Heroes in Business - Martin Cooper, American Engineer, Inventor Father Of The Cell Phone, Author Cutting The Cord

Episode Date: July 12, 2021

Where that thing in your pocket came from. Martin Cooper, American Engineer, Inventor Father Of The Cell Phone, Author Cutting The Cord (Amazon and other online retailers) is interviewed by David Cogan founder of Eliances and host of the Eliances Heroes show broadcast on am and fm network channels, internet radio, and online syndication. www.eliances.com

Up in the sky, look, it's captivating, it's energizing, it's Eliance's Heroes. Eliance's is the destination for entrepreneurs, investors, CEOs, inventors, leaders, celebrities, and startups, where our heroes in business align. Now, here's your host flying in david cogan founder of alliances that's right and we have so many amazing things and people that are changing the world i recently just had on ed begley jr right he's the actor environmentalist and also too is thank you for the feedback we continue to have yeah that's right's right. When I interviewed the former CEO of Apple. So make sure that you go to alliances.com.

That's E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S.com. Because as you know, it is the only place where entrepreneurs align. All right. So let me talk to you about our next hero. You may not recognize his name offhand, but I can guarantee you, you'll definitely know what product he came out with because it changed the world. Literally changed the world. able to interview Martin Cooper think about that name for a minute American engineer he is the inventor known as the father of the cell phone in other words he was the one that created the first cell phone with Motorola not the second the first And let's get started here. Martin, how in the world can you create the first cell phone at Motorola?

How is that possible? Well, David, you have to be motivated to do something like that. And we at Motorola were motivated by the fact that we were in the two-way radio business. And we were providing two-way radio business and we were providing two-way radios in cars. So every police officer in their car had a two-way radio. And when we could put a radio in an officer's hand or a business person's hand, we discovered that they had a new freedom that they had never had before. That if you had resources moving around, you could be much more efficient if you could reach them by radio.

And then the bell system, you remember the bell system? Maybe you're too young, David. But the bell system was the monopoly that ran all telephones in the old days. If you wanted a telephone, you couldn't even buy it. You had to rent it.

And they announced that they were going to provide this kind of communications to everybody. And the way they were going to do it was with car telephones. Could you imagine? You know, we had been trapped in our homes and in our offices by that copper wire for 100 years. And now we're going to be trapped in our cars. We just didn't believe that. We thought that people needed the freedom to be able to communicate everywhere. And so we took the bell system on. We had a battle for 14 years between 1969 and 1983, and Motorola finally won that battle and the FCC, the Federal Communications Commission, who manages our radio spectrum,

they made a decision that, first of all, communications would be personal, portable, not car telephones, and that there would be competition. And that's where we are today. But, Martin, how did you... there would be competition. And that's where we are today. But, I mean, but Martin, like, how did you, how did you, I mean, where do you like even start taking something that's not ever been created before? How do you even, how does the idea, like,

you talked about a little bit about how the idea came to be, but then how do you take that from a two-way radio to doing cell? Well, my friends would tell me it was fear and greed. But what really happened was that we took this thing on because we thought the bell system was doing the wrong thing. And it turns out that they were winning. It looked like the FCC was about to make the wrong decision. And that is what really motivated us. The whole issue has to do with people.

This was a people's solution. We knew that it was the right thing to do. And we also knew that talking about something in a theoretical way doesn't mean a thing. You have to really demonstrate things clearly. And I put my marketing hat on and I concluded that the only way to do this was to actually put a headset in the hands of these decision makers, the congressmen, the FCC, and let them actually see what this freedom is, feel it. And that's what motivated us to build this thing. I made the decision in November of 1972. You were probably not born then,

David. And I had defined what the product was going to look like. And by March, in three months, we assembled a team of extraordinary engineers. And they actually built not only a working handheld portable, but also the system that made these portable work. It was a remarkable achievement. And if that wasn't enough, you also co-founded a number of wireless companies too. Well, you have to keep busy. So I was very fortunate to be at Motorola for 29 years. And that's what I did at Motorola. They let me be what you might call an entrepreneur. I started the radio paging business, which was a huge industry until the cell phone

put that industry out of business. And I started a number of other products as well. Well, I'm very fortunate too. You want to know why? Because I have the opportunity to be able to interview you. That's right. We have with us Martin Cooper, American engineer and inventor, as known as the father of the cell phone on the Alliance's Hero Show with me, the host, David Kogan. Make sure you go to alliances.com. That's E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S.com. Now you're the author of Cutting the Cord. Really? So talk to us about what that is.

Well, I wanted people to understand that this myth, that an invention is something that pops into your head and you make it. And it really, in my case, took my entire career. I was lucky enough to join Motorola in 1954. I started to work on very elementary wireless kinds of things. And over my career, just kept building up more and more understanding, more capability, more knowledge that what people care about is how their lives are changed, not about technology.

