How usually do you discover somebody keen to surrender even the best of honours, solely to construct one thing for his nation? Not many. And that too from somebody who went from not with the ability to write effectively in English to heading a division in one of many largest firms on the planet? He’s an inspiration for a lot of entrepreneurs within the electronics and semiconductor trade and he’s striving endlessly to make the dream of the nation’s many chip design startups a actuality by pushing ahead the India Semiconductor Mission. That is Dr Satya Gupta’s story as narrated to EFY’s Siddha Dhar
Born within the metropolis of Jaipur, Dr Satya Gupta comes from a household of eight with 5 siblings. His father labored within the Revenue Tax Division and his mom was a homemaker.
Fascination with carpentry, BITS Pilani and the battle with English
Whereas he’s presently pioneering the event of the semiconductor trade in India, Satya’s tryst with constructing issues began from an early age. “I used to be fascinated by the work of carpenters. They might end their work and depart their instruments behind, and I’d ransack these instruments and use them to make one thing helpful.”
He would spend hours wanting on the carpenters chopping wooden and sculpting it to make one thing out of it. Trying again, Satya believes it was this curiosity in seeing issues getting constructed from scratch that helped develop his curiosity in electronics and semiconductors later in his life.
After ending his education, Satya appeared to pursue an engineering diploma from one of many premier institutes within the nation—BITS Pilani. And that’s when the difficulty started. “I got here from a Hindi-medium college background and was not very well-versed in English. Fifteen of us from the identical college bought into BITS Pilani collectively and none of us may communicate in English fluently!”
Being a part of an institute like BITS, the place college students got here in from everywhere in the nation and have been fluent in English, language was an enormous barrier for Satya within the preliminary days. He remembers how he would take down English notes in Hindi. “As soon as, throughout placements, a recruiter requested me what Osmosis was. I stated ‘Sir, I don’t know what Osmosis means. For those who can translate it for me in Hindi, then I can provide the reply’,” he laughs.
However not one to be slowed down by challenges, Satya rapidly caught up with the others as he slowly and steadily learnt the language with the assistance of his friends. Whether or not it was teamwork, the significance of perseverance, or dedication and arduous work, Satya credit his time at BITS Pilani with having helped construct a unique set of character traits in him, which might in any other case not have been constructed.
Curiously, whereas most final-year college students eagerly look forward to placements to happen, Satya had his eyes set on a unique prize. It was a time when placements weren’t as structured as they’re now, however corporations like TCS, which supplied excessive packages, have been dream corporations for college kids. However not for Satya.
Refusing to maneuver with the group, Satya selected to pursue a unique path for himself by choosing a Analysis Assistant place at IIT Delhi, the place his first actual curiosity in semiconductors started. Becoming a member of a challenge underneath the famend Prof. Anshul Kumar, Satya learnt the intricacies of silicon whereas working at IIT Delhi, the place he additionally obtained his grasp’s diploma.
“I met loads of improbable folks there and learnt lots whereas working with tech-savvy individuals who helped me in understanding the complexities of tech.” And with these learnings in his coronary heart and thoughts, Satya was prepared to return one more step nearer to strengthening his relationship with silicon.
Love for educating and shifting to the USA
In 1988, whereas supercomputing was taking the know-how world by storm, Satya determined to additional his information of know-how by shifting to the USA to pursue his PhD on the Outdated Dominion College.
Residing so far-off from dwelling in a unique nation with totally different cultures was a attempting interval for Satya. In a time when a one-minute name value $3, Satya tried arduous to save lots of his paltry pupil stipend and as a substitute wrote letters again dwelling. He additionally learnt the best way to prepare dinner Indian dishes as he tried to ease his homesickness and calm down in the USA the place vegetarian meals was a uncommon sight. He rapidly turned the go-to-guy if any pupil needed to eat recent chapati or paratha.
Satya, nevertheless, didn’t stray away from his want to study. He spent 4 years in Virginia, the place he spent two years as a analysis assistant at NASA Langley Analysis Heart, the place he deepened his understanding of supercomputing.
Throughout this time, Satya additionally took be aware of his love for educating. “I all the time liked educating folks. I used to be all the time serving to fellow college students, clearing their doubts, and serving to them with their assignments. I’d spend time clearing their doubts after which go to my room to check at midnight.”
