Gregg was inspired to create the optical disc in 1958 while working at California electronics company Westrex, a part of Western Electric.
Gregg went to work at 3M's Mincom division with experienced television videotape engineers Wayne Johnson and Dean De Moss.
When Mincom contracted Stanford's SRI to further the research, Gregg left and formed his own company, Gauss Electrophysics.
In 1968, the Gregg and Gauss patents were purchased by MCA (Music Corporation of America), which helped develop the technology further.
He interpreted that the LaserDisc (also known as the optical disc), "had to be of extremely low-cost, which implied the utmost simplicity, lowest material and processing costs, and user friendliness."