And so that's the first part of my book. I talk about how the cell phone was created, the battle with the bell system, which was a suspenseful situation by itself. And then I talk a lot about the future of the cell phone, about how the cell phone is even today eliminating poverty in many countries, how it's revolutionizing health care, how it's revolutionizing healthcare, how education is going to become an entirely different and much more effective process than it has been in the past.

So that's what cutting the cord does. What I like to characterize that as, the cell phone is transforming humanity. I mean, Marty, could you ever believe it? I mean, you're always reminded of it every time you use your cell phone is transforming humanity. I mean, Marty, could you ever believe it? I mean, you're always reminded of it every time you use your cell phone, like that this came from you, this evolved from something you created, and now everyone's got one. Do you ever, like, what goes through your mind? I mean, I would just be like, well, that's because of me. I mean, everybody who's walking's got one. Well, you have to know that I feel a sense of pride, but you should also know that i did not do this all by myself it took a lot

of wonderful people who believed in me there were a lot of people by the way who didn't believe and there's still people that don't believe that the that the cell phone has the power that it has but if you think about it and there are more cell phones in the power that it has. But if you think about it, there are more cell phones in the world today than there are people. Most of the people in the world have cell phones. And, David, it's only the beginning. We are about to see a revolution in so many different ways, and the result of which is that people are going to be better off than they

have ever been before in so many ways. You ever wonder if you were now starting your career and that with cell phones already being out, what would you create? What would you want to create now? And or maybe what do you see as being the next thing that could be created? or maybe what do you see as being the next thing that could be created? Well, let me tell you, we have never been in a situation where there was more opportunity than there is today because I'm really serious when I say that the cell phone has only begun when you look at what the problems we have in the world today. And I don't suggest that even though we're better off than we

ever have been before, that we're anywhere close to having solved all these problems. And I view all these problems as opportunities. And the opportunities to, as an example, eliminate disease, hundreds of businesses are going to be based upon the fact that a cell phone connects a person to anything, to another person, but also to a computer. And if you measure things on the human body, you can anticipate diseases and shut them off before they happen. That will engender hundreds of companies all by itself. I mentioned education, the whole concept of what a teacher is going to change. Teachers are going to have to relearn

and talk about new ways of educating people. The result of this is that people are going to be smarter. That may be a shocking thing to you to know that your children and the children of your colleagues are going to be smarter than you were, but that is a reality. And think of all the businesses that are going to be started because of that knowledge about the whole way that we're educating people. The whole idea of how people collaborate. You already know, David, that one person doesn't do anything. It takes a crowd, sometimes a crowd of two, but most often a lot more. And just think about when Marconi invented radio, when Einstein came up with the theory of relativity.

The way you collaborated is you wrote a letter to somebody. And a couple of weeks later, you got an answer back. And that process could take years in what takes minutes today. You send an email, you get a response immediately. You pick up the phone when you have an idea and exchange ideas with somebody else. That is such a powerful motivation to changing society. And I'm not embarrassed at all for being optimistic about where we're going today. Marty, I want to do a little looking around right now.

We're at your place right now. What is something that you value the most or something that's unique to you at your place where we're at? It's people like you, David. I hate to compliment you because I know what a swell town you already have. But the ability to meet with smart people, to exchange ideas, to be stimulated, to know that even at my advanced age, you've been nice enough not to talk about how old I am. And so I'm not going to do that. But the science is that your body may deteriorate with age, but your brain does not.

Your neurons do not deteriorate to any significant degree unless you really get sick. And there's no reason why somebody at an advanced age can't keep thinking. And the idea that I can have really smart people like you ask me intelligent questions and exchange ideas is the heart of what my life is today. Wonderful, wonderful. We have time for one more question, and that is the advice that you may have now for the young adults, young adults out there,

how they can go about making an impact like you have. Well, I just wrote a blog, which you can find at martycooper.com sometime in the near future. And to extend the comment I just made, you never stop learning. You can keep learning all your life. And the young people should know that when they get out of school, their education is just starting. They have to keep an open mind. You have to keep looking for new ideas to get excited about the process of learning.

Because that process never stops. You can keep learning until you die. And that learning gives you the power to create, the power to think, the power to do things. So the title of my thing is advice to students of all ages. Don't ever grow up. I love it. Don't ever grow up. That's right. Martin Cooper, will you help produce a product that changed and revolutionized the world

of how people communicate and led to the creation of the growth of new industry? You know what? That's a hero. Martin Cooper, American engineer. Make sure you get his book, Cutting the Cord, at your local bookstore or at Amazon. Cutting the Cord. This has been David Kogan with the Alliance's Hero Show.