The Top Ten
********************************* * No. 10 – Penny Herscher emerges from her self-proclaimed "retirement" to take the President/CEO spot at firstRain. People who believed her when she said she had retired feel very foolish. * No. 9 – Sequence sends out a Press Release announcing that the company is a contender in the Red Herring 100 Top Companies competition. People who were told that Sequence was hurting and couldn't afford a booth at DATE and was therefore given courtesy access to the Press Room for meetings with Editors in Munich, discover that on the contrary Sequence is doing very well, thank you. People who believed the rumor at DATE feel very, very foolish. * No. 8 – Mentor sends out an e-mail to the Press Corps & Analysts asking them to save their Monday night at DAC for the annual Mentor Press & Analysts dinner. Monday night has traditionally belonged to Cadence, and people start to think that maybe Mentor knows something about Cadence's intentions in the Posh DAC Dinner Department. People also wonder if Cadence will decide to fight Mentor on this. Will there be Dueling Dinners? Perhaps the respective menus will be posted, so Press & Analysts can make informed decisions as to which event they should attend. Meanwhile, some reminisce about the Good Old Days at DAC when conspicuous consumption was celebrated, money was everywhere, and Cadence hired dozens of off-duty New Orleans motorcycle cops & their screaming choppers to escort a 20-limo caravan of well-lubricated Press & Analysts to the New Orleans Art Museum for houre d'ourves and a private art showing. Later that evening, the same motorcycle-escorted caravan careened back into the French Quarter, sirens wailing, for dinner at Paul Prudhomme's Restaurant courtesy of Cadence, with Prudhomme himself in attendance handing out signed copies of his latest cookbook. * No. 7 – Four years to the day after George Shaheen resigned from the top spot at high-flying/low-flying Webvan, he bags the top spot at Seibel following the ouster of the guy who's been in the CEO's chair at the software contender for less than a year. Apparently the folks at Seibel are impressed with Shaheen's record at the on-line grocery enterprise and happy to turn over the reigns to one of the Business Greats of the late 20th century. Others, however, wonder what Sheheen's exit package looks like given the nature of his alleged exit package from Webvan. Some also contemplate the skillset of a management team that watched $1 billion in venture capital vaporize along with Webvan's manic, metoric rise into the annals of investment infamy. * No. 6 – China decides to permit violent public protests against Japan, as Japan lobbies for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council. China says they can't help it if people are still looking for an apology from Japan for their incursions into China in the 1930's and 40's. Meanwhile, Japan looks for an apology from China for permitting the protests. Some wonder if China and Japan's relationship as trading partners here in the current century will trump the ghastly history between the two countries that characterized the last. Ever EDA-centric, some begin to wonder if electronic design automation software companies will be able to do business in China and Japan simultaneously – at least in the short run. EDA companies are not willing to discuss any of it "on the record," but have plenty to say about it behind closed doors. * No. 5 – Intel issues a $10,000 reward for an original copy of the April 19, 1965 edition of Electronics Magazine in which Gordon Moore first waxes poetic about doubling the digital metric in half the time. Numerous libraries around the country find their magazine archives ransacked as people look to grab that particular issue of the magazine in order to bag the prize. * No. 4 – Cadence calls me to issue an oral complaint in response to my written complaint about Mike Fister's no-show track record at DesignCon and DATE. It's pointed out to me that Fister's organization let people know in advance of the events that he wouldn't be coming. The phone call also includes a request that I stop referencing Cadence's alleged backing away from their previous levels of support and/or participation at DAC. I'm told that if you combine the square footage of the Cadence booth at DAC 2005 in Anaheim with the square footage of the Verisity booth at DAC 2005 in Anaheim, there has been no change in Cadence's commitment to their square footage at DAC. It's my second phone call in as many weeks from Cadence. The first phone call comes in advance of my phone interview with Ray Bingham. In that phone call, my questions for Ray are screened and I am told what I can and can not ask him. * No. 3 – In the pre-dawn hours (California time) of April 14th. Magma Design Automation hosts a phone call/press conference with Wall Street where the company's President/COO, Chairman/CEO, VP of Corporate Marketing, and CFO address the week's developments related to their suit/counter-suit situation with Synopsys. An EETimes article, published on April 12th, details a signed declaration from Lukas van Ginneken, available on a creepy unidentified website regarding his work at Synopsys and his subsequent work at Magma. Synopsys takes van Ginneken's name out of their suit against Magma.Synopsys does not issue a Press Release, but Rex Jackson, Synopsys vice president and general counsel, is conveniently quoted in the EETimes article: "In his declaration, Dr. van Ginneken confirms Magma used the inventions he conceived while a Synopsys employee as a technical foundation for Magma's products." The revelation causes a precipitous gasp among Magma shareholders, Magma stock tanks on the 13th, and the emergency press conference for the 14th is organized. At one point during the press conference on the 14th, a Wall Street analyst on the call wishes the folks at Magma "Good luck against the Evil Empire." The Magma CEO declares "This is a war and we understand that and will continue and go on." Several analysts and at least one reporter on the phone call ask the Magma execs if they've got a back-up plan in case some of their flagship products are rendered inert by an unfavorable court judgement. The execs refuse to address the question. * No. 2 – I go to Yahoo Financials to compare compensation packages for some of the Big Guys in EDA, and to try to understand the reward structure for leaders of an industry with a 3-percent growth rate. Superficial research concludes Mike Fister's package tops the list at $10+ million. Ray Bingham weighs in at $5+ million. Aart de Geus, Chi-Foon Chan, Kevin Bushby, and Wally Rhines all top $4 million. Saeid Chafouri, Bill Porter, Greg Walker, R.L. McKeithen, Raul Camposano, and Roy Jewell all top $2 million. Vicki Andrews, Don Maulsby, and Greg Hincley are over $1 million. Rajeev Madhavan is at approximately half a million. * No. 1 – The stock markets takes a nose dive on the very day Americans are filing their Tax Returns. The NASDAQ is particularly hard hit, which is no surprise to those who report on the stuff and nonsense & sturm und drang that characterize the technology sector.
"I built a union and my brother knocked it down, and then I knocked my brother down, and then we had tea." Anon
Peggy Aycinena owns and operates EDA Confidential. She can be reached at peggy@aycinena.com
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