Twin City

"Despite his frivolous reputation, McCaw itched to get on with his life, to get going in business. He hated the parasitic idea of living off the family-owned company. He wanted to expand Twin City, to start making acquisitions, to be creative—like his father. So even before his graduation from Stanford, McCaw contacted Bill Daniels, a communi- cations broker who had worked with Elroy, and said he wanted to buy another cable company—something small and affordable that he could seize upon, make his own, and begin growing."

"With Twin City on a sound footing by 1975, McCaw hunted for opportunities, believing that he could run several cable systems with a common staff. He saw two ways to grow: He could buy an existing cable system or bid against others for an open franchise. He searched ads in trade publications, told cable brokers to look around, and asked employees to let him know what they heard about systems on the block. One day, he spotted an ad for a 700-customer system in Burney, Cali- fornia, near Shasta Lake not far from the Oregon border. The seller wanted $400 per subscriber, which McCaw thought was too high—but he still wanted to buy."