Analog IC Startup

- June 2, 2012

Welcome to our BLOG

Hi, I’m Brett Fox, CEO of Touchstone Semiconductor. Welcome to our BLOG. And yes, we think the analog industry is changing rapidly and presents many opportunities in the design and manufacture of analog ICs.

You will be hearing from me and other Touchstone employees on the Analog IC world and other related topics. You will read about the engineering, marketing and business perspectives of what it means to be one of the few semiconductor startups funded recently in the Silicon Valley.

We hope you enjoy what we have to say,

Brett

-40°C to +85°C or 25°C only. What temp range is this part truly guaranteed over?

05.13.2013

Ah specsmanship. It’s been around probably as long as people have sold goods. We decided when we started Touchstone Semiconductor that we were going to guarantee our parts over temperature. Big deal, you say, everybody does that, or do they? Read More...

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The applications engineering police get busted

05.03.2013

Working in a start-up environment like Touchstone Semiconductor is a bit like being in the Infantry. Not that it’s actually dangerous, but it can be a pressure-cooker, and, like in the military, you often form close bonds with your co-workers, bonds that can last beyond the start up. Read More...

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Freedom to work from home, responsibility to work from the office

04.24.2013

At Touchstone Semiconductor, I have people in my group who want to work from home some of the time. Will that go against our company’s interests? Read More...

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A new 21st-century shootout at the O-K Corral?

04.15.2013

A battle has been brewing for quite some time between high-performance, stand-alone analog ICs and the various analog IC functions embedded into microprocessors/microcontrollers/SOCs. Read More...

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Murphy and his lesser known friend Hobson

04.07.2013

Anyone who has managed a business, product line, or engineering team knows Murphy’s Law, and we at Touchstone Semiconductor are no different. Murphy’s Law, as a refresher, is anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Many people are not familiar with a Hobson’s Choice, but I am sure you will recognize it once I explain it. Read More...

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An engineer’s software toolbox – Part 2

04.01.2013

Here are some more software tools that I use often. Read More...

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An engineer’s software toolbox – Part 1

03.25.2013

At Touchstone there is a very active culture of sharing knowledge. In that spirit I would like to share some of the software I use, hoping that it might be of help to you as well. Read More...

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The biggest influence on my life

03.18.2013

Who influenced you the most in your life? Was it a childhood friend, a teacher, a family member? Read More...

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“Go-To” EE References

03.11.2013

It’s easy to do some Google searching when you’re hunting for data sheets and product specs, but for reliable electrical engineering info, the Internet’s got too much blog clutter and misinformation, so I find myself going back to my favorite books. Read More...

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“So, when will you be done with your design?”

03.04.2013

Not exactly the question a typical design engineer is looking forward to. You’re at the start of a new project and it is time to commit to a development schedule. Now what? Your first instinct is to be vague. Read More...

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The engineering interview – interesting and challenging questions, Part 3

02.17.2013

The engineering interview – interesting and challenging questions, Part 3 Read More...

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So, you want to do a start-up?

02.11.2013

Advice I would give someone interested in joining a startup like Touchstone. Read More...

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Taking the start-up path while in graduate school

02.05.2013

How many of you have juggled work and graduate school? How was that experience for you? I imagine quite a few of you have. Read More...

No regrets

01.28.2013

A recent blog on the Harvard Business Review website asked the question: what do you regret most about your career? People in different walks of life, of different age groups responded. Read More...

Collaboration is possible when you least expect it

01.21.2013

It’s hubris to think you, alone, can “think of that” design every time. Read More...

2012: A great year, considering…

01.14.2013

Since by the time this blog’s posted, 2012 has come to a close and the new year has already arrived. I thought it a good idea to pause and reflect upon on the past year. Hopefully, our blog readers will add their own reflections of 2012 as well Read More...

Sandy Koufax and the art of keeping it simple

01.07.2013

Simple. Koufax’s mantra of “keep it simple stupid” is another great business management and engineering tool. Read More...

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The op amp test loop

12.17.2012

Many of the opamp’s parameters can be measured using a circuit often referred to as an opamp test loop. Read More...

Balanced (?) audio line receivers and the physics of fields

12.10.2012

Ways to improve/maintain common-mode rejection performance of systems where audio signals were conveyed via twisted-pair cables (shielded and unshielded) across significant distances Read More...

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This engineering thing starts when you’re a kid

12.02.2012

I have swapped many childhood stories with fellow Touchstone engineers about how our interest in engineering starts early in life. What makes us at a very young age want to construct things using wires, batteries, and electric current? Read More...

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The magical power of the 80/20 rule

11.25.2012

Of all the management tools available to engineers at Touchstone and other companies, the 80/20 rule might be the most powerful. It is so simple and effective, so it continually blows me away how many people are unfamiliar with this powerful concept. Read More...

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Mentors and teachers

11.03.2012

There may have been one or more individuals who guided you along the way of your career choice, who inspired you to keep investing the long hours needed to understand the art of analog design. In my case, I was inspired by three such persons. Read More...

Electronics engineering and the art of automatic transmission repair (or is it the other way around?)

10.29.2012

I think that there’s a lot of similarity with what we do as electrical/electronic engineers and items we use daily and probably take/have taken for granted. Read More...

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The Digi-Key phenomenon

10.19.2012

Digi-Key's business model is a case study in disruption. That's why Touchstone Semiconductor is excited to announce a distribution agreement with Digi-Key. Read More...

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From fabless folly to first-class foundries

10.15.2012

Thanks to the progress made by foundries over the last decade, it is nowadays perfectly possible for a fabless high-performance analog IC company to be competitive with companies that process their wafers in house. Read More...

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The engineering interview – Interesting and challenging questions, Part 2

10.08.2012

For many, this interesting and challenging test question won’t be a knuckle biter. Others may need pencil and paper to doodle out an answer. Read More...

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Discretes in cheap designs

09.28.2012

I’ve been doing teardowns of consumer products recently, and from time to time I’m still finding lots of discretes in the analog portion of those designs. Read More...

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Advice from dad; a Message to young engineers

09.16.2012

Like many sons, my Dad was a tremendous influence on me. A tough, no-nonsense individual who loved me and my brother dearly; he would do anything to help us. My Dad and I share a lot of similarities; he was an Electrical Engineer like me. He started his career in the semiconductor business. Read More...

Clever op-amp circuits, but are they practical?

09.10.2012

I’m intrigued by clever op-amp application circuits, but I wonder whether anybody uses them. Read More...

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Saving $$ around the house – Part I

09.01.2012

Just the other day, I replaced a burned-out incandescent bulb in a table lamp. No big news here, as that’s what you have to do when a bulb burns out. What was interesting was that, when I reviewed the log I keep and maintain as a “living punch list” since owning a home, I noted with great surprise that the last time I replaced the bulb in that table lamp was 4 years ago! Read More...

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