We perform a courtesy service to PR firms and PR professional by giving a heads-up when we cover their startup company in the Emerging Ventures or Up Periscope section to help them keep track of the media/analyst coverage.  Our semiconductor startup coverage includes fabless, IP, design house, nanoelectronics and EDA business models.  InsidesChips tracks startups from the "kitchen table" stage through acquisition or IPO.  We typically initiate coverage of a startup in the Up Periscope or Emerging Ventures section and, subsequently, continue coverage in the other appropriate sections under the INDUSTRY CHANNEL.

Emerging Ventures:

Semiconductor startups which are covered in the Emerging Ventures section will receive detailed coverage and analysis typically consisting of reports which are several pages.  In doing Emerging Ventures reviews, we look at a company from business and marketing viewpoint, much like a venture capitalist might look a the firm, except we do not stress the financials. 

The topics we like to cover are:

• Background of how the company was formed/founded, why, university spin-off, how the company name was chosen, some background info on founders, evolution of business model (fabless, IP, design services, EDA)
• Financing (who funded, how much, when, investors)
• Charter, mission, strategic focus, business model (fabless, IP, design services, EDA)
• Key management, founders, and background (what they did prior)
• Products, services, and technology capability, and current status of development/production, roadmap, foundry
• Key market/application focus, announced customers, or related
• Financial review, sales level if available, number of employees, trends, international/regional presence
• Competitive landscape (IDMs and other startups), other technology
• Key partners and reference customers, if possible
• Recent developments or special situations

We prefer to do the teleconf by going over the startup's corporate presentation covering the above issues; usually startups go over a presentation with us which is a subset of the VC presentation (take out the financials) or a similar presentation which reviews the overall corporate picture rather than a detailed product focused presentation.  Send the presentation electronically prior the teleconference.  We typically do these telconferences with CEO or VP of marketing, a person(s) who can speak about the company from a business/strategic viewpoint.  The meeting or teleconference is with Steve Szirom, InsideChips' senior analyst.

Up Periscope:

The Up Periscope section is used to cover semiconductor startups which appear for the first time on our radar screen.  This reports are shorter in length and purely InsideChips initiated.  There may or may not be discussions with the target startup.  Generally, these are very early stage firms and some may be in the stealth mode.  Often companies covered in this section will eventually be reviewed in more detail in Emerging Ventures.

You can view an example of an Emerging Ventures report at the link below which gives you an idea of the style of our reports.

Click here for an Emerging Ventures sample report

We are an analyst firm, not a publication...

As an analyst firm, we are different from a typical trade publication or on-line publication where revenues are generated primarily by ads.  Our revenue model and continued existence depends on memberships so we can be independent and continue to grow/improve InsideChips' content which benefits our members.  We are self-funded, not VC funded.  As such, we do not charge a fee to be published or reviewed.  On the other hand, we do not provide our content for free.  Most companies we cover, provide some measure of support by becoming a member of the InsideChips semiconductor/EDA community.

Here are direct links to additional information:

Distribution of Emerging Ventures Reports:

If a semiconductor startup is covered in our Emerging Ventures section and the company would like redistribution rights to our reports either for printed collateral or use on its website, we ask that the company become an annual member.  We provide a branded copy to use without restriction for online or printed distribution via a simple agreement.

Mission at InsideChips:

Our mission at InsideChips is threefold:

1. to promote entrepreneurship, new ventures and startups in the semiconductor/EDA/nanoelectronics industry
2. to provide educational/consultative/productivity resources for founders and management to help them get their startups on a faster track, to achieve traction, and to avoid pitfalls
3. to become the premier Internet channel for semiconductor/EDA entrepreneurs (fabless, IP, design house, EDA, SE&M) and investors (angels, VCs, corporate venture, investment bankers) for networking, business development, and investment.