BRN Discussion Ongoing

[rgupta]

Good luck to CS ..... maybe he was head hunted by some other big fish ..... like always imo go where the money is being offered especially if it's a lot more than what BRN has/was being paid to him ...... and also consider that CS might not be willing / wanting to take on the new sales responsibilities and time lag commission's of the soon to be released Akida Gen 2.0 (E, S & P)

To me management is also under pressure to deliver. So anyone not fulfilling the committed targets have to go.

 

[Schnitzel lover]

This is old news. Just serving as a reminder...

View attachment 44355

Hey Bravo, love your work. Where does this leave Antonio and Sean saying 1000 was a reference chip? One would think Renesas didn't tape out these for a few R&D engineers in their basement or garage..

 

[rgupta]

BrainChip Chair Antonio J. | BrainChip

BrainChip Chair Antonio J. Viana Addresses Investors in Two-Part Investor Podcast - https://lnkd.in/g9d-c7DY #edgeAI #AI #neuromorphic #aritificialintelligence #podcast

www.linkedin.com

Very interesting comment!!

 

[Xray1]

To me management is also under pressure to deliver. So anyone not fulfilling the committed targets have to go.

This will probably play out if a "Strike 2" comes into play at the next AGM imo !!! .... The Co and management will need to give us s/holders something substantial well before then to circumvent such a scenario from ever eventuating .

 

[MDhere]

Afternoon Chippers,

Chris didn't stick around very long .

Regards,
Esq.

i don't think he has left by how im reading it. I think he is embarking on something significant which incorporates brainchip and he is thanking the team for the opportunity. that's how my eyes read it. though one eye does slightly focus inward

 

[Diogenese]

I think "sales"has always reported directly to Sean.
He told me at the AGM get-together that his day starts at 4am and every Monday is a sales meeting to track strategy and progress.
He struck me as a serious dude who knows how it's done and what it takes having cultivated the skillset himself.

Sales, for people that haven't actually done it, looks easy from the outside, and a good salesperson tends to make it seem so.
And, like most skills or talents, some have an innate gift and other's have to work at it.

But, when you're selling something new or an alternative to an existing and evolved "works good enuf" product, there is an inertia that takes time to counter. You have to "be there" long enough to prove you're not just another flash in the pan that will evaporate leaving your clients stuck with another Edzel.
You have to talk the talk and walk the walk and prove your product with existing users.
You won't win them all in the early days.
Many promising leads will wither on the vine after you have spent extensively in time and effort, and you'll find out later that even though you had the superior product, they, or the individual representing them, where bought off by their big pocketed existing supplier.
Often you were just being used as a bargaining chip in negotiations for a better deal.
It all happens, and you just have to keep getting back on the horse.
Eventually you'll establish mutually beneficial relationships with some new players not already enmeshed and some older hands who are either disillusioned or disenfranchised by the extant "big boys" behaviour and you'll be away.
But, like the science fiction writer searching for readers, it takes time.

We have a product that was perhaps slightly before its time, but the world is catching up rapidly now.
We are more and more in the news and the hype train around AI is continuing to grow.
The techies and engineers have been playing with us for a few years already and we are establishing ourselves as a player in numerous eco systems.
Steve's moved on. Good luck to him.
Sean has another year of data points of experience to overlay on a candidate who can "sell us" to prospective users.
Bring on the new salesperson whose success will be both Sean's, and ours.

Hi Hoppy,

There must be a cross-over point between being before one's time and first to market advantage, a bit like supply and demand curves.

As an IP licensor, we need to be there early enough to be considered in customer next generation design process. This is a much longer lead time than "simple" chip sales, even with our engineering samples, which do not yet exist for Gen 2, though presumably we do have the beta sample of the software simulation which presumably would have been provided to the customers who are quoted on the Akida 2 web page.

As you say, we've probably arrived early at the party, and our keys are the only ones in the bowl.

 

[Mt09]

BrainChip Chair Antonio J. | BrainChip

BrainChip Chair Antonio J. Viana Addresses Investors in Two-Part Investor Podcast - https://lnkd.in/g9d-c7DY #edgeAI #AI #neuromorphic #aritificialintelligence #podcast

www.linkedin.com

Very interesting comment!!

Ground breaking..

 

[Bravo]

Weird how Qualcomm has the same partners as us.

View attachment 44367

Qualcomm Diversifies Automotive Portfolio with Launch of Snapdragon Digital Chassis for 2-Wheelers and New Vehicle Classes

www.qualcomm.com

https://www.qualcomm.com/content/dam/qcomm-martech/dm-assets/documents/Snapdragon_Digital_Chassis_for_2-Wheelers_Quote_Sheet.pdf

 

[mrgds]

i don't think he has left by how im reading it. I think he is embarking on something significant which incorporates brainchip and he is thanking the team for the opportunity. that's how my eyes read it. though one eye does slightly focus inward

Sorry to put a halt on "how your reading it " @MDhere

Received a reply from TD regarding CS, "and i quote "

[ CS accepted a offer from another tech company and served out his period of notice last week.
He is no longer employed by Brainchip but leaves us in the highest respect and we wish him well in his new role.
For the time being his former duties and responsibilities are being shared by the sales team and a search for a new Head of Sales has
already commenced.
Regards TD ]

Surely this is news enough for BRN to notify its shareholders, ................... was it?
Seems like we have to be on every social media platform to get any idea of whats going on.

