2. Ray Speer
• CTO and Director, ChipSensors, Limerick, Dublin.
Fabless Semi company making embedded silicon sensors,
Temp and RH, Gases, and Pathogen Detectors. Acquired by
Silicon Labs, Austin, USA, 8th Oct 2010
• Manager EpiCenter (Electronics, Production & Innovation)
LyIT, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal.
• Director of start-up Silansys Technologies, Dublin, ‘02 - ’04
Winner of TI Service Award. Acquired by Frontier Silicon, UK
• VP Analog Technology, Parthus, Dublin, ‘93 - ’03. Joined Parthus as
part of the start-up team with responsibility for building a world class
design consultancy specialising in mixed-signal ICs. Customers STM, TI,
Motorola, HP, Delco and ESA. Applications included Storage, Display,
Automotive, Wireless and Consumer. Parthus had a successful IPO on
London and Nasdaq in May 2001. Merged with a division of the DSP
Group in ‘03 to form Ceva Inc.
• Project Manager, S3, Phillips Group, Dublin, ‘91 - ’93
• Senior Design Engineer, Analog Devices, ‘84 - ’91
Responsible for several product families, AD7537/47 DACs, AD787x
ADCs and AD7002 GSM baseband codec.
• Holder of US patents, 5,528,241, 5,289,113 and 5,075,667
www.chipsensors.com
3. Contents
• Semi Industry Review
• Case Study Parthus Technologies
• Case Study ChipSensors
• Technology Start-ups
• Lessons Learned
www.chipsensors.com
4. Semi Industry A Review
First Transistor, Bell Labs, 1947
First point contact transistor (germanium), 1947
Shockley, Brattain and Bardeen discover the transistor
Bell Laboratories
Source, Paulo Moreira,CERN - Geneva, Switzerland
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5. Semi Industry A Review
Moore’s Law
• Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel
• Made his now famous
‘observation’ in 1965.
• Predicted that the number of
transistors per chip would grow
exponentially (double every 18
months)
• His observation has remained
valid for over 4 decades.
• Rapid growth in capability has
fuelled rapid innovation led
technology adoption
www.chipsensors.com
6. Semi Industry A Review
Intel 4004 Microprocessor
• Clock speed 108kHz
• 2300 transistors
• 4 bit data
• 8 bit instruction word
• 45 instructions
• 1Kb ext program memory
• 4Kb ext data memory
• 8 x 8 bit registers
Source: www.intel4004.com
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7. Semi Industry A Review
Moore’s Law
“The first microprocessor only had 22 hundred transistors. We are looking at
something a million times more complex in the next generations—a billion
transistors. What that gives us in the way of flexibility to design products is
phenomenal.” —Gordon E. Moore
Source: www.intel.com/technology/mooreslaw/index.htm
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8. Semi Industry A Review
Pace of Technology Change
Years to
25% U.S.
Adoption
Source: Computer Systems Policy Project (CSPP.org) Bruce Source: D
Mehlman 3/04 Ferrell, SIA
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11. Contents
• Semi Industry Review
• Case Study Parthus Technologies
• Case Study ChipSensors
• Technology Start-ups
• Lessons Learned
www.chipsensors.com
12. ChipSensors Introduction
• Founded 2006, Ireland & Boston
• Fabless Semiconductor Sensor company
• Single-chip Digital Sensors
• Temperature, Humidity, Carbon-Dioxide
Booth Number 722
13. Thinking Outside the Chip – Energy-Efficient Building:
System Level
0C
%RH Module
Board Sensor
Intelligent HVAC
ppm
CO2
Package
Test
Calibration
Ventilation on Demand Interface
14. Thinking Outside the Chip – Active Tag Logger
Units
Crate-Level Item-Level
tagging tagging
Sensors in future need to be:
Low Cost
Low Power
Wireless
Single-chip wireless sensors needed
19. Contents
• Semi Industry Review
• Case Study Parthus Technologies
• Case Study ChipSensors
• Technology Start-ups
• Lessons Learned
www.chipsensors.com
20. Technology Start-up
Ingredients for Success
• A new product or service idea which
addresses the customers ‘pain’
• An experienced team with an
orthogonal mix of skills
• A growing global market in its
infancy
• Partnerships to develop proof of
concept and early stage product
• Strong product validation from
marketplace leaders
• Technology protected by patent
www.chipsensors.com
21. Technology Start-up
Developing the Idea
• Know the Customer
• Conceiving the idea
– The ’tip of the Iceberg’
– Rarely happens in isolation
– The best ideas are conceived when ‘orthogonal’ experiences
interact, actively seek out such opportunities, push out beyond your
comfort zone, networking
– End user input is invaluable
• Partnerships
– A team approach, including externals, ‘teacher customers’
– Be careful to ensure a good contractual framework
• Proof of Concept
– Show something early
– Build a demonstration model, software and hardware
– Interact with potential end users
• Product Design
– Detailed product development plan (top down, bottom up)
– Use external contract services to accelerate time to revenue
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22. Technology Start-up
Parallel Processing of Tasks
Proof of Beta Ramp
Idea Prototype Revenue
Concept Test Up
IP Issues
Business Plan
Business Formation
Growth
Funding
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23. Technology Start-up
Value Creation Timeline
Value Can Grow steeply and often
out of proportional to effort
Valuation
Value Bright F&F Seed, Team Proof of Customer Business EI/VC
Creation Idea Grants Formed Concept Validation Plan 1.x A Round
2007 2008 2008 2008 2008 2009 2009
Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2
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29. Contents
• Semi Industry Review
• Technology Start-ups
• Case Study Parthus Technologies
• Case Study ChipSensors
• Lessons Learned
www.chipsensors.com
30. Lessons Learned
• Build the Right Team
– Internal and External, Emphasise Orthogonal Skill Set
– CEO Lead by Example
– Keep the Team (ESOP, etc)
• Networking
– Encourage communication beyond immediate peer group
– Engage with academic partners (but remember Mars and Venus!)
– Engage with ‘thought leaders’, ‘teacher customers’, usually smaller
companies.
– Develop Partnerships and Collaborations to fill in gaps.
• Build Proofs of Concept Early
– Have a ‘show and tell’, Computer Models and Hardware, Trade Shows
• Appropriate Finance
– Many start-up CEOs spend all their time fundraising!
• IT Infrastructure
– Use the available tools to facilitate communication across teams, common
calendars, Net Meeting, Video Conferencing, but there is no substitute for
Face to Face
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