A while back Fairchild semiconductor invested in a start-up called Silicon Wireless. The partnership revolved around an impressive patent portfolio provided through a NC State Professor ubiquitous in the area of semiconductor physics (he wrote most of the electrical engineering textbooks that semiconductor professionals refer to when they really need to solve a problem). Well, the little start-up got some amazing results in the lower frequencies, but had some heat issues at the upper frequencies due to the nature of vertical devices (in this configuration flip-chip, gold ball bonding limited the CW power). The professor worked directly with Silicon Wireless who extended their portfolio into high power high efficiency planar semiconductor devices and changed their name to Silicon Semiconductor. NDA’s in place with the MOT folks and complete tours including inspection of Smith charts at the DUT. MOT has a lateral RF power device that was in its 5 or 6th generation at the time and was pretty hard to beat. At the lower frequencies, our device was almost noiseless – superior in that regard. Without a military business strategy, Silicon Semiconductor eventually moved all resources to the power semiconductor area and began to farm out the intellectual property, some of which was shared with Fairchild Semiconductor to other entities, but eventually Fairchild bought sole rights to the technology. Today, I catch up with one of my dream-team from Silicon Wireless and he tells me the story of a couple years ago when he met our professor and shared what he had learned about what was happening to “his” technology. Apparently, the intellectual property we were unsuccessful in generating high power cellular revenue from was “unknowingly??” used at HVVI in pulsed avionics. Now the interesting part is that using social networking tools (like Linked-in), the small network of gifted RF professionals is small, but deep in connections. I am connected (by 1 degree of freedom) to 6 of the employees including the CTO and CEO. How did I not know about this company? Further investigation yields inter-connections with the Fairchild people that were responsible for our product line in the fab…and the MOT people appear as well, in 2nd and 3rd degree connections…Moral to the story is that it is a small world and sometimes things are hidden in plain sight. My Wow for the day!
Archive for the ‘Military’ Category
Steps to successful SBIR bidding
Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012To get started, please see the steps we’ve laid out below.
Step #1 - Review topics at www.sbtdc.org/technology/newsletter/12-05/dod-solicitation-topics-042812.pdf. This will give you a good idea of what DoD’s current interests are.
Step #2 – Refine your search at www.dodsbir.net/Topics/CusTopicsSearch.asp. Be sure to conduct a search on EACH of the key words separately, or use the search tips at www.dodsbir.net/Topics/TopicsSearchScoop.htm if inputting multiple words.
Step #3 – Communication: Once a solicitation is identified, you are strongly encouraged to call and discuss your proposed project with the Topic Author. You have until May 23rd to communicate directly with him/her. After May 23rd, for reasons of competitive fairness, direct communication between proposers and topic authors is not allowed when DoD begins accepting proposals for each solicitation.
However, proposers may still submit written questions about solicitation topics through the SBIR/STTR Interactive Topic Information System (SITIS), in which the questioner and respondent remain anonymous and all questions and answers are posted electronically for general viewing until the solicitation closes. All proposers are advised to monitor SITIS during the solicitation period for questions and answers, and other significant information, relevant to the SBIR/STTR topic under which they are proposing.
Step #4 – Presentation: Review the presentation at www.sbtdc.org/technology/newsletter/12-05/dod-overview.ppt presented by Nicole Fox of the Army Research Office. It provides a clear overview of the DoD SBIR program.
NC’s SBIR/STTR Matching Grant Program
Monday, May 14th, 2012Dear Kevin,
I’m writing you to convey the following important information and option:
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Last Thursday, May 10, Governor Perdue released her budget recommendations for next year, FY 2012-13, which starts this coming July. The Governor’s budget is available at: Governor Perdue’s 2012-13 Recommended Budget Adjustments. Page 155 of the budget includes a recommendation of $2.5 million for the One NC Small Business Program (a.k.a., NC’s SBIR/STTR Matching Grant Program).