 

[keyeat]

Sorry to put a halt on "how your reading it " @MDhere

Received a reply from TD regarding CS, "and i quote "

[ CS accepted a offer from another tech company and served out his period of notice last week.
He is no longer employed by Brainchip but leaves us in the highest respect and we wish him well in his new role.
For the time being his former duties and responsibilities are being shared by the sales team and a search for a new Head of Sales has
already commenced.
Regards TD ]

Surely this is news enough for BRN to notify its shareholders, ................... was it?
Seems like we have to be on every social media platform to get any idea of whats going on.

if there was something substantial coming in the BRN sales pipeline do you think he would have left for another tech company ??

 

[Fullmoonfever]

I see we are starting to get CMU Grads appearing on the landscape.

Nice to see them getting out there and wish them well with their neuromorphic knowledge to spread....specifically Akida.

Sri Lakshmi Vemulapalli​

Research Assistant at Neuromorphic Computer Architecture Lab | ECE Graduate Student at Carnegie Mellon University | Seeking full time positions starting immediately.​

Carnegie Mellon UniversityCarnegie Mellon University​

Carnegie Mellon University​

1 year 1 month

• Teaching Assistant​

  Jan 2023 - May 20235 months
  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
  Working as a Teaching Assistant for 18698 - Neural Signal Processing.

• Research Assistant​

  Aug 2022 - May 202310 months
  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
  Working as a Research Assistant under Prof. John Shen on a Neural Processor, “Akida” by Brainchip.
  - Developing a C3S designs in MetaTF and map to Akida chip.
  - Developing a technique for the conversion of CNNs to Spiking Neural Networks (SNN) and designing a framework for Native TNNs.

In case you wondered what C3S is....

Cortical Columns Computing Systems: Microarchitecture Model, Functional Building Blocks, and Design Tools

Reverse-engineering the human brain has been a grand challenge for researchers in machine learning, experimental neuroscience, and computer architecture. Current deep neural networks (DNNs), motivated by the same challenge, have achieved remarkable results in Machine Learning applications...

www.intechopen.com

Cortical Columns Computing Systems: Microarchitecture Model, Functional Building Blocks, and Design Tools​

WRITTEN BY
John Paul Shen and Harideep Nair

Abstract​

Reverse-engineering the human brain has been a grand challenge for researchers in machine learning, experimental neuroscience, and computer architecture. Current deep neural networks (DNNs), motivated by the same challenge, have achieved remarkable results in Machine Learning applications. However, despite their original inspiration from the brain, DNNs have largely moved away from biological plausibility, resorting to intensive statistical processing on huge amounts of data. This has led to exponentially increasing demand on hardware compute resources that is quickly becoming economically and technologically unsustainable. Recent neuroscience research has led to a new theory on human intelligence, that suggests Cortical Columns (CCs) as the fundamental processing units in the neocortex that encapsulate intelligence. Each CC has the potential to learn models of complete objects through continuous predict-sense-update loops. This leads to the overarching question: Can we build Cortical Columns Computing Systems (C3S) that possess brain-like capabilities as well as brain-like efficiency? This chapter presents ongoing research in the Neuromorphic Computer Architecture Lab (NCAL) at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) focusing on addressing this question. Our initial findings indicate that designing truly intelligent and extremely energy-efficient C3S-based sensory processing units, using off-the-shelf digital CMOS technology and tools, is quite feasible and very promising, and certainly warrants further research exploration.

 

[Damo4]

if there was something substantial coming in the BRN sales pipeline do you think he would have left for another tech company ??

Yes obviously.
Not only have they confirmed they have some engagements quite close to completion, Chris will look after number 1.

If my company was about to be awarded a $1b contract, and my bonus was say half a million, whilst a new company head hunts me for $1m more than my current salary per year, I know what I'd do.

 

[Kachoo]

if there was something substantial coming in the BRN sales pipeline do you think he would have left for another tech company ??

Thebcurrwnt revenue coming let's say form Renesas, Megachips and Valeo. He would not likely be privy to any commission as these deals predated him.
So depending how his contract was laid out he may have had limited $$ coming in the short term and hence he is gone. Akida 2.0 revenue would likely be off to 2025 so maybe he would not want to wait around.

There could definately be more to the story the TD states but anyway let's get a new guy. Honestly how many deals did Chris land?

 

[Schnitzel lover]

if there was something substantial coming in the BRN sales pipeline do you think he would have left for another tech company ??

On face value you'd think there's nothing positive about the Head of sales leaving on the eve of releasing the second Gen Akida.

Either he was asked to leave due to poor performance, or he thought there were better opportunities elsewhere..

Neither of those outcomes shine a bright light for Brainchip in the near term at the very least.

Yes obviously.
Not only have they confirmed they have some engagements quite close to completion, Chris will look after number 1.

