Proving Ground: A Memoir

Proving Ground traces David Tarver's journey from ambitious youth to determined entrepreneur to “free man.” It began in Flint, Michigan, where David wondered why his father, an accomplished radio/TV/electronics technician, exercised his passion only in the basement of their home. Inspired by his father and by the civil rights movement, David resolved to start a company that made “electronic stuff.” He wanted to prove that, given the opportunities his father had lacked, he could take charge of his career and his life. After college at General Motors Institute and the University of Michigan, David began his professional career at AT&T Bell Laboratories. After seven years at Bell, he decided to leave to pursue his childhood dream. Overcoming the bigotry that pervaded the electronics industry at the time, David succeeded in creating a company that made “electronic stuff”—in the basement of his home.