Hailing from Rajasthan, a state identified for its harsh summers, the severity of the winters within the USA was not one thing that Satya was aware of. At some point, after attending a convention in Chicago throughout peak winter season, with no appropriate winter clothes, Satya walked again stopping each fifty metres at a store to heat himself up. Whereas that day modified Satya’s notion of the winter in America, it was additionally the day he was correctly launched to somebody who would grow to be a lifelong pal, mentor, and enterprise associate.
Journey with Intel and return to India
Quickly after ending his PhD, Satya joined one of many giants within the semiconductor trade—Intel Company—whereas they have been simply beginning out their supercomputing division. He recollects, “Earlier than they turned well-known for his or her iCore and Pentium processors, Intel was trying to make supercomputers utilizing their very own processors. I joined in to assist develop breakthrough know-how.”
These two years engaged on constructing supercomputers have been probably the most satisfying and vital a part of his profession. Satya says, “I learnt lots whereas at Intel—the values of making an organisational construction, values of disciplined engineering, consideration to element, delegation which no one teaches you. You study by being a part of the method.”
“We have been engaged on groundbreaking know-how. We developed the quickest laptop at the moment and broke the teraflop barrier in a single machine. No person had been in a position to do this earlier than. We have been 2.5x quicker than the earlier quickest laptop,” he continues.
After engaged on supercomputers for 2 years, Satya moved on to grow to be a part of the Strategic Cad Labs at Intel, the place he spent one other 4 years. Intel was additionally the place Satya labored very carefully with the person he met whereas attending the Chicago convention—Naveed Sherwani.
A nice morning in 1999, Naveed got here to Satya with a proposal of beginning a brand new initiative at Intel to construct ASICs. A precursor to Intel’s Foundry Providers initiative as we speak, the aim of this new initiative can be to create chips for any buyer. And thus, underneath the management of Naveed and Satya, Intel Microelectronics Methods (IME) was fashioned. However six months into the implementation of the initiative, they realised they should construct capabilities in India to assist them develop this enterprise.
This was a interval when Satya’s profession within the USA was flourishing by leaps and bounds as a semiconductor chief. From being a younger pupil at BITS Pilani, who struggled with English, he now held the esteemed place of Director, Intel on the headquarters—a place many professionals aspire to achieve. However fancy titles didn’t tempt him as a lot as the need to contribute to constructing his nation did.
“I assumed it was the proper time and I all the time needed to do issues for India in India,” he recollects.
And inside every week’s time, Satya packed his luggage and left all the things behind to return again to India to construct Intel Microelectronics Methods.
Again in India, Intel’s operations had very restricted chip design exercise. As such, Satya and his crew have been solely supplied with a small workplace on Infantry Highway in Bangalore to work. Even then, Satya made the a lot of the state of affairs, specializing in constructing the experience of the crew.
Satya says, “This crew has produced a number of the largest names within the trade who’ve gone on to grow to be VPs and MDs of world chip corporations.” Heading the manufacturing of one thing so vital allowed Satya to be concerned within the intricacies of end-to-end chip designing.
Satya feedback, “Chip design is a particularly tough course of, and one mistake can value you thousands and thousands. Making it work after months of pouring in your sweat and tears is so satisfying. It’s a must to reside and breathe silicon. Which is why I say that silicon runs in my blood.”
However along with his arrival in India, one thing larger was ready for Satya.
Starting to startups
After toiling for years for the IME, in 2003, Intel determined to not pursue ASICs enterprise. Satya noticed this as an opportunity to do one thing extra, out of the bounds of being tied to a company. “We constructed a good looking mannequin to construct ASICs and we used to name it an Open-Mannequin of chip design. So, we deliberated and determined to do that independently.”
And thus, regardless of having all the talents to maneuver up the ladder {of professional} success at Intel, Satya determined to depart as Director from the company—a spot the place he had his first and final company job. On being requested why he selected the powerful highway of startup and leaving a cushty place on the world’s largest MNC, Satya says that it was his want to construct one thing from scratch, very like the carpentry he adored in his childhood.
He says, “I needed to do one thing in India for India.” However most significantly, like a real chief, he needed to construct a crew and see them develop. “Seeing them grow to be a VP or a Director provides immense satisfaction, telling me that we did one thing proper due to which so many individuals are rising within the trade.”