If my company was about to be awarded a $1b contract, and my bonus was say half a million, whilst a new company head hunts me for $1m more than my current salary per year, I know what I'd do.

Really? One year into employment. You're on cloud La La Land if that's what you believe.

Thebcurrwnt revenue coming let's say form Renesas, Megachips and Valeo. He would not likely be privy to any commission as these deals predated him.
So depending how his contract was laid out he may have had limited $$ coming in the short term and hence he is gone. Akida 2.0 revenue would likely be off to 2025 so maybe he would not want to wait around.

There could definately be more to the story the TD states but anyway let's get a new guy. Honestly how many deals did Chris land?

If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck......

 

[Damo4]

On face value you'd think there's nothing positive about the Head of sales leaving on the eve of releasing the second Gen Akida.

Either he was asked to leave due to poor performance, or he thought there were better opportunities elsewhere..

Neither of those outcomes shine a bright light for Brainchip in the near term at the very least.

Really? One year into employment. You're on cloud La La Land if that's what you believe.

If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck......

He left after one year, which means he is in fact the kind of guy to do that.
To sit here and theorise how little BRN has to offer, as reason for his departure is wild.
Keyeat is a numpty, we know that, but are you really buying into this?

Edit: Old mate is happy to hop around btw, looking after No.1

 

[Fullmoonfever]

Trust we're still working with these guys and girls

AFRL opens state-of-the-art Extreme Computing facility, announces $44 million in additiona

The Air Force Research Laboratory’s, or AFRL, new Extreme Computing Facility at the Information Directorate in Rome, New York, is a vital component to national defense research, and AFRL is using the

www.wpafb.af.mil

AFRL opens state-of-the-art Extreme Computing facility, announces $44 million in additional funding​

• Published Aug. 14, 2023
• By Marc Denofio
• Air Force Research Laboratory

.......

The AFRL Extreme Computing facility is focused on basic research for national defense applications and is headlined by two laboratories for basic research in quantum computing, networking and security, and two neuromorphic computing laboratories for basic research in machine learning models approximating human neurocognition.

 

[Cartagena]

He left after one year, which means he is in fact the kind of guy to do that.
To sit here and theorise how little BRN has to offer, as reason for his departure is wild.
Keyeat is a numpty, we know that, but are you really buying into this?

Edit: Old mate is happy to hop around btw, looking after No.1

View attachment 44378

I agree with you on that one. Not exactly the type of executive we need. Loyalty is a quality that's rare these days. Hope they find someone who is a gun and can propel our sales into the stratosphere. Onwards and upwards. Red day is irritating but bought more today at the support.

 

[Iseki]

It was a nice try with Stevens. Meanwhile his ex-employer Syntiant has gone on to develop the RZ/V2L
chip with our mates Renesas. etc etc

Syntiant’s Deep Learning Edge AI Computer Vision Models Deployed on Renesas RZ/V2L Microprocessor

Technology Collaboration Demonstrations on Display at the Renesas Booth During Embedded Vision Summit 2023 Irvine, Calif., May 19, 2023 – Syntiant Corp., a leader in edge AI deployment, today announced that the company’s commercially available deep learning computer vision (CV) models can now be...

www.syntiant.com

It might have been a bit of Stevens remaining loyal to his old firm.

Onwards and upwards.

 

[buena suerte :-)]

I agree with you on that one. Not exactly the type of executive we need. Loyalty is a quality that's rare these days. Hope they find someone who is a gun and can propel our sales into the stratosphere. Onwards and upwards. Red day is irritating but bought more today at the support.

Maybe just maybe.... there have been talks between BRN and one of our 'partners' that with his knowledge on what Akida is all about and the huge list of contacts he has within the tech industry he would be a big help liasing between 'us' and his new role with lets say Intel???

Just my ramblings from sunny Greece

 

[Xray1]

Sorry to put a halt on "how your reading it " @MDhere

Received a reply from TD regarding CS, "and i quote "

[ CS accepted a offer from another tech company and served out his period of notice last week.
He is no longer employed by Brainchip but leaves us in the highest respect and we wish him well in his new role.
For the time being his former duties and responsibilities are being shared by the sales team and a search for a new Head of Sales has
already commenced.
Regards TD ]

Surely this is news enough for BRN to notify its shareholders, ................... was it?
Seems like we have to be on every social media platform to get any idea of whats going on.

As Sean H stated in the last AGM ....

"Sales: As I stood before you last year, just a few months into the role as CEO, I already had determined that radical changes needed to take place in our sales effort. Our processes needed vast improvement, our sales talent wasn’t appropriate for this market, and our coverage was limited geographically. Over the course of the year, I have brought on a new veteran sales leader, retooled, or replaced existing sales personnel and expanded our coverage to a much broader US presence and international coverage including Korea, Japan, and Europe."

With Chris S leaving so soon after his appointment only some 13 months ago and supposedly just before the release of Akida 2 imo makes one wonder if there is a whole lot more to the story.

I just hope that Chris S during his brief stay was able to bring some improvements and value to our Co.