re: Zepton Has an $86M War ChestWhat is Zepton really up to, and why have they been able to raise all this cash in the current fiscal climate????? I don't think spinning a great story will fly anymore, so there must be some innovative technology behind the company.
Any insights? ___________________________
I would point out that founder Jagdeep Singh is incredibly sharp. Say what you will about Drew but I'd work for Jagdeep anytime. I wouldn't bet against him. The Applied Materials and Cypress Semiconductor investments provide an interesting clue as to what Zepton is up to.
re: Zepton Has an $86M War ChestIn addition to the applied materials and cypress investments, I think that the other technologists in the company Fred Kish (ex of Agilent) and David Welch (ex of SDL) suggest that zepton might be pursuing a III-V semiconductor materials based component technology. With $84M, maybe they are building their own system using this component or maybe they are just doing a sub-system. However, this is all guesswork. Is there anyone who really knows what they are doing?
re: Zepton Has an $86M War ChestJagdeep and Drew were at Onfiber (ds3 -oc3 conversion) providing high speed access. Maybe they came up with an idea (pitched through their vc) to provide the service (compoonent based) in a cheaper fashion, stole the idea and created a new venture. They are in the same building, have the same core investors, etc....
re: Zepton Has an $86M War ChestVCs like to act in herds. Are we seeing it here? The large number of VC investors seem to suggest that. On the other hand, Zepton's board of directors is literally a "who is who" in silicon valley, with KPCB's Vinod Khosla; Applied Materials' Dan Maydan; Cypress Semiconductor's TJ Rogers (he is listed on Zepton's website), and Juniper's Pradeep Sindhu. The quality of this group of people means it is unlikely that Zepton only has hot air.
With such a unprecedented star cast, Zepton should better be a huge success. Let's wait and see what Zepton has up its sleeve.
re: Zepton Has an $86M War ChestOne word....microphotonics. InP will be turning some heads; however, there are a couple of other pre-IPOs that are way ahead of them.
re: Zepton Has an $86M War ChestI would point out that founder Jagdeep Singh is incredibly sharp. _____________________________________ Lightera worked out well for Ciena, and I 'm sure JS and CC had everything to do with it. It's tough to see Zepton having a seat at the table if and when the market "turnaround" happens...
And what is this turnaround anyway?
-60% of the publicly traded firms fold or are acquired next year.
-stablized, zero growth revenues for humbled vendors like Alcatel, Nortel, Fujitsu Cisco, Ciena and Marconi.
-outrageously low valuations for acquiring in-process technology that every school kid with a home IC foundry can crank out for the price of a few twinkies.
re: Zepton Has an $86M War ChestZeptons has a a very powerful and distinguished management team and financial backers. They understand the nature of the current downturn. They would not start and/or fund anything that is incremental. Look for a powerful company with new ideas and products in the future.
Any insights?
___________________________
I would point out that founder Jagdeep Singh is incredibly sharp. Say what you will about Drew but I'd work for Jagdeep anytime. I wouldn't bet against him. The Applied Materials and Cypress Semiconductor investments provide an interesting clue as to what Zepton is up to.
Cheers,
LambdaMan