Danny Ross was Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Timex Computer Corporation from March 1982 until January 22, 1984, when he resigned.
Timex recruited Ross to start its computer operation, the Timex Computer Corporation. Ross was responsible for the worldwide operations of the company.
In 1982, Ross negotiated the business deal with British inventor Clive Sinclair that led to Timex manufacturing and selling Sinclair’s computers. The Timex/Sinclair 1000 was the first computer to sell for under $100.
Under his direction, Timex captured a 28% share of the home computer market, developed three computer systems and more than 200 software titles.
As the public face of Timex, he providing quotes to the press, demonstrating the computer and introducing new products.
In 1983, Ross traveled to Guangzhou, China (formerly known as Canton), to negotiate the manufacture of the Timex/Sinclair 1000 and the sale of Timex Computer products in mainland China.
The trip did not produce the intended results. China was less interested in Timex computers: instead they inquired about gyroscopes Timex manufactured. At this point. Ross stopped the meetings and returned to the United States.
Biography
Ross’ entry to the computing industry began with IBM as a Data Processing Sales Representative. While at IBM, he was recruited to ITEL, a company started by Peter Redfield and Gary Friedman (IBM’s former San Francisco branch manager). At ITEL, Ross added finance to his resume and started a data service bureau company. This led to starting a finance company for Memorex and serving on the board of directors of the Memorex Finance Company.
In his early 40s, Timex recruited Ross from Memorex Finance, to start the Timex Computer Corporation.
After Timex, he formed a venture capital firm and was instrumental in starting more than 30 early stage high technology companies.
Later, he became an inventor, holding seven patents related to syndicating commerce on the Internet. In his late 60s, he helped start Dunwoody, Georgia, a new city of 50,000, where he was a founding member of the city council.
Ross has served on several non-profit boards, including the Jekyll Island Foundation and on the Economic Development Advisory Committee for the city of Dunwoody.
[su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBsxK2yLyGo” width=”560″ title=”Dan Ross Presents the Timex Sinclair 1500 and the 2068″]
