The Cowper Street epicenter of tech power-dining, where Doug Ayer's ultimatum met 'I decline your offer'
This is Jonathan Hare's account, with its provenance shown. The person or organization named has not yet claimed or corrected it.
Il Fornaio at the Garden Court on Cowper Street in downtown Palo Alto was the epicenter of tech power-dining and one of Steve Jobs's go-to spots — and in this record it is where Doug Ayer delivered the ultimatum (operational control for Louis Woodhill, or the financing walks) and received the shortest negotiation on file: Okay, well, thank you very much. I decline your offer, so we're going to move forward without you. The walkout, the forty-minute drive, and what was said at Steiner Street are in the episode.
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Open →the drive home toThe unpaid eight-person team, the overheard coup, and the room where 'cowboys again' was announced
Open →his tableHP as a teenager, Terman's Valley, an Oregon commune, India, Zen — the parallels the record can actually show; and the borrowed Ferrari, the Z8, and the woman who connects them
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