I don't seem to be getting many responses. Where is the best place to look? LinkedIn?

Hi. I'm looking to start my own ASIC mining company. I know there are many other big companies out there but the market is relatively young being only a little over a year old since the chips were first being sold commercially. I have substantial funding lined up. The investors have told me money is not an issue if I can organize the right team. They are convinced of the potential of this business as much as I am. The most important thing I'm focusing on right now is finding a couple of engineers that can put together ASIC chips that will be on par with the technology from other companies out there. I'm hoping to find someone who has extensive experience, perhaps from a large company such as Intel, Qualcomm, Samsung, Nvidia, ATI etc. This isn't necessary if you can prove to me that you are definitely someone with the skills to help me provide high quality products. I believe I have very high moral standards and that I'll provide exactly what the customers want regardless of whether it may result in a pay cut. I'm in this for the long run so I want my business name to be known for quality products and service. Please pm me for more info. Also, I'm going to send this exact message to all of you who have posted in this thread to make sure that you see this. Thanks for the interest.

I'm starting my own ASIC company. Please pm me for more info.

I just wanted to add that I'm very serious about this. I'm going all in on this with everything that I have. I'm going to make sure I take care of you and I'm going to make sure I make everyone as happy as I can: customers and employees. I know exactly what the customers are looking for (as do most of us) so my goal is to give them just that. I might make less money than the other companies to start but when people realize that my business is legit I'm sure my numbers will go up. My focus isn't to beat the other companies in terms of money anyways. I would be fine taking a pay cut and have everyone respecting my brand name. I'm in this for the long term. I'm looking to get started immediately. PM me if you are qualified or know someone who is interested. We can discuss pay through pm. I'm not a greedy person, so trust me, if you take the first step by reaching out to me and believing in the company enough to take the ride with me I will make sure I pay you well to start and as the business grows.

Thank you. I'll be in touch very soon. Offer still stands if there are any others that are interested. I'm hoping for people who come from large companies such as Intel, Qualcomm, Nvidia, ATI, Samsung, an already existing ASIC company, etc. I will pay you well and as batches are sold you can expect that I will make sure you are taken care of for your efforts.

I'm hoping to start an ASIC chip company soon. Please pm me if interested.

That was so awesome. Thank you for that.

Thank you very much guys. This is extremely helpful. So can we walk through this to make sure I'm understanding and maybe someone can correct or fill in gaps (there is a reason why I'm belaboring this)?

So first a cpu architect or electrical engineer designs an ASIC card using a software program. Are the ASIC designs patent-protected or are they all pretty much similar? I read something about intellectual property on the Butterfly Labs site, does this come in to play here and if it does how?

When this ASIC design is done by an engineer, the software is sent to a company such as Open-Silicon for them to mass produce your product? Now you have physical hardware that you then send to a company like Global Foundries. They make the chipsets to fit the specs of your hardware.

Also, where does this assembling come into play? I heard in an interview about how the CEO of Butterfly Labs wasn't so comfortable outsourcing because it took them awhile to put things together right. He mentioned how you have to put the chips in and glue/insulate(?) them at a certain temperature. You gotta screw in the heatsink with a certain amount of torque. He said all of these things were done within his lab at first but that he had to outsource a little to keep up. So you get the finished hardware from Global Foundries and then you still have to put some chips in? I got confused here. Thank you all.

There's gotta be someone on this site that knows this stuff inside out. Where are you?

Yes, that does help. Thank you. But doesn't it go against what was said in this thread? The link brings us to a member of the Cointerra team who is stating that he basically had everything to do with making the ASIC card. Where would he do this? Why do they still go to companies like Open-Silicon for ASIC design and development (well, I'm not sure if they do but I know Butterfly Labs does)?

Thanks Itod. I appreciate your input but that's not why I'm asking these questions. I want to know how these companies function. I know they assemble parts like he mentioned but that can't be all they are right? otherwise we'd all just buy parts and assemble. What is their contribution to advancing the ASIC card? How does that part work?

Thanks for your post. You say that ASIC development takes a lot of work and that these companies such as Butterfly Labs and Cointerra are not doing that? (first I just want to make sure that I'm understanding this part correctly). But doesn't the CEO of Cointerra have a architectural engineering background with Samsung chips? And him and his team also have experience working with Intel, Qualcomm, NVIDIA right? So are they helping to design the ASICS chips at all?

From your post, it seems as though you're saying that they go to these ASIC design and development companies (ie Open-Silicon) to make the ASIC card? What input do they have here? Is this ASIC company just making money off of places like Bfly and Cointerra? I'm confused because then how does one company like Cointerra get the edge over a company like Bfly when they are going to these other companies for product development?

what is this stressful "race" for the most advanced card (ie 20nm - then 16 or 14 next) that Josh Zerlan mentioned in an interview? Seems like he's saying it's his own team right? Again, I'm new. I'm just trying to point out why I'm getting confused.

Thanks guys. I will stay away from them but I just want to know how they go about starting their business. Does anyone know how it goes from idea to shipping? What are they doing with Open-Silicon and Global Foundries?

Hi all,

I would really appreciate some help if any of you have the time. I was researching stuff about companies such as Butterfly Labs and Cointerra and I saw that they both use some similar services. I was confused as to why they use Open Silicon (an ASIC design and development company) and Global Foundries (a fabricator, also something to do with "tape out"). I'm a big newbie with this stuff so I was hoping someone could explain to me the process from starting an ASIC mining company to shipping orders out.

For instance, are they developing something innovative and unique to their brand besides the design? My guess is yes because I always hear how they are working on the next big thing, like 20nm chips, and racing to get there first. But then I read that they order pieces from different manufacturers and assemble them so I'm confused.

Also, are they just paying other places to do research for them on the next big chip? Are they bringing in special people to develop the chips somewhere?

I know I must sound so stupid. I'm so lost. Can somebody help catch me up to speed? =/