With this in thoughts, Satya began his first enterprise—OpenSilicon—together with Naveed Sherwani. Whereas Naveed was in Portland, Satya was in India. They now needed to make a dedication.
“We knew that if we needed it to take off, we’d have to start out within the Silicon Valley. We packed luggage and determined to offer us three months to seek out funding, in any other case we might return and discover new jobs.” Throughout this time, they spent nights at resorts for $30 an evening and ate meals for 1.5 {dollars}, simply to save lots of each penny that they had and put it into their firm. Fortunately for each the co-founders, they succeeded in bagging funding from a number of the prime VCs, Sequoia Capital, Norwest Enterprise Companions, and Goldman Sachs, in simply two months of organising store within the USA.
However for an individual who simply escaped the constraints of working in a big company, the fact of constructing a startup with their very own sources quickly began to catch up. He says, “While you work in an MNC, you are likely to take loads of issues with no consideration. Even issues like HR, finance and infrastructure grow to be a giant deal to deal with when you find yourself constructing a startup. Cash additionally must be spent judiciously since it’s not firm funds anymore, however your personal cash or funds.”
One area the place Satya made certain OpenSilicon strived for the perfect was the crew. Onboarding not simply the large photographs within the trade, Satya needed to get individuals who had the zeal and drive to make one thing occur. He opines, “In a startup, you must get workers motivated to work.”
Channelising the trainer in him who taught friends in school, Satya imbibed it into his crew constructing and management type. He would sit right down to tape-out chips alongside along with his crew, regardless of being the co-founder of the corporate. “You want to sit down with them and get right down to enterprise. Work within the trenches with them as a crew member as a substitute of supervising them as a supervisor as a result of that isn’t going to inspire your crew. Sitting down with them makes the most important distinction as a substitute of some lofty phrases. It builds a bond that exhibits within the work.”
This zeal to construct the crew additionally helped Satya and his crew bag the award of Finest Silicon Design crew from EE-Instances. Notably, that is simply one of many many awards OpenSilicon, underneath Satya’s management, gained for its exceptional work.
After engaged on OpenSilicon for greater than 4 years, the corporate was acquired in 2007 for $245 million, marking it as one of many largest exits within the chip trade.
Satya went on to start out two extra ventures—Concept2Silicon and SenZopt Applied sciences. Whereas Concept2Silicon had an identical concept as OpenSilicon, which was to design ARM-based chips, it was acquired by HCL Applied sciences. SenZopt handled sensors and IoT options for automating buildings and turning them into sensible buildings.
Satya’s affiliation with Intel, nevertheless, was removed from completed. “I’ve labored with Intel for one challenge or the opposite in each startup of mine,” he says. Regardless that he held the senior-most place in his ventures, Satya is somebody who doesn’t draw back from doing the soiled work, and fairly actually so.
In 2008, Intel needed to construct a totally automated parking facility in Bangalore and SenZopt was roped in to deal with the work. “We needed to set up the sensors at a multi-storey car parking zone whereas the development was happening, and for 3 months, together with my co-founder Chitra Hariharan, we labored in that mud and rubble for 16 hours, doing the set up and finishing work in time.”
Such is Satya’s dedication to work! However Satya humbly provides, “The dedication is required however greater than that, the willingness to get down within the trenches and do it’s what is essential.”
In 2019, SenZopt was acquired. Parting with a startup as a founder is undoubtedly one of many hardest issues to do. It’s like your child, however Satya believes that so long as it does good, it doesn’t matter whose fingers it’s in. “Similar to your little one must exit and study from others to develop, a startup acquisition is a push for that concept to blossom which you started it with. It’s not the cash that issues, pursuing an concept does.”
Constructing the core of India’s electronics trade
Satya’s love for his work translated into doing one thing huge, however he was not happy with these efforts. He needed to assist propel India as one of many world leaders in electronics and semiconductors, which he slowly began doing.
Satya says, “Once I moved to India, after a few years we felt that there was no platform for semiconductor corporations in India. So, a couple of of us bought collectively and began the Indian Semiconductor Affiliation.” This affiliation grew on to grow to be the Indian Electronics and Semiconductor Affiliation (IESA), one of many largest trade associations within the electronics trade. “We realised that electronics can not work with out semiconductors which is why we modified it to IESA.”
