Category Archives: eda industry

Intel only needs one copy

Posted on January 14, 2009 by paulmcl

It is obvious that companies make money in EDA only if they sell enough software. One rule of thumb is that EDA companies thrive if each salesperson brings in $2M per year, and they don’t if they only bring in … Continue reading →

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Where is all the open-source EDA software?

Posted on January 13, 2009 by paulmcl

There is a big cultural difference between tools for IC design and tools for software design. A difference in the way they are developed, the way they are sold, the way they are deployed. I think there are two reasons. … Continue reading →

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Molten lava

Posted on January 9, 2009 by paulmcl

I was going to write an entry about how it didn’t look like Magma (NASDAQ: LAVA) was going to survive, what with losing cash, a lot of debt due, and not much in the bank. Employees don’t like it when … Continue reading →

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Guest blogger: Jim Hogan on IP

Posted on January 9, 2009 by paulmcl

This is the first of what I hope will be a regular feature of this blog: guest entries from other people with insight into EDA and the ecosystem around it (venture capital, semiconductor, embedded software…) Jim is one person in … Continue reading →

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Three envelopes

Posted on January 9, 2009 by paulmcl

Can there be any subject more boring than revenue recognition for software? If you listen to the conference calls of the public EDA companies, you’ll either hear them discuss or get asked about how much of their business is ratable … Continue reading →

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“Put your money where your mouth is”

Posted on January 8, 2009 by paulmcl

Talking of being CEO of Cadence, not many people have been parachuted into running a troubled EDA company. But I have. At the end of 1996 Compass Design Automation was coming up to a fifth successive quarter in which the … Continue reading →

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Cadence takes a leaf from Dick Cheney’s book

Posted on January 8, 2009 by paulmcl

When George W Bush wanted a vice-president, he appointed Dick Cheney to head up a search team. When the team reported back, the selected candidate turned out to be…Dick Cheney. The Cadence board, having been a major contributor to Cadence’s … Continue reading →

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Wanted: CEO, must have EDA experience…or maybe not

Posted on January 7, 2009 by paulmcl

John Cooley’s ESNUG just sent out an out-of-band newsletter listing 47 potential CEOs for Cadence which, in case you’ve been under a stone for the last couple of months, lost Mike Fister when the board fired him and his executive … Continue reading →

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