Here is an overview for members on of how to use the site most effectively.

The members' content is organized in three CHANNELS:

1. INDUSTRY CHANNEL -- all about startups for industry professionals

2. INVESTMENT CHANNEL -- all about publicly held chip companies/investments/investment timer for investors

3. RESOURCE CHANNEL -- resources for entrepreneurs, startups and investors (presentations, downloads, how-tos, files) for industry professionals and investors

Each of the above CHANNELS have relevant sub-categories which InsideChips calls Departments.

Member Portal Log-in:

• First Login into the Members Area (upper navigation frame on the right hand side) on the Home page.  You can change your login info, if you wish, by clicking on "View/Edit Account" in left navigation panel.
  

• When entering the Login info, if you ckeckmark "Remember my ID on this computer," you will not need to enter Login info next time.  Also, when renewing the membership, the account fields are already filled in with latest data entered previously (if not checkmarked, no pre-filled data in membership renewal fields). Cookies must be enabled for computer to remember your ID.  The "Remember my ID" feature is useful if your computer is not shared by others.
  

• When you login, you will be taken directly to the Members Portal.  This page shows the most recent reports/articles from all CHANNELS and Departments.  The articles/reports are sorted by date from the most recent date to the oldest date (most recent reports are on top).  If you wish to see more headlines, click the More link at the bottom right of page.  You can go back to as many archived headlines as you wish. If any headline topic is of interest, just click on headline and full text of the report will appear.  If you wish to print, just click on the Printer Friendly icon at the bottom left of the article.   Viewing the Members Portal Page  is useful when logging in irregularly).

INDUSTRY CHANNEL:

• Best and Fastest Way to Track Semiconductor Startups:
  Semiconductor startups (fabless, IP, design houses, EDA) are tracked in the INDUSTRY CHANNEL which has 7,900+ pages of information to day organized by department and easily searchable (click Advanced Search link in upper navigation frame.  The first time that a startup becomes known to InsideChips, we introduce the company in the Up Periscope Department. If you are interested in the newest startups, go the Up Periscope Department first, After the company is introduced in the Up Periscope Department, we will do more in-depth reviews in our Emerging Ventures Department where more detailed profiles are found (650+ to date).  We begin tracking startups at the "Kitchen Table" stage when possible and follow through until the exit event (IPO or acquisition).  After startups are introduced in Up Periscope and profiled in Emerging Ventures, we continue to follow their progress in the other Departments under the INDUSTRY CHANNEL, such as, Funding and Acquisitions, Agreements & Alliances, People & Organizations, etc.
  

• Free Startup Research/Inquiry Service:
  If there is a semiconductor startup or pre-IPO company you are interested in or heard about but has not been picked up by our radar, send us the name of the company and we will research and report on it on a "best efforts" basis (for members only). Simply fill out the Contact Form.
  

• Other INDUSTRY CHANNEL Departments:
  After a startup is introduced in the Up Periscope or Emerging Ventures Department, their progress and activities are covered in the other Departments under the INDUSTRY CHANNEL.   For example, to check out who is getting funded, click on the Funding & Acquisitions Department.  All Department headlines are sorted by date, with the most recent reports/articles showing first.

INVESTOR CHANNEL:

• The Investment Outlook department provides business oriented reports on the semiconductor and EDA space.
  

• Analyst Reports profiles and updates public chip and EDA firms in an in-depth manner covering overview, background, management, products, markets, finance, and recently developments. Typically these reports are 5-20 pages.
  

• Company Spotlight covers new developments at selected public semiconductor and EDA firms.
  

• Daily Stock Performers provides a graph and table each day showing the 10-best and 10-worst performing  chip companies from stock price viewpoint including percentage gains and losses.  About 135 chip companies are analyzed daily.
  

• Investment Timer is Steve Szirom's proprietary short-term indicator on timing semiconductor investing.  Daily Notes provides highlights of each day's trading.
  

• IPO Tracker indicates upcoming semiconductor and EDA IPOs and with links to download the prospectuses.
  

• Scoreboard provides a table of financial metrics (revenues and earnings) on a quarterly basis of approximately 135 public chip companies and highlights best performers with a "STAR" rating.

RESOURCES CHANNEL:

• Startup Business showcases reports for the semiconductor entrepreneur to get on a faster track and avoid pitfalls.
  

• Discussion Forum (beta) is a forum for members to exchange information and discuss industry topics.
  

• Download Library is a gold mine of resources for entrepreneurs and investors featuring Powerpoint presentations, PDFs, Excel worksheets, and other files.
  

• Services Directory covers industry connections and resources for semiconductor entrepreneurs and investors.