The MAD-1 was developed by Mad Computers, Inc., a company founded by John Nafeh in 1982 in Santa Clara, California. Before founding Mad, Nafeh had incorporated Multi-Media Video, Inc. (MMV), in 1977 to distribute Apple Computer's Apple II microcomputer in the Middle East. MMV generated $430,000 in Apple II sales to the Middle East in 1979 and $4.9 million in sales in 1982. The MAD-1's initial price tag of US$4,275 was higher than that of the original IBM PC after which the computer was modeled after, at that point in time. Mad sales representative Paul Schaut explained: "Once you get into the price game, you wind up getting into discounting, mass merchandising, and constantly chasing IBM's price cuts in order to stay under $600 to $700 cheaper. ... We plan to stay competitive with IBM, but we aren't selling the system on price alone. Compatibility with the IBM PC is only one of our features."
