elected to the board of directors in 1994. In March 1995, Mr. Lidow replaced his father as the chief executive officer, serving alongside his brother Alex Lidow who remained CEO until 2007.

Career

After leaving International Rectifier, Lidow founded {{proper name|iSuppli}}{{cite web|author=Derek Lidow |url=http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=559318&privcapId=110985 |title=Derek Lidow: Executive Profile & Biography - Businessweek |publisher=Investing.businessweek.com |date= |accessdate=2014-03-19}} in 1999,{{cite web|url=http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=110985 |title=iSuppli Corporation: Private Company Information - Businessweek |publisher=Investing.businessweek.com |date=2010-11-18 |accessdate=2014-03-19}} a market research firm sold to global information company IHS in 2010 for $95 million.{{cite web|url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20101119006202/en/IHS-Closes-Acquisition-iSuppli-Corporation#.UyOnJFFdXZ5 |title=IHS Closes Acquisition of iSuppli Corporation |publisher=Business Wire |date=2010-11-19 |accessdate=2014-03-19}}{{cite web|url=http://www.mrweb.com/drno/news12602.htm |title=Daily Research News Online no. 12602 - IHS Acquires iSuppli in '$95m Deal' |publisher=Mrweb.com |date=2010-11-02 |accessdate=2014-03-19}} Lidow was also a member of the board of directors for United Silicon Carbide Inc.,{{cite web|url=http://www.unitedsic.com/about_board.shtml |title=USCi - About Us - Board of Directors |publisher=Unitedsic.com |date= |accessdate=2014-03-19}} a technology company.{{cite web|url=http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=366248 |title=USCI, Inc.: Private Company Information - Businessweek |publisher=Investing.businessweek.com |date= |accessdate=2014-03-19}}

Lidow is widely cited as an expert on the electronics industry.{{cite web|last=Crothers |first=Brooke |url=http://news.cnet.com/8300-5_3-0-6.html?categoryId=9864533 |title=Nvidia posts on CNET - Page 7 |publisher=News.cnet.com |date= |accessdate=2014-03-19}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ateforum.com/news/index.php/the-news/126-chip-industry-profits-shrink |title=Chip industry profits shrink |publisher=Ateforum.com |date=2008-10-20 |accessdate=2014-03-19}}{{cite web|url=http://www.economist.com/node/15330744 |title=The business of dissecting electronics: The lowdown on teardowns |publisher=The Economist |date=2010-01-21 |accessdate=2014-03-19}}{{cite web|url=http://senatus.net/article/apples-aesthetic-influencing-future-electronics-design/ |title=Apple's aesthetic is influencing the future of electronics design |publisher=Senatus |date= |accessdate=2014-03-19}}{{cite web|url=http://us.aving.net/news/view.php?articleId=17615 |title=Discussion with Derek Lidow, CEO, iSuppli AVING USA |publisher=Us.aving.net |date=2006-05-29 |accessdate=2014-03-19}} His contributions range from multiple technology patents {{cite web|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US4228806 |title=Patent US4228806 - Sleep state inhibited wake-up alarm - Google Patents |date=1972-05-03 |access-date=2014-03-19}} to supply chain applications {{cite web|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US7003474 |title=Patent US7003474 - Supply chain architecture - Google Patents |date= |access-date=2014-03-19}} used by companies like Sony, Samsung, Philips, Goldman Sachs and IBM.

Today, Lidow is a professor of practice at Princeton, where he teaches and publishes on leadership,{{Cite web |title=Forbes Search |url=https://www.forbes.com/search/ |access-date=2022-08-06 |website=Forbes |language=en}} innovation, entrepreneurship, and the history of entrepreneurship.{{Cite journal |last=Lidow |first=Derek Balfour |date=2022-01-01 |title=The prehistoric entrepreneur: rethinking the definition |url=https://doi.org/10.1108/JMH-11-2021-0058 |journal=Journal of Management History |volume=28 |issue=4 |pages=458–475 |doi=10.1108/JMH-11-2021-0058 |s2cid=249828593 |issn=1751-1348|url-access=subscription }}

= Author =

Lidow is author of the book Startup Leadership: How Savvy Entrepreneurs Turn Their Ideas Into Successful Enterprises.{{cite web|url=http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1118697057.html |title=Startup Leadership: How Savvy Entrepreneurs Turn Their Ideas Into Successful Enterprises - Derek Lidow |publisher=Wiley |date=2014-02-18 |accessdate=2014-03-19}}

In addition, his writing has been published in numerous blogs and publications, both online and off.{{cite web|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/accelerators/2014/03/03/derek-lidow-real-innovation-comes-from-projects/ |title=Derek Lidow: Real Innovation Comes from Projects - The Accelerators - WSJ |publisher=Blogs.wsj.com |date=2014-03-03 |accessdate=2014-03-19}}{{cite web|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/accelerators/2014/02/10/derek-lidow-debunking-the-myth-of-the-lone-visionary-designer/ |title=Derek Lidow: Debunking the Myth of The Lone, Visionary Designer - The Accelerators - WSJ |publisher=Blogs.wsj.com |date=2014-02-10 |accessdate=2014-03-19}} He is also author of Building on Bedrock: What Sam Walton, Walt Disney, and Other Great Self-Made Entrepreneurs Can Teach Us About Building Valuable Companies. {{Cite book|title=Building on Bedrock: What Sam Walton, Walt Disney, and Other Great Self-Made Entrepreneurs Can Teach Us About Building Valuable Companies|last=Lidow|first=Derek|date=2018-01-23|publisher=Diversion Publishing|isbn=9781635761764|language=English}} His most recent book is THE ENTREPRENEURS: The Relentless Quest for Value (2022, Columbia University Press).

= Scholar =

Lidow has extensively researched the emergence of entrepreneurial behavior is various cultures around the world. His article, Prehistoric entrepreneurs: rethinking the definition, and book, THE ENTREPRENEURS, trace entrepreneurial behavior back to hunter-gatherers groups living 9,000 years ago. The emergence of entrepreneurs before any social or political hierarchies has forced a reexamination of what is an entrepreneur and what part they played in shaping the societies of the world.

= Boards =

  • Board of Directors of {{proper name|iSuppli}} Corporation, 1999 – 2011
  • Board of Directors of International Rectifier Corporation (NYSE: IRF), circa 1991 – 2000{{cite web|url=http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1187960 |title=Derek Lidow leaving International Rectifier |publisher=EE Times |date= |accessdate=2014-03-19}}{{cite web|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/International+Rectifier+Announces+Change+to+Single+CEO.-a054596783 |title=International Rectifier Announces Change to Single CEO. - Free Online Library |publisher=Thefreelibrary.com |date=1999-05-10 |accessdate=2014-03-19}}
  • Board of Trustees of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, circa 1994 – 1999 {{citation needed|date=April 2014}}
  • Princeton University Department of Electrical Engineering Advisory Council, circa 1975 – circa 1996
  • Princeton University School of Engineering and Applied Science Leadership Council, circa 1997 – 2011{{cite web|url=http://kellercenter.princeton.edu/elab/2012-advisors/ |title=2012 Advisors | eLAB |publisher=Kellercenter.princeton.edu |date=2005-10-01 |accessdate=2014-03-19}}
  • United Silicon Carbide, 2012–2021

= Awards =

  • Hertz Fellow, 1973-1976
  • Computerworld Smithsonian Finalist, 1994

References