( ESNUG 452 Item 1 ) --------------------------------------------- [02/17/06]
Subject: Questions for Rajeev Madhavan, CEO of Magma
What is the REAL average selling price per seat for his Blast Whatever
software? Revenue divided by the number of licenses Magma issued in
2005. It is a simple calculation and I can guarantee you they know
how many licenses they sold/cut last year. My guess is $50 k per
seat. And Magma Blast Fusion list price is what $450 k?!?!?!
A funny thing happened today during a visit at one of the top semi's.
I was told that this company is changing from Synopsys to Magma for
their 90 nm designs. I asked why and they said $$$$$. I asked if they
felt Magma was technically superior, they said no, Synopsys was their
personal choice. I asked how management justified that and they said
"engineers don't always get what they want" in a mocking tone. It was
deja vu all over again, same story different company.
EDA revenues are flat because EDA companies are trying to buy market
share. They are also teaching customers how to buy EDA software for
next to nothing.
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When the EDA market shows anaemic growth, how do you plan to show better
growth for your company? Gobble up each other and raise ASPs?
Seems EDA is relatively flat as compared to the semi market.
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Magma had been repeatedly talking about the importance of interoperability
in EDA. If this is so important, why isn't there an open source or API
available for ALL EDA vendors, for direct interaction with Volcano (Magma's
internal database) similar to Milkyway / Open Access?
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Rajeev Madhavan - CEO of Magma
What about open databases? Yes we tool users like them!
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Do you regret starting the Synopsys lawsuit?
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Ask Rajeev if he will continue to work at Synopsys after they acquire
Magma. :-) Call it the Nassda Memorial Question.
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Do current Magma tools actually use any of patents you're being sued for
by Synopsys?
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Ask Rajeev why he is never involved in EDAC panels? The other night at
the CEO Forecast, I am told nobody from Magma was in the house.
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I would ask Rajeev:
1. Are their tools able to take advantage of the multi-core, multi-thread
processors that are coming on the market?
2. How will they modify their tools licensing so as not to penalize folks
who use the above systems?
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Rajeev Madhavan - CEO of Magma
1) You seemed to catch Mentor Graphics off hand last year when you
announced the Mojave DRC product. Looking back, did you show your hand
too early in announcing the product before you were ready to take on a
large number of customers, and more importantly had LVS finished?
2) How do you explain that Magma has been very successful taking market
share from Synopsys in the P&R space, but have had much less success
in getting the complementary products (extraction, STA, synthesis)?
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question for Madhavan:
Do you think YOU are the next generation Calibre? They are mighty big
shoes to fill. If so, how, and why couldn't Calibre stay on par with you?
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Raveej - Magma
We want him on record about his new DRC/LVCS tool - what fabs support it?
What other fabs will support it in 2006? Who has already adopted it?
Actually paid for it and is using it? We do not want to be first in line,
so we would like to see some traction with the big semiconductor companies
before we try it.
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Question for Rajeev on latest Quartz DRC/LVS announcment:
Why haven't any foundries offered "sign-off" quality support of Quartz
(I haven't seen any announcements regarding this) to date?
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Question to Rajeev Madhavan:
Why hasn't Magma made a single public customer announcement a full year
after the formal launch of Quartz DRC?
How serious is Magma about supporting mixed-signal designs?
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Rajeev Madhavan - CEO of Magma
Are you looking to do something for full custom flow? Any work involving
Silicon Canvas?
What is your impression of Cadence PVS competing with Mojave?
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Rajeev: After the market close, KLA-Tencor announces it is buying Synopsys.
What is your respose as to how the competitive landscape for EDA will change
post-merger?
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Rajeev: how are you going to compete with Cadence and Synopsys without a
front-end product offering? And by that I don't mean RTL synthesis but
RTL simulation and verification, as well as ESL.
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How are you going to manage to get paid by the project rather than by the
license? (Rajeev might be the best-placed person to have a real answer
to this.)
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Probably best suited to Rajeev...
What is your sales situation in China? Why does the EDA industry
choose to either not take the piracy of EDA tools seriously or to give
away tools for pennies on the dollar in China when the Chinese are
sitting on 73 billion dollars and have all the money in the world to
pay full price on building 12 inch fabs as if they were Dunkin Donut
shops?
Do you think it is fair that western economies subsidize the development
of EDA tools that are stolen and/or given away in China to the engineers
that are replacing designers in Europe, Japan and North America?
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To: Rajeev Madhavan
What is the price of BlastFusion licenses sold in India compared to the same
software sold to users in the US?
If Indian engineers cost 1/4 their US counterparts, but the EDA software is
pricey everywhere, eventually the software cost might overwhelm any
substantial salary differences??? Won't Magma have to discount its Indian
prices?
How is Magma addressing the loooooonnnng learning curve for a user to become
an accomplished BlastFusion user? i.e., how is Magma addressing the inherent
*complexity* of their tool?
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John last year you never asked my question. Please ask it.
I just got back from Magma's 2 week "Boot Camp" training course. It was
a waste of time. The instructors were disorganized and read from slides
that were basically a copy of the tool's man pages. I'd like to ask Rajeev
Madhavan what incentive he might consider placing on the FAEs teaching
this course so they get their act together? As an 11 year industry
veteran this is the worst training I have ever attended.
Please stop shielding Rajeev on this.
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To Rajeev Madhavan-
When will I stop seeing crashes in the Magma timer?
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I want to ask Antun and Rajeev if they take little players like Atrenta
seriously? Do they perceive there is enough space for products like
SpyGlass to co-exist with theire products, as long as it is not in
directly competing with there offerings?
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Here's my question to Rajeev -
I strongly believe that EDA companies cannot thrive as public companies.
The use model, the growth, the dynamics just DON'T support it. I did not
go to business school - but can still appreciate the enviable advantages of
turning private and charging the "right value" for EDA tools.
Litigation aside, Magma is a great example. They have a great tool - but
the stock has limited upside. Rajeev's great tool should be sold at a
premium, which he is not able to do.
Does he believe he is doing right by shareholders by remaining public?
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Be sure to ask Rajeev how he manages to stay so youthful and good looking.
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