Satya is presently the President of the VLSI Society of India, an affiliation serving to to develop Indian R&D and expertise in semiconductors and chip design. Many of those efforts of Satya and others, proper from the early 2000s, have resulted within the India Semiconductor Mission—a mission aiming to make India seize a seat on the world chip design and manufacturing desk.
However constructing a robust chip ecosystem isn’t sufficient. “Merchandise drive manufacturing quite than manufacturing driving merchandise.” With this in thoughts, Satya together with two HCL founders, Ajai Chowdhry and Arjun Malhotra, started the EPIC Basis—a consortium of leaders aiming to drive electronics product improvement in India and construct Indian manufacturers.
Satya makes certain to not let his ardour for educating die. He’s a visiting college at IIT Roorkee and different tutorial establishments. However Satya refuses to take a everlasting submit. He says, “I felt I can’t be appropriate for normal educating. I’d quite information them towards the proper of know-how and the proper of design experience quite than educating a semester-long course.”
Discovering love at IIT, maintaining with hobbies and retirement plans
Satya is perhaps a trailblazer within the semiconductor trade, however he’s a romantic at coronary heart. He has been married to his spouse for 32 years now. Though it was a love marriage, it has had its twists and turns, identical to each side of Satya’s life. Satya and his spouse have been engaged on the identical challenge at IIT Delhi, and whereas there, they developed a detailed bond as associates. He recollects, “We have been very shut. It reached some extent the place she and a few my associates have been looking for a woman for me!”
They ended up within the U.S. collectively when each Satya and Madhurima went on to pursue their PhDs. His spouse was a robust help system for him there, and it was throughout a gathering with their advisor that they realised that what that they had couldn’t be dismissed as simply friendship. He says, “Our advisor instructed us: You guys have to be mad. You’re so shut, why don’t you attempt being in a relationship.”
These phrases resonated with the couple, who quickly determined to tie the knot. However since his spouse was a Bengali, Satya had some convincing to do at dwelling. “They ultimately agreed and we bought married in a Hindu-Bengali wedding ceremony in 1990, whereas I used to be two years into my PhD,” Satya recollects.
His spouse can be within the chip design trade however she stop her job in Qualcomm a couple of years in the past to show underprivileged kids at an NGO primarily based in Bengaluru. The couple have a son, Abhishek, who’s on his solution to turning into a school member on the College of Washington at Seattle.
Regardless of dealing with a number of fronts of a number of organisations, Satya finds time to maintain up along with his assorted pursuits and hobbies. His love for carpentry nonetheless prevails. “Once I was within the USA, I used to look at a TV present, The New Yankee Workshop, on carpentry, after which I purchased a couple of carpentry instruments and began constructing furnishings myself. After we shifted to India, half of the bags consisted of woodworking instruments!”
Satya can be an avid painter. Whereas he was excited by charcoal sketching initially, digital portray has been his current interest. If all this was not sufficient, Satya additionally enjoys music—though he says he doesn’t have the voice to sing—and is aware of the best way to play the keyboard.
For an individual dealing with so many fronts efficiently whereas additionally maintaining along with his curiosity, we needed to ask—when does Satya plan to relaxation? “I’ve no retirement plans,” he concludes. “If I don’t work, what is going to I do? I can pursue my hobbies, but when I don’t do one thing professionally, I don’t suppose I’m going to take pleasure in it. I need to hold working until my thoughts and physique works.”
Exhibiting a glimpse of his impeccable dedication to his craft, Satya refuses to work for cash anymore. “I solely need to work on a pro-bono foundation, I opt-out if somebody affords me cash.”
Having spent so a few years constructing a number of startups and dealing tirelessly on a typical mission, what’s one thing Satya want to say to his youthful self?
“I’d say, be dedicated to no matter you’re doing. If you’re dedicated to no matter you’re doing, it should make all the things higher. Every time alternatives come, take considered dangers, as a result of dangers are going to be there everytime you need to do one thing particular. Additionally, don’t make choices primarily based on work-life steadiness—your resolution needs to be primarily based in your dedication to your career after which concentrate on having a balanced life-style.”