This recommendation is significant, particularly because the One NC Small Business Program has no funding in this current fiscal year. Notably, inclusion of the program in the Governor’s budget recommendations for next year is a direct result of your input. As you will recall, at the start of this year you provided to us, via an online survey, information regarding one or more grants you have received under the One NC Small Business Program. Using that information, we drafted a report evaluating the One NC Small Business Program and other activities of the Office of Science & Technology. The full 83-page report, which we provided to the NC General Assembly on March 1, is available at: Office of Science & Technology Continuation Review Report. Information pertaining specifically to the One NC Small Business Program is available on pages 29-39.
While being included in the Governor’s budget is a necessary step toward restoring funding for the One NC Small Business Program, it is not sufficient. Specifically, only the NC General Assembly has the authority to appropriate funding. And as you know, the state budget continues to be very constrained, meaning that not all worthy programs will receive funding. Accordingly, to improve the odds of the One NC Small Business Program receiving funding, you may opt to let the General Assembly know the importance of the program to your small business, North Carolina’s economy, and its citizens.
OPTION
The NC General Assembly will begin its legislative session on Wednesday, May 16. The session will move very quickly. Thus, if you opt to convey to key legislators the importance of restoring funding for the One NC Small Business Program, it is recommended that you do so within the next week, preferably as soon as possible.
Doing so is easy. Initially, you need only write a brief letter your local Senator (The Senate starts the budget process this year). You can locate your Senator’s contact information at the following link — Who Represents Me? You can search by county, but if more than one Senator represents your county and you need more information regarding specifically which one represents you, you may also search by ZIP Code at the link above. When you send the letter to your senator, it may also be beneficial to send copies to the Co-Chairs and Vice-Chairs of the Senate Appropriations/Base Budget Committee. Their contact information is available at: Appropriations/Base Budget Committee.
Hard copy letters on your company’s letter head are best, but you may also e-mail your letter (on letterhead) to the Senators. The Senators would benefit from hearing why you think state support, particularly the One NC Small Business Program, is important is for small, promising, high-tech companies such as yours. They also would benefit from learning more about your company, including its location, mission, technologies, size, potential for growth, etc., as well as your appreciation for their past support of the One NC Small Business Program. As a constituent and contributor to North Carolina’s economic growth and quality of life, you play an important role in informing the General Assembly of the importance of their support for your company’s growth and development.
The USA sanctions hacking!!! – Naval Supply Systems Command SBIR
Thursday, April 12th, 2012The Department of Homeland Security has enlisted a San Francisco company to help crack open the encrypted data in consoles, which it claims may hold key evidence in cases ranging from the exploitation of children to terrorism. Link
According to forensic experts, pedophiles are increasingly using gaming systems to exploit children, while terrorists are using it for communication. With this evidence, a contract was awarded on April 5 by the Naval Supply Systems Command to Obscure Technologies for the research and development of “hardware and software tools that can be used for extracting data from video game systems.”
Obscure Technologies, a small San Francisco-based company that performs computer forensics and which has just been awarded a $177,237 sole-source research contract to develop “hardware and software tools that can be used for extracting data from video game systems,” and “a collection of data (disk images; flash memory dumps; configuration settings) extracted from new video game systems and used game systems purchased on the secondary market,” according to the contract award from the U.S. Navy.
:
N0024412R0024
https://www.neco.navy.mil/synopsis_file/N0024412R002…
Description: N0024412R0024_JA_Obscure-Game.docx
:
N00244 NAVSUP Fleet Logistics Center San Diego Seal Beach Office 800 Seal Beach Blvd. Bldg 239 Seal Beach, CA
What is the (JOBS) act? The crowdfunding bill passed today
Friday, March 23rd, 2012The JOBS (Jumpstart Our Business Startups) Act that passed in the House today contains some big changes for crowdfunding startups. It now moves on to the Senate.
