David Packard

Cofounder, Hp

Search every verified David Packard interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. David Packard, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard, discussed the company's origins and management philosophy in a 2020 documentary retrospective. He described starting the company with Bill Hewlett in a Palo Alto garage with about $500, and emphasized the "HP way" as a management approach where top management sets overall objectives and then allows employees to implement them. Packard noted that decisions should be made at the lowest possible level and that the company avoided arbitrary policies like time clocks, instead offering flexible hours and uniform profit sharing. In earlier appearances, Packard addressed broader economic and technological topics. At a 1995 luncheon honoring him, he spoke about the potential of the "information freeway" and his foundation's work with the Library of Congress on an American history program. In a 2014 interview, he discussed the growing interdependence of the world economy, citing his work on the United States-Japan advisory commission, and noted that Hewlett-Packard had no long-term debt and generated capital through employee stock purchases. He also credited Stanford professor Fred Terman with encouraging him and Hewlett to start their own enterprise, and described the company's early innovations, including quartz crystal frequency standards and a quartz thermometer.