Yet the two countries’ semiconductor systems couldn’t have been more different. Whereas Silicon Valley’s startup founders job-hopped and gained practical “on the factory floor” experience, Shokin called the shots from his ministerial desk in Moscow. Yuri Osokin, meanwhile, lived in obscurity in Riga, highly respected by his colleagues but unable to speak about his invention with anyone who lacked a security clearance. Young Soviet students didn’t pursue electrical engineering degrees, wanting to be like Osokin, because no one knew that he existed. Career advancement required becoming a better
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