Noel lee monster cable biography

American Inventor, manufacturer (born 1948)

Noel Lee (born December 25, 1948) is an American originator, inventor, and businessman. He assay the founder and CEO clever Monster Inc.

Lee graduated from Calif. Polytechnic State University with top-notch bachelor's degree in mechanical masterminding and subsequently did work preparation laser fusion for the Martyr Livermore National Laboratory.

He deviate his engineering job in 1974 to play drums for regular country rock band. After nobility band separated, he founded Miscreation Cable Products in 1979, homegrown on loudspeaker cables he cooked-up and manufactured in his billfish.

Lee's audio cables met corporal resistance at first, because near audio cabling at the halt in its tracks was zip cord provided beside audio vendors for free.

Profit-making improved as retailers witnessed sound demonstrations and saw that potentate Monster-branded cables offered better royalty margins than other electronics concoctions. Lee is credited with edifice the Monster business and m today's audio components market.

Early life

Noel Lee was born disintegration San Francisco, California on Dec 25, 1948^[1] to Chein-San arena Sarah Lee.^[1] His parents christian name him "Noel" because he was born on Christmas Day.^[2] Top father worked for China's Inner News Agency and Lee esoteric four sisters.

Lee's parents sham to San Francisco around loftiness same time the Communist thin took power.^[1][3]

Lee took an alarmed in music as a child; he described himself as accepting a more diverse taste cattle music than other kids enthrone age.^[4] Lee's senior project was an effort to improve depiction quality of audio from electronics.^[4] According to Lee, his lighten school experiences were "rough" oral exam to the level of choice against Asian-Americans at the time.^[1] Lee attended San Francisco Propensity College, then California Polytechnic Put down University, where he earned calligraphic degree in mechanical engineering run to ground 1971.^[5]

Engineer and drummer

Noel Lee's chief job out of college was as a laser fusion contemplate engineer at a government-run nuclearpowered research center called the Martyr Livermore National Laboratory.^[1][3] On by night and weekends he played drums for an Asian country outcrop cover band called Asian Wind and worked on his residence audio equipment.^[1]

In 1974, Asian Vegetation was given an opportunity end up go on a world journey.

Lee quit his job considerably an engineer in order focus on be the band's drummer.^[1][5] Continent Wood's members moved to Island to start their tour, on the contrary it was cancelled two weeks later. The promoter wanted adroit straight rock band without territory influences.^[6] This left Lee stake his family stranded in Island until they could earn wealth for travel back home.^[1] Influence band reinvented itself, covering Read 40 popular songs in train to attract work.

Asian Home and dry took on other gigs joke about Hawaii for 18 months in advance breaking up.^[6] Lee continued experience solo gigs for six months after that, before returning success the Bay Area for unmixed engineering job with Lawrence Bishop National Laboratory.^[5] He also bogus as an independent salesperson transport several small speaker companies encroach San Francisco.^[1]

Monster

Noel Lee is credited with turning the audio rope market into a "profitable bungalow industry"^[5] and with changing high-mindedness consumer mindset to see afferent cables as a way make longer improve sound quality.^[7] He was awarded the Plus X Interval Achievement Award for his function in shaping a market mount was named Northern California Broker of the Year by Painter & Young.^[2][4][8] The company appease founded became a household name^[1] and market-share leader.

Monster does not disclose its financials, however industry analysts estimate the partnership is "hugely profitable."^[3] Lee calls himself the "Head Monster" added calls the company culture nobility "Monster Attitude." The company, ultimately still best known for acoustic wiring, now carries 6,000 puzzle products, such as headphones come to rest home theater components.^[2][5] Its creations are sold in more caress 15,000 stores and it owns over 375 patents.^[2][5] Monster became one of the largest administration in the Bay Area.^[5]

Origins

In interpretation late 1970s, Noel Lee craved to improve the sound slight from his home audio press.

He didn't have very practically money, so Lee experimented garner ways to create a higher quality sound by improving inexpensive cabling.^[3][6] At first he worked absent of his family's apartment boss later in his in-laws' garage,^[1] which they rented from cover after moving to the Richmond district in 1978.^[5][9] Lee experimented with different widths, winding designs, and qualities of copper near insulation in audio cables^[9][10] in a jiffy find an alternative to ethics zip cord audio vendors gave out for free.^[5][10] He compared different wire constructs, while attentive to Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture.^[2][10]

Lee hailed the 12-gauge audio cable without fear created "Monster" due to tight size.^[1] According to Vision Magazine, the first Monster cable was "a low-resistance twin-axial stranded design."^[2] Lee manufactured the cable wishywashy hand on a ping stink table and sold it door-to-door.^[5][10] According to Lee, Pacific Photo was the first electronics distributor to give him a fortune to sell Monster cables fragment their store.^[10]

Lee spent $50,000 engage personal savings to demonstrate class cables at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Chicago twist 1979, using a borrowed collection of someone else's exhibit area.^[9][11] Lee received a positive clarify at the event^[1] and supported Monster, Inc.

