The ARRIS Story: Taking Flight

Back in the fall of 2019, a friend from the cable industry approached me with a very big writing project. The mission? Helping two executives tell the story of their company. The friend was Lela Corcoros; the two execs were Bob Stanzione and Dave Potts; and the company was ARRIS.

Fast forward to today. Finally, the book is out. Across 18 chapters, we recount the fascinating history of ARRIS, from its origin as a joint venture between Nortel and ANTEC in 1995 to its eventual sale to CommScope in 2019. Many years, but the story moves quickly, with plenty of illustrations. Told from the perspective of President and CEO Stanzione and CFO Potts, it has additional input from more than a dozen members of the company’s leadership team. As a result, it conveys a lot of perspective.

Happy Birthday, ARRIS Book

Writing a book is like giving birth, others have told me. But if so, this wasn’t a human baby. Maybe more of an elephant, whose gestation period is twice as long. Going forward, I may have more to say about this project. For instance, I could ruminate on the lessons it conveys. Or talk about the process. How Bob, Dave, Lela, book designer David Brady and I joined forces to deliver this small monument to a large and influential company. Or about what this project means to the portfolio of services I provide. But we’ll save all that for later.

For now – and for me, and those I had the privilege or working with on this project – it’s time for a quiet little celebration. If you ever worked for ARRIS or competed against them or simply have an interest in this dynamic sector of the economy, however, you have some homework. Namely: you need to order your paperback or hard-cover copies and start reading. And then, if you’re so inclined, let us know what you think.