Industry Expert Blogs

I joined CAST in 1999 through a merger with my EDA data management start-up Lineage Systems. We all knew Lineage Systems logoeach other well from working together at HHB Systems, and shared a common vision of delivering great value to customers,seeking enduring relationships rather than quick deals, loving leading-edge technology, and generally enjoying what we’re doing.

Shaded by our experiences in a global corporation and aware of how many tech firms fail following the classical business school approach to growth, we were determined to avoid outside investment and to grow CAST in a bootstrap fashion. The resulting frugality lead to three factors that remain key to CAST’s success today: building a flexible, low-overhead infrastructure; adopting an up-front, fixed-cost model for IP licensing; and embracing a networked partnership approach to development and sales.

As designers began to understand then demand the advantages of IP-based design, we quickly realized we couldn’t adequately provide everything they needed by developing it all ourselves.