CHAPTER 32Ron GrunerCofounder, Alliant ComputerSystems; Founder, Shareholder.com
In 1982, Ron Gruner, Craig Mundie, and Rich McAndrew founded Alliant Computer Systems to build parallel supercomputers. Their goal was to build a machine that used multiprocessing to achieve better performance than the fastest single-CPU machines, but in a way that was transparent to developers.
In 1985, after 3 years of work, they'd done it, and for the next several years Alliant was one of the leading players in the turbulent parallel computer industry. But the company lost its way; Gruner left in 1991 after disagreement about the company's direction; and a year later Alliant filed for bankruptcy.
Looking for something to do next, Gruner started a new company ...
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