Right now, it’s illegal for a startup to solicit investors on platforms like Twitter or Kickstarter. But the JOBS Act would change that. For startups raising $1 million or less, anyone can now buy up to $10,000 or 10 percent of the annual income (whichever is less) in equity
IPO filings of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 which said that any company with more than 500 shareholders has to open its financials to the SEC like a public company. But under the JOBS Act, anyone who gives $10,000 or less will not count toward this limit. The act also raises the shareholder limit from 500 to 1,000.
Startups can opt to raise as much as $2 million in this manner; but if they go the crowdfunding route, they will have to provide audited financial statements to their investors. There are some drawbacks for startups. Here are some highlights:
- First, startups must understand that minority stockholders have certain significant rights under state law, including voting rights, the right to inspect the company’s books and records, the right to bring a derivative claim on behalf of the company, and certain protections against oppression by the controlling stockholders. Indeed, the more stockholders a startup has, the greater the likelihood that a disgruntled stockholder will cause problems, including filing lawsuits.
- Second, having hundreds of stockholders is an administrative nightmare and will be time consuming and costly. Presumably, each stockholder will be required to execute a subscription agreement and/or stockholders’ agreement to address key issues such as transfer restrictions, rights of first refusal, and drag-along rights. There will also be administrative issues relating to voting and stock transfer issues.
- Third, startups will likely have difficulty raising funds from VCs and other sophisticated investors if they have hundreds of unsophisticated stockholders. Needless to say, few sophisticated investors will want to sit on the board of directors of such a company due to the risks of lawsuits relating to director liability, and I would assume D&O liability insurance rates will skyrocket for these companies.
The JOBS Act also makes it easier for small companies to go public by increasing the offering threshold for companies exemepted from SEC regulation from $5 to $50 million on companies. Additional regulations will be phased in over a five-year period for companies that stay under $1 billion in revenue.
How can I get started in business if I can’t find a job?
Tuesday, March 20th, 2012Self: Positive affirmation – I am smart!
world: the economy is weak, jobs are hard to come by
You: Can get as free as free money gets by investing your time by writing precise answers to topics that the (DOD) Department of Defense is interested in.
Four times a year a list of topics is solicited by the government for written phase one proposals. These proposals range from 20 to 40 pages and are not simple to write (usually requiring advanced engineering degrees) as few acceptable solutions exist. This is an entrepreneur’s dream! Written reports and follow-up progress reports can yield up to 60+% for the business owner/inventor. Awards can be up to $100K and matched at 30% from the state of North Carolina. Phase 2 awards, if invited are up to 1.5 million dollars over 3 years. I am currently waiting on an invitation for a Phase II. I know it is hard, but it can be done. We submitted underwater GPS algorithms for divers using portable communicating lasers!
Here are my bookmarks:
http://www.sbtdc.org/
http://zyn.com/
http://dodsbir.net/
SBIR/STTR how to webinar notes
Tuesday, March 13th, 2012New Funding:
Contact Names and Numbers:
Presentation – Attached for your review is the DoD presentation that was delivered by Nicole Fox
Windows 8 vs. iPad feature-by-feature
Friday, March 2nd, 2012Windows 8 vs. iPad feature-by-feature – way to go MS -
How does 3D TV work without glasses?
Thursday, March 1st, 2012
One hitch in bringing 3-D motion pictures to home theaters has been the glasses—people hate them. Yet viewers have been enjoying motionless 3-D images unassisted since at least the 1960s. At that time, VariVue was printing postcards covered with a lenticular array that sent each eye a slightly different view. This year Toshiba demonstrated a similar kind of glasses-free 3-D display, and Nintendo released its 3DS. Instead of a lens, the 3DS uses a barrier to produce the stereoscopic effect.
Navy Railgun first test fire video
Thursday, March 1st, 2012
A new prototype of the Navy’s weapon of the future just completed its first test, blasting a chunk of metal through the air at speeds up to 5,600 MPH.