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ESCAPE TO SF

by Tom Cantrell

Start ı ıNet Bet ı Memorola ı Hills Are Always Greener ı SHake Up ı Mitsu Who? ı Soft Cell ı Little Lisıner ı Sources and PDF

HILLS ARE ALWAYS GREENER

Although Iım the Silicon Update guy, I do try to make a point of checking in with the software folks from time to time.

Green Hills Software is a leading C compiler and toolchain (IDE, debugger, RTOS, etc.) provider. In fact, according to Venture Development, Green Hills is the dominant compiler and debugger company in the embedded marketplace. Indeed, if youıve got one of those whizzy PowerPC chips under the hood of your car, chances are the software was created with Green Hills tools. The same goes for the software in your Sony PlayStation, not to mention code flying up in the sky in the form of B1 bombers and even in outer space (NASA).

The company, still private, has grown 30ı40% each year since its inception as a 68K C compiler house in 1983. Sure, it isnıt the triple-digit growth of an Internet startup, but the high rollers need to learn that steady growth compounds nicely when youıre able to stay in business for more than a few nanoseconds.

Besides, marketing VP John Carbone knows his stuff and is a good inside source. Heıs a tool guy who knows a lot about which chips work well, not to mention which ones are getting designed in. With something on the order of 100,000 seats worldwide, he sees a picture much wider than my Silicon Valley centric view.

This time, I was inspired to write hearing about Green Hillsıs royalty-free crusade. This doesnıt mean freeware or GPL, but rather refers to the basic pricing mechanism of a money-making enterprise.

Weıre aware that nobody wants to just sell you something anymore; theyıd rather turn you into a stream of revenue, some kind of bill-paying serf in perpetuity. Sounds like more make work for the legal department, not to mention signing away your corporate privacy rights.

In an uncertain world, royalties are said to be a way for buyer and seller to share the risk (i.e., volume uncertainty). But as a supplier, if I want to share the risk with a customer, there is a much easier way. Itıs called buying stock in their company.

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