Noel Lee’s credo for being a Monster is: “Being a Monster is being the best at what you do with a Monster attitude. Whether you’re an engineer, doctor, musician, street sweeper, garbage collector, hi-fi salesman or a fantastic love, there is a special skill or talent that you have that makes you a Monster at what you do.”
Head monster Lee lives up to his name in the above Monster motto. Lee’s Monster Cable was just selected by the 49ers as the new naming partner for the stadium at Candlestick Point.
Monster beat out Organic, Virgin, Macromedia and Wells Fargo Bank for the naming rights to the city’s stadium. Lee points out that the deal also provides a much-needed revenue boost to the city’s recreation and parks budget. The four-year multimillion-dollar agreement will provide at least $3 million for city parks.
“We could have been forced to make $3 million in cuts to our Parks and Recreation Department,” Mayor Gavin Newsom says, “but instead this partnership we formed with Monster and the 49ers will save programs for kids and maintain parks in the city.”
Lee, who just celebrated his company’s 25th anniversary, recalls founding Monster Cable in his garage at 15th and Lake Street in the Richmond District of San Francisco. Lee says, “It is fitting [that] we be associated with a great, tradition-rich franchise like the 49ers. … Fans will get a kick out of the name Monster Park because it is cool.”
In a different kind of hometown-boy-makes-good story, Lee is particularly pleased to be the first Asian American to have his company’s name on a public sports stadium. “You can’t imagine how proud everyone at Monster Cable is to have the honor of our name up there on the stadium, and many of our immigrants tell me, ‘Monster Park is living the American Dream!’”
A musician who once was the drummer for the popular 1970s band Asian Wood, Lee created the first Monster Cable to get better sound from stereo speakers. The company gained an instant following among music lovers, recording engineers and professional musicians; many of today’s hottest music and movies are being mixed and mastered in studios completely wired with Monster cable and powered by Monster Power.
As a tech leader in its field, Monster is also the largest privately held U.S. and international patent recipient in the Bay Area. The brand now encompasses over 4,000 items including speakers, subwoofers, furniture, camera bags, cell phone headsets, rechargeable and single-use batteries, power-line conditioners, and every kind of cable imaginable, all with a single focus to help home-theater and music enthusiasts get the performance they paid for from their favorite electronics company.
“I followed the path that most Chinese families, including my parents, wanted their offspring to do,” says Lee, recounting a familiar second-generation APA story. “I went to George Washington High School, City College, and got an engineering degree in Cal Poly. I went to work for Lawrence Livermore Laboratories and for five years made them proud as the head of the laser fusion program. My hobby and pastime had always been playing drums in bands on the side. And when an opportunity came for our band, Asian Wood, to go on a world tour, I gave up the safe life of an engineer and followed my dreams.”
Of course, he admits, his larger family thought he was crazy as he uprooted his wife and child and moved to Hawai‘i. “And looking back,” he recalls, “it was a big decision for me. But you must remember, music is my love and my passion, and I decided to make a break to follow it. I guess … I can say it helped me to start the cable business because it’s all about recording and re-creating music. The fact that I played it just adds to the whole musical heritage and basis for my company. So although we are a business, we’re in business to have music re-created better.”
Lee gets more excited as he remembers those first days. “The core of our business is to make music sound better, record better and play back better,” he says, “which is how my search for the best product to achieve that came into being. But I had no money, and I couldn’t buy new equipment so I looked for inexpensive ways to make the sound better. I found the weak point was the cables that were used to connect the speakers, and so I went and designed the first cable that actually brought out bigger sound, more powerful sound that was clearer and more dynamic.
“I had to name the product so, not knowing marketing or business at the time, I came up with a creative name that would first of all personalize the cable and have the sound that it was big and powerful like a monster. I figured the name Monster would not only capture attention but be an image of what you get if you connected your system with Monster cable.”
Lee also stays in touch with the community. He recently sat with other members of Chinese American bands of the 1960-70s during the Chinese Historical Society’s tribute to dance bands last week, recalling his passion for music. “We all loved our music. … I do believe we must remember our roots and those who have paved the way for we Chinese Americans to be a part of American history. They too had the Monster attitude of doing what you want to do in the best way,” he said onstage to the 650 music lovers in the audience.