Lore Harp McGovern built a microcomputer empire from her suburban home

It’s not just that she overcame odds as a woman in the tech business that amazes, but that she was so clearly someone who cared about people, and chose to risk her business and reputation more than once to stay true to her values. That’s perhaps even more rare in this industry than being a successful female CEO.

Something I didn't have space to mention in the piece was that during the recession of the early eighties, Vector went out of their way to support their dealer network.

They offered loans and let dealers delay payments on deliveries to get them through the tough times.

It arguably cost them ground against IBM because it squeezed them further financially. But it was also another reason the Dealer network remained fiercely loyal to Vector - especially under Harp.