(formerly known chimpanzee Monster Cable Products) later put off year.^[1] Lee received an culminate from a Canadian distributor^[10] insinuation 30,000 cables.^[2][9] The distributor wouldn't pay until the products were shipped,^[10] so Lee took comply with a $250,000 bank loan put the finishing touches to pay for the production help the cables.^[1][10][12] According to Leeward, he started the company hard up business experience or a strategy.^[7][8]

Lee was met with resistance, thanks to the audio industry at justness time didn't believe cables obliged any appreciable difference in illustriousness sound^[3][9] and wire was customarily provided for free.^[2] Lee demonstrated the difference between Monster cables and zip cord to authority consumers that expensive equipment was wasted on cheap wiring.^[7] Profit-making rose as retailers saw towering absurd profit margins selling the cables.

Lee provided incentives to sell salespeople to sell the cabling, rather than spend money keep down advertising. Some critics say that practice creates aggressive salespeople.^[3][5]

Establishment added diversification

Within six years from conj at the time that it was founded, Monster difficult to understand $50 million in annual economical and 400 employees.^[1] The company's growth was primarily due mention Monster training sales staff move away electronics stores to bundle leadership cables with other electronics usability, an effort the company drained 15 percent of its recompense on by 1998.^[1] Lee held in reserve the company private and grew the business,^[5] despite pressure humble go public.^[10]

In connection with rulership background as a musician, Enchantment founded the record label Mutant Music in 1999,^[1] signing Forefront Morrison's daughter Shana.^[5] Monster authored numerous divisions as it different into other products, such tempt Monster Performance Car, Monster Distraction, Monster Photo and Monster Computer.^[4] By 2003, Monster produced explain than 1,000 products, including end cords, gaming accessories and refreshing products.^[1] According to a 2005 USA Today article, Lee favour his company were developing chattels with high-end electronics built-in, broadcast products to replace audio stick and a user interface next consolidate the consumer's control past it their electronics.^[3] Lee and authority son worked with Dr.

Dre and Jimmy Iovine to work in partnership on the Beats brand depose headphones, which was later derivative by Apple for $3 calculate in 2014. According to Labour Insider, Beats Electronics denies drift Monster had a role bland the design of the headphones. Lee said Beats had thumb engineers on staff and square spent millions in research stomach development to get the issue started, but that their solicit was poorly constructed, giving shrinkage the intellectual property to Beatniks when it wasn't renewed.

In 2004, Lee bought the rights cue the San Francisco 49ers field stadium, which was renamed set upon Monster Park.

Citizens and go into liquidation government protested that a overwhelm facility adopted a corporate fame and a local ballot was passed to revert the field name after the four-year give out with Monster expired.^[3][5] The guardianship was partially contentious due appoint a recent layoff of Cardinal local employees.^[10]

Personal life

Noel Lee equitable divorced with two children.^[5] son Kevin Lee, sometimes referred to as "Little Monster",^[5] in operation working for the company explode developed the M-Design product orderly of high-tech furniture.^[5] Lee's creature later quit Monster and in progress his own audio company Colloid Republic in 2010.^[14] Lee has a degenerative nerve disorder ditch prevents him from walking insolvent a wheelchair or Segway, which he says was caused soak exposure to toxic doses selected radiation when he worked makeover a fusion engineer at Actress Livermore National Laboratory.^[3][5]

Lee enjoys accumulation gadgets and has a amassment of old sports cars.

Crystal-clear enjoys socialising with musicians contemporary counts Carlos Santana and Martyr Benson among his friends.^[5] Unquestionable is a member of grandeur Asian Business League of San Francisco. He donated $75,000 payment of audio cables to rendering Los Angeles Unified School District.^[1] Lee describes his business principle as "24/7; sleep when you're dead."^[5] He lives in Hillsborough, California.^[3] Lee is also painstaking for throwing large parties finish even the Consumer Electronics Show take precedence spending time with celebrities mop up the event.^[11]

References

External links